...Nobody likes a robber.Especially when they live right next door. You see, the Americans had just gotten the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 which gave them lots of land. Then later Mexico gained its independence in 1821. After that in 1836 Texas decided to be independent too.(Background Essay) The Texans decided to sign a treaty with the U. S. and then the Americans got greedy again. They wanted the land from the Nueces River down to the Rio Grande. They wanted it so bad that they decided to go to war over it with Mexico. The United States might have been justified in going to war. No, the U. S. was not justified in going to war with Mexico because America was being disrespectful, America was stealing land, and America wanted a war. The first...
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...price. I once read that America use to be the land of the free, homeland to patriotism, but suddenly it has become different in many ways. I will explain through the messages and quotes of a protested poem, how America isn’t what it used to be. Everything will revolve around a poem called “Let America be America Again”`, by: Langston Hughes. “Let America be America again. - Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain. - Seeking a home where he himself is free. Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed - Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme - That any man be crushed by one above.” In this section the author is introducing the idea that America isn’t what it used to be. America was simple a great dream like pioneers on the plain. It seems like the author is saying that America has changed to something that is unfamiliar and new to society. America was a place of love and romance; a place where no king was up to schemes or no man was better than another. “O, let my land be a land where Liberty - Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, - Equality is in the air we breathe. (There's never been equality for me, - Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")” By the author saying “let my land be a land where Liberty – Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath”. The author is saying give everyone the opportunity to live the American way...
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...America: On the Path to Utopia or Cyberpunk? As I sat and listened to multiple political science essays in the last few weeks of my Honors Colloquium class, some essential concepts really stuck out to me and resonated in my mind. The idea of a utopian society that was brought forth in class got me thinking of how our world would be like today if we adopted some utopian methods of living. In America we are very blessed to live in the land of opportunity yet we are always focused on what is the next and best opportunity for us to seize. The American people have grown accustomed to a fast paced living, never stopping to look around at the beauty of nature that surrounds them or share a smile with a stranger. We are always on to the next best thing and we forget to appreciate the aspects of human life that really matter. If we as a people decided to change our patterns of everyday living we could make America more than the land of the free and opportunity. If we connected with a utopian lifestyle, we might find ourselves actually enjoying life or maybe we will discover utopia isn’t the right choice for the direction of our country’s future. Either way in this paper, I am going to introduce the key elements of a utopian society and also another society that I think represents where America is heading today and into the future. A utopia is a community or society possessing highly desirable or perfect qualities. Utopia can be seen as an imaginary society of sorts because it does...
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...America, a country that was forged by those who believed in a better life. Throughout our nation's history we have tried to find ways to make our country strong and powerful. But now, it's time for the world to know just how strong and powerful we can really be. This is the age of imperialism for America. Beginning around the beginning of the nineteenth century, America began to compete with the western world to conquer new lands and spread its influence outward. Through this age we saw America take islands like Hawaii, Cuba, and the Philippines. But this is not where we stopped. We also began to spread our influence to the South America. Now throughout this time a man named Albert J. Beveridge emerged. He was a strong supporter of the idea of American Imperialism. He wrote a passage called The March of the flag. Through reading his story it is easy to see that he believes that gaining new land could bring wonders for America, and the fact that he is a supporter of Social Darwinism....
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...The land that became known the United States of America was initially discovered in 1497 by John Cabot, who was an Italian explorer under the commission of King Henry VII. Not Christopher Columbus as so many have been taught to believe, however it was not officially named until 1507. It was named after Amerigo Vespucci for being the first to publish of the new continent. I feel it is important to share this bit of history because it demonstrates just how long people have been immigrating to this land. And while over the years the majority of immigrants came here willingly, there are millions of people who also immigrated to this land against their will. So what does it mean than to be American? I feel this is a rather difficult question...
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...The American Dream is the idea of coming to america and being able to do what you want. America is the land of opportunity. There are many different ideas of the American dream, but it still present in today. The American dream does exist today because people come to america, the land of opportunity to accomplish the impossible goal and to succeed in life. In the text “I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes, Challenges the American dream. It shows how the American dream is not what it seems. How the American dream is different for everyone. The text states “They send me to eat in the kitchen”(Hughes). The meaning of this quote is that he does not get to eat with everyone else when people come over. This challenges the american dream because this man should be free to eat wherever he wants to. The text also states, “Nobody’ll dare say to me, ‘Eat in the Kitchen,’(Hughes). This quotes meaning is to show that he will fight for his right to be and equally treated American. This challenges the right of the American dream because he has to fight just to be treated...
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...Ethnic Groups and Discrimination I am an African American. African Americans came to America in a few different ways. The majority of African American were captured from Africa and shipped over to the United States to be sold inside slave trade. Cotton was a big business in the United States and a lot of times land owners would have too much land for them to work so they would hire slaves to work the land for them. They didn’t pay the slaves money; instead they used fear to motivate the slaves to work as hard as possible. With this type of strategy going on African Americans quickly began to be seen as less than human and far less equal to the white men. Over time this began to grow into a dislike and hatred against African Americans who were living in America. Soon the north part of the United States began to change their views on African Americans and start to realize they that also should be counted as being equal people. The civil war broke out and African Americans eventually ended up gaining their freedom. After African Americans gained there freedom they still had a lot of complications that they needed to overcome. White people felt like they were much better than the African Americans so they began to have disgust towards African Americans. African Americans weren’t allowed to go to the same schools as white people, drink out of the same water fountains, and many other things. Groups were formed like the Ku Klux Klan that openly showed hatred for the African Americans...
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...days of early America, I got a perspective to this question in a way I never thought before. I enjoyed the examples he gave to what differentiated an American from a European. For one, in Europe you never got to look out and see a new nation or land that was uninhabited. Crevecouer explained this experienced inspired a good citizen. Another difference was Europe has and for the most part always had lords and royalty. When you looked around in Europe you saw lords who had everything and people who had nothing. In America there were no “Aristocratical families, no courts, no kings, no bishops.” In Europe there was one great one and thousands working for him. The colonies were very different from the already established European countries. The people who formed the colonies worked for themselves and were people of cultivators. They were united by their works which, to me, sounds like they took a lot of pride in. How inspiring it must feel to be a part of a royal monarchy and leave that life and move to your own new land where everyone is pretty much equal. This foundation the new colonies built bred people to respect the laws because they were among like people who worked hard and owned what they had. I liked the picture Crevecouer painted in his letter about what he saw of the land for the future of what it may become. He was talking about looking out into the uninhabited land and mentioned who knows how far the land goes and who knows how many millions of people the land will feed...
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...The Land of Milk and Honey In 1942 columbus sailed the ocean blue. He landed in america and wasn't the first one there, then why was he considered the first american? He was following his dream, the American dream to find new opportunities. Christopher wasnt the only person seeking a new place in the world in fact from 1880-1920 more than 12 million came to america searching for; security, religious freedom, economic opportunity, democracy, and the right to own land. Today many Americans don't see these as anything special. Religious freedom, the right to own land and to vote; they are things we have even in our most mundane days. But the american dream has evolved, it has adapted to modern american life. Todays dream is much more strenuous...
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...successful life, and for this to become viable for most they must receive a good education. Because of this it is not a shock that a lot of people view the American Dream as being well educated. One example of this is in an article by Isabel Wilkerson in the New York Times article titled “Angela Whitiker’s Climb” which depicts just that, “She had only recently become the first woman in her family with a college degree and, if everything went well this day, would be the first nurse anybody in her family knew personally.” Angela Whitiker has fought to do what no one in her family had done before her, get a college degree. Her dream is to get the education she needs to become a nurse. Even though she dreams to receive an education, this is really just a short term goal towards a longer term goal of success. Her long term American Dream is to be successful but for her to be able to do this she needs to get a good education. Her long term dream is success, but her short term dream is a quality education. This is the case for most people. They dream to be successful and live a fulfilling life and the way they make that happen is by setting short term goals. This is a key element of the American Dream. Success. Everyone dreams to be successful so the American Dream for every individual person is rooted in success. The way the American Dream differs from...
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...Many immigrants all around the world believe the United States is the land of opportunity. They think they can come to America, get rich, and live the life they have always wanted. They are all just looking for a fresh start in a new country, hoping that it offers some better economic opportunities than the last. Immigrants from the 1970s and 80s have faced many of the same challenges that the immigrants today still battle, including the language barrier, basic living, and daily hate because of their race. While it may still be possible, it is very unlikely to move to America and turn nothing into something. That goes for the past as well as the present. Moving from one place to another is never easy, especially when it is to a new country. Not everyone wants to leave their homeland, but sometimes they are forced to because of its disadvantages, such as: the desperate poverty, squalor, disease, and unemployment. When it is too difficult to even put food on the table or a roof over their family’s head, many people know that it may be time to find something new. In the 1880s, Southern and Eastern Europeans heard word of land and wealth in America and so began their adventure into a new world. One major challenge the immigrants of the 1880s had to overcome was the language barrier. Without being able to communicate, foreigners were practically handicapped. Many jobs required its employees to be able to talk to those around them or to customers. Many immigrants did not have the...
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...long list of explorers who first discovered and who explored the massive continent. All of the explorers had an impact on the development of America. The Lewis and Clark expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, stands prominently at the top part of this list. The Lewis and Clark Expedition has had a significant political, social, and economic effect on America. They were the first to map out the west and set off westward expansion. Without the success of the expedition growth of America would have taken five times as long, as predicted by Thomas Jefferson. The Expedition had a drastic political effect on The United States of America. The area in which the expedition was to explore was very close along Spanish territory and a portion of the expedition was in Spanish territory. The Spanish government was very uneasy with the Corps advancing towards them because they thought The United States was attacking them. They dispatched a small group to intercept the Corps however they nearly missed them. Another political impact was the now issue of Indian relations. America just acquired a great deal of land that was formerly owned by Indians and they now had to explain to them that the land was no longer theirs and that they were now a part of the United States. Indian relations would be fine until they were forced to move off their land. The United States had to set up a new branch of government just for Indian relations. Previous to the expedition there were only little issues...
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...what the American Dream really is to them. For some, the American Dream is to live their lives within the laws of the American Constitution. For others, it is the dream that is fulfilled with chances, successes, and wealth. Therefore, the America Dream comes to be the freedoms, the opportunities, and the prosperity for all. America is the country that holds the strongest Democratic Constitution of laws that protects human’s rights. For many years, thousands of immigrants have been coming to America searching for these rights, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” (Declaration of Independence) Within the Constitution, the people are guaranteed to be able to express themselves freely, to be created equal, and especially to put faith in their own beliefs as they wish. Overall, living the American Dream is to obtain the freedom of speech, the freedom of political, and the freedom of religion that are protected by the American Constitution. America has become to be the “Land of Opportunity”. The United States of America has created many turning points in the immigrants’ lives with its endless opportunities. From the “many useless plants, wanting vegetative mold”, (from Letters from an American Farmer) the immigrants receive the chances to refresh themselves in the American Dream. They get to attain better living conditions and achieve higher education that their home countries can’t provide. Moreover, each of the individuals gets equal opportunities to develop their abilities...
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...The American Dream America has long been the place thought to be a land of opportunity, freedom, and a chance to become someone important and make a better life for oneself. All Americans aspire to do great achievements and have all of their dreams become a reality. That is why so many immigrants came to America for their chance at becoming great. Americans pride themselves in being the land of dreams and hopes whether good or bad. The s called “American Dream” is a combination of what each individual sees themselves wanting to achieve and how their country either does or doesn’t support those kinds of hopes and ideas. Through the four documents: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Will Herberg, The American Way of Life, Richard M....
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...The new country of the U.S. began rapid expansion. Initially, by the 1830-40’s America was expanding into the southwest. John L. O’Sullivan, Ney York journalist captured the phrase “manifest destiny” in the 1840’s. The idea of manifest destiny was developed. Manifest destiny was the belief or doctrine, held chiefly in the middle and latter part of the 19th century, that it was the destiny of the U.S. to expand its territory over the whole of North America and to extend and enhance its political, social, and economic influences. (Dictionary .com). Manifest destiny was substantial in the U.S. to justify an imperialistic grab of Mexican land in California, Texas, and New Mexico. Expansion into the western frontiers offered opportunities for self-advancement....
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