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The American Revolution Setting The Tone Analysis

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The American Revolution: Setting the Tone Introduction So, where did it all begin? That first bold declaration of ‘liberty’ after centuries of an old, autocratic world order…That first outlining of the overarching principles from which the very idea of democracy sprang…That first assertion of Rights, Natural, human or personal… Was it the all-important Magna Carta, first in 1215 and then through the ages of history? Perhaps. And the document surely did see use in political conflict and Revolution – during the English Civil War in the 1640s and the Glorious Revolution of 1688, for instance. But it is worth remembering and noting of the Magna Carta, that its original purpose and scope were far limited compared to the value attributed to it in the years after it was drawn up. Its fame and significance lie largely in its interpretation as a document outlining and evidencing the existence of an ancient English system of principles that involved the notion of personal liberties. However, it was the American Constitution of 1787 that first effected the unequivocal …show more content…

The first was ‘God’: Whose God? What was the connection between the American cause and the institution or notion of God? Did not the British share faith with the Americans and worship the same God? Did they not at least worship a God? The second was ‘Liberty’, with its widely varying definitions and interpretations, similar and different to ‘freedom’ in varying contexts. As significant as the notion of Liberty was, its pronouncements were also ironic in a number of ways. It was hailed by both the British and the Americans, and neither party acknowledged or questioned the near-ubiquity of slavery at the time, or the oppression of the Native Americans on the American continent. So, what did it mean to espouse Liberty? What did it mean to be

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