Abraham Lincoln's Perception Of Class

James W. Loewen, essay “The Land of Opportunity,” discusses how many times Americans don’t know about social classes and the effects they have on society. Loewen argues that the common American people aren’t given equal opportunity in this day in age. He says that American history books have great influenced what we see about the class system because a great deal of history is often left out.

Last class we watched an informative documentary named “People like Us, Social Class in America”. America is known to be a country defined by class. Throughout the movie it showed different opinions on what class was based on by different people and the answers varied from looks, house size, career choice, race, manners, upbringing, and education. As we move through life, most times we remove ourselves from different people not in our class to then live amongst those who share similar backgrounds and who we are most comfortable with. As stated, “if there is class, there is an inequality one cannot explain and it perpetuates itself”. Revealing class can expose hope, fears, prejudice and a myriad of different emotions that we may not all be comfortable speaking about. I feel as if part two and part three were most applicable to myself because they are something that I have experienced both directly and indirectly.

In reality class always matters and it shapes our interests in life. We all come from different background and ethnicity. I believe that class is shaped mainly by income and occupation. However, many people think if a person is wealthy, therefore, he belongs in the upper class. But there are other factors that define class and it is more than just how much money you have. It can be the network of people that surrounds, traditions, and academic status that can also define class. Many of it has to do in which family you have been born and network that creates it. All of my family members have been born and raised in Russia; they completed universities, got jobs, and had enough income to support a family. “Each of us is born into a family with a particular class identity and class history—sometimes it is a mixed or hybrid identity—but almost always it is part of a network of other relationships—to other families in a community, to work and jobs, and to institutions” (Zandy 112).

In the U.S there are several different methods used to categorize Americans. One of those methods is class. Class is defined as, the system of ordering a society in which people are divided into sets based on perceived social or economic status. Class matters because whatever class we are a part of affects the education we receive, Marriage, parenting and even the areas we get to live in.

The concept of social class has been around for ages and is still a part of today’s society. Social class is not only based on the individual’s wealth but also on their social standing such as; monarchs, priests, nobles, merchants, and peasant class. The peasant class was practically ignored, which means that the higher classes would only pay attention to each other. This can be the case in society today, there are some people who feel that their career makes them higher than a janitor. Even though humans have been around for centuries, social class is still a big issue.

Society is set up into a hierarchical triangle that essentially determines social class. A social class is any person or group of people with the same educational, social or economical status. Social class can be broken down into many different categories such as race, age, gender, economic status, educational status and many more. Social class can be measured in many different ways such as financial status, family values, appearance, and demeanor. In America there are six main economical social classes which are the: Very poor, Poor, Working class, Middle class, Upper middle class, and the ruling class.

A more recent myth that has developed is the theory that Abraham Lincoln was homosexual. This myth came to light in 1999 when Larry Kramer, the founding member of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, made the statement that Lincoln was homosexual and backed up his statement with diary excerpts from Lincoln’s bunkmate’s Diary. The excerpts read: He often kisses me when I tease him, often to shut me up… He would grab me in his long arms and hug and hug… our Abe is like a school girl” (Steers 126). Kramer also made a claim stating that John Wilkes Booth may have killed Lincoln because Booth was “virulently homophobic” (Steers 125). The theory that Lincoln was gay was taken even further when Dr. C.A. Tripp, Ph.D. released his book titled The Intimate

Social class describes the different "layers" that exist in society. These "layers," or classes in society, are a division that civilization has been running on ever since the beginning of mankind. In most modern societies, our system of social class division is one of opportunity. We experience a good deal of social mobility, where people through generations or in their own lifetime can move up or down the social scale. By examining the many different perceptions of social class along with S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, it is illustrated that social class has an impact on people while they are growing up, and will usually deny them from rising above adversity.

Looking at this in an Australian context, there is a larger variation and fluctuation between class determinations compared to Karl Marx who believed social class was only determined by the factor of property (Henslin and Possami-Inesedy 2014). Analysing

2. Given this outstanding success, why did the internationalization thrust of the late 1980s and early 1990s fail?

The existence of classes between people is lamentable, but it does exist, and it sews discord between them. Perhaps the

Every person can be identified as rich or poor regardless of their other status be it in terms of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or age. The author explained even in the most predominant White race, there were class divisions and the least fortunate were the so

Classism is a prejudice where stereotypes, intolerance, and judgments are placed upon people due to their rank in a class system. When you think about it, classism is much like racism. However, instead of race being the issue, the socioeconomic class is the primary target of abhorrence and bias. Lauren, being our protagonist and heroine, is very much capable of exemplifying the ideology of classism. In the beginning of the novel we are introduced to Lauren as a teenager who is growing up in a gated, or walled, community outside of Los Angeles. Her community is literally

The purpose of this essay is to provide an explanation on why sociologists are interested in class. This assignment will define what class is and to what extent class matters. Other social divisions will be explored in this assignment to show how they intersect with class. The social divisions which intersect with class which will be discussed include economic and social inequalities, social mobility and identity. The beliefs from well-known theorists, Karl Marx and Max Weber who disagreed on the nature of class, will also be included to support the main points which are

Anthony Giddens (2006) defines class as “a large-scale group of people who share common economic resources, which strongly influence the type of lifestyle they are able to lead.” (pg 300). Karl Marx, a sociologist in the 19th