Western Heritage: The Origins of the World We Live In

The patterns of living that the world witnesses today are greatly influenced by history. This is because of the fact that history plays an immense role in forming one's future; the abundant interactions socially, economically, politically, result in repercussions that can hardly be unraveled. However, this does not in anyway mean that one cannot trace today's state of affairs back to its roots. Tracing today's occurrences back to their origin is possible due to the fact that the agents' (nations) origins are known.

Having understood that the world has taken the form it has through the domination or imperialism of Western countries, it is said that they are the agents that have greatly influenced the world; their ideologies in addition to their political as well as economic influences have spread across the globe through time.

In order to understand how these influences or principles have spread, it must also be figured out how these principles developed. Again here, it must be asserted that the historical context is of vital importance because it reveals the manner in which some actions that took place at particular points in time had formed consensus notions. It is these notions that were carried through and developed into what have become western democratic principles. These had evidently developed with the passage of time due to the occurrences that took place on the American continent; the types of people that landed there were responsible for the influences they had in the formulation of law. Though other western countries experienced similar transition America is one country that must be particularly mentioned.

Protestantism, secularism, liberalism, nationalism, and industrialism, are the ingredients that carved American Heritage. It is each of these that have contributed extensively at various stages in American history to make paint the picture that one witnesses today. Though these all may have existed and taken control at different stages in history, some of them are still prevalent, existing at different intensities. Historically speaking, one may say it is the way that people at particular times behaved or interacted that led to the consensual notions so formed.

An example of the people that landed in America are the British who had played an immense role in what was to develop into the United States Constitution. The disputes over various significances in the Constitution are actually what gave rise to one that encompasses just about everything the country needs. However, this is not the only thing that influenced the development of this nation; their heritage goes farther back in time to describe the religious and other political notions that developed. This refers to the way that several Jewish settlers influenced those that came there, and they also spread their influence in other western countries as well. Indeed, this was around the 1400s when they practiced and preached their word in their communities. However, this was not the only religious influence, as Christians too managed to get there, Protestants as well as Catholics.

The presence of these two types of religions was bound to influence the lives of the people there. However, it is the Christians that dominated because of the fact that they were many of them in number. Also, aside from the Catholics, it was the Protestants that were prevalent, and they influenced a free form of Christian worship.

Protestantism was more widely practiced because of the fact that the British were greater and number, and this being their religion it was more widespread. However, no one was ever compelled to practice their religion in any particular way. In addition to America, wherever Protestantism existed there tended to be more freedom than Catholicism provided.

Western countries since then have made an effort to become free countries. Particularly America, since those times has generally been a free country, allowing each one to practice his or her faith peacefully. This religious freedom is in a way one of the reasons for the rights of individuals that prevails in the United States today. However, it is not the only reason, as there were significant political reasons that influenced freedom of the individual in America. Hence, in a manner of speaking one may assert that secularism which is thickly linked to the political setup there is a result of the religious notions of the people. However, in addition to this, there is also the political side of this story, as it was the general will of the people to be free from domineering rule that created a need for independence. This is why the war of independence took place, and it was this military effort against domineering rule that was extremely symbolic for those that wanted the freedom of the individual.

Hereafter, there was no more rule around that demanded all individuals answerable to the Queen; the British lost control over those who traveled across the English Channel to America, and those that desired freedom remained in America after the war. However, this does not mean that other western countries do not have 'liberalism', as today in places like the Britain 'liberalism' is a norm. The difference is that it took places like Britain longer to recognize the merits of liberalism, while America had already secured its self with this character.

Indeed, though there is a difference between 'nationalism' and the struggle for 'liberalism' it must be asserted that one emerged from the other in this case. This is because of the fact that in the struggle in the war for independence, there was need for freedom from dominance.

It is after achieving this that America as a nation worked towards nationalism; the people became more patriotic to the idea of having their own independent country. With the passage of time, this heritage merged with industrialism to build for them the greatest economic strength. Hence, nationalism in America became associated with its economic pride, as it soared in the agricultural industry. It must be noted that this part of American heritage had a great deal to do with secularism. This is because of the fact that it represented equal opportunity for all to participate. This is in spite of the fact that marginalization of different kinds did develop in American society. One particular one that did arise was through the economic inequalities. This was a serious one, as many individuals suffered tremendously during the rise of the industrialized America. In addition to this, there was the gender inequality that was also a significant depravity, especially because of the rise of industrial America, as women were treated as a secondary/reserve source of labor. Having understood that industrialism had such an immense impact on America, it may rightfully be asserted that it is the most relevant historical force.