Americans’ beliefs about liberty, equality, and self-government are rooted in their history. The first settlers, mostly the intrepid British arrived on board the ‘Mayflower’ in Provincetown, Massachusetts on November 21, 1620 A.D. These early settlers were actually religious refugees fleeing religious persecution in Europe. They were people who disliked the corruption of the Catholic Church and had joined the Protestant ranks to reform the Church.
On arrival, the colonizers had a hard life. The area was thickly forested, the terrain difficult and the native American Indians none too friendly. The harshness of their conditions inculcated in the settlers an indomitable spirit to succeed which colored their approach to religion as well as what sort of political system to follow. Protestantism was the dominant form of religious philosophy practiced and inculcated by the colonists. Geographical separation from the parent country also allowed a certain freedom of thought and action, which was difficult for England to counter as was clearly brought out by Edmund Burke in his statement to the British Parliament that “the people are Protestants, and of that kind which is the most adverse to all implicit submission of mind and opinion”.
Ministers taught that the necessity for being good Christians also meant being a citizenry ready to defend itself as armed Militias rather than standing armies. This right to ‘bear arms’ also translated from the religious sermons of those times to create their own political system where political freedom would be ensured by resort to arms if necessary. The protestant philosophies of the New England society lead to the birth of liberalism that was championed by John Locke who argued for religious toleration as the best way to achieve peace in a society with a diversity of religious traditions. The New England society was also the first successful form of Direct Democracy in modern times. In their church meetings, town meetings any citizen could discuss issues of governance with other members of the society and vote accordingly.
Thus fierce independence of religious thought as also freedom of action lead to diversity and in turn affected the political philosophy of the land. America’s preference for Constitutionalism is rooted in their historical roots influenced by the enlightenment theories of Isaac Newton and John Locke and of course the influence of British common law. John Locke believed both in the divine revelation as given in the Holy Scripture and the natural law based upon man’s innate moral sense. Locke’s concept of ‘social contract’ posited that while the citizen had certain duties and agreed to live by certain rules in exchange for security, the state could not take away certain inalienable rights that had been granted by God. With such a philosophical and religious background, each state had their own independent government and in fact all of these were in existence at the time of declaration of American Independence.
The harsh nature of their existence, fierce independence of spirit and a ‘can do’ frontiersman entrepreneurial spirit required the colonists a strong authority within the state while retaining individual freedoms. So it was not surprising that the states overwhelmingly chose to have a federal structure, their own constitutions aligned with the American constitution and a taste for capitalism and democracy. In fact, the concept of ‘spreading democracy everywhere is an avowed US foreign policy goal.