Unity and Diversity in the American Experience, Essay Example

Throughout the ages, America has gone through a lot as a country, events which have torn the nation apart, yet in its own way sown unity within our hearts. The struggles started even as early as the colonization of the Americas, and still continue until this day. Although, there are events in time which helped shaped our country and our people. Over the course of American history, people have tried to craft imagery or symbols to try to embody the nation and shape its meaning and character (Higham, 2001). Through the diversities in culture, race, heritage and beliefs is there really one united image or idea for America?

From the middle of the 19^th century, when the white people of the North and South were in feud for their beliefs in politics, economics, society and especially African American slavery, known as the Civil War (“History of the United States, 2010”). It was the War between the States, and had literally torn the nation up for a good four years. It posed as one of the earliest industrial wars in history.

The Civil War was followed by the Reconstruction of the Gilded Age, this occurred most of the decade after the Civil War. The “Reconstruction Amendments” were passed to expand the civil rights of African Americans (“History of the United States”, 2010). Even though the Civil Rights Act of 1875 forbade discrimination against blacks, they still did not get the readily available privileges the whites received.

The United States became a world economic and military power during the 1890s. This began because of the Spanish-American war over Cuba, which led to many American victories over land and sea. Although, also during this time, there were some dissatisfactions on the part of the growing middle class, there was failure to deal with increasingly important urban and industrial problems which led to the emergence of the Progressive Movement.

During the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the United States remained neutral. Three years later in 1917, the United States joined the Allies, which proved victory (“United States”, 2010).

The years of the late 19^th century to the early 20^th century have also seen struggles faced by women and the strengthening of the Woman Suffrage Movement (“History of the United States”, 2010). This women’s rights campaign tore through a lot of criticism and faced a lot of negativity before they were granted their rights.

Right after the First World War, the United States grew steadily in their new stature as a world power. The U.S. enjoyed years of prosperity during most of the 1920s, this boom was fueled by the inflation of the stock market, which later led to a crash after almost a decade. This was known as the Great Depression (“History of the United States”, 2010).

Just like the First World War, the United States did not enter in the World War II until after the rest of the other Allied countries had done so. Around this time, Japan launched a surprise attack on the American Naval base in Pearl Harbor, just four days after this Nazi Germany declared war on the United States.

From the year 1945, following WWII, America emerged as one of the two dominant superpowers. The United States became a global influence in economic, political, cultural, and technological affairs.

During the mid 1960s, the climax of liberalism began. This involved the Civil Rights Movement. “For years African Americans would struggle with violence against them, but would achieve great steps towards equality with Supreme Court decisions, including Brown v. Board of Education and Loving v. Virginia, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which ended the Jim Crow laws that legalized racial segregation between Whites and Blacks.” (qtd. “History of the United States”, 2010).

Not much later on, the Feminist Movement of the United States occurred. This was a growing consciousness that women were being treated unequally, and it swept the whole nation. The “Women’s Liberation Movement” grew in size and power as more and more protests emerged and gained a lot of media attention.

After the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the United States remained the sole superpower of the globe (“History of the United States”, 2010).

The United States went through a lot in its history before the awakening of the country’s self-conscious cultural nationalism (Spiller, 1973). The United States could not have emerged into world power if it did not go through the struggles it faced throughout the centuries. The nation was torn apart by wars, discrimination and economic downturn, although after some time, the American people were able to pick themselves back up and still stand as a world superpower. If it were not for these great diversities in culture, beliefs and ideas, America would not be the great nation it is today, for it is in the fusion of all of these which make the United States truly united.

According to Daneed (1996), an author Robert Royal believes that “supporters of multicultural studies insist on two contradictory positions: first, that the white, male, Protestant class of the United States has throughout history systematically repressed minority groups, women, and homosexuals; and second, that these groups somehow, in spite of their repression, have managed to make significant contributions to the history and culture of the United States, a fact that has been ignored by the dominant culture.”

Throughout the history, and the American Experience, these minority groups are very rarely mentioned, although they did have their time in the spotlight. If there were no movements such as the Civil Rights Movement and the Feminist Movement, inequality among the nation would still be going on unbothered. Although there are these strong individuals who have shaped our country and it is now internationally known as “The Land of the Free”. I believe that certain people had to go through a great struggle in order to get their respect. Even though it does not posit as fair, since there are some out there who never had to fight for their independence or their rights as a culture, race or heritage. Even still, if it weren’t for these struggles which tore and devastated our nation, it would not be the great country it is today. A nation really has to go through something together before they can say they have stood united.

Works Cited

Deneed, P.J. (1996, May 3). The CBS Interactive Business Network. Reinventing the american people: unity and diversity today. Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1252/is_n9_v123/ai_18266251/

Higham, J. (2001). Hanging together: unity and diversity in american culture. Connecticut: Yale University Press. Print.

History of the United States. (2010). Wikipedia.org. Retrieved (2010, September 15) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States#History

Spiller, R.E. (1973). Unity and diversity in the study of american culture: the american studies association in perspective. American Quarterly, 25(5), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2711699.

United States. (2010). Wikipedia.org. Retrieved (2010, September 15) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States#History