A country could be "founded" on any idea it wants to be. That doesn't mean they actively promote the idea to their populace as a behavior for the populace to emulate. Only means they actively promote the IDEA to their populace to associate itself with. A "breaking" away from the Royal associations of Europe was sold as a movement towards "freedom". It was generally rather focused on freedom until after the Civil War. From then on it's been growth of the state at the expense of the growth of the individual.