On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 19:15:07 -0500, Mishka <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > eh... i think iceland with Al�ingi was there well before US (since 930AD). > not to mention The United Provinces (Netherlands). and Venice. and > short lived The Commonwealth of England. all pretty much either at the same > time or a little earlier. >
Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, 'cause history ain't my strong suit (if anything is... <g>). But, I think what distinguishes the good old U.S. of A. from those other examples you mention, is that, for one, it worked, and is still in existance. I don't know about Iceland, but the Netherlands, Venice, and the Commonwealth of England that you mention no longer exist in those forms. Venice is no longer a City State, the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy and not a republic, and England is, well, England. As well, the feeling of those who "designed" the US (the Founding Fathers?) was that they had a rare chance to start with a clean slate. They felt (accurately or not) that they were unfettered by history - at least in the sense that they had to adapt old institutions into their new system. This was not evolution but a new start, based on the best that they could choose from the past along with new concepts. It was the formulation of their Constitution that was the American Revolution, not the War of Independance (that wasn't a revolution, it was merely a war of secession). Whether it really was as new as they thought is for historians to decide - I don't know enough to comment with any intelligence. Whether what the US has now is anything close to the democracy that was envisioned by the Founding Fathers is another question for those with more knowledge than me (but my guess would be "no"). I could say more, but (1) I don't want to get political (any more than I have), and (2), dinner's ready <vbg> ciao, knarf -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
