Two Facets Of American Culture Analysis

Two facets of American character and culture that I believe to be of most significance are racism and violence. Both of these characteristics are present throughout all the chapters covered so far very frequently, and make up a good portion of the history of the United States of America. In the first chapter covered, chapter eighteen, the idea of western expansion and oppression of Native Americans is the main idea. The facets I want to talk about, racism and violence, are obviously present in the chapter and can be easily explained in one paragraph. For example, the very idea of taking land from the Native Americans for the betterment of “White civilization” because the natives are considered sub-human due to their skin color and cultural upbringing could be considered the literal definition of racism. The Native Americans were even given a section of land, which later became Oklahoma, to live in, instead of wherever their previous home was, in order to either separate them from “Our” culture or to assimilate into our world. This is significant because it led to either the tribes fighting against the Americans, which inevitably led to their death, or go along with the order that would still lead some of them to their deaths. A specific example of these …show more content…
Most immigrants of the time who were not lucky enough to come from somewhere that spoke English or had a lighter shade of skin were subject to the harder and dirtier jobs. The Prohibition Movement was gaining traction due to angry, usually drunken men who would come home to their family and beat them. The religious groups at the time believed that alcohol was the problem and began working towards the ban of alcohol. This movement is significant because of the cultural divide it would eventually cause in America that would change the United States