Our Nation: A Nation In The United States

America may be a young nation compared to those around those around the world and we as a nation have achieved a lot in our years. One battle that we have been fighting since the birth of our nation however is one against our own people. For years we have been divided by the colors of our skin and our heritage. Although Caucasian people may be the majority of our population, individually there are just as diverse of people in their origins as the minorities of this country. It just isn’t as apparent as having a culture branded into a skin tone. America is known as a melting pot of races from all over the globe. A lot of people seem to have forgotten where they came from after generations of searching for the “American Dream,” thus creating a typical “white American”. One instance where the white Americans banded together and discriminated against one race occurred after the bombing at Pearl Harbor. The racism that occurred against Japanese Americans is not as talked about as slavery, but the fact that it is talked about so little just goes to show that Americans are willing to sweep horrendous acts against our own people under the rug.

Patriotism is not something that you see a lot of in Urban Communities. A lot of urban homes don’t teach their children about being patriotic. Many believe this is still a “white man’s country” In the Article “Urban Perspective: Flag –waving and Patriotism Far From the Whole Truth; Part 1” Author Larry Aubry a longtime community activist he believes that a lot of Black Americans have mixed feelings about patriotism due to the past and present treatment of African Americans in America. America gives off the perception that the house with the white picket fence, dog and two kids is the “American Dream”. In fact many people in urban communities don’t even own their homes. In the Article “Reinventing America Call for a New National Identity” by Elizabeth Martinez she believes that “White America” makes us believe they settled America for all people. In reality that is not true because the Native American had already settled here. Patriotism is something that I hope to see being instilled in the next generation of urban youth, but not force upon them. David Noise who is an author and activist tells us in his article “Is American Patriotism Getting Out of hand” he believes that patriotism is something that should not be force to the point that it causes a division it should be something that brings us together as a whole. Sept 11th was a tragic event where patriotism for our country brought us all together as one. I believe in the future we will see a change in

The constitution of the United States of America is the founding document on which the government of America is built. It currently has twenty-seven amendments. It lines out the specific government practices as well as the system of check and balances. It was first drafted July, 1787 after the first form of government, the articles of confederation, had proven very inefficient to a point where it became almost redundant to have them in place. After a large amount of debate the acting continental congress decide to completely revise the current system. The constitution was efficient and fair and it kept the parts of government in place while not giving too much power to one or more branches.

The “American dream,” a promise of the ability to turn your life from rags to riches if you try hard in the United States of America, has been the definition of what it means to be an American. But over time it the American dream has changed and its pledge perhaps more viable than ever. This is due to the simple fact that America as a nation has evolved over time and the core values which its people encompass are a reflection of the times. So as an American how do we define ourselves and our nation outside of the American dream? America has been known over time as a “big brother”- protector of mankind. Yet many of our citizens did not have equal rights until the 1960’s and it took the fourteenth amendment to guarantee equal protection

In 1787 at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, the framers of the Constitution of the United States of America worked together to identify the best way to elect the President (Patterson, 2013). The ideas suggested varied and ranged from selection by members of congress chosen by lottery, to a popular vote of the people. By the end of the Convention the matter had yet to be settled as the framers fore saw that many of the suggestions were prone to corruption, error, and were very chaotic. The issue was passed down to the Committee on Postponed Matters, who in turn created the system that is used today and is commonly known as Electoral College (Kazin, 2011). The Electoral College was outlined by the Committee to up hold the views of the founding fathers, who were the framers of the Constitution.

When America’s founding fathers broke away from England, they weren’t the first colonial Englishmen on the American continent, there were plenty of French, Spanish, Dutch and even Russian colonial outposts established before them. What makes the English colonies along the Eastern seaboard story so important, was the fact that 13 colonies joined together to form what is now known as the United States. Furthermore, this 13 colonies New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia risk their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors to start a new nation free from Great Britain’s rule. In the mist of declaring independence from the most powerful nation on earth, America’s founding fathers created a governmental system that was unfamiliar during their era. America’s founding fathers created a government designed to protect civil liberties and encourage independence, a complex yet young and evolving system.

The United States of America, the self-proclaimed sole remaining superpower, often touts that it is the greatest nation in the world. Yet, when the data is analyzed, this claim is proven time and time again to be wrong, whether it is math or science, literacy or numbers, household income or workforce. Time and time again, and the numbers continue to slip. Healthcare is no exception. In 2012, the United States ranked thirty-second worldwide in life expectancy (Avendano and Kawachi 2014). Of the thirty-four Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations in 2010, the United States ranked twenty-sixth in infant mortality (MacDorman et al. 2010). In a 1998 study of thirteen developed nations (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States), the United States ranked, on average, twelfth. The rankings for the United States on each of the sixteen health indicators was: thirteenth for low-birth-weight percentages; thirteenth for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall; eleventh for post neonatal mortality; thirteenth for years of potential life lost (excluding external causes); eleventh for life expectancy at one year for females and twelfth for males; tenth for life expectancy at fifteen years for females and twelfth for males; tenth for life expectancy at forty years for females and ninth for males; seventh for life expectancy at sixty-five years for

A question most fascinating to me is where in history does the first hint of American ideals and identities originate from? If we were to look at where the fiery passions of an American identity first arise we have to look to where the colonists first fought for their right to be a recognized citizen of America. American colonists formed their identity through the ideas of liberty, resistance to unfair British jurisdiction, and cultural diversity. Their identities formed between the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War as these two events deeply brought out what the colonist’s ideals were and what they fought for so passionately. Between these years 1763 and 1775 we see the first American ideals being born in the colonies. An example of such ideals is the want and need for Liberty. A reason for wanting liberty was that British control suppressed the lives of the people living in America and over time grew harder for colonists to live with. Americans are revered to have a passionate patriotic view of their country and this is true as it is seen throughout history but in my research I will try to explain where these ideals first arose.

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

The Articles of Confederation were extremely important in the founding of our government today. The Articles gave us a sort of good base to start from, and was ground breaking in the shaping of our new nation.

The United States Constitution was heavily influenced by the Iroquois Confederacy’s political theory, though Eurocentric history lessons often teach about the French and Greek influence. In 1988, the House Concurrent Resolution 331 passed which recognized the Iroquois Confederacy’s contribution to the U.S. Constitution. Even after H.Con.Res 331 was passed, the Iroquois Confederacy’s influence continues to be disregarded, most people have to wait until specific classes in higher education to learn about the connection. With the whitewashing of history, many Native American influences have been overlooked that directly correlate to the creation of the U.S. Constitution, though the ‘Founding Fathers’ did revise the Iroquois’ political theory to better match the ‘freedom’ of the U.S.

The Extent of American Unity and Identity Since early colonization the English colonies had always felt closer to England than to each other. In fact, it took a British newspaper less time to reach Savannah than a letter from Massachusetts. However, after the French and Indian War a sense of unity began to permeate through the colonies as a result of British acts. For every British action there was an American reaction, which fed the spirit of a new identity as Americans, not English colonists. The American identity was being established in the years before the revolution, but it was not the majority as some colonists stayed loyal to the King.

87 years ago, our founding fathers started a new nation. Created in liberty a new country founded in liberty upon the idea that everyone is equal.

America is well known for being the land of opportunities, the land of freedom, land of diversity, and overall, the land of success. However, the title of being " The Greatest Nation" didn't come to America so easily. It surely is a challenge to make of the United States of America the ideal nation that Thomas Jefferson envisioned. For this reason, the constitution emphasizes the guidelines that one must follow in order to be an ideal American. In the Bill of Rights, James Madison remarks the 10 basic amendments that America needs to follow in order to maintain its values. To be an ideal American, one must understand the vision of the founding fathers. It is understandable to conclude that The Bill of Rights is a set of guidelines that make up an ideal American. Therefore, what truly defines an ideal American is being able to

In the first few pages of this chapter, I thought it was interesting that Ellis really goes into detail about hindsight and far sight saying that because of hindsight, many of the founders could only see the goal of being independent. However there were some that saw the plentiful amount of resources and the potential America had to form a government. But all of the Founding Fathers were not sure that they would win the war. Then after, when they were gathered to expand the Articles of Confederation, there were people who wanted power to be kept at a local level and there were those who thought federalism was better and wanted to make a larger and more