In comparison with other countries, America’s history is quite young, yet still very intense. It is common knowledge that this continent was officially discovered (by the modern world) in year 1492 by Christopher Columbus, an Italian navigator and explorer. He was sailing for the Spanish Crown in search of a westward route to Asia (Indies) to access the trade markets of spices and other oriental goods. The discovery of a new world between Europe and Asia, unknown up to that time, led to massive exploration and colonization by countries such as Spain and other European sea powers. This event is often described as the start of the modern era. Later on in 1620 English settlers, the so-called "Mayflower Pilgrims", left for America seeking religious freedom. They disembarked near Plymouth, Massachusetts, being the first successful European migrants in North America. The immigration flow to the US increased moderately after that but only during the 19th century, due to population pressure and hunger crises, millions of Europeans were driven to the New World. These waves of immigrants bringing their own cultures and traditions to a vast new country inevitably contributed in building what we today call the “melting pot”. America welcomed people from every country, race and religion, all hoping to find freedom, new opportunities and a better way of life.
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The West is an extremely important part of the American culture and identity since strongly linked to the way America has imagined itself as a nation. The idea of the West also reveals ideologies that are central to any consideration of American cultural
The West is an extremely important part of the American culture and identity since strongly linked to the way America has imagined itself as a nation. The idea of the West also reveals ideologies that are central to any consideration of American cultural