Culture 2 Revision Notes
1.1 The American Dream and Identity
The American Dream
1. Definition: The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they
were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a
society where upward mobility is possible for everyone. The American Dream is achieved
through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, rather than by chance.
2. Origin: James Truslow Adams, 1931 in The Epic of America
3. Critical Views: Prosperity is confused with happiness; assumes that the US is an open
society where people are not discriminated (race, religion, gender, and national origin)
1.2 Geography & Education
Timeline of early explorations
1.Pre-Columbian Explorations
~13,000 BCE: Hunters and fishers from Asia that archaeologists call Pre-Clovis entered the
Americas from eastern Asia and spend the next 12,000 years exploring the coastlines and
colonizing the interiors of North and South America.
870 CE: The Viking explorer Erik the Red (ca. 950–1003) reaches Greenland
998: Erik the Red's son Leif Erikson (c. 970–1020) reaches Newfoundland and explores the
region from a small settlement called L'Anse aux Meadows (Jellyfish Cove).
1200: Polynesian sailors, descendants of the Lapita Culture, permanently settle Easter
Island.
1400: Descendants of Easter Islanders land on the Chilean coast of South America and
hobnob with the local residents, bringing chickens for dinner.
1473: Portuguese sailor João Vaz Corte-Real (1420–1496) explores (perhaps) the coast of
North America, a land he calls Terra Nova do Bacalhau (New Land of the Codfish).
2.Columbus and Later Explorations (1492–1519)
1492–1493: Italian explorer Christopher Columbus makes three voyages paid for by the
Spanish and lands on islands off the coast of the North American continent, not realizing he
has found a new land.
1497: Italian navigator and explorer John Cabot (ca. 1450–1500), commissioned by Britain's
Henry VII, sights Newfoundland and Labrador, claiming this area for England before sailing
south toward Maine and then returning to England.
1498: John Cabot and his son Sebastian Cabot (1477–1557) explore from Labrador to Cape
Cod.Spanish explorer Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (1462–ca. 1514) and the (possibly) Portuguese
explorer Juan Díaz de Solís (1470–1516) sail into the Gulf of Mexico and visit the Yucatan
peninsula and the coast of Florida.
1500: Portuguese nobleman and military commander Pedro Álvares Cabral (1467–1620)
,Culture 2 Revision Notes
explores Brazil and claims it for Portugal.Yáñez Pinzón discovers the Amazon River in Brazil.
1501: Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512) explores the
Brazilian coast and realizes (unlike Columbus) that he has found a new continent.
1513: Spanish explorer and conquistador Juan Ponce de León (1474–1521) finds and
names Florida. Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475–
1519) crosses the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean to become the first European to
reach the Pacific Ocean from North America.
1516: Díaz de Solís becomes the first European to land in Uruguay, but most of his
expedition is killed and perhaps eaten by local people.
1519: Spanish conquistador and cartographer Alonso Álvarez de Pineda (1494–1520) sails
from Florida to Mexico, mapping the gulf coast along the way and landing in Texas.
Geography
1. States and Major Cities:
1) For the test, you should know : New York, Illinois, California, Texas, Florida, Alaska, Hawaii
2) For the test, you should be able to place these cities in the correct state: New York City,
Boston, Chicago, Miami, Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix, Atlanta, San Francisco, Dallas, Los
Angeles, Las Vegas, and Washington, D.C.--next to which state.
2. Regions
, Culture 2 Revision Notes
3.Lakes and Rivers and major Mountain Ranges
For the test, you should at least know
1) where these rivers are: Missouri, Mississippi, Hudson, Colorado, Rio Grande, and Ohio.
2)mountain Ranges: Appalachians, Rockies, and Sierra Nevadas.
Demographics
1.US Census: Every 10 years; Since 1790; A Constitutional Requirement ;Used to allocate
congressional seats, electoral votes and funding
2.Ancestries
1.1 The American Dream and Identity
The American Dream
1. Definition: The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they
were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a
society where upward mobility is possible for everyone. The American Dream is achieved
through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, rather than by chance.
2. Origin: James Truslow Adams, 1931 in The Epic of America
3. Critical Views: Prosperity is confused with happiness; assumes that the US is an open
society where people are not discriminated (race, religion, gender, and national origin)
1.2 Geography & Education
Timeline of early explorations
1.Pre-Columbian Explorations
~13,000 BCE: Hunters and fishers from Asia that archaeologists call Pre-Clovis entered the
Americas from eastern Asia and spend the next 12,000 years exploring the coastlines and
colonizing the interiors of North and South America.
870 CE: The Viking explorer Erik the Red (ca. 950–1003) reaches Greenland
998: Erik the Red's son Leif Erikson (c. 970–1020) reaches Newfoundland and explores the
region from a small settlement called L'Anse aux Meadows (Jellyfish Cove).
1200: Polynesian sailors, descendants of the Lapita Culture, permanently settle Easter
Island.
1400: Descendants of Easter Islanders land on the Chilean coast of South America and
hobnob with the local residents, bringing chickens for dinner.
1473: Portuguese sailor João Vaz Corte-Real (1420–1496) explores (perhaps) the coast of
North America, a land he calls Terra Nova do Bacalhau (New Land of the Codfish).
2.Columbus and Later Explorations (1492–1519)
1492–1493: Italian explorer Christopher Columbus makes three voyages paid for by the
Spanish and lands on islands off the coast of the North American continent, not realizing he
has found a new land.
1497: Italian navigator and explorer John Cabot (ca. 1450–1500), commissioned by Britain's
Henry VII, sights Newfoundland and Labrador, claiming this area for England before sailing
south toward Maine and then returning to England.
1498: John Cabot and his son Sebastian Cabot (1477–1557) explore from Labrador to Cape
Cod.Spanish explorer Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (1462–ca. 1514) and the (possibly) Portuguese
explorer Juan Díaz de Solís (1470–1516) sail into the Gulf of Mexico and visit the Yucatan
peninsula and the coast of Florida.
1500: Portuguese nobleman and military commander Pedro Álvares Cabral (1467–1620)
,Culture 2 Revision Notes
explores Brazil and claims it for Portugal.Yáñez Pinzón discovers the Amazon River in Brazil.
1501: Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512) explores the
Brazilian coast and realizes (unlike Columbus) that he has found a new continent.
1513: Spanish explorer and conquistador Juan Ponce de León (1474–1521) finds and
names Florida. Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475–
1519) crosses the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean to become the first European to
reach the Pacific Ocean from North America.
1516: Díaz de Solís becomes the first European to land in Uruguay, but most of his
expedition is killed and perhaps eaten by local people.
1519: Spanish conquistador and cartographer Alonso Álvarez de Pineda (1494–1520) sails
from Florida to Mexico, mapping the gulf coast along the way and landing in Texas.
Geography
1. States and Major Cities:
1) For the test, you should know : New York, Illinois, California, Texas, Florida, Alaska, Hawaii
2) For the test, you should be able to place these cities in the correct state: New York City,
Boston, Chicago, Miami, Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix, Atlanta, San Francisco, Dallas, Los
Angeles, Las Vegas, and Washington, D.C.--next to which state.
2. Regions
, Culture 2 Revision Notes
3.Lakes and Rivers and major Mountain Ranges
For the test, you should at least know
1) where these rivers are: Missouri, Mississippi, Hudson, Colorado, Rio Grande, and Ohio.
2)mountain Ranges: Appalachians, Rockies, and Sierra Nevadas.
Demographics
1.US Census: Every 10 years; Since 1790; A Constitutional Requirement ;Used to allocate
congressional seats, electoral votes and funding
2.Ancestries
