Three Documents' Contribution to American Democracy

1. Introduction

In my opinion, democracy is a really substantial and complicate word, because it's related to every aspects of modern society. I think it basically means social equality and respect for the individual in our daily life and for a whole country , it will be "a political form of government carried out either directly by the people (direct democracy) or by means of elected representatives of the people (representative democracy). "

During the America history, especially political history, the three most important documents Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution and the Gettysburg Address three most important documents, play important roles in the democratic process of the United States. As one of the highly democracy countries in the world, through those documents we can review America's unique way to chase democracy.

2. Research Background

Many famous scholars have already done considerable variety of study on America democracy's process, but not many focus on those important documents and regard them as the clue to study the democracy process of America. So I choose this special view to explore the historical and practical significance of these documents.

America was once a British Empire colony. Before colonists came, America was just a new land insulated from the whole world. So colonists' coming brought the land advanced mode of production, curious machines and so much unbelievable change. However, at the same time, those greedy colonists also took oppression, exploitation and enslavement to the beautiful land. Under these circumstances, American people kept struggling for democracy and freedom. Through the American War of Independence, they at last achieved independence and issued two documents called the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution as the symbol of their first step in establishing a democratic modern country. After that, the US was developing by leaps and bounds. But at that time the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution didn't been carried out in the whole country, for the existence of serf system in southern areas. For realizing extensive democracy and freedom, American Civil War broke out. At last bourgeoisie from the North won the war and abolish serf system. Until then, all obstacles in the way of materializing democracy have been clear away. As the representative of bourgeoisie, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address during the Civil War is also important for America's democracy.

The Declaration of Independence: On June 10, 1776, people in the North American colonies had finally defined the democracy and freedom, in the form of this document. Their representatives gathered and convened the Continental Congress, at which 13 states adopted the Declaration of Independence by consensus, declaring to the entire world that the United States of America was formally established.

The Declaration of Independence is a great political document. It is the first time in human history to propose the following principles, as a form of a political agenda. "We hold these truths to be [sacred and undeniable] self-evident, that all men are created equal and independent; that from that equal creation they derive in rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, and liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these ends, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

The US Constitution: As the first written constitution in the world, The US Constitution is the supreme law of the United States, laid the legal basis for the American political system. In May 1787, State Representative convened the Constituent Assembly held in Philadelphia. And on September 15, the Constituent Assembly adopted this constitution.

Constitution of the United States put Locke and Montesquieu' s separation of the three powers idea into practice. The Constitution, the U.S. government are composed by the legislative, executive and judicial branches. Each department has its own terms of reference, and there are no subordinate relations between them. However, they must be interdependent and mutual constraints. The powers of each department should be restricted by the other two so as to prevent the abuse of power.

Gettysburg Address: Gettysburg Address is the most famous speeches in America. On the November 19, 1863, a time after Battle Gettysburg ended, Lincoln delivered a speech at Gettysburg National Cemetery, in Pennsylvania, mourning for soldiers who died in the Battle. Lincoln appealed for resorting to the principle of equality supported by the Declaration of Independence and redefined this civil war. It is not just to fight for the Federal's