Categories
Short Essays and Responses

Short Essay #2 (due Wed. Sept. 18)

We’ve read the first six chapters of Huntington, in which he sketches a good deal of American history with an eye to describing American identity.

Using these chapters from the Huntington book, respond to the statement in bold below. You may take any position on it you like; just be sure that you make a case for your position based on the readings.

American national identity was, according to Huntington’s analysis, strongly unified around a core set of Anglo-Protestant cultural values through much of the country’s history. Whatever social good was produced by that cultural unity, it is a good thing that the core Anglo-Protestant values have been diluted more recently. The moral and especially the religious content of that culture was too strict, demanding, and ultimately confining.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *