American exceptionalism

The American Civil War had an ever lasting, and in some cases most devastating, effect on the United States. Unlike with traditional war fought between two countries, the nature of the American Civil War made for certain that there would be a most devastated loser within the United States —turning out to be the Southern, Confederate States. Such compounded with the fact that the Northern, Union States could hardly consider theirselves victorious, due to the great losses they faced —…

Latin@s, particularly Hispanic immigrants pose a threat to the American culture. This argument focuses on separating Latin@ immigrants from other immigrant groups and then examining how they pose a cultural, social, and political threat to America. Although Huntington provides a compelling argument, his simplified understanding of the Latin@ identity and a unified American culture led him an inaccurate understanding of Latin@s in American society. In this article Huntington creates a…

Despite, or perhaps because of, this country’s short history, the American identity is one of the most highly contested and undefinable of intangible ideas. Many of the highly debated abstract concepts are so often and sometimes needlessly argued over because they are indefinable. So much can fall under the categories of these types, like art, love, and poetry, that deems them impossible to narrow down into workable definitions. A blank canvas can be considered art and free verse is somehow…

epitome of contemporary African American literature, Coates presents a difficult concept to grasp called “The Dream.” The Dream is the illusion of the American Dream. This essay argues that African Americans…

Courtney White’s article “Westward Ho!” explores manifest destiny, the concept of American exceptionalism, and being a part of the “latter-day pioneers” (White 1). “Manifest destiny was a phrase employed energetically in the mid-19th century by a variety of politicians, journalists, and economic boosters to express the general belief that the United States had an unstoppable destiny to expand from sea to shining sea in accordance with God’s manifest will” (White 1). White also speaks of his…

been rooted in the fact that Asian-Americans were regarded as a “model-minority,” which often was used to subjugate the progress of African-Americans. Although largely credited as a myth by scholars, the large representation of Asian-owned stores in African-American neighborhoods helped introduce fears to African-Americans that there was an impending economic takeover of their neighborhoods. For the L.A riots, Sumi K. Cho notes how “the portrayal of Asian Americans as the paragons of…

Black writers and actors were the only prominent black celebrities, and blacks had different opinions about how they represented the race and the morality of their actions. Booker T. Washington thought that black minstrel performers and writers were great representations of the black race. They did not complain about racial inequality, rather they made names for themselves and integrated into higher society by performing and writing plays. Washington wanted actors to speak about how minstrelsy…

Independence, Missouri where nearly 300,000 Americans met and traveled west; typically in a covered wagon carrying all of their belongings, inspired by words of O’Sullivan. The phrase manifest destiny was widely used and there were many different interpretations however, it always seemed to outline three basic themes, virtue, mission and destiny; these themes are what made such a significant impact on the people of…

the position of the United States had to be decided according to the British. One of the first actions that outraged the Americans was the 1807 Orders in Council which required any country maintaining neutrality in the conflict would need a special license from England before trade with France could be re-established. The British were attempting to limit the amount of American goods that could reach the French, monopolize trade with the United States, and seize any ship that was suspected of…

Geronimo: A True American The brave Bedonkohe Apache leader Geronimo was able to accomplish many astonishing feats before he died at the age of seventy-nine in 1909. Some of these achievements include continuing his journey of bettering the lives of his people despite his own family being murdered when he was only twenty-nine (27). Geronimo fully embodies the hard-working and no excuses attitude that many Americans strive for. Geronimo in many ways possesses the same moral code and ideas that…