As we look back on American Culture, each individual has a different point of view. What I took from the readings and lectures was that there are multiple American Cultures throughout history. The autobiographies of Benjamin Franklin and Harriet Jacobs are proof of this notion. American Cultures are created through the slave culture and popular culture proving there is more than one American Culture. People can argue though that these cultures make one American Culture instead of many making this decision very difficult.
American Culture was greatly impacted by the slave culture. African Americans gave the American culture music, religion, and the effect of what power can do to people. It showed the people how power can affect common good;
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By reading her book and understanding how slavery impacted the slaves’ lives, America changed the culture for the better by becoming less violent. We now only have one leader that the country votes on instead of having multiple ones that no one agrees on. American citizens generally all have the same mindset as a the leader which makes America a changed society. Slavery has had a great deal of influence on how the American culture developed. Shown in Harriet’s autobiography many slaves couldn’t deal with slavery like Harriet. They had a lack of family and community around them, causing them to have social problems and fall to mental health issues such as depression. Family and community were very crucial for the slaves just as they are for America in today 's world. Family and community have a big impact on what each individual does for one another and not just themselves. Throughout the book, Harriet shows shows the inequalities of men and women and how each sex was treated differently. This problem is still impacting today’s culture with how women and men are paid and treated differently. The slave culture has given a reason as to why there are multiple cultures and not just one because history is forever …show more content…
“Popular culture is the general culture of a society including ideas, music, books, and mass media.”(He has played a huge role in our history books with the invention of the lightbulb and other items, along with being one of the founding fathers of the United States. Ben Franklin 's involvement in popular culture interludes with American culture by the way we look back at his accomplishments and how his inventions have now impacted our society such as being able to have light and how much light affects our society. America is forever changing because of subcultures. Ben Franklin was able to prove to many people that hard work can get you anywhere you want to. “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning”(Franklin, 53). Franklin 's strive for success and no-failure policy it pushes people to want the same. As the American culture has learned about his accomplishments and awards for so many years we cannot help but want what he had. Through the impact that Ben Franklin has had on popular culture we as people develop the idea that if we work hard like he did, we could make greatness to. This policy makes us continue to strive for what we want and idolize the people that have earned or reached their goals from never giving up and working hard. These generally call these people in today’s world
Musically and culturally, the black community impacted America. Musicians, like Duke Ellington, King Oliver, and Louis Armstrong, spiced up the
In the earliest part of Harriet?s life the whole idea of slavery was foreign to her. As all little girls she was born with a mind that only told her place in the world was that of a little girl. She had no capacity to understand the hardships that she inherited. She explains how her, ?heart was as free from care as that of any free-born white child.?(Jacobs p. 7) She explains this blissful ignorance by not understanding that she was condemned at birth to a life of the worst kind oppression. Even at six when she first became familiar with the realization that people regarded her as a slave, Harriet could not conceptualize the weight of what this meant. She say?s that her circumstances as slave girl were unusua...
Benjamin Franklin was a remarkably talented man. He started his life as a printers apprentice, but went much farther then there. He developed things that were far more advanced than the time. Benjamin Franklin's stove for example, for cold winter nights, and bifocal lenses for reading. Franklin tracked storms to help understand the horrible weather endured by the colonies. But gis study of electricity made him mist famous and he was known world wide as the founder of the lightning rod. Not only was Benjamin Franklin helpful in developing ideas for better living, he was also a strong force in developing the new nation of America. Benjamin Franklins political views showed him to be a man who loved freedom and independence. His views towards England gradually changed from like to dislike until he finally
Harriet changed America into a better place and was one of the main reasons that slavery came to an end. Harriet Tubman overcame slavery by escaping persecution, risking her life, and refusing to give up. One of the things that Harriet Tubman did to overcome slavery was by escaping persecution. Escaping slavery was always on Harriet's mind ever since she was just a young child. Harriet was born straight into bondage when she was born in 1825.
American culture is in my opinion a mixture of all cultures in the world. In some states, minorities have become majorities because of the huge masses that have immigrated there. Those groups have integrated their own customs to Americans and at the same time, have made American customs part of their lives. In that enormous alloy called Americans, you can meet diverse kinds of persons, languages, foods and words. At the same time, specific traits make this culture as any other unique. The British writer Lesley Hazleton describes in the essay The First Game her experience when she attended a baseball game for the first time in her life. It was her first time visiting America as well and the way the scene is described shows in some way her perception of what Americans are. Among their several qualities, she distinguished the idolization of achievers and their lives based on a theocentric society.
Slavery was a horrible institution that dehumanized a race of people. Female slave bondage was different from that of men. It wasn't less severe, but it was different. The sexual abuse, child bearing, and child care responsibilities affected the females's pattern of resistance and how they conducted their lives. Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, demonstrates the different role that women slaves had and the struggles that were caused from having to cope with sexual abuse.
Benjamin Franklin was a very prominent figure in shaping our nation. Many people look at him as a role model or just as an amazing individual. He had his faults just like every human being had, and he shouldn’t be discredited because of a few minor glitches to his character. As being the only person that had signed The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and the Treaty of Paris, this immediately separates him from all others. One of the things that he wrote about in Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography and Other Writings, was trying to be the ideal person, and even made a list of virtues to live by. His virtues were very important to his lifestyle, and he followed them to a great extent.
Today marriage is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as the relationship between a husband and a wife or a similar relationship between people of the same sex. For the purposes of this paper, it will focus on marriage between a man and a woman and how marriage is differently defined between the American and Chinese cultures. This paper will discuss the cultural differences found between the American and Chinese culture with emphasis on age and mate-selection. The cultural differences between American and Chinese culture related to marriage practices shows that Americans value individualism and Chinese historically value collectivism.
Even from early on she “risked her life to lead hundreds of family members and other slaves from the plantation system to freedom” (“Harriet Tubman”). Once Harriet finally escaped, she felt that it was not enough. She became a conductor on the Underground Railroad and did her very best to give others a better chance at their lives’. For example, rather “than remaining in the safety of the North, Tubman made it her mission to rescue her family and others living in slavery [by] the Underground Railroad” (“Harriet Tubman”). Harriet was dedicating her life to this and took this problem to heart recognizing that everyone is equal and should never be discriminated. Harriet was faced with several challenges along the way such as having “never recovered from the damage done to her brain and skull [from her slave owner]” (“Harriet Tubman”) and also having a very large price on her head for being a fugitive slave. All of these trials shaped Harriet into a stronger, braver person as she watched her footsteps and never let go of her original motivation. Harriet Tubman played a very large role in U.S. history, slavery, and in almost everyone’s lives as she pushed to the end while suffering for the benefit of
The word “culture” is defined different to every person. It is how you interpret it in your life. Many ways of how we interpret culture is based on your ethnic, personal experience, and who you see yourself as. You interact with the group that best fits you. For instance, the language you speak, where you were born, the people you work with, and last but not least your career. Culture is rapidly changing as we continue to grow up. We belong to different group of cultures. There is not a certain culture you pertain to but how comfortable you feel within that culture. Indeed, there’s this quote used in Lisa Sherff and Karen Spector book, that explains that it’s not about the ethnicity or geological location you come from but based upon
“Culture” is a term that over the years, has taken many forms, served many purposes and has been defined in a variety of contexts. At the rise of the industrial era, inhabitants of rural areas began to migrate to cities, thus starting urbanization. As this new era began to unfold, urbanization, mass production, and modernization became key ingredients in the transformation of culture. As more people became literate and the production of mass media such as magazines, pamphlets, newspapers etc. increased, many had the option and desire to identify collectively – popular culture began to rise. Popular or “mass” culture can be described as a “dynamic, revolutionary force, breaking down the old barriers of class, tradition, taste, and dissolving
During the 18th and 19th centuries slavery was economically efficient, but more importantly a social aspect of almost everyone’s life. There was an extreme importance depending on the existence of slavery in the majority of white land owners and also the South’s economy. Slaves also greatly contributed and were an important role to America’s history. Another important aspect of slavery was the nature of their life in America, their culture, and how this intertwined into the slave’s relationship with their master. Culture contributed a great deal in their religion and family as well. As many slaves as there were, conflict would very easily ignite with other slaves, but even more so with a master, which often lead to slave revolts or slave resistance. Slaves not only left a historical footprint on early America, but they also formed an important foundation for the country we know today.
The connection between culture and society are fundamental in the understanding of anthropology. Culture on its own is a huge topic that can be studied for years and years. There is a never-ending stream of new ways culture affects human beings in everyday life. Just walking through the hallway puts culture into use. How we are supposed to interact with people in society and how we actually interact with people is all based on culture. Without culture, a healthy working society would not exist, and without society, culture would be a very difficult concept to pass on and use in daily life.
Culture is the social behavior and norms found in a particular group of people and society, defined by everything from language, religion, food, habits, music, and values. In one line, culture is the people's way of life. Culture is also the distinction between nature and nurture. The term nature means what we get biologically or naturally and the term nurture means how our surroundings shape our identities. People genetically get some ability and similarity just like their family members. But in some case, their culture may be similar or different. If a child born in an Indian society and raised in the European society, that child may follow European culture more effectively. Cultural sociologists study for how different cultural elements
Recognizing the influence of culture is an important aspect for social workers when working with diverse populations. The client is a 30-year-old single African-American (AA) single woman with a child. Culture identifies a set of values and beliefs in a community and its corresponding worldview. As the AA culture has been forced to assimilate into the dominant culture, their own culture has been slowly forgotten. The client has deep roots to her ancestors and has mainstreamed into a new dimension. The client is reconnecting with her Baptist faith as she has lost the support from spiritual leaders. “African-Americans have developed abilities and coping mechanisms to deal with racism, and they rely on their social systems that have been perfected over the generations” (Marsiglia & Kulis, 2009, p. 187). The client represents a very diverse cultural group and the intersection of social class and gender which contributes to her oppression. The client is a single AA female with a son, living in poverty, lack of education, unemployed, with a felony charge, and receiving cash assistance from the state to support her son.