Introduction
The investigation of American history serves an important role for the public purpose. Academic historians contribute their efforts for the people to remember the national origins and roots of the country we live in. The example of a colonial American setting being completely reconstructed is considered to be a global process of state reformation. People who are busy with the restoration of historical places and sites can disclose all the valuable details of American history. The major question stands the point whether America is an experiment; the deep understanding of the American past provides clearer imagination of modern values and the contemporary position of the country.
America as an Experiment
There is a tendency among historians and scientists to consider the peculiarities of American history concentrating on the so-called West civilization. According to Lewis Mumford “the settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe”. Nevertheless, historical facts of restoration and reconstruction development are far from those experienced by Europe stabilization. Modern American life realities and great European traditions presume only slight interconnection. The central issue has always been related to the level of connection between American intellectual and cultural heritage and that of Europeans. It should be stressed that the idea of discussion as to America being an experiment is closely connected with a vengeance of the present discourse. As it was stated by Ms. Finley who contributed to the process of program development aimed against the National Endowment for Arts:
We are as a nation collectively involved in a great experiment demanding our maturity to provide the necessary contribution… (Mc Clay,1998).
The next example regarding America to be an experiment was provided by Laurence Tribe, Harvard Law Professor. He stated that people should be wise enough not to provide prohibitions for national cloning. The experimentation of American culture is considered to be of vital importance; it was explained by the fact that the cloning prohibition can put a nation with a privileged natural behavior in a weak and doubtful position for the people experimenting with “genetic replication, child-rearing responsibilities, romantic commitment, etc.” Thus, the phenomenon of America as a great experiment should take place.
Nevertheless, the analysis of America as an experiment described above can be perceived as indefensible or even unthinkable. The experimentation process has a really positive influence on the national consciousness but is should be focused on other aspects of social existence. The multiculturalism extreme forms influence the transformation of American established standards. As a result, one cannot state that America is a fixed set of standards, beliefs, codes, laws, or institutions. Most critics and historians try to present the point of American experimentation as the central one in the state history investigation. The introduction of the notion “experiment” in connection with American history investigation was provided by Postman as an integral part of sophisticated national formation. As he underlined, the state of an experiment for America is one of the most important steps for individual liberty.
All the statements as to the experimental nature of America cause the establishment of one more central point concerning the way of life and position of the nation living in such experimental conditions. Can America be considered as the country of untraditional tradition or the state of constant formation…? To understand this point more deeply one should dive into the sense of the notion of “experiment” itself. Regarding the data provided by dictionaries, this term can be explained as the method of truth demonstration or attempts to disclose the efficacy of what had been previously untried. Taking into account these definitions one can come to a conclusion that the experiment is always aimed at reaching a certain goal, such as disclosure of truth or hypothesis confirmation. The experiment can be perceived as indispensable modern science care being a product of Western civilization. The central point of correct experiment fulfillment lies in careful and effective problem definition which is certainly directed at understanding, identification of objective and real nature laws rather than the process of this law transformation or even obliteration. Focusing on this meaning American nation has always been an outset experiment. Thus, Alexander Hamilton provided the same idea indirectly through no use of the phenomenon “experiment”:
“It seemed to have been reserved to the people of this country, but their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force.” (Mc Clay, 1998).
Such position was expressed in The Federalist paper and meant the presentation of active experiment conduction motivated by knowledge progress. Hamilton’s vision was taken into account in the first inaugural address by George Washington. It should be noted that Washington considered America to be an experiment stressing its practical side. According to his views, the identification of the experiment’s end lies in liberty preservation.
Certainly, America is constantly developing and experiences the process of adapting and changing all the time. It is a country of extraordinary possibilities. When America is called a land of “unfinished nation” it can be perceived as a form of frank and mild affirmation, a method of endorsing the enterprise that is far from its established professed ideals. One should concentrate on the issue of whether everything can really undergo an experiment and can experience a transformation process. A proper form of experiment demands certain object stability, the establishment of the principle purpose to achieve. The historian John Fonte expressed his view as to America as an experiment:
“a blank check to argue for the reinvention of the American nation-state from its origin as an experiment in self-government tempered by constitutional liberty, to a permanent cultural revolution” (Mc Clay,1998).
Such a position turns the concept of America as an experiment into Experimental America. T6here is a tendency to believe that people cannot live provisionally in the world; in other cases, humanity ends life before its beginning. William James, a skilled pragmatist, expressed his understanding of this point as follows, “people should make choice in order to live. No one was born to live in a vacuum; we have our specifically shaped obligations and duties. The universe is to be shaped by ourselves.” It should be noted that people have no ability to change the world before going to it, the same concerns the country changes and national transformations. Primal love of motherland usually constitutes spiritual and emotional resources being completely incompatible with the notion of America-as-experiment. It is important to stress that the process of experimentation cannot present an end; the concept is aimed at analytical touch disintegration. The experiment of America is meaningless as all other experiments until it is aimed at not experimental issues, for the sake of fundamental commitments, beliefs, and convictions introduced in the notion of “ordered liberty”. According to Frost, this process is connected with his term Gift Outright: “Such as we were, we gave ourselves outright”.
This outright gift is always given without qualification or reserve. Frost’s ideas are arguable because people have no such power of making themselves, but he managed to capture the important aspect of struggle presented in American history. It is a struggle of relationships between American nature and that of Western civilization. The notion of experiment in American history has two sides: first, it is a completely controlled and truth-seeking process covering the circumstances and conditions experienced by everyone and the power provided to impact our world. The analysis of the power referring to the American past should never be perceived as passivity, just the reverse.
Conclusion
So, the analysis of America as an experiment gave an opportunity to evaluate the level of cultural heritage and national consciousness experience the process of constant transformation. One should not perceive America as part of unformed Western civilization, but as an independent land being in a state of constant development and broadening. The experiment is presented as the kind of motivation for future actions for the purpose of result achievement aimed at the sake of national prosperity. The value of experiment in the life of America is considered to be significant due to its role in the formation of national beliefs, laws, freedom, and convictions.
References
Mc Clay, Wilfred. Is America an Experiment? The Public Interest. 1998.