What does it Mean to be American

Introduction

Identity and what it means to be a "part of" or "not a part of" a specific group (like a country) is something that is often referred to in contemporary society. In the past, Americans' identities were a significant area of scholarly study, informing discussions of American history and culture, but these studies have fallen "in and out of favor" over time. The course will engage with many aspects of salient Anglo-American identities, including gender, religion, culture, race, and socio-economic status.

The purpose of this course, then, is a continued examination of American identity: it will reflect on the forces that came together to make the multi-layered edifice of educated American identity the structure that it was in the first half of the 20th century and how that identity has shifted in the sixty or so years since. To do this, we will investigate, through historical and literary texts, the multiple layers of American identity from the mid-1800s through and into the new millennium, focusing our investigations on the interplay of race, gender, religion, culture (broadly and specifically), education, and one's role in broader American society and later, the global society.

Definitions of American identity have, over time, remained consistent in a few broad categories. The concept is indeed broad and multifaceted, but it is centered on history, theology, the "Creed" or the "Declaration tradition", material culture, and popular culture. As an identity, we suggest that it starts in the very physical/material presentation of the first point of contact and the development of New England by the English colonists. There is a sense of reformer and rags to riches. As a result of this, you have the development of regional, national, and international identities. The final point on our working concept of American identity is, on its face, nationally specific. Every nation should have some kind of constitution, no matter how loosely regulated. The second point of continuation is that this national identity should be based on shared law (or sense of what is right) and human equality. You should also be able to dismiss labor under necessity as long as it preserves general liberty and develops moral sentiment. Given that this is a fairly shared opinion of intellectuals, this type of view where the limits are vague is a part of American political theory also because of the pragmatic response to change the name and you can prosecute thieves, fund one child prison, or develop industrial punishments. To suggest that Douglass was the first to say this is too focused on the person of Douglass. In conclusion, the Anglo-Saxon identity, or identity of liberal individualism, is of unique importance to American identity and is repeated constantly to explain Anglo-Saxon exceptionalism and to change policy again and again. American identity has, in some variation, had a long life and has been convenient for at least white, Anglo-Saxon Americans for at least a century.

Historical Perspectives on American Identity

The term “American identity” is an abstraction that can be observed as an evolving historical concept. American collective identity has been shaped by many historical events and figures over time. Keeping this assertion in mind, the first thing worth mentioning is that from the very beginning, that is, from the colonial roots, American identity was insular and, to some extent, oppressive. Due to the fact that the United States achieved independence in the last part of the 18th century, the process of imagining a new independent American identity was strongly connected to the process of nation building. The fact that the United States was the only place in the world that declared and gained its independence in the 18th century influenced how this ideal of a particular kind of born-in-the-USA American identity was understood.

Therefore, the way the colonials who began to inhabit the future United States defined themselves and those things that lay outside of an idealized American identity shifted and evolved over the centuries. The very idea of the United States, from the colonial period to the second decade of the 21st century, has always been defined against an “Other.” The identity of a people or a nation correlates in some form with the people and the place from which they come but also, sometimes, with an imagined future. In other words, this concept explains how an individual or a national identity is comprised of the histories and the stories that people invent to define themselves, as well as what they reject as being alien to their constructed identities.

Cultural Aspects of Being American

The cultural aspects that form part of many people's American identity often include basic things, such as American English as the predominant language, the cooking of hamburgers and fries or turkey on Thanksgiving, arts and music, or symbols, such as the American flag, apple pie, or a golden eagle. Quite a few Americans don't even realize how those aspects are inherently European, although they have undergone slight changes since they were introduced to this continent. There are a surprising number of regional varieties within the United States for what one would think were "standard" foods most Americans have once in a while.

But boring things like language and eating habits don't define people's feelings of who they are, or who they are in comparison to immigrants who have recently begun to call themselves American, and what their culture doesn't understand or consider worth much attention. Much culture throughout history is about defining how one person is different from another, whether it's just by what he or she wears, what activities or careers are worth pursuing, and if there's anything worth living for at all. This is thorny about American culture: the desire to be all-inclusive and finally say "Oh, go do what you want, none of us really mind!" yet quietly enforce different "standards" for different things.

Popular culture projects manage to proliferate both the self and the shared American identity. Any given person's involvement in sharing their thoughts, whether they are mainstream or unmainstream, places them on the edge of said culture with other people who feel the same way. Plus, if America has a "religion" per se, it is public emotion. This is why we live in a representative democracy: everyone is supposed to combine their experiences and votes to create a comfortable lifestyle for most of its citizens. Having a mixed identity of personal and public is important in America, as everyone equates their greatest aspirations or assets to the country itself.

Challenges to American Identity

American identity and American values are continually challenged, and at times assumed to be fictitious or non-existent. The study of identity is challenged by the real issues of globalization, migration, and multiculturalism, which reflect a dynamic, democratic society. The rise of the plural society and the fragmentation of American culture, as a result of cultural and historical backgrounds, all pose challenges to a unified, cohesive American identity. The process of self-identification is consequently a keenly contested terrain, characterized by ever-shifting historical conditions and uncontrollable developments. Polarization, both on the level of public discourse and private relations, poses a threat. Furthermore, contemporary American society is unsettled by conflicts over the very definition of what it means to be an American. The national identity is still registered in terms of 'European' as opposed to indigenous, Black, and Mexican cultures and values. Any group defined against or beyond a common racial and cultural history is thereby inhibited from being American in the same sense as White or intermarried Jews and Blacks. However, strongly conservative elements within American society view critical challenges issued against the national ideological identity as unworthy, self-defeating, nihilistic, disinterested in civilized debate, and an ideological project of the leftist elite media world. Political rhetoric shapes identity; it does not merely respond to its contingency and negotiation. Rather, every aspect and element in America is heavily politicized today as people struggle over what we have and who we are as a people. Internally, the defining issues are skewed towards the polarization of economic inequality, the right to access basic necessary facilities and job opportunities, and the artistic and political right of retribution and empowerment for what outsiders have done to 'me.'

Conclusion and Future Directions

Reflecting upon the full range of conclusions drawn from each section, several key insights emerge. In many cases, the identity characteristics that distinguish one generation from another are not universally valued or uniquely American. Attitudes about generations, race, national origin, religion, and other marks of identity have changed over time as people, or in many cases, their descendants have, in effect, become more like what was seen as different in the past. Over time, the United States has been involved in contentious conflicts within its borders, fought wars, and expanded its borders (not always peacefully). It is through and in the wake of these experiences that Americans develop and define who they are. The nature of New World contact, in which existing identities were changed through the course of great transformation, often violently so, still marks the Americas and the way in which people of these lands define themselves.

So too have traditional divisions between 'American' and other identities changed over time. To invoke any singular characteristic to define all Americans is impossible given the multicultural nature of America, with multiple, often conflicting, answers applicable. Perhaps nowhere is this more relevant to the topic at hand than in consideration of the varying impacts of globalization. Although many individuals express concerns about the ways in which globalization homogenizes cultures, in practice we have seen that, as not all participants benefit equally from such changes, the ways in which people define themselves have become more, not less, diverse. As the salience of national citizenship wanes in a world where national boundaries are less relevant, emphasis on personal characteristics or unique subculture markers becomes proportionally more important. As the world of 1968 becomes more the world of 2018, these tensions and resulting redefinitions give us opportunities to think critically about who we are and who we should strive to be. Given both our history and the current fractious confusion that dominates much of our national conversation, there remains work to do and many conversations to hold about who we are as Americans. In a world where our neighbors are people who live in constant tension between providing for their families and finding safety, a discussion of American identity that involves listening to refugee Americans has the potential for unifying us in a strengthened identity that our progeny will see for the beauty and healing through which it arises.

Where is this going?

We have only begun to imagine where discussions of American identity will take us in the future. We see that outstanding questions focus heavily on the past and how the recorded history of our country has affected and continues to affect our communities. A next direction involves how we can reach the level of specificity for local communities while ensuring well-rounded reflection on key concepts and ideas at every level. To get us there will require the good faith participation of coalitions, government entities, community organizations, and schools, as participation in the stories of our communities is necessary to realize the roots of our common social bonds. At all levels we seek the place of, if not agreement, affirmation of diversity and the value of being together. Yet the biggest challenge establishes how to truly educate future citizens about all of this after we’ve codified the essentials of inclusion and shared identity.

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