The founding of America was an extraordinary event – showcasing a new model of governance for the world, including the personal qualities required to establish such a model.
America’s greatness was based on a set of core values, a balance of individual liberty and public responsibility, a tri-partite governmental structure, critical processes like free elections, a system based on laws, and a set of key institutions. That combination was designed to provide the benefits of government while protecting individual liberty and the common well-being as well as preventing the usurpation of power by an individual or group – or the violation of the rule of law by rulers for their own benefit.
The founding of America was also a model of the courage, commitment, solidarity, and perseverance required to break free of the dominant model of autocratic hereditary rule and found something completely new. It was a model for the world of the qualities required to literally put a life on the line and endure tremendous hardships, to establish a way of living that had no comforting history or future certainty on which to rely. It was also a model of getting past significant differences to acheive an overarching goal.
And it was a model of citizens taking responsibility for themselves and their community – the freedom and responsibility of a citizen in a democracy. American democracy was not given – it was earned
America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, imagination, and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.”
Our beginning was extraordinary, and as you would expect with an experiment in a completely new way of governing a nation with diverse interests there were flaws. Unfortunately, racism and slavery were built into our founding documents, structures, and cultural norms and women and Native Americans were not included as full citizens. It was part of our founding DNA.
We are obviously still struggling to deal with those flaws – still struggling to realize the American dream for all Americans. It took constitutional amendments to include women and begin to include people of color. A decade after our founding we had to redesign the government to get the balances of power right in order for America to compete successfully in the world – a balancing act that continues today.
The American experiment is just that – an experiment in a new way of people governing themselves. Experiments need to be maintained and improved as we learn. That’s what the second foundation block of American Greatness has been about.
