The nation America is known to be the “land of the free”. Throughout history, there were many aspects that led to shape the country to how it is today. The recurring themes of America which are national identity, migration and settlement, and geography and the environment connect not only to the United States but also to my family. The first example of an American History theme is National Identity. For the longest time in America, the country struggled with its national identity. Society was very oppressive, and treated certain genders, races, classes, and ethnicities very cruel. Some were persecuted just for just being their identity. It all started on April 19, 1775. There was a war between the colonies and the British because the colonies …show more content…
President Jefferson believed that the nation’s future depended on its westward expansion. As a result, he purchased Louisiana for $15 million. This purchase nearly doubled the size of the United States. Soon by 1840, almost 7 million Americans migrated west. Some Americans migrated for hopes of getting land and being prosperous, the desire for access to natural and mineral resources. While others such as African Americans expanded west in order to escape Jim Crow laws. At this time period, many settlers believed in Manifest Destiny; the belief that settlers were destined to expand to the west. As a result, the United States added many large territories through the success of the Mexican-American War. As migrant populations increased, competition for land and resources caused violent conflicts among Native Americans, Mexicans, and Americans. For example, Native Americans homes and lands were taken against their will. As for my family, we migrated across the United States from Massachusetts to Minnesota. We moved from the East coast and settled into the Midwest. There were some environmental differences such as the climate. In the East coast, there was plenty of snow but the weather was never really cold. Massachusetts had a lot of beaches and rivers. However, in the Midwest, it is much colder as the temperature can drop to -35 degrees. It is very windy here and there are many
America: land of the free and home of the brave. Stretching from coast to coast, it’s a nation that claims liberty and justice for all – but what really makes America so great? Is it the astonishing skyline of New York City, a skyline that exemplifies all that we’ve accomplished? Is it the abundance of popular culture and fame produced in the shiny, dream-making city of Hollywood? Maybe it’s the way our ancestors victoriously conquered the fertile, prosperous land that once belonged to the now seemingly forgotten indigenous people.
The availability of inexpensive land in the American West provided opportunity for many Americans to fulfill the American dream of individualism, economic opportunity and personal freedom. Immigrants, former slaves and other settlers moved across the country to become western farmers and ranchers to make a new life. One of the reasons why the west was a land of opportunity for the farmers and ranchers was the large quantity of cheap available land. This allowed for many Americans, both rich and poor, to buy land for farming and raising cattle. The Homestead Act of 1862 aided the process. The Homestead Act gave title to 160 acres of federal land to farmers who staked a claim and lived on the land for five years. Alternatively, a farmer could buy the land after six months for $1.25 an acre. Many blacks and immigrants joined the westward expansion, looking for a better life. Immigrants saw the land as opportunity because many could not own land in the countries where they were born. For example, in Nebraska, a fourth of the population was foreign born. These immigrants transformed...
To begin with, the need Americans felt to expand west caused the government to seek more geographical territory and “Expansion westward seemed perfectly natural to many Americans in the mid-nineteenth century.”. The Louisiana purchase was one of the first expansions that made a big impact on the United States and initiated this movement. Events such as the Texas annexation and the Oregon Treaty of 1846 were parts of Manifest Destiny. These events expanded the national territory and encouraged people to settle further west, north, and south. Many of the treaties signed became controversial, but the governments' priority was for the nation to grow in size and importance.
Manifest Destiny was a religious belief that the Americans had the divine right, given by God, to expand west whilst converting or relocating anything in their way. Manifest Destiny-Is the underlying theme that is used to justify all the expansion west In 1803, The President Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory of Louisiana from the French government for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase spans from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to New Orleans, and it doubled the size of the United States. ‘To Jefferson, westward expansion was the key to the nation's health: He believed that a republic depended on an independent, virtuous citizenry for its survival, and that independence and virtue went hand in hand with land ownership, especially the ownership of small farms. (he writes "Those who labor in the earth…are the chosen people of God.")’ In order to provide enough land to sustain this ideal population of virtuous yeomen, the United States would have to continue to expand.
Cave, Damien. "What Does It Mean to Be American?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 2014. Web. 04 Sept. 2016.
What does it mean to be an American? To me, what it means to be American is to Pledge Allegiance to your country, to proudly boast that you live in a country that has a justification for existence, to be given opportunity. Although there are many definitions of what it means to be an American, does being an American really just mean being successful in society? The point of this essay is to describe the different meanings and my feelings of what it is to be “American”.
Americans decided to move westward because of the Mexican-American War. From this they won the territory of Texas from Mexico. Americans migrated to this part of the country for the perfect climate for cotton, a cash crop of its time. Finally, Americans moved west because they wanted new opportunities for their families and themselves. Americans would end an era for many Natives living in the West.
The acquisition of new land from the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 kickstarted the Westward Expansion, which was a period of time in the 1800s when people began to move westward in America. The size of the United States has doubled in size, giving a whole new world for people to explore and settle in. People began to move and settle westward for many different reasons, including the government’s desire to expand, great financial opportunities, and people’s belief in their God-given right to expand, which all ultimately affected the Native Americans. The U.S. government wanted to expand west, and President Polk believed they had the right to do so. “It is my duty to assert and maintain by all constitutional means the right of the United States
To be an American has a big picture that can be described in many ways. Personally, to be an American is to achieve everything; however, the person next to may have a different opinion about it. History, America has been attracting immigrants from different parts of the world to live the full freedom and opportunity. To be an American means much more than living in the United States is to be able to expand the beliefs ones have. That is why people view the American Dream. The American Dream is an idea on were a perfect freedom is given to all people no matter social group or race. Many people have a definition of their mind on what is an American Dream. American are viewed as a person who can do the unlimited things. People freedoms and discoveries
U.S. population was growing up in a fast pace; thus, the union was expanding to more and more territories – either “by purchase or negotiation or as a result of war” (Allard par. 4). As O’Sullivan put it forward, “it was ‘manifest,’ or evident that the United States was destined by God to spread its rule across the continent” (Allard par. 6). Many people embraced the new idea and the mission to occupy new lands, often with “an optimistic faith in human nature and progress toward a better society and the achievement of great dreams” (Allard par. 8). They believed American society, culture, and political institutions are superior to other nations (Allard par. 8); therefore, they’re bringing enlightenment. In order to gain new territory and bring progress, a huge numbers of Indians had to be moved out. However, as Phil Allard notes, “it was also accepted by many” in the name of Manifest Destiny (par. 9).
Mexican Americans has become one of the largest identities in the Unites States. The Mexican American identity has roots dating back to the beginning of the destruction of the Mexica in Mesoamerica, to colonial times of Nueva España, to period of U.S Manifest Destiny. The Mexican American Identity has been shaped with abuse, violence, loss of lives and the consequences of a single story and historical amnesia.
The United States as a country has always been an entity unique amongst the world’s myriad of nations: a conglomeration of cultures, ethnic groups and religious backgrounds from around the planet, all fused together to yield something entirely new. Since its very inception, those who dwell within its borders have attempted to ascertain the makeup of the American identity, in order to pin down how exactly one can come to be considered as an American themselves. This is inherently quite a subjective issue, but the conversation primarily boils down to three core factors that make the American people who they are: a dedication to preserving the natural rights of every human being, a belief in the importance of the individual in deciding their own
Do you know that the bacterium behind ulcers was discovered by accident? In 1982, two Australian doctors Barry Marshall and Robin Warren were trying to culture the bacteria but it was extremely difficult. When they wanted to culture the bacteria, they only waited the usual two days for each experiment. One day they accidently left some Petri dishes in the lab and went on the Easter holiday. After five days when they came back, growth of colonies on the Petri dishes were noticed. They were the first scientists who could culture the bacteria. Later, those bacteria were named Helicobacter pylori. This discovery helped in understanding ulcers. Marshall and Warren were awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize for their discovery of H. pylori. These bacteria are widespread worldwide. More than 50% of the world population is infected with H. pylori; although, not everyone who is infected with H. pylori suffer its symptoms. Because of its high prevalence, scholars are studying its spread trying to find how we get infected. About 30 years since the discovery of H. pylori and still different scholars are giving different hypotheses of the mechanism of H. pylori spread. By looking at the different suggested hypotheses of the mechanisms of spread, it becomes clear that they are related to culturally-specific habits because of the biological mechanisms of spread. This suggests that effective prevention will involve different mechanisms of public awareness and educational campaigns that challenge cultural beliefs, values, and practices.
In today’s society there are many words that are used or said without giving it complete thought. For example, the word “identity” is something to which I have never really given much thought or even considered how I identify myself.
American identity has been created by many events throughout the course of history. This country was founded on the clashing and mixing of many different cultures and lifestyles. One of the most important periods of time for this country was during the period of conflict between Americans and Native Americans over land rights. Americans had an idea of manifest destiny and that this land was theirs for the taking. The Americans were going to walk through anyone who opposed them in this quest for land. The treatment of the Indians during this time period was harsh, cruel, and violent to say the least. It is in this treatment that Americans came to view the Indians as a ?racialized other? and where race began to matter. This early thinking is what created our American identity which is based on race.