As Huntington said, Anglo-Protestant culture is founded in hard work and moralism. It is hard to deny the strong notions of Anglo-Protestant ideas in American culture. Americans are, despite the stereotype of being lazy, hard workers. Studies have shown that Americans not only have the longest work day, but they also, take the lest vacation days and retire late. Furthermore, Americans care about morals and the morals of their leaders in ways that other developed counties seem indifferent. According to pew research, more than half of Americans would be less likely to vote for an Atheist president, whereas, there are a number of Atheist leaders in Europe. It is clear how Anglo-Protestant ideas are strong in American culture. The American creed …show more content…
The answer is clearly no. It would not be the United States; it would be Quebec, Mexico, or Brazil.” However, American identity has been changing. Huntington explains that in the 20th century the American creed came under assault, “by the popularity in intellectual and political circles of the doctrines of multiculturalism and diversity; the rise of group identities based on race, ethnicity, and gender over national identity; the impact of transnational cultural diasporas; the expanding number of immigrants with dual nationalities and dual loyalties; and the growing salience for U.S,” creating “dual loyalty” and “transnational identities.” As Americans became more accepting to other cultures and dual identities we lost some of our patriotism. Huntington is right that, today the core of Anglo-Protestant culture still hold true, we are still a country of hard workers and we have strong morals and that our culture has been changing. There is a difference sense of Patriotism among liberals and the …show more content…
Mexican immigrants have not been assimilating. According to Huntington assimilation takes place when immigrants learn a native language, when they show signs of patriotism, and when they marry outside of their ethnicity. Because Mexican immigrant populations come in large and consistent flows, and lack diversity and dispersion they are less likely to assimilate. In the past immigrants came a number of different countries, whereas today the vast population of immigrants to the U.S come from Latin American counties and the vast population of these immigrants live together in the same area. Furthermore, immigrants in the past came to the US to become citizens, today immigrants come for work. Sometimes in the case of undocumented workers, immigrants come without even the possibility of becoming a citizen. Furthermore, Immigrants are not learning English. In a pew research studies show that only 21% of first generation Mexican immigrants can read English “very well”, two generations later only 80% could read English very well. This proves that Mexican immigrants are not assimilating through language, Huntington’s first step to assimilation. Huntington would argue that first generation literacy rates should be much hight than 21% if they are attempting to assimilate and third generation immigrants should at least be equal to native born children which is around 98% literacy. According to Huntington,
Moore investigates the attitudes, behavior, and perception of Americans regarding their respective individual sacred and secular lives. He is interested in the roles of popular culture and religion and in addition, how popular culture affected the shift in boundaries between sacredness and secularism, particularly how these practices shape American religion. We live in a complex society and social structure that is structured with norms and values that they themselves structure the way we interpret and interact with others.
New brands of distinctly American Christianity began developing early in the country’s history. Before the revolution, George Whitefield set the stage for American religious movements. The most important factor that helped launch these movements was the American Revolution. The country was ripe with conversation and action on a new understanding of freedom. The revolution “expanded the circle of people who considered themselves capable of thinking for themselves about issues of … equality, sovereignty, and representation” (6). The country was beginning to move toward an understanding of strength lying in the common people, and the people’s ability to make their own personal decisions on issues of leadership and authority. There was a common belief that class structure was the major societal problem. The revolution created the an open environment that pushed equality of the individual, allowing political and religious beliefs to flourish and grow without being held in check by authoritarian leaders.
Religion of the protestant church was an important factor in the pre-war timeline culture. The Second great awakening, which occurred in the 19th century, greatly impacted American society. This new point of view in terms and matters of faith led northerners to cherish the theory of Christian perfection, a theory that in fact was applied to society in an attempt to eliminate social imperfection. On the other hand, southerners reacted by cherishing a faith of personal piety, which focused mainly on a reading of the Bible; however, it expressed very little concern in addressing society’s problems.1
Gaustad, Edwin S. The Religious History of America: The Heart of the American Story from Colonial Times to Today. N.p.: HarperOne, 2004. Print.
Christianity’s role in America has rapidly changed over the last decades. Although it is still the most popular religion in the country its power over the people has decreased significantly. However, there are still many misconceptions towards American Christianity and in order to understand the unique nature of this religiously diverse country; one must understand its history and its citizens own views on the matter.
The fact that church involvement is voluntary also supports Lipset’s idea of Americans being very individualistic and therefore proves that giving citizens the freedom and choice for religion turns out in even greater religious participation. Once again proving that this individualistic ideology the nation is built upon helps to excel the country and makes it exceptional.
What is an American? After reading these two passages, I would have to say that we are a people that religion is not really a big thing.
Immigration has a great impact on first generation immigrants. Studies show that acculturation and assimilation have wide-ranging effects on the groups involved, but mostly on the immigrants' lives. There are positive and negative attributes. Attributes that are due to the issues associated with integrating cultures, and broadly related to the greater issue of immigration. The issues and discrimination towards first generation immigrants cause them to have limitations throughout their lifetime, in the country that they have moved to. Furthermore, the Hispanic and Latino community have lived through this problem for so long. They are always the group to be affected by it because they lose a sense of self and are never really accepted by the dominant or other group involved. This is a big issue that requires more attention and efforts to come up with a solution.
Eck, Diana L. A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Now Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001. Print
Meanwhile, multiculturalism in the United States has been part of their history, considering the fact that almost all its populations, including its founders are immigrants coming from different cultural backgrounds (Citrin, 2001). Due to globalization, there is no reason why other immigrants and new ethnic groups could have difficulty assimilating themselves into American life.
Mexicans are not the first group of immigrants to encounter assimilation problems. A newspaper argues assimilation for Mexicans is more successful than many other immigrant groups in the past. Tyler Cowen, a professor at George Washington University, explains that following Mexican immigrant families for 3 to 4 decades gives a clear, concise model explaining how well they are assimilating. The first members of the family to arrive on United States soil assimilate slowly, but each generation after becomes more American through language, salary, and even divorce rates. His article details how Mexicans are on a faster track to assimilate than the Italians, Irish, Polish etc… were in the early 1900’s. He mentions a study that measures variables including salaries, property ownership, family size, crime rate, and languages spoken. When comparing Cowen’s research with Sandra Cisneros’ novel The House On Mango Street many similarities arise including the generation gap between older and younger Mexicans. The study supports this essay’s claim that Esperanza is able to assimilate into the culture without losing her own self-identity or falling into the typical gender roles defined by tradition. The ability to assimilate is more than just speaking the language; assimilation is living comfortably amongst natives and immigrants without feeling targeted or segregated.
Immigrants leave their countries in search for a better life and improvement of their situation. There is no singular reason for immigration; motivations range from better economic prospects to political safety. As of late, the number of immigrants living in the United States is an estimated 11 million. Those who immigrate are expected to contribute to the United States culturally, politically, and economically. Yet, full assimilation becomes difficult to achieve when the immigrant is made into “the other” by the country of reception.
Introduction: Neither the resolve of patriots nor the labor of men freed Americans from the hands of tyranny. The fathers of this nation, as well as those who fought for her ability to prosper were united by their unwavering faith and trust in God. The future of this world lay heavily upon their shoulders, yet they carried the burden willingly for the duration of their lives and passed it down from generation to generation. As a result, a new nation was born and grew into one of the most powerful countries of the world. Although America began as a Christian nation, it has pulled away from the fundamental beliefs that held this nation together. Despite their ancient predecessor’s emphasis on faith and Christianity, the current government has taken a more secular path. The legality of abortion and the exclusion of religious references in public institutions are a couple of examples how morality has been corrupted within the government. Society itself also forsakes the religious path, twisting the concept of morality to fit the lifestyles they wish to lead. David Barton uses line graphs to demonstrate the decrease of morality since 1950. Violent behavior, the circulation of sexually transmitted diseases, and the birth rate for unwed girls, has drastically inclined while educational achievement and family stability have dropped at an accelerated rate (242). It is apparent through the government’s choices, the media, and the attitudes present in average society that Americans have drifted far away from the principles on which this country was founded. Without a genuine faith and trust in God, American society will continue to deteriorate until memories of a once great nation are all that remains.
This lack of education stems off of the majority of Mexican immigrants, when first coming into the United States, having an inability to speak the English language proficiently and to have a simple understanding of the idiosyncrasies of American English. According to the Pew Research Center, only __ have a high school diploma with __ having less than that (out of the ______ surveyed). This general lack of education is stunning when compared to the United States citizens as a whole (__) and is a major detriment when it comes to Mexican immigrants assimilating into society. The United States society has ever increasingly put a value on attaining education, from the public school system to the large amount of colleges throughout the country, and a general lack of education for the incoming immigrant class in an overly competitive private sector based off of education Mexican immigrants are greatly hampered in assimilating into that society without a high school diploma or a GED equivalent. While some will say that these immigrants are just immigrants and should have received that education back home, or that they should not receive it in the United States because they are not contributing enough to society to warrant it, that is simply not true. Documented Mexican immigrants pay taxes and while they did not receive an education back home that was not because they did not want a higher education. In Mexico corruption and poverty are high and there is no public school system so those who cannot afford to send their children or themselves to some form of higher education work so that they can support their families. Immigrants coming over from Mexico to the United States come because Mexico is full of political corruption and its people are impoverished with no real opportunity for upward mobility. The United States, from the lore is a land of opportunity, but
precedent to go by for a woman to be in power. So Henry wanted to