Lindsey Stockton W131- Hatcher Summary and Analysis of “Who is an American?” by Eric Foner Eric Foner’s essay “Who is an American?” proposes the question of what exactly, if anything, constitutes an American. Foner’s essential answer to this obscure question is simply that there is no concrete of fixed explanation. History has taught us that the definition of American identity is frequently evolving, in legal, as well as conceptual designations. Foner utilizes historical events, such as laws and legislation passed demonstrating the progressing notion of American identity. For example the Naturalization law of 1790, which provided the first legislative characterization of American nationality through the granting of citizenship- and its eventual additions of African Americans and Asians many years later.
Was Colonial Culture Uniquely American? Yes: Gary B. Nash No: David Hackett Fisher Each of the authors of this spirited debate between the uniqueness (or the lack there of) of the American culture presented compelling arguments for their side. Nash feels strongly that the convergence of the three cultures which he refers to as a tri-racial society, in and of itself created a new and unique culture. Regardless of the origins of these cultures, he refers to the unique blend of diverse environmental factors and peoples caused the development of a variety of cultures that were mostly English, part European, and altogether original. He argued that social development studies showed changes in their social behaviors and their interactions once in their new environment.
Federalist No. 51 OVERVIEW The framework of the American government today--a representative government with a strong federal government--was laid out in a series of essays or treatises collectively called the Federalist Papers. The author of Federalist Paper 51 is not known. The author argues that the Constitution's federal system and separation of powers will protect the rights of the people. GUIDED READING As you read, consider the following questions: • Why is the author so concerned with the distribution of power between the parts of government?
Our lives melting into one another.” What a beautiful way to put it. In an article, I found on Cultural Survival where an interview took place with a Historian (Schlesinger). He states that the reason the Unites States vast multicultural society has worked for over centuries is due to overriding the conception of an American nationality. American citizenship has not only been enriched by strangers from different countries, but it has been transformed. America once a racist country that was initially run by white settlers who felt subgroups should be enslaved to do peon labor.
The author of this essay, Dr. Thomas L. Nichols, effectively asserts that “The right of a man to emigrate from one country to another, is one which belongs to him by his own constitution and by every principle of justice” (18). This essay will discuss why immigrants should be welcome in America and how they will benefit the country. Thomas L. Nichols believes “The right to live, then, supposes the right of emigration…” (18). He elaborates this statement by re-enforcing the fact that America is a land built on immigration. The first settlers on this land were foreigners who came to improve their condition and escape oppression just as the immigrants of these days and times are also making an effort to do.
Since the arrival of the European settlers, there has been much discussion about the sovereignty of the Native Americans who have lived on this land for thousands of years. For the Indians, the prevailing notion has always been that they are sovereign nations, capable of deciding their destinies, and in fact, the United States government has agreed with them in treaties. In his essay “International Law and Politics,” Glenn Morris notes that a former attorney general of the United States, William Wirt (Attorney General in 1828), once said of Indian Nations: “[…] Like all other independent nations, they have the absolute power of war and peace. Like all other independent nations, their territories are inviolable by any other sovereignty…As a nation, they are still free and independent. They are entirely self-governed, self-directed.
Wilson 1 Cammie Wilson Margaret Triplett WR 121 04/28/13 Roosevelt and America Civil Religion Are you asking yourself what is American Civil Regligion and what does it mean? This is exactly what I asked myself the first time I heard it. In Robert N. Bellah's “Civil Religion in America” he explains that throughtout history civil regligion has existed that it is an unrecongonized well institutionalized political religion his anaylsis of presdential ignaurugal speeches revealed what he called three "time trials" the first being about indepence and if we run our own affairs our own way. The second was of democracy within our county (still from being solved although sugnifcant progress made in the area) and the third time trial was
All of the following questions emerged from the ideas of the Atlantic revolutions EXCEPT: a. Are liberty and equality compatible? b. What form of government best ensures freedom? c. Should liberty be given to all people within a nation?
Of the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton, and the Art of the Sale The Constitution of the United States of America is often called the American Experiment by political powers outside our borders. From the time it was drafted it has been scrutinized by enemies as well as allies, each with their own political agenda on what it means to them both individually and collectively. Through the drafting of the Constitution the founding Fathers established a federal government that had more power over their sovereign states but cleverly policed itself from any one organized group within that federal body from gaining ultimate authority over all. This was accomplished by developing three branches of government to counter balance: Legislative, Executive
Throughout this archive, Rakove defines the significance of those rights, there impact on the Constitution, and the society as a whole. In the sixteen and seventeenth centuries, American and British people occupied the thirteen colonies, and defined rights in their own way. Before the changes to the definition of rights, a right was something more than liberty or privileges that the state could offer or revoke. It was literally something that individuals owned. The legal sense of rights states that all other conceptions of rights, such as American views are described as liberty and privileges.