Appearance of American English:
I believe that most of us must have this experience that when we look up a word in a dictionary we'll find the word "BrE' or "AmE" marked behind the very word. "BrE" here means British English (herein called BrE) while AmE means American English (herein called AmE). So I can say that AmE has been more and more popular throughout the English--speaking countries, especially among the young people. To a certain extend it has become more common than BrE.
Then how does it come into being? I think the reason is various. To get a general idea of it let us go back to American past.
I think the formation of AmE can be traced back to 17th century., when the Englishmen began to establish colonial land. In the late 15th century Christopher Columbus, an Italian navigator, believed that by sailing west from Europe, he could reach the Far East. So when he reached some small islands in 1492, he thought he had reached Asia and didn't know he had discovered a New Continent. Columbus made great contributions to Europe. Just as a coin has two sides it the beginning of great disaster to people living in the New Continent. The Englishmen began to establish permanent settlements in North America by the beginning of the 17th century. Because at that time capitalism in English had undergone a high development and the colonial expansion was the first thing to do. Unfortunately America was its target. The first English permanent settlement was found at Jamestown in 1607 in Virginia. This was organized by the London Company and the Polymouth Company with a charter from the English king James the first. Between 1607 and 1733 the British establish 13 colonials along the east coastal of North America. They were Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, New England, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Opportunity and seeking for religious persecution drew a lot of Englishmen to America. By 1750, nearly 2 million people were living in these colonies. So they brought lots of things to America, of which the language was one. At the same time the commonly used language was English--Elizabethan English. The economy in the 13 colonies developed very fast. With the development of economy the people in the colonies wanted more freedom in every aspect of social life.
Most of the first settlers in America came from England and considered themselves to be Englishmen. At first they relied on their mother country for money, supplies and protection. As the colony became larger and more populous, people gradually started feeling as if they were a separate nation. By the eve of the Revolution the patriotism has built up to such an extent, that the colonists believed America was self-sufficient enough to exist as independent unit from England.
There were various reasons why the American Colonies were established. The three most important themes of English colonization of America were religion, economics, and government. The most important reasons for colonization were to seek refuge, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. To a lesser degree, the colonists sought to establish a stable and progressive government.
The seventeenth and early eighteenth century, brought thousands of immigrants to America in pursuit of freedom and a new life. Some desired freedom from religious persecution, others wanted a chance to be free from the poverty that ensnared them in England Thus the American colonies were formed. Although the colonies were all united under British rule, they eventually separated into various regions including the Chesapeake region, the New England region, the Middle region, and the Southern region. Despite all the colonies being primarily inhabited by people of English origin the Chesapeake and New England regions evolved into two distinct societies due to religious, economic, and societal factors.
People from England started colonizing America. And they went there with different motivations in mind. Some were going there in order to gain a fortune and be able to live happily. Those people settled in the South and created the colony Chesapeake. Others were going to America in order to gain religious freedom from the Church of England. Those people settled in the North and created New England. The different motivations for moving to America is why the two colonies developed into completely different societies, despite the fact that they were all from the England. These differences led to sectionalism between the North and South, and eventually led to war breaking out over the morals of having slaves (The Civil War).
The story of American politics starts with the Declaration of Independence. This document was brilliantly written by Thomas Jefferson and compacted all of the great ideas of enlightenment into one short easy to read paper. The declaration stated all of the ideals the new American nation would strive for. A constitution was needed as a way in which to fulfill those goals. The articles of confederacy were created as that constitution. However, they were weak, because no state wanted to give away any of their powers, and so the articles eventually failed. That is when the modern day constitution was starting to form.
In 1585 the English followed in the footsteps of the Spanish and traveled west to the new world for riches and fame, however the first successful colony in 1607. Once there they found a severe lack of gold and many hardships which threatened the colonies and as a result they were helped by the Native Americans to help, and they taught them how to survive. At first the colonies were very patriotic and proud to be British, but as time passed so did their patriotism and reliance on Britain. As their independence grew they started to disagree with the British ultimately many different variables induced the American Revolution, but they fall into three main categories social, political, and economic.
Colonial America began in the early 1600’s when the European nations directed their focus toward the “New World,” a place of opportunity. According to Eric Foner’s Give Me Liberty, England’s motives for colonization were built upon national glory, profit, and religious mission (41). The purpose of the colonies in the New World was to import manufactured goods, produce marketable resources, and serve the interest of the mother country, England (Foner 74). Because economic circumstances in England were not great, England had a large proportion of men, women, and children willing to migrate to the New World and settle into the colonies. Nevertheless, after the British colonies were established, they were separated into three regions: the New England, Middle, and Chesapeake colonies. Each of these regions faced a series of challenges with economic, political, and cultural development.
The Eastern region of North American continent was swarmed with English in the 18th century. Initially directed under British rule, the English formed colonies in North, middle, and Southern regions along the Atlantic Ocean. The three regions each possessed distinct environments and features, so different groups of people occupied each colonies. Thus, the British North American colonies in the 1700’s developed distinctive characteristics, yet also shared similar characteristics which bonded them together.
According to Brooke Allen in the article, “Our Godless Constitution,” the American constitution is not founded on Christianity principles as most people claim. According to the author, the American constitution was founded on enlightenment principles and God was only a minor player, while Jesus Christ was conspicuously absent. Brooke assertions are that the constitution does not mention God and the omission is too obvious and deliberate. The article says that when Alexander Hamilton was asked about this apparent omission, he stated that the new nation did not need any foreign aid, while in another occasion he simply said they simply forgot.
In 1492 the colonization begun with the arrival of Christopher Columbus to one of the Caribbean island, the Spanish people wanted to find China to get an cultural exchange but instead they found a unknown land fill of people that received them with arms wide open, the Spanish were fascinated with the prosperous of their land, and the Indians were surprised as well with their enormous ships. But the Spanish had different plans besides the cultural and friendship exchange, they were ambitious people and as soon they had the opportunity to take over them they just did it. The Spanish were violent, determined and religious people and what they wanted from the new word was gold, as simple as that. They had a real beg army and they wanted to ruled and settled down in order to find gold an make their country more rich and powerful. By the other hand there also exist another civilization that wanted something, England. The English get to the new world by their will it was not by a king or queen request like the Spanish. There were various reasons why the American Colonies were established. The three most important themes of English colonization of America were religion, economics, and government. The most important reasons for colonization were to seek refuge, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. To a less important point, the colonists wanted to establish a stable and progressive government.
Although England and the American colonies intended their relationship to be mutually beneficial, they increasingly worked at cross purposes over time. Founded by a number of independent groups, the colonists and England regarded the colonies as separate. But by the middle of the seventeenth century, Parliament attempted to impose order with various laws. A more unified American character and identity began to emerge in the colonies. The Enlightenment's political thought influenced Americans and its followers' scientific...
Early America was a place for anyone to live their life the way that they wanted, as it is now, but back then this was a new concept. Much of this idea comes from the freedoms obtained by living here. Many other countries in the world had many freedoms, but not as numerous as they were in America shortly after the country was founded. Americans during the late 1700's and early 1800's embraced their freedoms and became leaders and expanders, and what we now consider the founders of many present-day cities and towns. One thing that has been present throughout the generations of people living in America, is the desire to set themselves apart from other nations. This want was supplied to the American people in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. These two documents gave the American people everything they needed to set them apart from the rest. Based on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, America was able to create an identity including freedom, religion, and individuality that is very unique to this country.
Culture is a part of everyone's life, whether we choose to express it in our everyday lives or to just be aware of its presence. A major part of one's culture is a defining language. The topic of assimilation versus multiculturalism directly relates to culture in America, and even more specifically to the power of language in American culture. Since language is the basis of communication I think that all immigrants must assimilate to a certain degree by speaking English, while preserving their heritage if they choose to do so.
In Britain the way the speak and the way they act has something to do with their culture. They like to have a cultural emphasis of language, meaning they like to emphasize words that are adaptively important in their culture. The culture itself shows how it is different and why it is different from any other in the world. American English is much more homogenous than British English, meaning it is often harder to tell where in the USA someone is from just by hearing their accent. Linguists have identified somewhere between six and twenty-five American dialects, although the major divisions are between Northern, Midland and Southern dialects, which are roughly grouped together. In the US and in Britain we have what is known as an open communication system meaning, we can communicate with new sounds or words by combining two or more existing sounds or
The English language arose from the early Anglo Saxon inhabitants in ancient England and spread to Scotland and other European countries via the British Empire and later to the United States through colonial political and economical influences. It later dispersed to other parts of the world through these same influences to become one of the leading languages of the world. It has over the years developed by adopting different dialects to create a language, which is the standard lingual Franca in many countries. The rapid growth of the English language and its adoption by different cultures across the globe is sufficient ground to make it the global language.