Three American Values

Ever since the founding of the United States of America, Americans have valued a variety things. With that being said, there are three specific things that Americans have valued consistently since the beginning of America as we know it. According to multiple historical sources, it is clear that Americans value their freedom, a not too powerful central government, and their safety. A few of the topics that support this thesis are the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, Articles of Confederation, precedents set by George Washington, the three branches, and Hobbes and Locke. All of these topic hold key components to support the top three American values.
The first, and one of the most important of the American values is freedom. The definition
of freedom is, the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. This is important to Americans because it allows us to be ourselves and stick to our own beliefs without being told what to believe. The first Amendment to the Constitution is a prime piece of evidence for this value. According to this right, Americans have protection of religion, assembly, petition, press, and speech. This Amendment allows Americans to believe, feel, and speak how they want, and no one can take that away. A second piece of evidence for the value of freedom is in the Articles of Confederation. Many former colonists feared losing their freedom to a new government, so the Americans made sure their new government could not take away the state’s freedoms and independence. After experiencing British rule, these colonists wanted to ensure that wouldn’t happen in America. The final piece of evidence to prove that Americans value freedom is, a component from George Washington, the first president of the United States. Many people feared a monarchy in the time Washington was elected unanimously as president. Though George Washington wanted to make sure his people knew that he understood their fears of losing their freedom to a monarch like King George. Washington said something to the extent of, “don’t worry about me becoming a monarch, I have no heirs.” He was reassuring the American people that even with a president, they would still have their freedom and independence. Freedom is important to the American people.
The second aspect that Americans value is a not too powerful central government.
The colonists that came to America with a new vision after the war, wanted something different than a monarchy. This concept was very important to those colonists then, and it is still important in America today. This value is prominent in Article 6 of the Constitution. Article 6 elaborates on federalism. Federalism is the shared power between the central government and the state governments. The federal government has expressed powers which are directly written in the constitution, and states have reserved powers. The next piece of evidence for this value is with the checks and balances within the three branches of government. Checks and balances are the counterbalancing of the three branches in order to ensure that one branch has equal power as the other two. For example, the legislative branch checks the judicial branch by being able to impeach a judge if they are not doing their job correctly. The process of checks and balances keeps the central government equal among all the branches so that one branch doesn’t gain all of the power over everything. The final piece of historical support for this value would be in the Articles of Confederation. The American colonists feared of a central government that had too much power. Because of this, they wanted a central government that couldn’t do much. Due to this fear and their government lacking power, things didn’t get done. For example, the
government was unable to collect taxes which they needed in order to pay off the debt of war. A not too powerful central government is an important value to the American society.
The third and final aspect of the things Americans value would be their safety.
The definition of safe is, protected from or not exposed to danger or risk. To the American people, being safe is a major value. One of the best ways to prove that safety is important to Americans is to look at the philosophies of Hobbes and Locke. Both of these philosophers believed that one of the government’s jobs should be to protect the citizens and make them safe. This evidence is important because, both philosophers had very different ideas on how a government system should work, but they both believed in public safety. Laws are key to safety, they provide rule and order throughout the country. This is why the three branches of government help enforce safety. The legislative branch makes the laws, the executive branch enforces the laws, the judicial branch reviews the laws. They do this in order to keep the citizens of America safe and protected. Finally and most controversial, would be the second Amendment. This is the right to bear arms and to a well regulated militia. With this amendment, citizens are able to protect themselves, and be protected by the militia when needed in emergency. When this right is used correctly, it keeps citizens safe, when it is not it can put them in danger. For example, in Maine question 3 is trying to take away guns, but many are fighting hard against it because they want to keep their guns for protection since they value safety. Safety is extremely
important to Americans.
In conclusion, it is clear that Americans value freedom, a not too powerful central government, and their safety. Americans have done many things to protect these values. These things include writing the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, using ideas from Hobbes and Locke as well as George Washington, and by using the properties of the three branches. With all these documents and ideas in place, the values of American people should stay protected.