Since its foundation and signing the Declaration of Independence, the United States of America has been an outstanding country playing one of the key roles on the world stage. The human history does not know any global historical events in which the country has not contributed. The aim of this paper is to study the impact the United States has been having on the situation in the world. How the creation of the United States and the making of American Culture impacted modern global history and politics?
The Founding Fathers of the United States proclaimed the main principles that determine the foreign and domestic politics of the country and that it continues to follow nowadays: freedom, equality, protection of the American people, and self-government. However, as Thomas Paine stated, “The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind” (Paine 8). The Founding Fathers believed that the American values, human liberty, and self-government could be applied to the whole humankind and understood that the foundation of the United States and its commitment to the protection of human rights would influence oppressed people across the world. That was what happened.
Indeed, the United States was the bright example of the government that defended its citizens and their rights. In 1835, the famous French politician and historian Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, “The principle instruments of [the United States] is freedom” (Boym 78). Under the term “freedom” he understood the contribution every American citizen made in the direction of the foreign policies of the country. Furthermore, the value of liberty had a significant impact on the way American leaders established relations with other countries – diplomacy. The most famous American Presidents – Franklin, Roosevelt, Jefferson, Adams, and et al. – were successful diplomatic officials, and it was one of the main reasons of their historical value. The combination of proper diplomacy and strong commitment to main principles increased the role of the United States in the world and provided an example to other countries.
The commitment to American values also was the basis of American culture. Since the days of slavery and its abolishment, the United States has been a multiracial and multicultural nation, and, as the result, American culture contains characteristic features of most world regions. Nowadays, the United States of America is the leading country to proclaim the equality of people regardless of their races, gender, sexual identity, etc. and it motivates other countries to follow its example.
Furthermore, the United States of America took part in various historical events, and its impact on their results was crucial. Indeed, one can consider the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, the 1848 Hungarian Revolution, or the Cold War, when the country defended and extended its values, but it is important to note the role it played in such global military conflicts as the First and the Second World Wars, the Vietnam War, and the international fight on terror. For instance, the war between the U.S. and Japan in 1941 and the participation of American soldiers in the European theatre of operations were invaluable to help the Allied powers to defeat Hitler.
Since its foundation, the United States of America has been a country that follows its main principles, defends, and extends them. American ideas of liberty, equality, and democracy had a significant impact on the development of the countries across the world and made the U.S. the bright example of the country able to keep its values despite time and all changes. The combination of this feature with the diplomatic politics and military powers turned the United States of America into one of the leading countries on the world stage.
Works Cited
Boym, S. Another Freedom: The Alternative History of an Idea. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012. Print.
Paine, T. Common Sense. New York, NY: W. & T. Bradford, 1776. EBook.
