Why I View America Has Changed Over The Past 45 + Years

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.

Charles Murray’s American Exceptionalism invokes ideas I had not considered before. The way he describes America in its early life is unrecognizable to me. Murray discusses the geographic setting, American ideology, the traits of the American people, and the operation of the American political system. Now, centuries later than the time he described, it is like America had gone on a rapidly fast down torrent. I agree with Murray’s ideas of the exceptional traits America exuded, however, the traits I observe now, and as Murray talks about later on in the book, have taken on a different meaning. It is almost as if the once amazing concepts have been reduced to nearly half their worth. I am in no way stating America is no longer exceptional, but

Zinn in his book “A People’s History of the United States,’’ handles various issues. Though the graphic novel adaptation does not cover all the details of the history of America, the author provides us with a critical view of the history of America where its leaders carry out actions independently and not for the benefit of the whole population. It also provides us with examples of atrocities that the American army committed around the world and the country’s commitment to democracy that led it to instruct its army to join the second Word War. The author therefore focuses on the positive and the negative aspect of American history in a captivating way through visual and dynamic production of historical records.

Howard Zinn speaks to this in his Afterword, referring to common omissions in orthodox history. He retorts, “The consequence of those omissions has been not simply to give a distorted view of the past but, more important, to mislead us all about the present.” (Zinn, 684) However, in reference to a common insistence on strictly teaching the facts in the classroom, Zinn also claims that there is no pure fact which does not preclude a judgment. True to his claims in his Afterward, Zinn lays out an argument and maintains his position throughout his book in addition to the facts he presents. He has been revered for the serious manner in which he treats his cited works, and for offering

Howard Zinn has committed his life’s work to open the eyes of American citizens, and show them the real history of our country. From America’s early beginnings and his readings of Henry David Thoreau to Martin Luther King’s plight for equality. Zinn has an eloquent way with words to put ideals into prospective, and shed light on some of our country’s issues that continually throughout history plaque our government. One of these continues historical issues is war. “Citizens have not learned from the cycle of stupidity when it comes to war” Zinn began working in a shipyard at a fairly young age after reading about Nazi camps and what Adolph Hitler hoped to accomplish, Zinn wanted to do his part to protect our nation. What he wasn’t prepared

Since the fight for liberty from Europe, the political system of the United States had change for good. The United States had made improvement in their government structure to make the country a better place. The country has being affected in many different ways since the departure from the mother country. Due to the liberty the American people wanted, they had to make a government that could lead them to a better country than the mother country. The American people had being making many improvements to the government to make a strong self-governed country. The country had had some advantages and disadvantages that lead the country to the government what is today. The political history of Unites States from constitutional convention to

The history of the united states is illustrated and told in A Patriot’s History of the United States written by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen and A People’s History of the United States written by Howard Zinn. Both authors chronicles the history of the united states from the discovery of the new world to some of the more recent events, however with contrasting opinions and perspective . Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen curves towards a more conservative view with focus on a glorified america where sacrifice was necessary for the betterment and advancement of the people. On the other hand Howard Zinn focuses on views from the suffering or underprivileged groups that seems to show a pessimistic

Through out all of history we have seen so many heroes and villains all over the world. But one place in particular was in China, with a leader who goes by the name of Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong was a well-known communist leader in china who actually lead the Chinese Communist Party. He is one of the most important people/historical figures in history. At first he was helping China at the beginning of his ruling, nut then his actions had cause China to completely fall and breakout into violence and complete chaos!! Changing the views of his people because whatever good he had done did not matter anymore from his great down fall. During his ruling though some believed that Mao

America is a nation that is often glorified in textbooks as a nation of freedom, yet history shows a different, more radical viewpoint. In Howard Zinn’s A People's History of the United States, we take a look at American history through a different lens, one that is not focused on over glorifying our history, but giving us history through the eyes of the people. “This is a nation of inconsistencies”, as so eloquently put by Mary Elizabeth Lease highlights a nation of people who exploited and sought to keep down those who they saw as inferior, reminding us of more than just one view on a nation’s history, especially from people and a gender who have not had an easy ride.

In June of 2003, Howard Zinn’s “Dying for the Government” was published in “The Progressive” newspaper. He discusses the government’s claim to military victory in Iraq, and he believes that many innocent people have died for an unjust cause in that war. His claim is that soldiers died for their government, not their country. An important part of his argument is his discussion of democracy, which he says is what our country is supposed to be based on. He also brings up some history of U.S. wars and quotes Mark Twain’s statement about the invasion of the Phillipines by the United States. Even though some of his assertions lack evidence, Zinn uses authority

Every four years, Americans go to the polls and vote. Experts say approximately 23% of America have unregistered voters. Voting is vital. Every single vote counts on election day. The Presidential Election brings out the most Americans. Democratic and Republican parties go head to head in the race to become the nation’s president. In 2008, the presidential hopeful will be Barack Obama. He will provide citizens with affordable healthcare insurance. Obama will give tax breaks to the working class and improve the education systems.

Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States is a distinct alternative to most mainstream history textbooks. Zinn’s perspective of different complicated historical issues is exemplified through his unique writing and helps the reader understand different convoluted events. The point of view that Zinn chooses allows him to express hardships and struggles through the perspective of America's victims, slaves, African-Americans, Native Americans, the working poor, and the immigrant laborers. By speaking for the voiceless, Zinn is able to provide readers ample detail while looking at sensitive times in American history. Zinn starts with Columbus and progressively moves into recent history; he extensively illustrates the hidden class struggles and the fight to replace a broken political system, but still remains insightful and takes a holistic approach while evaluating American History.

In looking at more contemporary issues, Zinn utilizes interview records and other hard documentation to show us the real stories. For example, the government moved slowly to end segregation, fearful of a change of the face of American power. We see how two of America’s favorite presidents, Eisenhower and Kennedy, did little to change the system during their administrations. Lyndon Johnson pushed for passage of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964. This was viewed

I believe that McClay and Zinn provide a persuasive argument elaborating their notion of the validity of America’s “unique” mission. However, I am inclined to agree with Professor McClay in his assertion in the mythical nature of American exceptionalism that has promoted social cohesiveness and propelled America as the “beacon of liberty and democracy” (McKenna & Feingold 2011, 14). The existence of present-day America developed after a period of empirical practices that allowed us to incorporate the positive qualities of democracy and make note of the negative aspects of wrongfully enforcing democratic ideals internationally (McKenna & Feingold 2011). Since our inception, the “invisible hand” of “divine providence” has directed America to propagate freedom and democracy to all peoples of the world (McKenna & Feingold 2011, 2-3). The majority of American Presidents

However, does this mean his opinion regarding the Chinese economic state has grounds? Well, the truth is there are solid arguments supporting both options.