One does not have to look far to see the effects nationalism has had on American society. Racism and discrimination are major issues that America has struggled with throughout history. Some nationalist movements have developed into several different groups. Today, groups vary from peaceful civic nationalist groups like the Republican Party to hate groups like the American Freedom Party. Members of extremist groups often commit hate crimes or violate others civil liberties. According to the FBI’s 2015 Uniform Crime Report, 58.9% of the single-bias incidents reported were motivated by race or ethnic bias (FBI). Hate crimes are especially heinous because of the devastating impact they have on communities and families. Today, extremists and politicians
America was founded by multiple states, from different regions and subsequently different styles of life, which made the possibility of their union unstable and uncertain. But, because they were united by a common goal- to break free of Britain’s despotic sovereignty- the American colonies were able to win their independence from Britain and become the United States of America. This dichotomy between the states’ different styles of life and their shared goal laid the foundation for the forces of nationalism and sectionalism in the US. The two opposing forces worked hand-in-hand to manipulate Americans’ views of one another and the American political and economic systems, though the force of sectionalism outweighed the force of nationalism
1. United States government reflected the rise of nationalism on a nationalism based legal and rational concepts of citizenship, and based on a common language and cultural traditions, rather than ethnic nationalism. The War of 1812 also inspired American nationalism for many reasons.
As Albert Einstein stated “Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.” Nationalism first became a problem in America around the 19th Century when the Louisiana Purchase began in 1803. Shortly after the Louisiana Purchase there was the Embargo Act in 1807. The most recent act of nationalism was the weekend of the 12th of August in Charlottesville, Virginia. Nationalism has affected America in more than one way. For example, nationalism can bring apart people rather than bring them closer together. Nationalism is when a group of people who strongly believe in an idea come together and argue or fight against another group of people who think differently.
The election of Donald Trump has emboldened the forces of hate and bigotry in America. White nationalists, Vladimir Putin and ISIS are celebrating Donald Trump’s victory, while innocent, law-abiding Americans are wracked with fear – especially African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Muslim Americans, LBGT Americans and Asian Americans. Watching white nationalists celebrate while innocent Americans cry tears of fear does not feel like
Since the election of Donald Trump, the country seems to be in a state of division. Protests against the president’s executive orders and movements like Black Lives Matter has caused many hate groups to make a reappearance into the main-stream media. White supremacist, white nationalists, and alt-right leaders are speaking their minds about the perceived discrimination against whites. These types of white advocacy groups have gone through an evolution since the times of the Ku Klux Klan and have created new techniques for recruiting members. These units can be a type of love/hate relationship, and once people have joined, they find it very difficult to leave. But hate can be overcome; through education, tolerance training, and even counter-protesting. Because of feelings of discontent, fear in the loss of white power, and a lack of experience with groups outside of their race, America is seeing a dangerous and unfortunate rise in these types of hate groups.
There have been millions of people that are immigrants who try to become a citizen, in the United States. Despite their determination to become citizens, it will only take them as far of American history knowledge they have. That is to say if they don’t know the history it more likely for them to struggle on the exam. The Naturalization Civics Test makes a person become a citizen with far less effort. The Naturalization Civics Test is important, because even if you score 6 answers correct on the test, you still have a fifty percent chance of pass, he questions on the test was intended to be harder and more difficult to answer but became easier, if you study your history it’s an easy pass.
Nationalism is how one feels toward their nation. Therefore nationalism determines how strong a nation is, by the unity of the people. America was very young as a nation in the early to mid 1800s and was not meeting the standards of the people. Changes needed to be made. Nationalism was changed in America with many great reform movements taking place which warped America to what it is today. Education reform, Industrial revolution, and transportation alongside technological advancements played a large roll in nationalism.
Nationalism has been extremely important and influential in shaping the modern world we see today, causing revolutions, rebellions and the constant reshaping of world maps continuing even today. Its appeal is something that I don’t believe will diminish in the future. Many theologians and political commentators alike agree that Nationalism has perhaps been one of the most prominent political ideologies of the modern world “No single political doctrine has played a more prominent role in shaping the face of the modern world than nationalism” 1, and doesn’t look like ceasing to be as influential anytime
One of the oldest and most recognized forms of group activity is participation in collective state identity. Pride in one’s nation is a phenomenon that can transcend race, gender, class, sexual orientation, physical proximity and many other social groupings. This topic development will explore the sociological concept of nationalism and patriotism in relation to group identity, beliefs and subsequent actions performed by members of specified nationality groups.
Nationalism has become one of the most powerful uniting-and occasionally separating-powers of the modern age. Throughout history, there were numerous countries that exemplified both sides of this classic European belief. However, as time has passed, this pride and promotion of one’s country has developed far beyond the scope of Europe. Nationalist feelings fester in all parts of the globe now, and with that comes more complicated expressions of the sentiment, as well as carefully crafted governments that exist for the sole support of nationalist fervor.
A strong example of the crucial role of a leader in cementing feelings of ethnic nationalism can be found in the development of an ideology known as fascism in the mid 20th century. Fascism is regarded as a totalitarian ideology that mandates absolute loyalty to the state (Goad, 1944). Under a fascist government, all aspects of society are forcibly subordinated to fit a specific ideological vision of the community. For a fascist ideology to achieve successful implementation in a state, it is crucial that power is embodied by a central leader that aims to fight liberalism and marxism. The method through which prominent fascist leaders have successfully secured that position of
Nationalism has played a crucial role in world history over the past centuries. It continues to do so today. For many, nationalism is indelibly associated with some of the worst aspects of modern history, such as the destructive confidence of the Napoleon’s army and the murderous pride of Nazi Germany. Large numbers of people, descent in their hearts, have carried out unbelievable atrocities for no better reason than their nation required them to. Authoritarian and totalitarian regime have crushed dissent, eliminated opposition, and trampled on civil liberties in the name of the nation.
Nationalism was coined back in the 1770’s it has a major role in the shaping many nations throughout the world. Nationalism has many positive and negative aspects to it. Nationalism has the strength to unify people despite their classes. It also has the ability to united people to lead movements against oppressive governments. There is a downside Nationalism can as method to evoke fear. The biggest negative is that most nationalism movement’s inevitably led to some form of conflict. Nationalism is a dangerous movement that can lead to oppression of opposition groups and lead to conflicts.
Today, the scourge of nationalism continues to infect humanity. Without doubt, in some circles, nationalism is hotly debated. For most people, however, the concept of nationalism is rarely questioned. In fact, it 's a foregone conclusion that people should love the nation in which they reside. Some people even take great pride in the fact that they were arbitrarily born in a specific geographical location. Unfortunately, like religion or capitalism, nationalism is alive and well in the 21st century.
Great evidence of this is in Germany’s history. Although repeated quite often as an example of radical nationalism, this doesn’t remove it from being a true and sad example of nationalism in its worst form. The central leaders of Germany including Hitler instituted anti-Jew laws and once they were certain that the public agreed with these, or at least didn’t disagree, started implementing much more extreme laws against the Jewish people. This created one of the worst genocides in the history of mankind. (Krome, 2010) What Hitler did, was take the dislike of Jews that the Muslims helped establish (Maghen, 2009) (Jeffrey, n.d.) , along with Christianity that the Jews were a problem (Callahan, 2004). Having these to point to, he directed an entire nation to become his “Aryan” race, and Jews weren’t alone. Blacks and all other races and religions or creeds were included in the category of being removed, but it was largely the Jewish population affected.