American Culture 1

Lecturer: Nguyen Minh Thien

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0945681898
 Discussion
Overview of the United States
Location:.....................................
Numbers of States:.........................
Current president:..........................
Capital:.......................................
National motto:.............................
Independence Day: ........................
 Overview of The United States

Location: USA is located in the northern

part of America continent/ North
America
States: 50
Capital: Washington D.C (District of
Columbia)
Current President: Joe Biden
National motto
National flag
 A nation of immigrants
 From
Asia (China, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia), Africa,
Hungary, Cuba,…
 In 1910: 14.8% of the US population was foreign born
 In 1921: limited immigration
 In 1965: immigration laws (immigration policy) changed
 In
1990s: 90% of all immigrants were coming from Latin
America, the Caribbean and Asia
3states have the largest number of immigrants:
California: 27%, New York: 21%, New Jersey: 21%
 In
2010 census, there were more Asian immigrants than
Hispanic immigrants
Melting pot or Salad bowl
 In
1908 Zangwill wrote a play and used the term
Melting pot to describe the US
 Meltingpot: the new immigrants brought different
languages and cultures to the US, but gradually
most of them assimilated to the dominant
American culture.
 Salad
bowl: there is a mixture of culture from The
dominant American culture and new culture from
immigrants
 Immigrants change American culture and are
Melting Pot or Salad Bowl

 Largevariety of ethnic groups (race,

nationality, religion)
 Thesegroups have been assimilated – to
greater or lesser extent (melting pot – salad
bowl)
 Since1776 many groups have been
assimilated, but many also remain separate
(some of these are bicultural – American but
with distinct language/culture)
Melting Pot or Salad Bowl

 Many settlers arrived in the US before it was the US

(especially Hispanics) and want to maintain their
traditions and language (Spanish)
 Mostwhite Europeans have been completely
assimilated into “American culture” exceptions are
American Jews – who have tended to remain
separate.
 Possiblybecause of historical reasons, or maybe just
ethnic pride
The Establishment of the Dominant
Culture
 Mostof the early settlers were from England.
There were also a large number of African
Americans.
 ~3,200,000 White
 ~760,000 African Americans
 ~1,000,000 Native Americans
The Establishment of the Dominant
Culture
 Thewhite population had more people,
money, and power – so defined the
dominant culture – White Anglo-Saxon
Protestant (WASPs).
 European groups intermarried and mingled
with little thought of any difference
 Assimilation
of minority white groups
occurred without great difficulty
The Establishment of the Dominant
Culture
 Dominant culture was therefore:
 English speaking
 Western European
 Protestant
 Middle class
 Immigrants
with similar characteristics were
welcomed – had the same basic values
 The Assimilation of Non-Protestant and Non-
Western Europeans
 Groupsthat were more like the dominant group were
more readily accepted
 Groups that were very different were often seen as a
threat to American values and way of life.
 Many Immigrants from the southern and Eastern Europe
arrived during late 19th century
 Usually poor
 Didn’t speak English
 Catholic or Jewish
The Assimilation of Non-Protestant and Non-
Western Europeans
 ManyAmericans feared these new Americans would
change America in undesirable ways
 Americans therefore gave English instruction and
citizenship classes to teach American beliefs
 Many immigrants felt that this was not much help.
 What they really wanted were jobs, food, houses.
The Assimilation of Non-Protestant and Non-
Western Europeans
 “Political
Bosses” were more helpful to immigrants
– in exchange for their votes.
 However, many bosses were seen as corrupt, and
destroying American values
 Immigrantswere not self-reliant, and there was no
competition for political office
 Some see the bosses as a necessary evil – who
helped to assimilate large numbers of immigrants.
The Assimilation of Non-Protestant and Non-
Western Europeans
 As immigrants improved their standard of living,
they came to accept most of the values of the
larger American culture and were in turn accepted
by it.
 Therefore white ethnic groups tend to feel more
American and less of their ethnic background than
other groups.
The African-American Experience

 Non-white ethnic groups have not been so easily

assimilated.
 African Americans have had the greatest difficulty
 Brought to America against their will – sold as
slaves
 Other groups came voluntarily
The African-American Experience
 Slavery was a complete contradiction to American
values of Freedom and Equality of Opportunity.
 Itdivided the US into the North (anti slavery) and
the South (pro slavery – basis of economy)
 Some Northern whites were against slavery for
ethical reasons
 Most Northern whites were against slavery
because they feared they could not compete with
unpaid slave labor.
The African-American Experience

 Abraham Lincoln was against slavery.

 When he became President the Southern states
left the Union to form their own country based on
slavery.
 This led to a Civil War (1861 – 1865).
 TheNorthern States won and slavery was
abolished.
The African-American Experience
 Although slavery was abolished, attitudes toward
African Americans were slow to change, especially
in the South.
 Not allowed to vote
 Segregated from whites (separate schools)
 Inferior education
 Poverty cycle
 Racial prejudice
 The Civil Rights Movement of the
1950s and 1960s
 In
1954 the Supreme Court declared that racially
segregated education was unconstitutional
 Black leaders were encouraged to seek an end to
all segregation.
 MartinLuther King Jr. – wanted greater assimilation
of black people
 Malcolm X – wanted separation of blacks from
white culture
 Black
people have gained freedom from
segregation and the right to vote
 The Civil Rights Movement of the
1950s and 1960s
 Thecivil rights movement helped to assimilate
blacks into larger American culture.
 Affirmative action -
 Requires employers to actively seek black workers
 Requires universities to recruit black students
 Hasimproved blacks situation in the US – Mayors of
major cities, Supreme court, politicians
 A Universal Nation

 In
the 1920’s the US reduced the numbers of
immigrants allowed into America.
 Despitethe worries of the dominant culture –
immigrants did not radically change American
values, but enriched the cultural diversity of the
nation
 A Universal Nation
 In
1965 changes were made to immigration laws
that allowed more immigrants into the US, and
removed bias toward European immigrants.
 Most
immigrants today are form Asia, Latin
America, and the Caribbean.
 There are also large numbers of illegal immigrants.
 Some people see this as beneficial – America may
be come the first Universal Nation – large numbers
of people from different cultures living under one
government