Echoes of the Colonial Era in American Identity Essay
The American Identity during the 1700s was still very much in development. Prior to the American Revolution in the latter half of the century, the colonists for the most part considered themselves subjects of England and the British crown. They had a king, they had local governments in their territories with members who represented the crown, but their identity as citizens of an autonomous, independent nation was not nearly as full-fledged as it is today. The American Identity really came into being thanks to writings of individuals… Continue Reading...
Native Tribes and American Identity
It is reasonable to suggest that the United States would not exist in its current form without the contributions and influences of the millions of Native Americans who already lived here when the first colonists arrived. Not only did these early Native Americans teach the new European arrivals how to survive in the New World, in some cases they even freely supported them for years while they awaited assistance from Europe, all with no real expectation of being repaid in kind or turn. Without this assistance, the settlement… Continue Reading...
The Evolution of American Identity Through Literature
The diversity within the American experience, and as well within the canon of American literature, precludes the possibility of singling out two or even ten of the novels, poems, or short stories that best encapsulate what it means to be American. From the colonial and early national era and the fledgling formation of national identity through the struggles of emancipation from slavery and transcendentalism, onwards to the industrial and capitalist eras, American literature has provided an accurate reflection of the lives of individuals and communities that… Continue Reading...
construction. Through a careful editorializing and curating of historical documents, events, and places, historians contribute to the shaping of American identity, ideology, and culture. Revisiting the process of history making shows how historians and history educators can encourage critical thought, shifting away from the use of historiography as propaganda toward a discursive process. Historians can define and interpret evidence in different ways based on their own historical and cultural context, and the influences of prevailing social norms.
American history has long been a myth-making process, rather than a discursive exercise. Westad (2007), Dudziak (2004) and Manela all points out how the United States has cultivated and crafted an identity… Continue Reading...
their multiple identities or to move between their different social circles seamlessly. The only predictor of a stronger Muslim versus American identity was strong religiosity, which is understandable given the role of religion in shaping identity in general (Sirin, Bikmen, Mir, et al., 2008). Similarly, given the tendency for many American communities to promote secular values, a strong religious identity within a secular community might lead to the individual forming a stronger connection with their religion than with a secular American culture.
In another survey of Muslim-Americans aged 18 to 25 years old, Elashi, Mills & Grant (2009) found that "although some integrate their Muslim and American identities, about 40%… Continue Reading...
to identity. Identity has been a salient theme in American history partly because of the construction of American identity through the perpetuation of the American mythos. American identity has radically changed over time, reflecting alterations in social norms but also in shifting allegiances. Regionalism has also impacted differential identity patterns. Haomaolaoinen & Truett (2011), for example, show how borderlands actually share more in common with each other than their neighboring regions because borderlands are characterized by "cultural mixing," "situational identity" construction, "spatial mobility," and also "ambiguities of power," (p. 338). Because identity is closely linked with the social construction of power, discourse on identity in history is… Continue Reading...
members who opt into an African-American identity because their conception of race is realist-constructivist. The family members have bought into the "one drop" mentality that Mills discusses, a mentality that plays on racial binaries. And in spite of the lower social status conferred upon African-Americans throughout United States history, Ally's black-identifying family members embrace their heritage proudly even though they cannot necessarily pass as black.
Constructivism accounts for some of Ally's ontological status. In fact, the Ally story deftly illustrates the ways subjectivism differs from constructivism. Race is constructed both socially and personally. Even though… Continue Reading...
claim to nationalism is as legitimate as any other state.
Connections
How is American identity constructed, and what role does mythical nationalism play in American political culture?
References
Anand, D. (2000). (Re)imagining nationalism. Contemporary South Asia 9(3): 271-287. Continue Reading...
have changed in response to labor demands and economic forces, as well as shifts in American identity and social norms. Global forces have also shaped immigration patterns over the past hundred years. Anti-immigration sentiments have also strongly influenced immigration policies, with the most notable examples from a century ago being the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Nativist movement of the 1920s (Young 1). Similar Nativist sentiments bubbled to the surface during the Trump administration, clouding constructive discourse on the role and status of immigrants in the United States, and the fundamental functions of immigration policy.
Although the United States was always a settler… Continue Reading...
and later communism that echoed what would be a shifting Latin American identity. “The Cuban Revolution…broke from its capitalist moorings and charted a radical course towards socialism.”[footnoteRef:1] It is hard to overstate the significance as well as impact of the Cuban Revolution. After Fidel Castro’s rebel army collapsed Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship in January 1959, Cuba became an entirely socialized economy fully subsidized by the Soviet Union. “The Cuba revolutionaries carried the most sweeping land reforms in Latin American history, radically redistributing wealth, providing all Cubans with basic health care, education, and social services, and became an important inspiration and ally in… Continue Reading...
