For example, many people think America is an individualist society while Japan is a collectivist society, but the cause for the differing social attitudes is often overlooked. In the early history of the United States, the ability to operate independently increased desire to separate from the control of a distant government and social political conflict. Thus through several violent confrontations and colonial uprisings, America gained full independence through the American Revolutionary War and began a new government with the Constitution. Since the neighbors of the U.S., Mexico and Canada were developing during the same era and relatively new, there was no intense aggression or competition between them for political dominance or resources. The large land mass of America allowed pioneers with a strong of independence to flourish. Large amounts of land and resources required less need to immediately resolve social conflicts, since there was plenty of space to move elsewhere. In addition, the colonies allied together during the Revolutionary War and maintained sovereignty even after unification as a republic in the Constitution. Thus the value of individual freedom became evident as America’s lesson as a former colony and remains a core value to many Americans today. In comparison, the Japanese islands were originally ruled by powerful clans divided into regional kingdoms. This period ended when Oda Nobunaga, a military leader from the powerful Oda clan, unified Japan by sudden force which led to the formation of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the start of modernizing Japan under strong militaristic governments before World War II.
