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Cowboys Influence On American Culture

Decent Essays

The roots of modern American culture lie in many places far removed from one another. Before the colonization of the United States, the country was inhabited by Native Americans. Europeans cut in, occupied the land, and began overriding the native traditions with their power and greed. This is the true American culture—usually seen as nothing more than a ghost of the past. Nowadays, it has been through years and years of transform. Western culture, regardless of how it began, has become independent in several ways. Through time and change, baseball, cowboy subculture, and blues music have all helped American culture break free of it’s unoriginal ties.
Baseball, the truest of American pastimes, has been exceedingly influential to the development …show more content…

For a long time, cowboys were seen as the go-to American stereotype. Making use of the dry land in the west end of the country was not easy. As such, those who had to face the trials of colonizing that area needed several things in order to ease the difficulty of the work. Many of these things are now iconic and represent an entire American lifestyle—lassos, boot spurs, chaps, and, of course, the cowboy hat itself to name a few. In 19th century Texas, the first ideas of cowboy subculture was born. Colonists were seeking new land and places without Native Americans (“Cowboys”). The terrain of the western United States was much too rough and the weather too dry to travel on foot or even most wagons. As a result, the cowboys turned to the use of horses for transportation. Spurs on their boots were installed in order to control the horses more effectively. The work they came to be known for is cattle driving. However, these jobs were exceedingly difficult and required an ability to be patient. Many people died while transporting cattle along unforgiving terrain. On another note, the entire Western movie genre is based heavily on this lifestyle. The directors would be trying to fit every possible stereotype they could so an authentic atmosphere could be achieved. People all over the world were inspired by these films and it left a lasting impression of true American …show more content…

It’s easy to just write it off as being derivative of countless other cultures. In his essay, “Toward Something American: The Immigrant Soul,” Marin writes, “Culture, after all, is more than the way immigrants (or, for that matter, the rest of us) do things, dress, or eat. It is also more than art, ritual, or language” (81). The points mentioned in this essay reflect the meaning of this quote. American culture is not defined by food, art, or ritual. Instead, it is moreso within the context of it’s tradition. Taking a deeper look, it can be seen that the country has some very unique and original culture of it’s own. Baseball, cowboy subculture, and Blues music are all very good examples of this and deserve to be noticed as some of America’s true culture. While they were all, without a doubt, inspired, it is more important to understand their cultural

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