American Patriotism : The Tragedy Of American Patriotism

One of the things the United States is known for best is its rampant patriotism. Whether its 1930 or the present day, one thing remains the same Americans love their country. During special periods of time however, events happen that make Americas already fiery patriotism burn brighter. Many years ago during the period of time known as the “Red Scare” the United States mistrust of all things communist and anarchist led to very nationalistic feelings among the populace. After the 2001 9/11 terrorist attacks the country the country was left shaken. The fear of terrorist made the American rally behind their military and country even more than before.

In their book A Patriot’s History of the United States, Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen seem to generally believe in the superiority of Europeans to the rest of the world. Schweikart and Allen go out of their way to note the superiority of European fighting patterns, the virtuous motivations of Christian explorers, the justification of genocide, and even the selflessness of the Founding Fathers. Though not completely inaccurate, the bias in favor of the colonists leaves many perspectives completely out of the picture.

Patriotism is not blindly following ones country as some think. Patriotism is working to ensure you’re your country lives up to your moral and ethical values both at home and abroad. As well as being critical of your country when it does not live up to those standards. Patriotism as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary is “The quality of being patriotic; love of or devotion to one's country” (Oxford 2014). That’s it. It doesn’t say you have to take any specific action like flying the flag, serve in any function such as the armed forces or support any particular party for election. However; devotion is usually manifested in some type of behavior. In fact the definition is open to interpretation and subjective at best. True American

American Patriotism can be defined in different ways. When people think of the word patriotism, most often say "to love one 's country". That is true in some aspect, but being patriotic means much more than that. In the words of Mark Twain, he states, “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” True patriotism is to support what 's best for this country and contribute in ways to help that can be beneficial for everyone. However, to a socialist, patriotism can be viewed within three main perspectives: the functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionist perspective.

‘Red, White, and Beer’ is a short two and a half page essay written by Dave Barry. On the surface, this essay seems to be for pure entertainment purposes. With its satirical concepts of imagery, one cannot help but laugh while reading this critique, and think that it is for entertainment only; maybe it is. However, I believe that he sincerely has issues with how America is portrayed in the advertisements created by major companies that target national pride, and love for one’s country in order to make a sell. Dave Barry’s rhetorical strategies of underlying declarative sentence structure, informal writing

Larry Schweikart believes despite the excessive racism, sexism, and bigotry throughout the history of the United States, when the story is told “fairly,” all that can be taken away is a sense of awe at the obstacles overcome, the blood split, and the nation built. Although corruption can be seen over the course of time, the freedom of the nation overcame all else and created a bright light of a society in a world of dark oppression. Schweikart emphasizes the idea that history is often taught from a single, biased perspective, clouding the true image of the American nation as it progressed over time. He also emphasizes the ideals of character, tied to liberty, tied to property, and how they were all necessary for success. More generally, Schweikart believes that throughout the history of the United States, it has proven time and time again to be a nation based on the principles of freedom and justice, exemplified through its actions in every aspect, such as the liberation of people’s and bringing them to a higher state of living, and the sharing of power with those who had none, no matter where they came from, or who they were. “All men are created equal”; the United states is the “last, best hope” of earth; and America “is great because it is good” all extend Schweikart’s basic ideals that the United States’ history, when viewed with the basic ideal of “the ends justify the means,” creates a story

There is much controversy surrounding the idea of patriotism and the iconography of the American flag in today’s society. Some believe patriotism is simply the act of supporting the decisions of the leaders of the country. Others say, to be patriotic, people should be outspoken and voice their oppositions to what is going on in the government. Opinions also differ on the idea of what the American flag represents. One opinion of the flags representation is that the flag represents our history, and the formerly mentioned idea of patriotism. Others believe the flag also represents our history as a nation, but these beliefs focus much more heavily on the negative aspects of our history; such as slavery and other injustices carried out by our

The objective of this proposal is to explore the relationship between the National Football League’s (NFL) use of coercive patriotism and the militarization of the United States. For the purpose of this proposal, coercive patriotism will be defined as an attempt to exhibit social influence on an audience. For example: selling the notion of a strong military, presented to the public as being indispensable for a safe and secure America by way of military jet fly-overs. The NFL has grown increasingly patriotic during wartime or subsequent to national tragedies, such as 9/11. However, the league has remained exempt from major criticism concerning its use of coercive patriotism. Thus, the NFL playing a significant role

After the Civil War, the United State began to experience an industrial growth that was unparalleled to any nation. There were new advancements among America’s transportation, manufacturing and agriculture industries. While an economic growth was occurring in the nation, the national government was inactive, almost forgotten between all the new innovations achieved during the late 19th century. Looking back at the Industrial Revolution, there are many perspectives of the events that occurred during this time. Two readings on the late 19th century, The Patriot’s History of the United States, by Larry Schweikart and The People’s History of the United States, by Howard Zinn, have their own takes. The perspectives on the history, the tone

When I was younger I felt like I knew what it meant to be patriotic in America, but as times change I feel like I have no clue what it means to be patriotic in America today. I believe I had a grasp on what it means to be patriotic because, I had grown up in Gallup New Mexico-known to be the most patriotic town in The United States of America. Then Earlier in my life I also had to deal with my brother, who went into a recruiter's office and signed up to be shipped off to Afghanistan the very next day. When he would visit he would have these lectures on how we should show our patriotism. He would eventually force my mother to put up the American flag in the front porch to show respect for the country and those who served it. As I got older

Prior to the French and Indian War, colonists were somewhat satisfied with Great Britain. The laws imposed on the colonies were usually unenforced giving the colonies free reign over most aspects of their life. Despite the distance between North America and the mother country, colonists considered themselves equal with British citizens living on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. At this point, the colonists had no intentions of breaking off from the mother country. As John Murrin says in his essay “The Dilemma of American National Identity”:

Many students always wonder why they have to take a history class. I myself have wondered this question many times, because history seems irrelevant to one’s education. In contrary, history is a vital subject to one’s education. It has been said numerous times that we take history so that we don’t repeat the same mistakes we have made in the past. Students retain different portions of information when learning something new. The recurring pattern that I have retained from sitting through numerous history classes, is the sense of patriotism. The American way of life has formed its own definition of patriotism from the Mayflower to 9/11 there has been a constant recurrence of patriotism.

America is great, strong, beautiful, and proud but I believe some things could be announced more often. In the America I Believe in we have patriotic respect to our country, equality, and freedom of speech without being judged.

American history usually starts with Columbus and the famous myths surrounding the “founding” of the New World. As children we learn about how Columbus fought against all odds to convince the king and queen of Spain to fund his voyage to prove the world was not flat. As we grow in our understanding of history we find that most of the world, at that time, already knew the world was round. So why do we believe in these myths? We believe in these types of myths because they make the central character or characters appear larger than life, much like a Hollywood blockbuster. In the 2000 film the Patriot, directed by Ronald Emmerich, and distributed by Columbia Pictures; we follow the story of American Revolution as seen through the eyes of a

My fellow friends and Loyalists, we have been betrayed by our own. Patriots are what they call themselves. They do not believe in our king anymore. The king has supported us and fought for us and in return they cause a rebellion. King George once said, “A traitor is everyone who does not agree with me,“ and he is beyond correct. Anyone who sides beside them are committing treason and ought to be penalized. We shall stay with Britain because we are stronger than the Patriots, trade is successful, and the economy is sustainable.