What does it Mean to be an American

Introduction

Currently, the concept of what it means to be “American” is a complex, ever-changing entity that is influenced by historical, cultural, social, political, and institutional factors. Because the United States is a nation composed of people from all over the world with a diverse range of customs, traditions, religions, languages, beliefs, and ethnicities, understanding what it means to identify as American signifies so much more than simply just nationality or where someone is from. It replicates thoughts, ideas, and understandings of how the United States of America is perceived in the broader sense.

As people congregate in various parts of the world, making it a diverse region, monikers and titles are being used to describe how that area and its populace are understood, along with the types of people who reside there and their way of life. Thoughts and perspectives of America are building, which leads to a few vital questions that need to be unpacked: Do thoughts of America have a universal idea or have an impact on all its people? If so, what are a few of the stereotypes and generalizations about America and its citizens? Lastly, do the perceptions of America change depending on where they are in the world?

When looking at the notion of “American identity” or “Americanism,” it has been defined and perceived in various ways by people from different backgrounds, genealogies, races, civil standings, political affiliations, religious groupings, and regions. There are numerous social and political systems and mechanisms that are used in the making of what it means to be an American. Universally, it has been shown that there isn’t an “American identity,” but rather “identities” that are continuously being restructured and negotiated within a specific period and leaps, based on the general public, what’s happening around them, and what they believe concerning human nature. For simplicity's sake, in the current era, the terms and delving of “American identity” will be differentiated and separated into two bureaus. The first delving on the kinds of individuals who illustrated Americanism: not in terms of who belongs to America, but rather, who could one identify as an “American”? Secondly, delving on the rules, regulations, and laws in the United States: namely, policy and legal parameters.

Historical Perspectives on American Identity

The personal and collective identification as Americans has evolved throughout U.S. history. At the nation’s founding, settlers from England sought religious and economic freedoms largely at the expense of Native American populations. European and West African indentured and enslaved populations shared the colonial experience as the multicultural foundation of the country. During this time, what it meant to be “American” was rooted in a Judeo-Christian tradition and, later, a hard-working, politically engaged farmer. The Revolutionary War marked the beginnings of constructing the new national identity dedicated to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Civil War redefined the notion of belonging and national citizenship in order to protect the promise of the Declaration of Independence. Over time, American identity has been infused and changed by the arrival of new immigrants from every corner of the world, including those whose travels and/or forced removal occurred prior to America’s founding.

The evolution of what it means to be “American” is not straightforward. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, along with the words and actions of key historical figures, are indicative of the country’s awakening potential as a land of inclusivity and a beacon of hope. These documents and historical memories of civil rights movements have been used to frame and define a national identity dedicated to ensuring that America is the “shining city on a hill” or “the last, best hope of mankind.” Due to the existence of these competing narratives, individual and collective American identity has always been a pluralistic, dynamic narrative connected to the changing demographics and circumstances of a particular time. As such, both new arrivals and those who have been in the country for several generations would agree that the very idea of being “American” is subject to ongoing societal negotiation.

Cultural Aspects of American Identity

Americans have been preoccupied with defining who they are since colonization, and in the more than two centuries since independence, the people of the U.S. have repeatedly revisited and revised their ideas about what it means to belong to their country. In the 21st century, the multiplicity of forms American identity can take can be overwhelming, but consider only those forged by the physical, political, economic, and cultural experiences of Americans today and in the past, and you might see instead that there is a relatively coherent, predictable, and unified American identity couched in the habitus, the shared repertoire of ideas and practices that organizes daily life in the United States. Identity is complex and cannot be summarized by defining it exclusively as a biological given, an individualized psychology, or a pure social construction.

Cultures are also an aspect of American identity and may be studied in relation to other cultural aspects such as art, literature, music, and other traditions in the lives of the people. This reveals that much of this culture represents a shared value of the larger society. If there continues to be tension because some cultural aspects cater to specific marginalized groups—Native peoples, the deaf, the blind, Black Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, among others—ultimately, there continues to be a shared set of beliefs with which to negotiate the complexities of living among others who are different but who are also citizens or residents. In the past several years, American identity and the symbols by which it is expressed have continued to shape both domestic and international concerns in a rapidly changing world. Social and political anxiety over such rapidly evolving technologies as life extension and human cloning, new media, popular culture, and even official presidential personalities are among our most direct expressions of American identity.

Contemporary Debates and Challenges

The fundamental question 'Who is (or can be) an American?' has been part of U.S. sociopolitical discussions for many centuries as people from different geographic origins came to the land that has been called America. Since the 'discovery' of the Americas by Europeans, views and criteria pertaining to membership, or American identity, have been determined by social, political, and historical processes. Over time, notions of what being an 'American' should entail have shifted, and, if a stable core of this identity is posited, its associated content, values, and behaviors have been formalized, transformed, or posited variably. These debates have brought to light circumstances under which slavery and involuntary servitude have existed, civil rights have been denied, inequality has proliferated, and political power has been contested.

In a world today characterized as 'a small, diverse and globalized planet,' the more recent and rapidly changing circumstances of migration, transnationalism, and new social and economic inequalities are challenging assumptions about who 'belongs' and what it should mean to be an 'American.' These debates have rekindled discussions about the fundamental core of American identity, as well as the criteria and mechanisms by which it is stated, stabilized, and altered. Different points of view emerge, each calling on different boundaries that attempt to delimit the identity of America; examples include nationalist and anti-immigrant stances, feminist positions that support multiculturalism, LGBTQ and environmental movements demanding national rights. Current national and international sociopolitical debates have been about the U.S. election and British referendum; the rollbacks, questions, and new approaches of European Union politics; globalization; the critical analysis of U.S. midterm elections; and the Burqa ban in Switzerland. Tensions emerge between both explicit definitions and organizing themes and implicit images and complex phenomena of American identity. This interdisciplinary academic field draws from a number of complementary, yet distinct, sociological, historical, political, philosophical, legal, and global areas. These dynamic forces demonstrate the instability of understanding and negotiating 'Americanness' whereas the debate, dispute, and struggle over the meaning of American identity persists. To resolve these two sides will require contributions from education, however new and radical, and that factors can oppose the process of education and growth.

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