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¶ … AMERICA: Frederick Turner vs. Oscar Handlin
America through the lens of Turner was essentially a world that grew out of the frontier. Its ideals, hopes, dreams, and government were fashioned by the frontier -- by the "Wild West" so to speak. Turner's vision of America was one in which the country's character grew up organically out of the pioneer spirit. It had nothing to do with England or Puritanism or the Magna Carta or the Enlightenment. It had everything to do with the rough and ready adventurism of men like Daniel Boone and Lewis and Clark. This lens has shaped the way Americans think of themselves, too. They view themselves as expansionists, always pushing the borders to acquire new territory. True, the anti-Imperialists have voiced their objections throughout the years, by Manifest Destiny and New Expansionism are purely Tunerian ideas just taken beyond the frontier. The whole world becomes open to American colonization when one looks through the Turner lens: for everywhere is a new frontier and the American spirit is always ready...
Handlin's view is that the immigrants brought with them ideas, ethics, cultures, but that all of these were melded into one entity -- the American identity, fostered on dreams of rising up in the world. The character of the immigrant experience was forged in the melting pot, so to speak, and this melting pot of diversity is what has made America into what it is today.
These two different stories appeal to wildly different Americans because the former, the Turner lens, depicts a strong, leader-like America -- an Empire that is Exceptional. The latter, the Handlin lens, shows an America that is humbler, made up of diverse patches, which woven together tell a unique story that is at once sentimental and realistic, full of hopes and dreams yet also encumbered by calluses and worn limbs from too…
There were a lot of white people around, and many of them were angry that the blacks had been freed. Some of them were actually hostile toward the blacks and their newfound freedom, so the blacks learned quickly that they had to be careful. They needed to settle a little bit away from the hostile whites and do their best not to make waves or cause trouble, in the
In years before, America was a collection of Chinese, Germans, Italians, Scots, Croats, etc., all craving freedom. Today, even the simple concept of an English-speaking nation is fading off the continent. In the past, immigrants were taught in English in the public schools. In America today, children are taught in German, Italian, Polish, and 108 other languages and dialects. Most of these schools are funded by 139 million federal
So alike yet distinct did these early writers create, that they are now required reading in British schools (Duquette). In terms of religion, American culture emulated Britain less than many of the early settler were reactionary against British conservatism. Several of the original 13 Colonies were established by English, Irish, and Scottish settlers who were fleeing religious persecution. By 1787, in fact, the United States became one of the first
So who is an American and what an America can or cannot do are questions which are critical to the issue of legalizing immigrants. Does being an American mean you cannot show allegiance to any other country? The images of people raising and waving Mexican flag had enraged many but it need not have. It should be accepted that people who come from different countries would forever hold in their
Nations and Nationalism Exist: Comparison of the Work of Laitin, Geertz, Hobsbawn, and Anderson The objective of this study is to compare the work of Laitin, Geertz, Hobsbawn, and Anderson and to answer as to which argument is the most persuasive for why nations and nationalism exist. Definition of 'Nation' Anderson (1991) defines the concept of nation to be such that results in theorists of nationalism being perplexed by three specific paradoxes
America: Readings in Race, Culture, and Conflict Susan Wyle's book Revisiting America: Readings in Race, Culture, and Conflict explores the history of the America through the lens of the political, racial, social, and cultural issues that make up the population. The story of American history is retold. Widely known stories about America's past are revisited and additional information about cultural conflict of the period is used to show a new