The Ideas Of American Identity : American And National Identity

America is commonly characterized as the greatest country in the world, the glorious “land of the free and the home of the brave”, “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. This idealization of the American identity conveniently focuses on what people want to hear and blurs out most everything else. In reality, Americans do not live up to the dreamscape created by our views, and we never really have. America is no longer characterized by its freedom and democracy, nearly every first world country can afford that luxury. Nor are we set apart by the great opportunities given to our people, for those are far from universal. We aren’t equal, we aren’t unified, we aren’t kinder or smarter or richer than any other country across the board. It’s easy to find the shortcomings of American culture, all the things we aren’t, but the things we are have proven to be more elusive. First, let’s examine the nots.

Essay Question: #3 Compare and contrast the different ways in which economic development affected politics in Massachusetts and Virginia in the period from 1607 to 1750.

Since America’s early founding in 1776 we have been a country of wide ranging political views. Our first two political parties were the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist. These two parties changed how people think about government issues, political opinions, and the topics that drove the growth of our nation. Federalist and Anti-Federalist split the nation with beliefs, important politicians, and support from the people.

To what extent had the colonists developed a sense of their identity and unity as Americans by the eve of the Revolution?

Despite the fact the founding fathers advised contrary to the establishment of political factions as the Constitution withstood the ratification process, a rift amongst men in President George Washington’s cabinet instituted the move toward the conception of political party. During the time period between 1791 and 1833, a two-party system had begun that demonstrated the philosophy of the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Although these two political groups were unyielding in their original ideas and beliefs, both had to change a few of their initial standpoints on numerous topics as they dealt with the truth of the government.

As the political parties became increasingly polarized, the country became more fractionalized. A few of the main factors that caused conflict between the two parties before the election of 1800 were state’s rights

The United States began as a weak, newborn nation that grew into a large, self-supporting country with a governing body unique to this time period. As the government grew and the nation prospered, the rise of leaders and political figures came about and with this, conflicting principles and ideology spawned, thus creating the first of the political parties; the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. Although the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans ideology and stances on the power of the federal government, domestic economic policies and the group of constituents they represented differed vastly, members of both parties often compromised their own beliefs for the nation’s best interest as a whole.

In my opinion, the American Identity is shown through the ideas of its people, and their willingness to take risks. The creation of The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were two ideas shown through the people. Americans were willing to take risks no matter the circumstances.

Additionally, America is also known for being a free place. It is known that everyone must be treated equally and have their own rights. For example, part of the American identity is being known for practicing democracy. People being free, having their rights protected, and having equal treatment is what makes up the American identity. Those three factors are still going on meaning that the American identity is still alive and nothing has changed it at all. Another reason why the American identity is still alive because part of someone’s identity is again being know for something or influencing something. Another example, is that many people have immigrated to the United States for the American dream. That is a huge contributor to the American identity because it has influenced many people to come. The American dream is still alive so the American identity is still

The new nation of the United States of America had many matters to manage, both domestic and foreign. Two political parties emerged to tackle these issues, the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans. Domestic affairs of the United States divided the two emerging political parties more at the time, and had a larger impact on American politics during the 1790’s than foreign affairs.

American identity has been created by many events throughout the course of history. This country was founded on the clashing and mixing of many different cultures and lifestyles. One of the most important periods of time for this country was during the period of conflict between Americans and Native Americans over land rights. Americans had an idea of manifest destiny and that this land was theirs for the taking. The Americans were going to walk through anyone who opposed them in this quest for land. The treatment of the Indians during this time period was harsh, cruel, and violent to say the least. It is in this treatment that Americans came to view the Indians as a ?racialized other? and

American history is filled with ups and downs. Starting out with only 13 colonies, America forcibly removed themselves from the one of the strongest empires in the world. Battling against political reform, the subtraction of resources from the motherland, the debt accrued by colonists, and the bank wars, America struggles to create a self-sustaining country.

Today, political parties are an authoritative and essential component of the United States political system. However, it is important to examine how the political parties began and evolved over hundreds of years, since they were first established. In 1794, the major political parties were the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. The major difference between these two was that the Federalists favored a strong central government, while the Democratic-Republicans preferred a central government with limited power and more state control. At the time of the election, it seemed that the prominent, distinguished Federalist Party clearly had the upper hand, but in the end the

The United States political system has seen considerable change since it’s conception. In the beginning (1790’s), the two

1.Analyze the evolution of the American political system. Be sure to include one individual or document that influenced the Constitution and one change in the federal system.