Diversity In American History: Citizen And Government

In his characterization, Thomas Paine was correct in envisioning a diverse American, one that he describes as “people from different nations, accustomed to different forms and habits of government, speaking different languages, and more different in their modes of worship.” People are constantly immigrating to America which contributes to the diverse environment. The immigrants bring their different backgrounds and qualities, however, those traits are not always welcomed resulting in issues like discrimination and social divides. Contrary to Paine’s beliefs, eliminating divides is not as simple as “constructing a government on the principles of society and the rights of man.” While the government does put effort into diminishing the divide among people, the difficulties still remain and there is very little “cordial union.” Today, over 225 years since Thomas Paine

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.

From the early 1840s to the present day, a democracy can be described as a flawed establishment which has been shaped by the power of wealth and control, complex social relations, and most importantly the people’s desire to live a fulfilling life. Throughout this time period the principles of democracy, such as equality, protection of the people’s interest, and promotion of human rights were shifting in order to increase the democracy efficiency. Therefore the continued importance of the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and Constitution remain significant since, in American today, democracy is a system that is continuously being shaped by the people within it.

Diversity means to value and respect the differences and individuality of people. This means to embrace the differences between people and to treat a person’s race, culture, religious beliefs, age, sexual orientation, gender, physical and mental characteristics etc. with respect.

The article explains the author reasons on why America is “racial democracy” and how much of problem it is. The authors Jason Stanley and Weaver first explain where America has gotten their ideas of liberty “Though the liberty of moderns is more familiar to Americans, it is in fact the liberty of the ancients that provides the fundamental justification for the central political ideals of the American Democratic tradition.” The purpose of the author’s explaining this is to later show how America has turned away from their idea which is liberty and how it now became a “racial democracy”.

Chapter one of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States discusses the differences between the culture and attitudes of the Europeans and the Native Americans. It further describes how the Europeans came to the New World and committed genocide against the Native Americans in order to get land and gold from them, which displayed the cruelty and greed of the European explorers coming to the Americas. However, many historians consider these actions by the European Conquistadors to be necessary in order for human progress to occur, but Zinn argues whether human progress needed all of these barbaric actions. He talks about how history has had many important details left out of many events and believes that it is important for history to be seen for all that happened. For example, Zinn writes, “To emphasize the heroism of Columbus and his successors as navigators and discoverers, and to de-emphasize their genocide, is not a technical necessity but an ideological choice. It serves- unwittingly-to justify what was done.” (Zinn) This quotation shows how Zinn emphasizes how this brutality was not a necessity but it is a choice on how it should be interpreted. Zinn also talks about Hernando Cortes’ time with the Aztec Empire. In the text, Zinn writes, “Cortes then began his march of death from town to town, using deception, turning Aztec against

Diversity means different individuals valuing each other regardless of intellect, age, disability race or religion.

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

Immigration has been around since the first time the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Rock with immigrants from Great Britain looking for a new home in order to have religious freedom. If Americans actually glance back into the history of the United States they will understand that they are all ancestors of immigrants who came from other countries looking for a better life in the new world. What made the United States a powerful country were the positive contributions of immigrants, such contributions were only possible by the numerous mixing of races while keeping true to their individual cultures; immigrants should adopt to a “melting pot” and a American way of life to have greater opportunities.

Immigration has been around since the first time the Mayflower arrived at Jamestown with immigrants from Great Britain looking for a new home in order to have religious freedom. If Americans actually look back into the history of The United States they will understand that they are all ancestors of immigrants that came from other countries looking for a better life in the new world. Which made The United States a powerful country were the positive contributions from immigrants, which were only possible by the many mixing of races while keeping true to their culture and adapting to American way of life.

Without knowledge, we cannot improve ourselves and the world. I have learned that investigating the past, through the histories that many historians have written and left us as a legacy, is where we can find the causes of many events that occur in our present. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the different perspectives on Christopher Columbus of historian Howard Zinn, as well as the impacts created by the arrival of Columbus to “The New World” in the history of the United States.

Diversity exists all across the United States. It is defined as the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary. Along with the ever-growing diversity in America, brings along intercultural communication. Intercultural communication can be defined as a situated communication between individuals or groups of different linguistic and cultural origins. Due to the limitless amounts of diversity and intercultural communication across the United States, misunderstandings and clashes between cultures are bound to occur. These clashes have been as extreme to be used to explain violence and crime not only in the United States, but also throughout our entire nation. On the other end, these cultural clashes can be so personal in our everyday lives because of our expectations of a certain behavior coming from our own cultural backgrounds, as many others have very different cultural backgrounds and expectations of us.

Thomas Paine, a revolutionary, intellectual, and supporter of American independence from England published a book titled, “Rights of Man” which deals with the government shielding the natural rights of its people. Initially, the book captures the diverse aspect of this nation, but it fails to reveal the struggles that arise to preserve and adapt to such a society. Paine expresses his optimism towards the supposed perfection of American society, as one “made up...of people from different nations,” with certain expectations. Additionally, the time gap between “Rights of Man” and modern America cannot be neglected. Paine wrote during an era in which “constructing a government on the principles of society and the rights of man” was the essential objective of the country. However, modern-day America experiences opposite ideals and Paine’s theory no longer remains true because of the educational gap between the rich and poor, terrorism, and racial profiling.

America’s government, which was viewed as revolutionary when created, is often criticized for an array of problems varying on the political beliefs of who is talking. Some see measures which the government takes as half-measures while others see the same steps as a massive unconstitutional abuse of power. But, one would be hard pressed to find a single American who doesn’t hold at least one grievance with our nation’s laws. But, there are reasons why the American government was celebrated when created. A good deal of America’s policies do benefit a majority its citizens.

Diversity is an ongoing discussion in day-to-day life. Not many situations occur without diversity having a role. There are a multitude of topics that introduces or involves diversity, to include age, sex, race, gender, ethnicity and so on. Prior to participating in this Diversity Awareness class, I’ve always thought diversity was more geared around discrimination and racism. Through weekly readings and discussions, I have discovered that diversity is much broader than that. There are many countries that are mixed culturally