Long Essay: Relationships of Vulnerable Groups to the Identity and Culture of Early 19th-Century America and their Ramifications Back in the early 1800s, the United States of America had been a country associated with the promise of liberty, autonomy from tyrannical rule, and the unalienable rights specified in the formative Declaration of Independence - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As a consequence of the formation of the country and its promises, several diverse groups had flocked to the new world to enjoy new lives of prosperity, success, and guaranteed justice. Some of these groups, in particular, had been somewhat vulnerable during the time period, given the context of the simultaneous events, including various …show more content…
In light of King George III’s tyrannical rule and consistent ignorance of colonists’ unalienable rights, the Americans had then decided that they would revamp such rule in favor of a libertarian nation separate from tyranny. Americans ubiquitously felt that they had become freer, although still not completely so, considering the pervasion of slavery, a major constriction of liberty and the rights of all citizens, as specified in the Declaration of Independence, to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In the nineteenth century, considerably after the Revolutionary War, the citizens began to set out to achieve their goals and fulfill their earnest passions and desires in the primes of their lifetimes. In this way, the movement of the collective American identity holds much in common with the European Enlightenment, whereupon the people had advanced their ways of life in aspects critical to prosperity and a generally positive bonding. It had not been solely the identity of the American people, but also their culture, which had related to the somewhat vulnerable groups of the time period. Post-Enlightenment, in the nineteenth century, the United States and its people had adapted to the reform movements, developing a much higher-level, more advanced culture involved in such finer aspects of societal progress as literature, the numerous
The United State of America has been a place of opportunities where one can easily achieve his or her dreams. Critiques have shown that even a few who are brought up from a poor family have to turn out becoming great people on earth. It is a country that was built by immigrants. It is well known that “America's first European settlers were America's first immigrants. These first citizens were welcome by Native Americans, and they were seen as a threat. By the 19th century, the pattern had been repeated many times, with each new wave of immigrants encountering mixed reactions from already established Americans.” Turner, Laura Leddy. "Challenges Faced by Immigrants in the 19th Century." Synonym. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 June 2017. After the British took over the land from the Native American and started to develop the land, there were other European countries who also migrated to seek greener pastures. They were not accepted easily but had to be screened in order for them to be welcome into the system. The early settlers were so threatened after they were able to get rid of the natives of the land “The German, Irish and Italian immigrants who arrived in America during the 1800s often faced prejudice and mistrust. Many had to overcome language barriers. Others discovered that the challenges they had fled from, such as poverty or religious persecution, were to be encountered in America as well. A mass migration of Germans began in the mid-1830s and continued into the 1880s when
America by far is the most diverse country on the face of the earth. America today is known for freedom, equality, democracy, and a defender against tyranny. The foundation of American values lay in a belief of independence, nationalism, capitalism, and religion. However, many conflicts have arisen over these values in the past. Capitalism and other characteristics have made America great, but they have brought about their own set of inequalities. Those inequalities have deep roots in race, culture, gender, and wealth. In the 1800s two of the biggest conflict lies with the issue of slavery and women’s rights.
In early 19th century America, there was a shared feeling of exceptionalism, often leading to egocentrism and prejudice towards foreigners. This egocentrism and prejudice belief system has been passed down, and ignorance towards reforming these beliefs is evident throughout history. Many Americans believe that the colonies of Jamestown and Plymouth were the first settlements in America, thus that the Europeans who traveled across the Atlantic were the first to inhabit the New World. In fact, St. Augustine was a Spanish settlement in Florida established in 1565, 42 years prior to the Jamestown settlement and 55 years prior to the Plymouth settlement. Historical accounts of the American nation tend to neglect this information, resulting in American citizens believing that people of Spanish and Mexican descent do not belong, when in reality, they settled America first. Furthermore, American history tends to neglect mentioning the resistance which Anglo-Americans met as they expanded westward into lands which Native Americans and Mexicans lived in. Accordingly, people of Mexican descent occupied present-day Texas when Anglo-Americans first arrived. Through brutal, immoral, and unjust conquering, Texas became a state separate from Mexico, disregarding the Tejanos of Mexican descent and forcing them to migrate elsewhere.
America: “The land of the free, and the home of the brave” (Key 7-8). When our forefathers overcame the colonial reign of the British Empire, they formed the United States of America based on the premise of enlightened ideals promoting life, ownership of land, and liberty. But after the revolution, the country’s problems were far from solved. The country’s post-revolution issues sparked a Civil War, which was followed by a reconstruction. In some ways, the Civil War and Reconstruction helped the United States accomplish its original goals, but in many ways, that was not the case.
American beliefs and opinions give a great understanding of what an American values. The want and need for freedom is described in many different ways based on origin or social beliefs. The main backbone of America today is freedom. Through the building of an American empire everyone can’t come to an understanding of what it is to be equally free. By comparing and contrasting the perspectives of Patrick Henry’s speech to the “Virginia Convention,” to take up arms and fight for our freedom. Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July,” who feels it’s time to end slavery. It is clear that the struggles of the American story are still prevalent and America has not yet found a way for freedom for all.
During the Age of Jackson, America was still trying to find it’s definite identity. America was making progress, but they were not where they wanted to be yet. The sense of optimism and ongoing expansion during the early 19th century that helped to bring America together for a period both contributed to a time of happiness and breakthroughs in which America is trying to be defined as a happy and thriving nation. The rise of democracy coupled with the the gradual political process, both magnify the degree to which America was still trying to find themselves politically. The rise of sectionalism and decline of nationalism point to the once wavering aura of togetherness and separateness and now complete dominance of sectionalism. These
While some citizens of the United States, between 1825 and 1850, believed that reform was foolish and that the nation should stick to its old conduct, reformists in this time period still sought to make the United States a more ideally democratic nation. This was an age of nationalism and pride, and where there was pride in one’s country, there was the aspiration to improve one’s country even further. Many new reformist and abolitionist groups began to form, all attempting to change aspects of the United States that the respective groups thought to be unfair or unjust. Some groups, such as lower and middle class women and immigrants, sought to improve rights within the county, while other reformers aspired to change the American education
When the thirteen colonies signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and became the United States of America, an international spotlight was drawn widely onto the new country. Because of this, many people from various regions of the world attempted to migrate to the United States. However, it is evident that in the early years of the new nation, it tended to exhibit xenophobic tendencies towards many nations surrounding it; this is made manifest in the 1894 political cartoon “Miss Columbia’s Schoolhouse” (Document 1). By the near turn of the century, thousands of inhabitants of various nations had migrated to the United States in a hope to escape the poor conditions of their home countries and to find opportunity in the United States. Unfortunately for the migrants, the Americans did not appreciate their presence despite the visions of the founding fathers’ hopes of the United States being a ‘melting pot’ as some would call it. In the political cartoon, Miss Columbia’s Schoolhouse is precisely this, a veritable melting pot of various cultures, but it has turned out to be far from what it was expected to be. Every individual except for Miss Columbia is seen as being indigent, barbaric, and uncivilized. Miss Columbia herself, seen as a strong embodiment of American values of freedom and democracy, is considerably larger when compared to the “others” surrounding her. It is evident through this visual appeal that American perceptions of others were that outsiders were in
Charles Kettering once said that “The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.” Many difficult changes occurred between the years of 1820 and 1848. This era brought vibrant political movements towards a greater democracy and was a time of advancements and reformation, which forever impacted American ideals. Issues with slavery, women’s rights, and the common man indicate a large shift in American society due to political and economic changes from 1820 to 1848.
In the early 1800's America began to create their own unique culture. For the longest time, America had been getting their ideas and being influenced by other countries. I believe that they wanted to create a new type of culture that was truly American. They did this by creating new art forms such as literature, music, painting, and architecture. For example, Americans began using characters and setting that fell into the "American" category. Most characters, were "portrayed as strong, brave, resourceful, and honorable" (chapter 6-3, page 323). Another thing Americans did different, is what they built things. "American architects of the early 1800s developed their own forms of building" (chapter 6-3, page 325). Based on ideas from Greece and
In the late 19th, early 18th, century immigration became very prominent in America. Immigrants from around the world began to flood into America each one seeking something different, but it wasn’t always easy. Most immigrants faced many challenges, some negative and others positive. In fact, most immigrants fled to America for all the positive attributes it had to offer compared to the country they were previously living in.
The year is 1776. In an act of defiance of the oppressive rule of the powerful nation of Great Britain, the political leaders of the British-American colonies sign into existence the United States of America. Even before this inception of the United States, North America had been seen as a place where one could move to start a new life and reap the full rewards for one’s work. These opportunities combined with the new United States government founded on the ideals of freedom and equity have attracted countless families from all over the world, making the United States truly a country of immigrants. Immigrants from European nations coming to America both assimilated and helped
Throughout the development and colonization of America, there were a lot of changes that affected Native American, Africans, and women. Within this paper, I will attempt to provide some insight and bring to light some of the changes and how they affected the folks involved. As the New World grew and colonized the rights of all were not equal or fair. Native Americans were focused on their homes to provide the New World. While Africans were kidnapped and focused into slave labor to provide economic growth for the New World. During this time women were always seen as a lower class citizen, not allowed any say in the way the colony was governed or grew. All of these minorities fought from the beginning of
"From the first day that the United States won its independance, thoughtful Americans have attempted to define the new national identity" that decolonization invited. Becoming an independant political nation forced citizens to suddenly devise a "community and character" (Finkelman, 63) worthy of this newborn America. It was believed that, once free from Birtish fetters, a unique American character would emerge automatically. But this was not so, and it was left up to the artits, politictians, scientists, businessmen and women, and every other citizen to contrive the American identity. Those who were most accomplished at scrutinizing the American identity and what it was, were the many authors and writers of the 19th century.
The “Indian Problem” was the “burden” that the United States Government faced throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Government considered the Indians to be a “problem” due to the fact that native tribes were halting the expansionist policy popular in the 1800’s. The main aspects targeted and defined as the “Indian Problem” by the Government were the Indian’s religious practices, household structure and land ownership, and educational differences. The variety of responses