America’s 250th Anniversary, Part Four — America: A Model for Other Nations

Editor's note: This is the fourth in a five-part series of essays on American history by Uyless Black. 

Since its creation, America has been a model for much of the world. Countries that aspired to cast off centuries of repression from despotic rulers looked to the United States for inspiration and motivation. After all, if a country such as America could rid itself of authoritarians, so could they.

A large part of this admiration and emulation stemmed from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. And even more: America’s steadfast practice of the principles and laws cited in these documents.

We examine several countries that have used America, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to build and foster their own ideas of freedom from government and religious despots. They are examples among many.

Vietnam

After WWII and the withdrawal of the Japanese from Vietnam, the Vietnamese initiated what became known as the August Revolution (1945), one in which the Japanese withdrawal was celebrated, and the Vietnamese began fighting the occupying French. During this time, at a gathering in Ba Dinh square in Hanoi, the Vietnamese leader, Ho Chi Minh, read the country’s declaration of independence. Its first lines were taken from another declaration of independence, which was written 169 years earlier (1776) in Philadelphia, Pa.¹

All men are created equal. They are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among them are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

France

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) was the keystone to the French Revolution. It had a lasting impact on the nation, as it laid the foundation for France’s legal, social and political practices. The document does not contain the exact words of the Declaration, but it resonates with its ideals, stating among other things that “... men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on considerations of the common good.”

Like Locke and America’s Declaration, the French Declaration discarded the idea of the divine rights of the king, declaring the people were the rightful sovereigns. It undermined the long established privileges of the clergy. It also borrowed from the U.S. Constitution with its clauses dealing with the separation of powers.

Liberia

Liberia adopted the Liberian Declaration of Independence on July 26, 1847. This declaration proclaimed the Commonwealth of Liberia was an independent state, the Republic of Liberia.

Similar to the United States Declaration of Independence, the document declares “We recognize in all men certain inalienable rights; among these are life, liberty, and the right to acquire, possess, enjoy, and defend property.”

India

The Constitution of India (Nov. 26, 1949) opens with “We, the People of India …” Earlier, the Indian National Congress, in the 1930 Declaration of Purna Swaraj, used language similar to the wording in the Declaration of Independence. The Preamble and Fundamental Rights sections of the constitution reflect the American Declaration’s language, including “EQUALITY of status and of opportunity, and to promote among them all,” and “LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship ...”

Citing Other Documents

These countries may not state their founding documents are based on the American model. Then where did the clauses in their legal papers come from? The countries cited below did not create their declarations and constitutions from thin air. They came from documents written in the late 1700s by Americans, and those written in 1948 after WWII.

172 years after America’s 1776 founding, nations finally came together in 1948 to write a worldwide declaration, one that cited human rights as a natural part of life. Sound familiar? The next section explains why.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

Before we look at these examples, a discussion of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be helpful. Many of the declarations and constitutions that came about after WWII used UDHR as the guiding document.

The UDHR was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948 in Paris. The effort was chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt. It consists of 30 articles outlining fundamental human rights, affirming their universal, inalienable and inherent nature. The Declaration has been described as humanity’s Magna Carta, establishing a global standard for human rights and inspiring subsequent international treaties, regional instruments and national constitutions.² 

America’s Legacy

“The UDHR marked the first time in history that individual rights were explicitly defined and universally recognized, setting a foundation for modern human rights law.”³ It all started with the Enlightenment and America’s Declaration of Independence.

More than a Piece of Paper

Of course, it was not only America’s Declaration of Independence and Constitution that kick started a worldwide change in governance, leading to the enormous betterment of millions of people. This revolutionary boot strapping into freedom — heretofore absent from most of the human race — also came about because the United States backed its claims on paper with actions on land and sea.

America not only talked a good fight. Time and again, it fought the good fight to guard its freedom, as well as the freedom of countless others. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights owes its origin to America’s WWII leadership and America’s 172 years of acting as the world’s role model for freedom and liberty.

For over 250 years, while failing on occasion, the country has maintained a steady moral compass within and outside its borders. That, unto itself, has made America a role model for the world. The Declaration of Independence and Constitution have been the key ingredients to America’s freedom cake, providing vital icing to that cake, so to speak.

¹ Uyless Black, Fractured: How the Cold War Divided America Volume One (Coeur d’Alene, ID: IEI Press, 2023), 225.
² https://www.britannica.com/topic/Universal-Declaration-of-Human-Rights
³ https://www.bing.com/search?q=origin+of+Universal+Declaration+of+Human+Rights