Reading Who are we? was very interesting due to how relevant the information in chapter one is to today’s current society. In chapter one the author speaks about American identity and how in today’s society it appears that there is a lack of connection between the people and their American identity. The author goes on to talk about how throughout American history it has typically been the case that when America is in a time of conflict or extreme stress a higher level of patriotism arises. After the September 11th attacks the author explains that American flag sales skyrocketed and the feeling of patriotism throughout the country expanded tremendously. I believe this notion of American citizens gaining more patriotism in times of conflict is an accurate idea and that since we are in no real major conflict at the moment there is an overall lack of patriotism within the general American population. The reason I believe the authors ideas on patriotism are interesting in terms of today’s culture is that since America is not involved in a major conflict there has been a lot of tension internally within the country. The lack of an international conflict I believe is leading people to find a conflict within the country. This internal conflict is creating a sense of patriotism in one group and further pushing people from a sense of an American identity in the other. Is the internal conflict the reason for this split, or was this something that was inevitable in American society? How does an internal conflict in America make people feel even stronger about their country?
Author: Andrew Doane
The movie Shane that we were assigned to watch was very interesting and I believe that it showed key aspects of American culture and its development. In the movie the characters who are farming on the land are in conflict with the people who own cattle and are trying to drive them off. One of the main issues within the movie is the fact that the nearest person involved with the law (Sherif, marshal, ect) is three days away. As things get worse for those living off the land it becomes apparent that justice is going to have to be taken into the hands of the people. I believe the movie represents some key characteristics of American life and the development of American society. As we see in the movie it is clear that the people want to work for themselves and make a living off of the land that they own. The ideas of individuality and being self-made are prominent in American society and are clearly seen in the movie Shane. Another representative part of the movie is that fact that there must be justice for the people. A key part of American society and its development was focused on justice for all. The movie shows how taking actions into your own hands in order to make things right is the best thing to do and I believe the movie was conveying how justice is required to live a happy and peaceful life. The various events throughout the movie that build up to the point in which matters are taken into the hands of the people show aspects of American development and I believe the movie helps give insight into many American values.
In Tocqueville’s section “Situation of the Black population in the United States, and Dangers with which its Presence Threatens the Whites” he speaks about slavery within America and makes very insightfull predictions into the ways in which slavery both will impact the future of the country and how slavery will change as time passes. Tocqueville explains how since slavery has been such a large part of American culture and society, that although Slavery may cease to exist at some point within America its effects on American culture are nearly permenant. He continues to speak about how Slavery has impacted the South and the North in different ways and that if slavery ever ceases to exist it will impact both regions to different extents. Seeing as there are many prejudices still common within America today, was Tocqueville right in saying that Slavery will forever have a continous impact and involvement in American society? Will there be a time in which these effects are no longer “immovable” within American culture? Tocqueville’s comments on the Black population in America were very insightful and prompt the question of how America can move past the horrible prejudeces that were ingraied into society by the institution of slavery.
Tocqueville’s piece about the social conditions of the Anglo-Americas was very interesting. I believe that Tocqueville has very good ideas about social equality and this piece helped to explain a big reason as to why America is seen as a place of equality and equal opportunity. In this excerpt Tocqueville talks about the redistribution of wealth and assets from elders to their offspring. I found this to be very interesting because Tocqueville explains how the lack of property transmission laws have helped to wean out the transfer of large amounts of wealth and assets thus forcing people to start out on relatively the same playing field. The reason why America has an equal level of equality in Tocqueville’s opinion is due to the fact that most of the land and assets of elders has been parcelled out so thin that it is not significant enough to impact the playing field in which their children are apart of. I found this piece interesting because I think that Tocqueville’s ideas on wealth transfer and its impact on equality in America are accurate but I think contemporary things have changed. In today’s society there seems to be a lot more wealth inequality which has a significant effect on the opportunities of all citizens in America. Tocquville explains how the absence of laws upon wealth transfer has lead to this point but how would Tocqueville explain the continuation of wealth in certain families and more broadly certain groups within America? How would Tocqueville explain how America has gone from a place of equal opportunity to a place where certain groups of people have had better opportunities handed to them through generation transfer of wealth?
Tocqueville starts by vividly describing the landscape of the Americas. He uses metaphorical and descriptive language to paint a picture of the landscape that is contained within the two continents. Tocquville characterizes each portion of America based on its physical appearance and aspects of its environment. The northern half of America he describes as gloomy and quite different from the flowery colourful scenery, one will experience in the southern parts of America. As he continues to describe portions of the continent he starts to become focused on the Mississippi river and talk on how it appears that life spreads out from the consistent flow of water that runs through this river. Tocqueville even makes an insightful judgement when he describes how the future of America appears to be moving westward toward the less abrasive land.
After describing the landscape which Tocqueville considers created perfectly fit for man he goes on to talk about the indigenous peoples of North America. Tocqueville describes them as unique and like no one has witnessed before. He continues to point out aspects of their lives which he believes have a relation to the environment in which they inhabit. When speaking about the Indigenus people he says “They have multiplied freely in the midsts of their deserts…”. I believe that Tocqueville connects the freedom that the American landscape provides to how he believes the Indigenous people act. He continues to say that the Indigenous people are not aware of the modern “civilized” aspects of society and that they were not truly possessing the American land. Tocqueville ends his piece by saying that the Indigenous people were not truly owners of the land they lived on and instead were simply holding the place until people who would properly make use of the land came along. Was Tocqueville justifying the extraction of Indigenous American groups from the land they were inhabiting? Did Tocqueville simply believe that the Indigenous people did not grasp the opportunities available to them? And how do Tocqueville’s ideas on the Indigenus people of North America represent the treatment that they experienced during the country’s founding?