What's An American? PDF

## What's an American? ### Additional Reading ### What's an American? by Farmer James - agricultural outlook - simple living - American rural life - American dream: we are all equal citizens that work for escaping class divisions, religious conflicts only ourselves - Old world vs. New world - Ame...

## What's an American? ### Additional Reading ### What's an American? by Farmer James - agricultural outlook - simple living - American rural life - American dream: we are all equal citizens that work for escaping class divisions, religious conflicts only ourselves - Old world vs. New world - American democracy - good myth making - haven for the oppressed: "he was overlooked, now he is a man" - new start: "American Dream." - land of hope - national pride "work of my countrymen" - industry of his native country - modern society - individualism → work for yourself → hard work, mobility - free man - become men → from slave to a free man - "where there is bread, there is my country" - melting pot → "AMERICAN" - room for everybody → egalitarian, welcoming - infinite land → vast opportunities, frontier, expansion - American → German + Italian + English... - revival: new life - meritocracy: "yetenek" - advertising ### 2. What's American about America - materialistic → skyscraper, 7 Ford, Manhattan skyline, soap operas, leaves of grass, Mark Twain's writings → individuality, noture - ### 3. Frontier by Frederick Jackson Turner - A speech delivered at Columbian Exposition in Chicago - American trait → innovativeness, restlessness, westward movement, hard work, mobility - frontier with American exceptionalism - movement - westward movement - America is different from other nations - colonization of Great West - unlimited cheap land - new opportunity → American dream → explore, settle - slavery struggle - American - away from European influence ### 4. Cuckoos: Personification of Immigrants by Owen Wister - Racist text - Uncle Sam: personification of the US government - Xenophobia - fear of communism spreading to the US > Immigrants damage the house - True children = Americans > We are losing domination, control - Native blood = diminishing > Be alert! Wake up! Preserve your values ### 5. Madison Grant: "Mixture of two races " by Madison Grant - Nordic race: pure, superior, protect - Eugenics - Racist text - Environment has no impact on heredity. > Inferior race dominates >>> Determines your outcomes. > Laws against interracial marriages: anti-miscegenation ### 6. Daviol by Michael Lee Cohen - Identity, conflict, human experience - Biblical figure David - Background influences one's sense of self - Internal/external conflicts ### 7. South Vietnam by Ky - Vietnamese politician - Prime minister of S. Vietnam during the war - He fled to US. - Lasting effect of war on national identity ### 8. Wetbacks by Al Sonton - Immigration law 1986: Strict penalty on businesses hiring illegal workers - Human rights - American dream → equality, new life, leave post behind - See beyond labels