To: LS
1) a Christian, mostly Protestant religious heritage; 2) a heritage of common law; 3) a free market; and 4) private property with titles and deeds. While #3 did not come along arguably until the nation was well-founded, the other three were at work in American colonial history as nowhere else in the world, not even England.
Those 4 things are hardly unique to the United States. The UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand all have them. Most Germanic and Scandinavian nations have 1, 3 and 4 (but not 2; they’re civil law). So that’s hardly exceptional. And while we don’t want AP history to sound like something written by Bill Ayres, we don’t want it to be Soviet-style “history” that omits all the bad stuff and only includes the good.
2 posted on
08/03/2015 7:37:01 AM PDT by
Bluewater2015
(There are no coincidences)
To: Bluewater2015
No. None of these countries had a truly "Protestant" religion from their origin (Anglicanism is not really a protesting religion---it is Catholicism accomodating Henry's divorce.) So England, Canada, Australia, and NZ don't fit. Yes, Scandinavian countries do---but as you correctly point out, they don't have common law.
England did NOT have "common law" in terms of true 'bottom-up' governance until the Glorious Revolution of 1688. So, in fact, we are the only nation to have all four of these from the outset. And if you'd read "A Patriot's History of the United States," you'd know that the last part of your comment isn't relevant.
3 posted on
08/03/2015 7:51:57 AM PDT by
LS
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