This essay has been written by Name of Student of Class of Student of Name of College
Democracy in the United States, today, stands on three major pillars or the foundation stones. These pillars are The Declaration of Independence (1776), The US Constitution (1787), and the Bill of Rights (1789). The three documents have the historic significance and have guided Americans for over two centuries on the path of democracy. There is a fourth pillar of the American democracy as well. The fourth "pillar" is the grassroots activism of African-American citizenship during American Revolutionary times. Other marginalized, or excluded groups, such as poor white farmers, women, and "Indians" were excluded from the "cornerstone" documents. Thomas Paine's democracy favored the grassroot group movements, and supported the rebels during the revolutionary war to lead America to the path of freedom from British Empire.
The Declaration of Independence is the name given to the statement by thirteen American colonies on 4 July 1776, in which they announced their independence from British rule and formed the new country with the name of the United States of America. It was prepared by a committee headed by Thomas Jefferson on 2 July 1776, and adopted unanimously. The name “The Declaration of Independence” was not used in the subject statement. The Declaration was a formal explanation of the congress decision to declare independence from British rule. Americans celebrate 4 July as the Independence Day. The United States Constitution of 1787 is the supreme law of the United States having seven articles. The first three articles cover the separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judiciary. Legislative is bicameral comprising congress and House of Representative, the executive comprise the President and judiciary comprise the Supreme Court and other federal courts. Next three articles, four, five and six deal with the responsibilities of both federal and state governments. The last article deals with the procedures used by all the states to ratify the constitution. In total the American Constitution has seven articles and twenty-seven amendments. The United States Bill of Rights is the name given to the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution. These amendments cover the issues not included in the constitution at the time of ratification. The amendments deal with the issues related to personal freedom, limitations on governments powers in judicial matters and vesting of some powers in states and the citizens. These amendment were initially applied only at the federal level, however, after the passing of fourteenth amendment, these have been incorporated in the states laws. James Madison introduced the amendments that were later adopted by the House of Representatives and approved by the congress. The Bill of Rights reckons freedoms that were not part of the main body of the constitution over the period of history in next over two hundred years.
The three documents are sequential in nature as one came after the other. The Declaration of Independence was the first step towards the American freedom from British Empire. After the declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution was ratified in order to run the system of the governments at state and federal level. After the signing of constitution, as the time passed, more of personal freedom started to prevail in the society that led to the number of amendments in the constitution. The first ten amendments called the Bill of Rights mainly dealt with personal freedom after the slavery was abolished. The three documents argue for the rights of the citizens of the United States of American, and, thereby laydown the policy framework for the functioning of the government at both federal and states level. The documents do not argue against any issues rather all the likely issues requiring clarification are resolved through the three documents. Their sequential nature makes them automatically in harmony as they back up and support each other. They are the prime documents of the history of the United States and the system of government is based on the three pillars of the citizenship.
During the American revolutionary times, there was a grassroots activism of African American citizenship. There were other marginalized groups that were excluded and underprivileged. It included the poor white farmers, women to a great extent and Indians. The marginalized groups were not part of the three documents discussed in question one. The grassroots movements asking for their rights as the free citizens of the United States of America, started and initially spread over all the Northern states. The personal freedom of these excluded groups was not guaranteed under the American constitution and there was no mention of the minority groups in the document of the Declaration of Independence from the British rule. The grassroots movements were initiated and run by the African American community who asked for an end to slavery and demanded their personal freedom as the free citizens of the United States of America. The movements became the fourth pillar of the government as it initiated the number of amendments in the constitution ensuring their freedom as the free citizens of America. Their influence on the events that followed the course of history after signing of the first two documents of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, had long-lasting impacts on the lives of marginalized groups in the United States of America.
Thomas Paine was an English American political philosopher and theorist, who wrote two exceedingly significant pamphlets at the start of American Revolution. His writings inspired the states to declare independence from the British Empire. He was helped by Benjamin Franklin to migrate to American colonies just before the start of American Revolutionary wars. His widely known work was the “Common Sense” written in 1776, in which he advocated the independence of America from the rule of British Empire. This became the most influential documents in the pre-revolution period of American history. He wrote another pamphlet with the name of “Rights of Man” in 1791, in which he defended the French Revolution. Later, he wrote on the issues of logical and free thinking, argued against the state controlled and institutionalized religion, objected to Christian doctrine, introduced the concept of minimum income. He became infamous for his criticism of Christianity, and his funeral was attended only by six people.
Thomas Paine believed that democracy can only guarantee the natural rights of the people of a society. His thoughts stimulated the public support for the American Revolution, and led to the Declaration of Independence from the British rule. During the struggle for American independence, Thomas wrote a series of sixteen papers to motivate rebels hold on to their fights against British rule. He used simple language that managed his message getting across the whole of America. He was known as the supporter of individual freedom. He played a very important role in the Revolutionary war of America and his papers kept the morale of the rebels high and kept them moving towards their goal of independence.
Thomas Paine democracy was in favor of the marginalized groups as he advocated the individual freedom. By individual freedom what he meant was the personal freedom to every human of all colors. His individual freedom was not limited to the white Americans only. The subject of individual freedom was favorite for the people of African American origins, and therefore, they gained momentum by the voice of Thomas Paine. The rebel groups and the marginalized groups got motivation from his papers and achieved their goal of independence and personal freedom.
The three pillars of democracy together with Thomas Paine papers during the American Revolutionary War has provided the guidance to the American nation throughout the period of their history after independence from the British rule. The spirit of American democracy revolves around the three documents, and receives motivation from the Thomas Paine theory of democracy.
