Author: Brandon Seidman

The film, ‘The Witch” directed and written by Robert Eggers, shares many of the same concepts that our class has touched on thus far especially in regards to Samuel Huntington’s ‘Who Are We?’ I enjoyed watching this movie particularly because of the plot as I found it to be engaging and moderately scary. The plot of the movie focuses on a New England family in the seventeenth century that has experienced troubles with witchcraft. The farmer, William, was removed from his Puritan homestead because of a difference in religious viewpoints; thus resulting in the relocating of his family to nearby a forest. While things began to settle down, the mother, Katherine, had delivered a new baby. One day, the baby magically disappeared while playing in the backyard, leading to a series of unfortunate events. Katherine basically lost her mind and was very blameful to the child who was with the baby during the time of disappearance; furthermore, the families’ crops failed and were faced with ‘bad luck’. Despite the plotline, one of the key aspects that stood out to me in this movie was the cultural influence. It was inferred that the Puritans removed the New England family from their group due to opposition in religious beliefs. This ideology derives from wanting a community or society to be pure and to have every individual believe in the same mannerisms. The concept of identity comes into play as the Puritans were not in favor of what the family was practicing. Upon this decision, in efforts to keep the community as wanted, the family was despised and banned.

In Samuel P. Huntington’s ‘Who Are We? The Challenges to America’s National Identity” I noticed that chapter one, ‘The Crisis of National Identity’ placed a large emphasis on describing American Identity. I especially took note of the fact that Huntington described America as a ‘nation of immigrants’. He went on to say that America’s founders were settlers and not immigrants. The reason being is because the British came to America to discover new land as opposed to leaving society to a new, but already developed one. One of the core points of American identity points to the ‘American Creed’, which exemplifies “the principles of liberty, equality, individualism, represented property, and private government.  Huntington goes on to contend that other nations such as Europe have adopted this statement as they live by it. Based off of the tone of Huntington’s writing, I get the impression that there seems to be a problem with the acceptance of immigrants into American society. After all, immigrants do make up a large percentage of the American population and I feel as though this form of writing derives from a biased opinion. It seems as though Huntington is very patriotic and is not in favor of including immigrants as apart of America’s national identity. As stated in the chapter, Huntington holds several powerful leaders in American history to be responsible for this. Without immigrants in America, it makes me wonder where our society would be in terms of development as well as the status of relationships with other countries.

Alexis de Tocqueville’s commentary and analysis on American society in his given time period have been quite extreme and biased. The advancements that have launched our society to where it is today would definitely generate different forms of productive thinking in relation to contemporary problems than that of Tocqueville’s.  Tocqueville has touched on various topics throughout several of his writings: this includes, How Equality Suggests to the Americans the Indefinite Perfectibility of Man, The Exterior form of North America, and The Present and Probably Future Condition of the Three Races that Inhabit the Territory of the United States. Much has changed since the time that Tocqueville has spoken on the circumstances of America: human nature has developed, the land has been developed, and social equality is an area of major focus. Tocqueville’s thinking and methodology have expired due to the progression of America.

            The reading, How Equality Suggests to the Americans the Idea of the Indefinite Perfectibility of Man was relatively interesting to me. Based off of the title, ‘time’ stuck out to me most. The reason being is because different generations that derive from different periods of time offer different perspectives. In other words, humanity is always changing, to some, it may seem for the better, but to others, it could be for the worse.  Tocqueville brings up an example of a sailor and why his ship is only meant to last for so long. Ships are only occupied for so long due to the progress that scientists and engineers are able to make. As time goes on, it can be inferred that certain things advance and in this case, it is the development of ships. Democratic nations are said to be responsible for this as progression is accepted and encouraged. Generations of time are said to be building off of one another.

            The reading, The Exterior Form of North America by Tocqueville lies out and describes what America looked like geographically before it was settled. North America was known as a hotbed for opportunity at the time and land was extremely valuable. As many individuals know, there was a sense of rivalry between the settlers and Indigenous population. Tocqueville goes on to emphasize how they basically take up space on this newly founded land and do not develop it, but rather uses its’ resources. Contrary to popular belief, the Indigenous appreciated what they had as they used forms of religion and farming to show this. Many Indigenous were confused as to why they were being treated in such a harsh way. The reason being is because the whites felt as though they were missing out, or would not get the opportunity to do what they wished with this land. Native Americans were seen as ‘savages’ by the whites and not much could persuade or convince them otherwise. Obviously, though, there are exceptions to the stereotypes that loomed America at the time and people did not entirely agree with the majority. Without the Indigenous, early land development would not have taken place the same way it was without them.

            In The Present and Probably Future Condition of the Three Races that Inhabit the Territory of the United States by Tocqueville, there is a heavy emphasis on the three groups that occupied North America at the time: the Indigenous people, African Americans, and the Europeans. The Indigenous people along with the blacks faced much of the systematic influences that were being pressured upon them by the Europeans. The Indigenous were seen as useless to the development of American land and the blacks were used as slaves under European rule. Racism is a reoccurring theme that takes place in this chapter, but the focus is more intended towards blacks than the Indigenous. Tocqueville disapproves of African Americans; the ideas of coexistence between blacks and whites are not present in Tocqueville’s eyes. In today’s terms, coexistence is stressed, but not always occurring.

            To an extent, American society and culture can learn from Tocqueville’s thinking. Building off of past experiences is critical to the development of new ideologies. Despite the fact that Tocqueville’s thinking is heavily outdated, he could assist the ways in which society functions today. Modern individuals have the ability and potential to grow and move beyond his ways; therefore, to a minor extent, Tocqueville can provoke American society to productively think about how to address contemporary problems.

In “The Present and Probably Future Condition of the Three Races that Inhabit the Territory of the United States” chapter by Tocqueville, there is a heavy emphasis on the three groups that occupied North America at the time: the Indigenous people, African Americans, and the Europeans. The indigenous people along with the blacks faced much of the systematic influences that were being pressured upon them by the Europeans. The Indians were seen as useless to the development of American land and the blacks were used as slaves under European rule. Racism is a reoccurring theme that takes place in this chapter, but the focus is more intended towards blacks than the Indians. Tocqueville disapproves of African Americans. He asks his readers to envision being on a steamboat ship in the Ohio River. To the right of him is the Northern state of Ohio and to the left is the Southern state of Kentucky. He claims that opportunity arises in Ohio while idleness plagues Kentucky. The ideas of coexistence between blacks and whites are not present in Tocqueville’s eyes.

The reading, “The Exterior Form of North America” by Alexis de Tocqueville was relatively interesting because it lies out and describes what America looked like geographically before it was settled. North America was known as a hotbed for opportunity at the time and land was extremely valuable. As many individuals know, there was a sense of rivalry between the settlers and Native American or Indian population. Tocqueville, being a European, presents a sense of discrimination towards Indians in this piece; this ideology was known to be common amongst colonizers during this said time period. He goes on to emphasize how they basically take up space on this newly founded land and do not develop it, but rather uses its’ resources. Contrary to the stereotypical beliefs, Native Americans appreciated what they had as they used forms of religion and farming to show this. Many Indians were confused as to why they were being treated in such a harsh way. The reason being is because the whites felt as though they were missing out, or would not get the opportunity to do what they wished with this land. Often times, the Natives were willing to give up their game with the whites; in response, they minimized their territory through fencing. Native Americans were seen as ‘savages’ by the whites and not much could persuade or convince them otherwise. Obviously, though, there are exceptions to the stereotypes that loomed America at the time and people did not entirely agree with the majority. Without Native Americans, maybe society would not be what it is today in terms of development.