American individualism

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I. Introduction

Individualism, which has various explanations in the British Encyclopedia, is a moral, political, and social philosophy, emphasizing individual liberty, the primary importance of the individual and the “Personal Independence.”（Zhang 2003:150） “Individualism is the core of the American culture. It focuses on the satisfaction of one’s own desire and interests through self-reliance. The word individualism was first promoted by the French political reviewer Alexis de Tocqueville in his classical book Democracy in America published in 1835.”(Zhu 1999: 225)

The thesis pays attention to the development of American individualism , which is viewed as the core value among all of American social values. It begins with the definition and origin of Amercian individualism , with the purpose of having a initial concept of individualism.At the same time, in order to have a deep and comprehensive understanding of American individualism , the thesis further introduces it by means of demostrating some historical events in different stages.



II. The Definition and origin of American individualism

2.1 The definition of American individualism

During the past decade, sociologists have got a general idea about American’s concept of value, such as the right of private processions, personal independence, equal opportunity, self-reliance, advocating reality, religious tolerance, etc.

In the 1960s, American famous sociologist Robin Williams and Arthur Albert concluded a general concept which had been accepted widely by the public. In their opinions, there was something very important for people to keep their eyes on:

(1) Freedom (2) Democracy

(3) Equality, that is to say, American people believe that the social relationship in the United States is horizontal, not vertical.

(4) They play high value on personality but not the common responsibility to the collective.

(5) Individual independence



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(6) Their aims of life are looking for success especially the success on wealth, money, or other materials.

(7) They advocate efficiency and reality. (8) They are fond of the changeable lifestyle.

All the items above are the general ideas about the most important social values of Americans concluded by their own. Although each item can be explained relatively, but as a unity, each has tight link with another. Among all the items, we can easily found that individualism is the most basic factor.

In American’s social values, Equal opportunity and personal freedom are the basic foundation for every member of the society to achieve their self-fulfillment. And liberty and equality have the tightest link with Individualism, so Individualism is viewed as the basic social value for American people. In Habits of the Heart the author Robert Bellah, Richard Madsen pointed out that Individualism was the core of American value. Americans believed in personal dignity and the sacred rights which were inviolable. (Chen Ben, 2002: P27)

The value system of individualism is mainly seen in the following fields: individual is the center and core of all values; society is the means to the realization of personal goals in which individual is the only purpose; morally speaking, all men are created equal and each person is entitled to free choice of life style. Since the birth of individualism, it has been influencing American society and has penetrated into every aspects of American life.

Individualists considered that the function of a nation was to supply service for individual development. The aim of the activities of human beings was self-interests even sometimes this self-centered system developed into egoism. Individualists advocated that one should live by his or her own lifestyle and it is one’s personal rights to live without the correspondence to the conformity.

There are obviously different explanations in the Catholic Encyclopedia: Individualism is not the opposite of socialism, except in a very general and incomplete way. Individualism is scarcely a principle for it exhibits too many degrees, and it is too general to be called a theory or a doctrine. It means that the individual conscience or the



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individual reason is not merely the decisive subjective rule; rather it has no objective authority or standard which is bound to take into account. (Wang, 1997: 193)

In the Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary, it is obvious that individualism has no direct opposition to collectivism.

In general, individualism is a kind of concept of value and ideological system, as an outcome of western capitalism, together with self-interest and satisfaction. It emphasizes the initiative to satisfy and carry out personal desire and requests. Its core is to see personal value high above everything, putting personal desire above the interest of nation, collective and other people. For the sake of personal benefits, individualists do not hesitate to injure society, collective and others’ benefits.

As expounded in Tocqueville’s book Democracy in America, Individualism has three meanings:

Firstly, Individualism, as an aim of values, emphasizes on oneself is the aim of one’s words and behaviors. “Self” has the most important value and the society is only the method to realize “self”.

Secondly, as a thought of political democracy, individualism opposes any intervention from authority, nation, collective or individuals. It put high value on the slogan of “free government” which leads to the spread of anarchism.

Thirdly, as a thought of economy and possession system, individualism advocates sustaining private system of possessions.

2.2 The origin of American individualism

The origin of American individualism can be traced back to the beginning years of its history, when first American immigrants came to the North American continent looking for better life and shaking off the yoke of European feudal tradition and the oppression from all kinds of powerful classes. It is determined that elements of anti-yoke and searching for freedom should be the American people’s character. This was the original explanation of American individualism. Those early immigrants who came to this continent in order to escape from all kinds of suppression on the European continent planted the seeds of equality and free thoughts. After that immigrants in every section of American history took these two principles as their common goal. It is no



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exaggeration to say that the 300 years of American history was the process of redefining the equality and freedom. And these two aspects have the tightest link with Individualism.

Individualists thought for themselves, judged for themselves and made decisions for themselves. They lived by their own lifestyles. Anything violating these rights could be considered morally wrong and a blasphemy again the God. They considered that Egoism was a kind of concept that one only thinks about himself with crazy love for himself in front of everything. But Individualism, as they advocated, was a kind of calm feeling that made every independent citizen live above others and live together with their families or friends who agreed with them where the small community came from. Egoism was extreme individualism.

In American society, different people have different understanding of Individualism. Most American believed that it is self-reliance, self-improvement, self-expression, the forces to personal success and social development. Benjamin Franklin was the successful representative of Individualism in the early American history. Benjamin Franklin who was born very poor, gained his success through his hard working which was considered the only way to wealth at that time.

By freedom, American mean the desire and the right of all individuals to control their own destiny without interference from the government, a ruling noble class, the church, or any other organized authority .The desire to be free of controls was a basic value of the new nation in 1776, and it has free of controls was a immigrants to this country.

III. The development of Individualism

3.1 The development and demonstration of Individualism

Individualism has changed a lot along with the American history, but the core of this value is always the same. People uphold freedom, equality, do what they like without any other’s interference. At the same time, these details just were the pith of American character.

Concerning this, what American people are always proud of is the Declaration of



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Independence: “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”( Mei, 2002: 503)

Thus the Declaration of Independence is taken as the embodiment of the eighteenth-century regard for the interests of the individual. Taking as unquestionably “Self-evident” the idea that “all men are created equal” (Mei , 2002: 503), the Declaration of Independence made the rights and potential of the individual the cornerstone of American values. The fact that these lines from the Declaration of Independence are among the most quoted in all of American letters testifies to the power of this commitment to individual freedom in American culture.

The second continental congress affirmed the Declaration’s privileging of the individual by making the signing of the document an important occasion. That is, by using the representatives’ signatures as the means of validating this public document, they attested to the importance of individual identity and individual consent to government. These famously large signatures are thus the graphic emblems of the revolutionaries’ commitment to individualism. “Of course, the Declaration of Independence conspicuously left out women and did not even seem to include all men”. (Zhang , 2003: 243). When America achieved independence, many individuals found that their rights to liberty were not considered self-evident. For African American slaves, Native Indian Americans, and many others, the New Nation’s commitment to individual rights was mere rhetoric rather than reality.

But even though slavery and systematic inequality were an inescapable reality for many Americans, the nation embraced the myth of the “self-man” as representative of its national character. According to this myth, America’s protection of individual freedom enabled anyone, no matter how humble his beginnings, to triumph trough hard work and talent.

One of the earliest and most influential expressions of this version of the “American Dream” is Benjamin Franklin’s narrative of his own rise from modest beginning to a position of influence and wealth. It is not excessive to say that the earliest embodiment of American Individualism was Franklin. He promoted the notion



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of “God helps those who help themselves” (Jiang, 2004: 183). He not only said so but also act like this. Franklin self-consciously uses the autobiographical form to foreground his narrative self-construction as an ideal American citizen. Franklin’s conception of self thus hinges on the idea that the individual is the author of his own life and destiny, with full power to construct as what he wills. His American Individualism had become a popular commodity. President Abraham Lincoln expressed this belief in the 1860s when he said, we---wish to allow the humblest man an equal chance to got rid with everybody else. When one starts poor, as most do in the race of life, free society is such that he knows he can better his condition: he knows that there is no fixed condition of labor for his whole life.

This division of government power is based on the belief that if any one part or brand of government has all, or even most of the power, it will become a threat to the freedom of individual citizens. Americans believe they should take care of themselves, solve their won problems, and “stand on their own two feet.” Tocqeville observed the Americans belief in self-reliance in the 1830s: They acquire the habit of always considering themselves as standing alone, and they are apt to imagine that their whole destiny is in their own hands.

While the frontier idealized the mugged individual as the great American hero, it also respected the encourage a spirit of inventiveness. Frontier men and women not only had to provide most their daily life essentials demanded new solutions. Under these circumstances, they soon learned to experiment with new ways of doing things. “American Westward Movement and life in the border area promoted greatly to the development of American Individualism, therefore, some people believed that Individualism was actually a certain kind of cultural heritage of frontier life.” The American famous historian Frederick J. Turner held that the vast land in the west area had endowed American people a deeply understanding of freedom. It can be easily found in American history of Westward Movement that those pioneers tried their best to contribute their hometown, set up many school buildings and search for a better life for their families. They would fight for their liberty and freedom willingly and gladly with the oppression against all the intervention by foreign nations once they realized the



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value of liberty.

It was this sense of freedom the first innovation entrusted by the west life to the Individualism. On the other hand, American pioneers lost their comfortable life when they were trying to break away from the fetters of the old social order caused by the civilized society. Hence, they had to live by themselves with their independent spirit of pioneering which was considered the second innovation entrusted cultivation, individualism emphasized the concept of bountiful freedom and independence of people’s living by their own lifestyles.

At the same time, individualism also meant self-reliance, independence, and responsibility. Hence, people became more active in fighting for their rights and interests. They formed various interests groups to force the government to adopt policies they like.

With the achievement of American industrialization during the early years of 20th century, people gradually understood that the development of society and economy added new interpretations to Individualism. During this period, American people believed in free competition and advocated that the government with was voted by the public should not intervene in economy but left individual to hold their own destiny in the fierce competition through their own capacity and intellect, diligent and progress. Competition protects the freedom of the individual by ensuring that there is no monopoly of power. In contrast to one all-powerful government, many businesses compete against each other for profits. This concept really promoted greatly to the economic growth during this period but at the same time, brought the large-scale monopoly of occupations and capital, which means that a large number of small enterprises would be in face of the survival crisis. Therefore, in the last years of Industrialization, Roosevelt government executed the New Deal in order to sustain the rational interference in the Nation’s economy, and spend most of their efforts to create equal opportunity for every economic unity with the aim of realizing the recovery of original free competition. The conception of individualism in this term seemed very sophisticated.

The American people’s belief in Individualism was as old as the nation. But prior to



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the 1960s, American individualism focused mainly on the political domain----freedom to speak their minds, to pursue their own religious beliefs, to live where they choose to live. In the 1950s, America was a nation of political individualists but social conformities. The 1960s ushered in a racial extension of individualism, broadening it from the political domain to personal life styles. The 1960s could be considered as the dividing line of the development of American individualism. The Declaration of Independence also made it clear that government is instituted for the purpose of protecting the citizen’s rights. If a government failed to do that, the people had the right to abolish it. So Americans firmly believed that each individual could pursue his or her happiness with limited interference from the government( Zhu, 1999: 367).

In the 1960s, individualism developed to a new stage where restrains on individual intuitions and feelings were greatly reduced by the various rights revolutions such as the Civil Rights movement, the women’s movement, the youth movement and the sexual revolution. All these movements succeeded in breaking down the traditional value system about sex and family and attributed a lot to the expansion of individualism. For the youth generation, self-fulfillment and self-expression became very important. As a result, they joined the Civil Rights Movement to break down the racial segregation, rebelled against authority, experimented with drugs and indulged in free competition. On the aspect of education, American schools tend to put more emphasis on developing critical –thing skills then they do on acquiring quantities of facts. American students are encouraged to ask questions, think for themselves, and express their freedom and self-reliance. The goal of the American education system is to tend children how to learn and to help them reach their maximum potential.

3.2 The comparison between American individualism and collectivism When talking about Individualism and collectivism, it is necessary to pay attention to the sharp difference and similarity which always mistaken by people outside the United States even themselves .In the anarchist movement, which hinder discussion if the ideas of individual freedom, many collectivists anarchists treated them as greedy capitalists who simply wish to get the government off their backs so they can rob the helpless workers more easily. Additionally they are often viewed as uncaring about the



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problems of anyone other than themselves, and totally opposed to cooperation between people.

“Individualists feel that the way to maximize human freedom and happiness is by abolishing not just the state, but all other involuntary relationships and organization as well”.( Jiang, 2004：p.381)Although some individuals respect mandatory participation in any organization or society, they are not opposed to cooperation among the individuals to better satisfy their desires and needs. Some oppose the welfare state and support private property, but encourage interested people to voluntarily help others in need of assistance. And, while they oppose any restrictions on voluntarily economic activates, they are opposed to the theft of the labor of others, which is called profit. They feel that people’s desires can be fulfilled, and a just society can be realized, without the oversight of either the state or the community.

The individuality view of the person is quite aileron from that of the collectivists. The individualists view people as responsible agents who even in present day , unjust society has to take at least partial responsibility for the situations in which they find themselves, and therefore are capable of changing their situation, at least in part. Though gradual and often small changes in the way people think and lead their lives today, and through a continual expansion in the number of people adopting a libertarian outlook, government can be abolished and the world changed to a free one.

“Collectivists on the other hand, often seem to view people as perpetual victims of an evil social system, which strips them of the ability to make choices and therefore frees them of all responsibility for their lives and problems”. （Zhou , 2004: 10）This view of people leads to an elitist attitude towards people and their problems. Collectivists often end up in the position of regarding people as ignorant and immature, and therefore in need of protection from themselves and others by antiqued regulation and laws.

Because of their different outlook on people, individualists look at people’s problems and their solutions in a vastly different way. The primary idea in individualist thought is that the individual person should be free to do whatever they wish with their body at property, provided it does not interfere with the equal freedom of other



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non-invasive or non-courage persons. Additionally, individualists support the freedom of people to engage in whatever activities they wish with other absenting persons in all spheres of human interaction. People should be free to choose any kind of economic, sexual medical or any other sort of relationship with any person who consents to it.

Because individualists emphasize freedom over all other values, they are also more willing to tolerate some degree of inequality between people than collectivists. A voluntary society would offer all people essentially unlimited opportunities to make a life for themselves in any way they wish, but because of differences between people and their desires, it is likely that some people would end up with more possessions than others, healthier than others, or happier than others. However in the absence of a state enforces the privileges of monopolies through restrictions on access to credit and entry into the market place, the wide discrepancies in wealth, and the consequent exist. People need different things and there is no reason to think that absolute economic equality is necessary for a just society.

Individualism and collectivism are the social values seemed contradictory in the period of industrialization in the United States. After being analyzed exactly, it is not the true. Because American collective cooperation does not mean one must comply with the interest of the collective at the cost of sacrificing the interest of oneself doesn’t mean individual must mix into the collective under any circumstance. On the contrary, one just try to realize one’s own interest by means of collective cooperation and rely on the force of the collective. This kind of collectivism was basically the server for realization of one’s personal value.

With the clipping development of capitalistic industry and the initiation of large-scale social organizations, the key factor to success was no longer the personal fighting by one’s own force but the collective unity. Under this historic circumstance, varieties of theories about organizing society and its producing according to the principle of cooperation came to the historic stage. Accordingly, the definition and intension of Individualism has been shifted from the notion lurching on individual to the notion of collective individualism. It avoids much of the confusion produced by the word collectivism, while at the same time being terminologically similar to it. In this



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term, people’s character and creativeness was required to correspond to the will of collective. Adding “collective” before “Individualism” did not mean that “Individualism” was defeated or replaced by collectivism. In American’s eyes collectivism also focused on individual’s importance and praised highly the individual’s spirit of creativity. It was the only difference that collectivism required that individual’s value should be reflected by participating in social or collective activities. Because the final aim of involving oneself in social activities and cooperation with others is to attain one’s own goal or satisfy one’s desire. Once the expectation failed, one would get out of this collective to search for another in which he could achieve his goal.



IV. Conclusion

Individualism, as many other social values, has its merits and demerits. It is unjust to ignore its constructiveness to American nation and the development of its economy and politics during the American history. Once the slogan “Freedom, Equality” became the special force encouraging the American people to strive for their happiness, Individualism supplied American people with the opportunity to enjoy their life and ensure the nation’s success.

Unfortunately, Individualism has brought many social problems since it came into being. Although Individualism brought America prosperous and developed society, it will turn to egoism if people let it be. Those people who advocate egoism treat themselves as the center of the world and turn a blind eye to the moral norms and ethical concepts have made much destruction to the society. After World War II, Americans no longer praised highly the hardworking and thrifty like puritans, but began to think highly of the material enjoyment and satisfaction of desire. Their leading thought transformed from self-control and restriction to intoxicating with self-satisfaction and self-expression.

In order to get a rational understanding of American Individualism in different time, one should have a profound knowledge of certain background at that time.

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