History tells that throughout the 1760s and early 1770s, American colonists, mostly of British descent, increasingly disagreed with Britain’s imperial policies regarding taxation and frontier policy.
This situation led to a military confrontation that broke out on April 18, 1775, when “a group of British soldiers, traveling from Boston to Concord, fired on a group of Creole militiamen, thus igniting the spark that began the American War of Independence,” according to the archives of the Library of Congress.
Representatives of the 13 British colonies, which occupied the Atlantic coast from Georgia to former Massachusetts, met in Philadelphia under the leadership of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams to discuss the details of the call for independence.
Thus, the Declaration of Independence was born. On July 4, 1776, representatives of the 13 colonies signed the manuscript and thus proclaimed the basic principles of the United States of America.
The historic declaration session was reproduced by painter John Trumbull on a large canvas that today hangs in the rotunda of the national Capitol in Washington DC.
While the Declaration of Independence was being adopted, the armed struggle against the British occupation continued.
“The conflict developed in the form of a guerrilla war until October 1777, when British troops were forced to surrender after the Battle of Saratoga in New York State,” the story summarises.
On October 19, 1781, the final battle for Independence took place in Yorktown, in the state of Virginia, where the independence troops were supported by the French in their desire to fight the English.
Led by American General George Washington, who was later elected the country’s first president, the troops headed for New York after weakening the British military presence in the area.
Following the capture of some 8,000 British soldiers and the weakening of the colonial army’s morale, Great Britain and the founders of the American Union reached a strategic agreement that led to independence and the founding of the United States of America.
The nation
Two years later, on September 3, 1783, the British Empire finally agreed to the separation of the 13 colonies and signed the Treaty of Paris.
The structure of Government and the path to follow to establish the nation had the creation of the fundamental law National Constitution on September 17, 1787, ratified through conventions held in each state and adopted on March 4, 1789.
Meanwhile, the territory of the American nation grew with the purchase of Louisiana from France and the rebellion of American settlers in Texas, which led to the awarding of territories that Mexico obtained from the crown of Castile after the withdrawal of the Spanish Empire from the area.
Over the years, the United States of America became a powerful nation, based on the Industrial Revolution, democracy and large immigrations that continue.
Our days
A bastion of freedom, applauded and even emulated, the United States of America is a beacon of hope and progress. The basic principles of liberty and equality, which have been improved over the years and a thousand battles of ideas, endure to this day.
Today, 248 years after the Declaration of Independence, there are many who fear for the future of the country.
Some doubt the results of the 2020 elections, others are only concerned about the temporary health of the economy, and others believe that democracy could be in danger.
Under this complicated situation, ideas take on very distant positions and worrying exacerbated reactions arise that put ideological or personal interests ahead of the conveniences of the nation.
“The causes that have led to this situation are complex and multifaceted and include the dramatic increase in inequalitiesdisaffection with a political system that has not provided answers or met the expectations of citizens and the cultural alienation of a very important sector of the country’s population, which views with growing concern the social transformations that are taking place,” commented researcher Sebastián Royo of the Real Instituto Elcano, a Spanish institution that studies and assesses the international political situation.
The scholar also mentioned that there is a kind of “crisis of a constitutional structure that was designed to try to achieve a balance of powers and the protection of minorities, but which has led to a system that inhibits the creation of laws and slows down the formulation of policies.”
This section highlights the lack of certain norms that would reinforce democratic power in the face of the danger of populism or opportunistic demagogy, lies or exacerbation of the population.
Instead, the course of democracy is left to the strength of national institutions.
However, “the implementation of policies to tackle inequalities, as well as the growing mobilization of society in search of solutions and in defense of rights, provide reasons for optimism,” he said.
“It is necessary to highlight that The state of democracy in the United States of America is important to the rest of the world“, the researcher highlighted.
Indeed, if the most solid and resilient democracy in the world falls, hope would go with it and the world would return to the times of absolutism.
