BIOGRAPHY OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

landed on the barren cost of Cape Cod in November 1620, were English peoplewho had first left England and gone to Holland for freedom of worship. Laterthey were joined by other dissenters who could not submit to the restrictionsplaced upon their religious beliefs by the English rulers of the time. These werethe forbears of the sturdy, religious-minded New Englanders who, two centurieslater, became the leaders of the intellectual and spiritual culture of America.Swami Vivekananda found among their descendants many of his loyal andenthusiastic followers.Both the Holy Bible and the philosophy of Locke influenced the Bill of Rightsand the American Constitution. Leaders imbued with the Christian ideal of theFatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men, penned the second paragraph ofthe Declaration of Independence, which clearly set forth its political philosophy,namely, the equality of men before God, the state, and society. Thomas Paine,one of the high priests of the American Revolution, was an uncompromising foeof tyranny, and an upholder of human freedom. The same passion for equality,freedom, justice, enduring peace, and righteousness was later to permeate theutterances of the great Lincoln.The political structure of America shows the sagacity and lofty idealism of herstatesmen, who built up the country after the War of Independence. The originalthirteen colonies, which had wrested freedom from England, gradually becamethe United States of America. The architects of the American Government mighthave created, following the imperialistic pattern of England, an AmericanEmpire, with the original thirteen states as a sort of mother country and the restas her colonies. But instead, the newly acquired territories received completeequality of status. It may also be mentioned that, with the exception of theMexican War of 1845, America has never started a war.Within a hundred years of her gaining independence, America showedunprecedented material prosperity. The country's vast hidden wealth wastapped by European immigrants, who brought with them not only the flavour ofan older civilization, but technical skill, indomitable courage, and the spirit ofadventure. Scientists and technologists flooded the country with new inventions.Steamboats, a network of railroads, and various mechanical appliances aided inthe creation of new wealth. Towns grew into cities. As big business concernsexpanded, workmen and mechanics formed protective organizations. Ambitionstirred everywhere, and men's very manners changed with the new haste andenergy that swept them on.Material prosperity was accompanied by a new awakening of men's minds andconsciousness. Jails were converted into penitentiary systems, based uponhumanitarian principles, and anti-slavery societies were inaugurated. Duringthe five years between 1850 and 1855 were published some of the greatest books