Tag Archives: America

Symbolism

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The picture posted below is the Gadsden Flag, a flag designed during Revolutionary America. From its design we see one of the major sentiments prevalent during the American Revolution. The rattlesnake and slogan best represent the idea of the government not encroaching on people’s rights, as before a threat approaches a rattlesnake always gives a warning with its rattle. If the aggressor is to proceed any closer, the snake bites. Coupled with the slogan “Don’t tread on me” it accurately warns the audience that only harm will come from injuring them. This connects with the Declaration of Independence in which it is stated that “Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” In this statement we see that like a rattlesnake who has been given its warning and is ready to strike, the United States has already made fair warnings to Britain about its transgressions, and yet rather than heeding to them Britain has only added insult to injury, which has led America to finally revolt. Do think there are any other ways this sentiment is best expressed? How do you interpret the symbolism of this flag?

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Gadsden Flag

What’s More American than Money?

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Everyone likes to have money. But have you ever thought to look at the other side of the bills to see what is printed back there? Well, on the back of the two dollar bill is a depiction of the Declaration of Independence which occurred in 1776. This scene is from the convention that was held where representatives from each of the 13 colonies/states came together and discussed declaring their independence from the British monarchy and adopting a new form of government. In this picture, it can be seen that the representatives came together to sign the document for the institution of their new form of government. One of the main reasons that the people of the United States wanted to separate themselves from the British empire and government was the fact that they were being treated unfairly. An example of this was the Tea Act which enforced a British tariff on imported tea, so the Americans retaliated through the Boston Tea Party where they protested this unfairness. They also felt that the king was a tyrant and that the monarchial form of government was not fit for the Americas for they should not have to succumb to a power that was across the ocean. In the Declaration of Independence, the authors and those who signed it made clear that they were declaring themselves to be a separate nation from Great Britain and laid out the injuries the king had made against the colonies. This document is a written expression that the people of the United States had the right and duty to overthrow and abolish a governing body if they see fit as to maintain their natural rights. These ideas aligned with those of Rousseau’s Social Contract. This is a very significant part of American history and is perhaps the reason for being on the back of the two dollar bill. So is that why everyone carries a two dollar bill in their wallets? Is the fact that its depiction on the back of this bill is what makes it more desirable being that it relates to our independence as a nation? What other important scenes in American independence could be on the back of dollars?

Overpowering Taxes

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A major reason that the colonies fought for independence was for being treated unfairly financially. Britain charged various taxes on the colonies to pay for wars, despite no say from tho colonists themselves. High taxes caused much retaliation from the colonists, including the Boston Tea Party. In the constitution, we see the desire for protection of property. Amendment 5 protects private property, while Amendment 8 prevents excessive fines. Along with this, by declaring there independence from Britain, Americans were freed from paying taxes to the king.

Intellectual Diversity in America

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The markers here represent diversity–specifically intellectual diversity, but also racial, religious, and ethnic diversity. One of the most powerful points reverberating throughout the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution is that of the inherent dignity and equality of each every person regardless of their individual, particular characteristics (one might say our “being made in the image of God”). While it took some time for the US to progress to dispense with, as regards legality, race, sex, etc. for consideration, I nonetheless think the universality is contained within the two founding documents–and many of the Founding Fathers themselves expressed as much in their private writings, contrary to what perhaps they had to show in public. In specific, the idea that this equality is a “self-evident” truth, that we all have “unalienable Rights,” embodied not only in the main articles of the Constitution, but also in the Bill of Rights (the right to free speech, the right to bear arms, and so forth)–these are all extremely powerful and fundamentally unique ideas, ones not exemplified in other countries’ constitutions (i.e. no other country has an unequivocal right to free speech). We often take it for granted that we have major liberty with respect to our being the architects of our own lives, and so long as we abide by relatively minimal rules of non-interference and such, we are treated as individuals with rights, rights not to be taken away. To what extent do you think these ideas and actual textual mechanisms have contributed to the intellectual diversity within America? To its being, by far, the world leader in medical innovation, entrepreneurship, technological advancement, and so forth? Also, what about racial, ethnic, and religious diversity? The US, while having a core of central values, is also the biggest amalgamation of different cultures and peoples–how have these eternal values enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution contributed to the unparalleled diversity we witness in the US?