D. W. Griffith's Birth Of A Nation

Zinn in his book “A People’s History of the United States,’’ handles various issues. Though the graphic novel adaptation does not cover all the details of the history of America, the author provides us with a critical view of the history of America where its leaders carry out actions independently and not for the benefit of the whole population. It also provides us with examples of atrocities that the American army committed around the world and the country’s commitment to democracy that led it to instruct its army to join the second Word War. The author therefore focuses on the positive and the negative aspect of American history in a captivating way through visual and dynamic production of historical records.

Victor Davis Hanson is a former classics professor, an American military historian, a scholar of ancient warfare and a columnist. He graduated from Selma High School, he also received a BA from the University of California in 1975 and later got his Ph.D. in Classics from Stanford University. His rich education background and experience, therefore, qualifies him for his work, especially his book: Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power. In the book, Victor Hanson intends to shed light on the predominance of the western military as attributed to the western Hellenic culture as well as its legacies. John Lynn is a history professor at the University of Illinois; he is also an adjunct professor at Ohio State

The first article “We’re a Republic”, states that we the United States of America do indeed have a republic government. People tend to walk around believing that we are a democracy, but that’s only because they think of democracy in a different way. We see democracy as in we the people get the say in what the government does, when in fact true democracy is making decisions through voting or meetings. The Framers never intended for the United States be a democracy. They believed being a democracy was dangerous and not a good idea. The constitution clearly states that we are meant to be a republic, where representatives make the decisions for us. I agree, not only do we pledge to the republic but we also elect officials to speak and make decisions for us, which is basically what a republic consists of.

Birth of a Nation uses its histrionic plot to show how tangled destinies of a southern and northern family before and after the Civil War. It willingly portrays southern blacks as spiteful and uncivil, the northern whites as crafty, dishonest, and conceited, and the film’s southern whites as anguish recurrent radical and erotic mortifications at the hands of white northerners and black southerners before factually being saved by the thoughtful, Ku Klux Klan. The film is divided to show the different aspects of those two sides during this historical time. During this time Africans were coming to America and it started the reconstruction on our country. D.W. Griffith made this film to show us the reality of racism at this point in time.

America is a nation that is often glorified in textbooks as a nation of freedom, yet history shows a different, more radical viewpoint. In Howard Zinn’s A People's History of the United States, we take a look at American history through a different lens, one that is not focused on over glorifying our history, but giving us history through the eyes of the people. “This is a nation of inconsistencies”, as so eloquently put by Mary Elizabeth Lease highlights a nation of people who exploited and sought to keep down those who they saw as inferior, reminding us of more than just one view on a nation’s history, especially from people and a gender who have not had an easy ride.

“The Indian presence precipitated the formation of an American identity” (Axtell 992). Ostracized by numerous citizens of the United States today, this quote epitomizes Axtell’s beliefs of the Indians contributing to our society. Unfortunately, Native Americans’ roles in history are often categorized as insignificant or trivial, when in actuality the Indians contributed greatly to Colonial America, in ways the ordinary person would have never deliberated. James Axtell discusses these ways, as well as what Colonial America may have looked like without the Indians’ presence. Throughout his article, his thesis stands clear by his persistence of alteration the Native Americans had on our nation. James Axtell’s bias delightfully enhances his thesis, he provides a copious amount of evidence establishing how Native Americans contributed critically to the Colonial culture, and he considers America as exceptional – largely due to the Native Americans.

In the book, Culture War?, by Morris Fiorina, the myth of a polarized America is exposed. Fiorina covers issues such as why Americans believe that America is polarized, that Red and Blue State people aren’t as different as they are made out to be, and that the United States is not polarized along traditional cleavage lines. This book even covers perspectives on abortion, homosexuality, and whether or not electoral cleavages have shifted. A large point of Fiorina’s is his take on the 2004 election. He ends the book with, how did our great nation get to this position of proclaimed polarization, and how do we improve from here?

If anyone in the United States were asked, "What is the best part about living in this country?," most people would answer "equality". The United States is built on and known for the equality among its citizens and is often referred to as the 'melting pot'. After reading Jonathan Kozol's, The Shame of the Nation, equality is nonexistent within the schools he has gone to, and has been employed through. With his travels, expert testimony and personal stories gathered from the people within the community and schools, he shows the exact opposite of equality. Minority schools being his main focus, he discusses the inequalities these students endure and truly opens up your eyes to just how awful these minority schools have it. Jonathan Kozol is successful in his writing of The Shame of the Nation, and makes himself a voice for these minority schools that are denied of their voices.

Artfully crafted, historically accurate, eloquently written, and very captivating are all phrases that could be used to describe Our Lives, Our Fortunes and Our Sacred Honor. Not only does this book take the reader back in time to the two Continental Conventions that met from 1774-1776, but it also brings alive all of the major delegates who were pivotal players in these meetings and discussions. Richard Beeman does a great job of describing these meetings with great accuracy, as well as in great detail. Not only does he tell the story well, he makes it easy and enjoyable to read. Our Lives, Our Fortunes and Our Sacred Honor is a masterful depiction of some of the most important years of American history and brings the road to the decision

At the end of Prohibition President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared, "What America needs now is a drink". 13 years before Roosevelt said that, on December 16, 1920, the United States went dry causing all breweries, distilleries, and saloons to shut down. This also prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol nationwide which is stated in the 18th amendment. This tried to decrease violence, increase efficiency in the workplace, and overall just make America better. In Prohibition 13 Years that Changed America by Edward Behr, Prohibition is a crucial event that takes place which causes a disruption in American society which makes illegal activities more normalized such as George Remus’s Bootlegging business causing him to find

In his book Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley, document the life of his father and five other men who exceedingly contributes to the American history. Bradley is a distinguish author and historian who is well known for his numerous non- fiction works; such other works include Fly boys and The Imperial Cruise. Bradley’s love for history was inspired at an early age by President Harry Truman, who wrote an article that endorse historical biographies for young readers. Bradley follows through Truman’s footstep and he is now praised for his realistic portrayal of the life of his characters.

Malcolm X was one of the important figures during the 19th century who advocated for justice and equality for oppressed people. Malcolm X was initially not a religious person despite being raised by Christian parents. His newfound hope in religion came to be when he learned of a particular religion that made him conscious of the brutality his ancestors face in the hands of the white man. He used his religion as a guidance to fight for the liberation of black people.

During the mid-nineteenth century, the rise of new territories increased the desire of Americans to expand into new territories in the western region. The term “Manifest Destiny” was first introduced by a magazine editor, John O’Sullivan, written in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review in 1845 to express the idea that the United States had a unique role in expanding the nation (OpenStax College 316,483). Manifest Destiny is widely defined as a justification of continental expansion as a calling to the American citizens to unify the land into the Union. I view Manifest Destiny as white males expressing their ideals of white supremacy unavoidably expanding new territories not yet defined by others (). With the new western land came the revival of the issue of slavery, should new territories become free or slave states? In several cases, the white settlers inflicted their morals about their policies and views of slavery in new territories acquired and bypassed all other principles of different races. They saw that their morals were above all and that they received a message from God to colonize the new land for themselves. Although Manifest Destiny posed conflict against Native Americans and slaves, new land and trade routes steered the United States to enter a realm of economic prosperity.

The United States of America is, “a nation of immigrants” as John F. Kennedy called it. Apart from the Native American ancestry, all others trace their culture back to somewhere else (Soerens, M. 2013). In my opinion, the U.S has increasing rate of immigrants, than any other country. It is also successful in providing facilities like education, employment and various career opportunities for global immigrants even today.

Culture is not just about race, family background, and inheritance. It is bigger than that. Characters and actor’s choice are significant to present this. Characters used in the book and movie relates. When I was reading the book, I had an idea of how Ashima, Gogol, Ashoke looks. Most of those ideas were true. I thought Gogol would be better looking and darker shade skin. Ashima is exactly what I thought she would look like. Ashoke is shown as this perfect husband, dad a provider. A lot of Gogol’s character is understood as it foreshadows when Gogol was six months old and during his Rice Ceremony, Gogol had to choose between a dollar, a pen, and dirt. Each represents a different profession in the future. As it suggests to the future, Gogol doesn’t choose none of them and cries. We see the same thing when he is an adult, he chooses to embrace the culture he grew up in, American Culture even thought he struggled to respect both cultures that are polar opposites of each other.