This is a summary for the course American Culture 1 & 2 at the HAN. The substance corresponds to the substance for the course Study of Country and Culture US at the Fontys.
Summary American Culture 1+2
Lerarenopleiding Engels jaar 1
HAN
American Culture chapter 1
The American Dream
1. What is the American Dream? Quotes and History
The balance
The American Dream was first publicly defined in 1931 by James Truslow. According to him it
is not about cars and big houses, but about a social order for each man and woman; about a
land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunities for
each according to ability and achievement. The American Dream is protected by the
Declaration of Independence. It is about being created equally.
The Founding Fathers put into law the revolutionary idea that each person’s desire to pursue
happiness was not just self-indulgence, but part of what drives ambition and creativity. By
these values, the Founding Fathers set up a very attractive society for those who aspire to a
better life for themselves.
To the drafters (opstellers) of the Declaration, the American Dream could only thrive if it was
not hindered by taxation without representation.
This later meant:
- any kind of excessive taxation that would reduce the entrepreneurial drive.
- the society must be governed by elected officials, so no kings of tyrants. They had to abide
by the laws.
- the Declaration also specifically states that a country must be allowed free trade.
The American Dream ensures that no one is legally prevented from achieving their potential
and contributing to society. It is the belief that protecting people’s rights to improve their
own lives is the best way to ensure national progress as well.
‘the charm of anticipated succes’ (The American Dream) has not only drawn millions of
immigrants to the US, it’s also been a compelling vision for other nations. Sociologist Emily
Rosenberg identified five components of the American Dream as it has shown up in
countries all around the world.
- belief that other nations should replicate America’s development.
- faith in a free market economy.
- support free trade agreements and Foreign Direct Investments.
- promotion of the free flow of information and culture.
- acceptance of government protection of private enterprise.
What made the American Dream possible?
,The American Dream was made possible by several geographic, economic and political
factors that created enough prosperity and peace to create a land of opportunity.
- the US has a large land mass under one government.
- America is bordered by benign (goedaardig/onschuldige) neighbors (canada/mexico).
- the US commerce (handel) is fed by abundant natural resources, such as oil, rainfall and
plenty of rivers.
These geographical and political realities help US companies become more innovative by
providing a large easily accessible test market for new products.
The history of the American Dream
At first the Declaration only extended the American Dream to white property-owners. Later
on this was extended to slaves, women and non-property owners. In this way the American
Dream changed the course of America itself.
In the 1920s, the American Dream started morphing into something less about equal
opportunity to become the best you can be, and more about the acquisition of material
things. The greed that had begun to define the American Dream led to the stock market
crash of 1929 and The Great Depression.
This evolution in the American Dream was verbalized by the nation’s leaders.
- president Lincoln provided the Dream’s equal opportunity to Negro slaves.
- president Wilson supported the voting rights of women.
- president Johnson promoted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- president Obama supported the legal benefits of the marriage contract regardless of sexual
orientation.
After the 1920s, many Presidents also began supporting the idea that the Dream includes a
guarantee of material benefits.
- president Roosevelt was the first to support equal opportunity to homeownership. He built
upon the Gatsby definition of the Dream to prevent Americans from being attracted to
Nazism, socialism or communism.
Roosevelts idea was built upon by president Truman after WWII. His ‘’post-war social
contract’’ included the GI Bill for returning veterans in which the government paid for a
college degree. This post-World War II abundance set the stage for people to expect they
should get those things now, or at least in their lifetime.
President Obama, once elected, furthered FDR’s idea that everyone should have access to
affordable health care through insurance.
both the right to pursue happiness and the right to disagree about what that means, are
both part of what makes the American Dream so powerful.
2. In search of the American Dream
,The atlantic
Unlike the deep-seated tribal loyalties found across Europe, American patriotism is an
artificial construct.
According to French journalist Raoul De Roussy De Sales, Amercia is a nation with a well-
defined, almost brash identity. De Sales was fascinated by America’s conception of itself as a
framework of ideas – one that remained as vivid and meaningful to its present-day
inhabitants as it had to its founders.
Atlantic contributors addressed, too, the inevitable conflicts that emerge when American
realities fall short of American Ideals.
, American Culture chapter 2
Puritans
1. what is the difference between a pilgrim and a puritan?
“Nonconformists” persecuted in England for their belief that the Church of England was still
too similar to Catholicism.
Pilgrims and Puritans were Protestants who differed in degree. While both followed the
teaching of John Calvin, a cardinal difference distinguished one group from the other:
Pilgrims were Puritans who had abandoned local parishes and formal small congregations of
their own because of the Church of England was not holy enough to meet their standards.
They were labelled Separatists.
Their desertion was an ecclesiastical insult to the king as head of the Anglican Church and a
crime punishable by jail or death. Around a hundred Separatists left England in 1607-08 in
search of religious freedom. They first settled in Leyden, but decided to leave because they
felt Dutch society was too liberal and their children were becoming too Dutch. Many set sail
on the Mayflower in September 1620, arriving in America on 9 November 1620.
The Pilgrims landed at Cape Cod, Massachusetts in November 1620 under harsh conditions. They
were assisted by the local Wampanoag tribe and the English-speaking Native American Squanto (who
had been a slave in England). The Wampanoag taught the Pilgrims how to fish and farm in America,
because the pilgrims had few agrarian skills after long living in Dutch cities. This is often seen as what
would become the US.
Puritans / Nonseparating Episcopalians were Calvinists who believed that faith was based in
the relationship between God and an individual, and not based on rituals, funny outfits,
incomprehensible Latin, and bling. Puritans believed the Church of England was not yet pure
enough and wanted to purify it from within to further rid it of traces of Catholicism. The
Pilgrims were like Puritans but believed that the Church of England was too corrupt and
therefore wanted to leave.
According to Puritans, all relationships were based on covenants (contracts) (between
people, between individuals and God, etc.), religion was to be organised bottom up, rather
than top down (unlike Catholicism) and there was belief in predestination and the notion of
the elect.
If you wanted to become a member of a Puritan congregation, you had to pass three tests:
- You had to know the Bible inside and out
- You had to be an exemplary citizen
- You had to convince the congregation of having had a conversion experience. This could be
a deeply spiritual trance, speaking in tongues, having a vision, etc.
In 1630, John Winthrop led some 1000 English Puritans in the initial wave of the Great
Migration to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. For those who believed in simple Sunday
services based on the Bible, without the intrusion of Roman rituals, it was time to leave. Fear
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