Exemplar of Liberty
Author | : Donald A. Grinde |
Publisher | : Los Angeles, Calif. : American Indian Studies Center, University of California, Los Angeles |
Total Pages | : 366 |
Release | : 1991 |
ISBN-10 | : STANFORD:36105000349642 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 (42 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: "We attempt to trace both ideas and the events that dramatized them: life, liberty, and happiness (Declaration of Independence); government by reason and consent rather than coercion (Albany Plan and Articles of Confederation); religious toleration (and ultimately religious acceptance) instead of a state church; checks and balances; federalism (United States Constitution); and relative equality of property, equal rights before the law, and the thorny problem of creating a government that can rule equitably across a broad geographic expanse (Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution). Native America had a substantial role in shaping these ideas, as well as the events that turned the colonies into a nation of states.