What Describes an American?

Both we felt could truly describe what makes up an American today. When we got our information together we figured out that what makes an American didn’t just happen overnight, but over the years many influences throughout the countries helped us form who we are today. For the Economical parts we talked about, we brought up the government and different laws they passed. In the beginning the colonies were ruled by the British Parliament. With the British parliament being in charge, The Colonies had to vote within the Parliament. There were however downfalls with the British being in charge, such as how they had the right to place laws upon the colonies, such as taxes and they could control trade. A controlled trade they had was known as the “triangular trade”. This trade went through three places, the Colonies, Europe, and Africa. They would trade slaves manufactured goods and Raw materials. This was mainly an economic system made by colonists. All of these things relate to an Americans government today, but there was more than just economics that affected what is known to be an American. Religion was something that existed all throughout the world even before the colonies became “the Colonies”. Religion in the colonies is known to have been influenced by the Enlightenment. The beliefs that they gain include change the way the colonists view life, and how they overcome life. The two main groups that took charge were the Puritans and the Quakers. The Quakers were a group of travelers that traveled in order to have religious freedom. They were known to be Americans they traveled so that they would no longer be under the control of Europeans. The Puritans were very similar when it came to traveling. They also did not want to be under European rule. They had one major belief and that was that “all pleasures for one’s self was impure and all work was done for god. ” These two groups arrived into the colonies in order to gain religious freedom along with other groups. These groups are a basis on what was put together in order to build the colonies. Later on throughout the years the “Bill of Rights” was written and the very first amendment stated that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. ” It basically meant that Congress could not force on any religion or religious belief. Concluding all of the information put into my group project, this can define how an American is who they are today. The Colonists were influenced by both religious and economical ideas. The American way was known as “Making a living your own way. ” This is known to be very common especially with the Puritans and Quakers. All Americans have their own way of running things. You can be Jewish, Catholic, or Greek orthodox, they all can still live the American way just as the Puritans and Quakers did, even though they did have different beliefs. Freedom of Religion and the way of our government makes an American their own person but nonetheless, all of them do have their own beliefs and way of living.

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