Do The Dutch Care?

In my American arrogance, I had always believed our country laid the unique framework for its political focus on liberty, justice, and equality from a unique balancing act of fundamental Judeo-Christian values, Greco-Roman values for the city-state, as well as the Enlightenment. We had drawn from ancient political ideals to create our distinctive system of religious tolerance, due process, and limited government that was unheard of in other parts of the world. The textbooks of today fail to mention a society with “American ideals” appearing before us.
The chapter titled “The Lawman” discusses the many components of the Dutch Republic’s ideology that appear remarkably similar to the American political ideals I conceived were our own. The town of Leiden was a sanctuary of religious freedom where “Brownists, Baptists, Walloons, Huguenots, Fifth Monarchy Men, and Ashkenazic Jews came … to live and worship” (95). The magistrates of the town voiced their openness to William Bradford and Pilgrims who had no choice but to escape discrimination in England, declaring the only requirement to live in the city was [honest behavior and submission to all laws]. Even the 1579 Dutch provincial de facto constitution guaranteed that “each person shall remain free, especially in his religion” (96). The Framers of the American Constitution believed religious diversity would strengthen the state, however, the common conception that they discovered this idea is incorrect.
In the Dutch Republic, the “age of the individual was at hand” and the “modern concept of a state as an independent political entity was coming into being” (98-99). Privacy became an unwritten right as the home redefined itself as a “personal, intimate space.” People even understood the strength of the people and the importance of the common man. One of Grotius’s followers, Piet van Cunaeus, established the idea that a “republican form of government was morally superior to a monarchy, and that enterprises like the West India Company enriched a wealthy few to the detriment of both the state and ordinary people” (100). These ideas molded the Dutch generation, but are also fundamental to American politics today.
These components imbedded in our political ideology have gained immeasurable amounts of exposure as America’s distinct values, while people ignore the Dutch history that clearly displayed these principles 200 years before. With the loss of this recognition and the lack of acknowledgement for their role in Manhattan’s growth, the Dutch surprise me. I wonder what is going on in their minds. Few Americans understand the role they have played in the physical and ideological foundation of our nation. Do the Dutch care?