The Therapy of Distance Prcis essays

The Therapy of Distance Prcis essays One of the biggest arguments in United States history is how American people came to be known as Americans, rather than being just Europeans in a new location. Daniel J. Boorstin, author of The Therapy of Distance offers us an explanation of how the whole process of Americanization began and was maintained in what is now the United States; Boorstin presents a reader with his idea that the reason why America was able to develop such a unique society from its mother country of England was because of how isolated it was, separated from Europe by 3000 miles of water. He goes on to support his argument by providing different examples of North American society and comparing them with English society, with everything from the governments to the military and even medical matters. He provides a good argument, and it is very hard to argue against it. From the very beginning, colonists were starting to stray from the charters given to them by the British crown, increasingly apparent with the classic story of the pilgrims and the Mayflower Compact. Originally set to land around the mouth of the Hudson, they ended up having to come to land in the Cape Cod area, well outside of the extent of English control at the time, and therefore were able to start their own government that fit their needs. Because of this, Boorstin says, they were able to set an example for other future colonies by writing up the Mayflower Compact, a document that proved more useful to them than anything the crown could ever have sent with them, mainly because it was written on location and instead of being based on theology, was based on need at the time. It essentially laid a framework for other important documents created in the United States, such as the Constitution. Going along with this is the fact that early Americans were able to develop their own pol itical system that combined ideas from various other countries at the time, not just adopt a...