How Great Britain Shaped Who America is Today

A Police Officer salutes the American flag. source: nytimes.com

There are certain fundamentals that America and its citizens treasure that make the United States of America a unique country including its dedication to freedom and  it’s pride. These three characteristics, although taken for granted and sometimes disliked, are the root of the American Dream. We have Great Britain to thank for all of this.

When Great Britain put their soldiers above the colonists, imposed unfair taxes, punished for speaking (or writing) out,  they were framing the ideas that our countries’ Bill of Rights lays out. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press are two of the most influential and impactful privileges that our citizens have because it creates a feeling of safeness and an openness that many people in other countries don’t have. Our freedoms which include speech, press, religion, guns and privacy. These freedoms directly correlate to events where the British abused colonists, and the new American framers wanted to make sure it couldn’t happen again. There have been issues in the recent past which affect the view of America’s dedication to equality. For this, I think if we all, as Americans, went and studied the fundamentals of what this nation grew on, many people would have a different view on these issues and racism as a whole. America needs a call to action to come together and act as proud Americans, not a separated bunch of people from different countries. The pride that one feels when studying how the oldest people from our nation fought for our freedoms could somewhat help the issues, I believe.

The effect of Colonialism and Great Britain’s oppression created the basis of what our country was built on. We see this, also, through the ways our laws were/are created, how our government works. The system of checks and balances we subscribe to is a key part of our nation’s government and part of it comes from Great Britain’s oppression. The creators and editors of our government system wanted to make sure one area didn’t have too much power, because before becoming an independent nation, the British government that ran the thirteen colonies had too much power. This is why we have a system to make sure that no single part of government is too powerful or abusing the rights that we’ve laid out in the Constitution. The separation of power lets more people have a say and allows for equal discussion and interpretation of the nation’s possible laws and rules; which differs from how Great Britain ran the colonies by randomly announcing new laws without explanation or notice for the public. Now we, as the public, have the ability to know what is being legislated months, and sometimes years, in advance, so there are never surprises. If our government was still run the way Great Britain ran the Thirteen Colonies, there would be huge issues every time a piece of legislation was passed. The oppression created a desire to be knowledgeable and in-the-know about what was happening in the country, and now Americans have that.  

Great Britain didn’t intend on creating the most powerful country in the world with it’s oppression, but through its actions, it did. Americans, although always disagreeing, should be proud of the country they live in and the fight that has already been won. If thirteen colonies can win against the then-most powerful country in the world, we as a country can overcome hardship and unite.