CULTURA Y CIVILIZACIÓN EEUU

The Mayflower Compact represents another cog in the wheel that slowly ground America towards a set of values that would form their future government.

It began as a skirmish aboard the Mayflower. American land was governed by England. It was from the lack of governance that the Mayflower Compact arose. Many see it as America's first constitution, as the language contained in it was chosen by those that would be governed by it. In addition, the land was held by no foreign nation.

The four main concepts imparted by the Mayflower Compact are as follows:

1. A deep faith in God and His divine guidance.

2. Loyalty to the native England and her King.

3. Citizens to be viewed as equals in the sight of God

4. An intent to establish equal laws upon which would be build a democratic form of government a first for history.

41 men signed the compact. Of these forty-one, a few stand out due to their relevance to the successful establishment of the Plymouth community and their contribution to the Compact that would serve as a guiding post for a new government.

The Mayflower, the Plymouth Colony and the Mayflower Compact lead the formation of a new nation. 

The poem “The New Colossus” has become synonymous with the Statue of Liberty. It was in fact read at the 1886 opening of the Statue.

The Statue of Liberty in the beginning was not intended as a symbol of immigration; it was a gift from France to the United States in commemoration of one hundred years of democracy. However, the Statue of Liberty had not yet gained its status as a symbol of immigration. In fact, throughout much of the 19th century the never ending tide of immigration led to increased tensions and hostilities, especially in New York.

Lazarus’s own experiences influenced her daughter Emma‘s rhetorical writings. Her father, a Sephardic Jewish immigrant, had settled in New York as an exile from Portugal and through the gifts of her new nation had enjoyed the benefits of education in literature. For Lazarus, her activism was centered on the open acceptance of America as the “Mother of Exiles.”

 When Lazarus was offered the podium she wished to use the opportunity to voice her opinions. The “Colossus” is the symbol of the United States and what it should represent. For Lazarus, America is a land without European “ancient lands”. ” It is instead the open arms of salvation for those that have been victims of the old world.”

Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments echoes the language and structure of the Declaration of Independence's preamble. Its opening justifies the actions of those who support women's rights. Stanton uses the religious language of the Declaration of Independence when she refers to “nature's God” and points out that the rights women are demanding come not from government but from “nature” as well as the Supreme Being.

Stanton goes on to state, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.” This ringing proclamation comes directly from the Declaration of Independence, with only the words “and women” added. Women, like men, are entitled to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” and the government was instituted to make sure that all people are guaranteed these rights.

It was signed by sixty-eight women and thirty-two men.

On Jan. 1, 1863, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln declared free all slaves residing in territory in rebellion against the federal government. This Emancipation Proclamation actually freed few people. It did not apply to slaves in border states and in southern areas. Naturally, the states in rebellion did not act on Lincoln's order. But the proclamation did show Americans-- and the world--that the civil war was now being fought to end slavery.

Lincoln had been reluctant to come to this position. A believer in white supremacy, he initially viewed the war only in terms of preserving the Union. As pressure for abolition mounted in Congress and the country, however, Lincoln became more sympathetic to the idea. Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in America--this was achieved by the passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in, 1865--it did make that accomplishment a basic war goal and a virtual certainty.

David Walker's Appeal stands as a fusion of history, advocacy of human rights, and theological arguments. Its central call is for whites, as well as blacks, to observe ethical and political values: justice, freedom, and dignity. Walker calls for direct action predominantly. He clearly argues that if whites were not prepared to emancipate blacks, then blacks should seek their own release, renouncing "death-like apathy".

Walker's Appeal is always prophetic. It stresses God's call for justice and righteousness and his care and concern for enslaved blacks. Slavery is represented as an abomination before the Lord.

Following a "Preamble", the pamphlet is divided into four "Articles" detailing African American sufferings at the hands of "Slavery," "Ignorance," "the Preachers of the Religion of Jesus Christ," and "the Colonizing Plan." Attacks are launched in turn upon slavery's barbaric cruelty, blacks' educational deprivations, white Christian theological hypocrisy, and the way that African colonization, by reducing free blacks' population levels, undermined their ability to promote effective resistance. Although the predominant invocation is to God, the Appeal also consistently invokes the natural-rights discourse. Thus, whites are represented in the also as "natural" enemies.

Walker was promoted by the Anti-Slavery Society, founded in 1823 by Thomas Clarkson and others. It not only highlights the geopolitical dimensions of slavery and racism, their evil and unnatural consequences, and the rise of worldwide resistance, but also embarrasses white America by highlighting how Britons supported liberty in 1830 much better than did proslavery Americans, whose arguments proposed that blacks were intellectually weak and primitive. Walker's goal was to counter such incoherent arguments, part theological, part "natural”.

Thomas Jefferson was his opponent, one whose support legitimated contemporary white attacks on African American's capacities by endorsing the idea that "nature" is a root cause of blacks' enslavement. Walker then stresses the importance of countering such a prominent voice: "unless we try to refute Mr. Jefferson's arguments respecting us, we will only establish them".

Walker's Appeal is part of a long tradition of African American intellectual challenges to white epistemic authority. Even though Walker expected his primary audience to be black, he was well aware that whites would take an interest.

The whole pamphlet stands as a self-reflexive demonstration of blacks' essential humanity by offering a mixture of emotions (anger, hate, love), argument, and reason. Walker's implicit point is that African Americans both experience human emotions and exercise reason perfectly well. By making an "appeal" to these capacities, Walker demonstrates that African Americans self-evidently possess them, despite the rise of scientific racism's propaganda.

Blacks must fight ideologically, politically, and even physically to oppose racism and secure freedom. To do this is mere self-defense. Such self-defense must depend upon unity and be accompanied by systematic education to counter.

The Appeal stands as an early manifestation of radical black Christianity. Walker may only develop Black Nationalist thought rather than found it, but his Appeal's publication marks a decisive advance in militant African American abolitionist and antiracist campaigning.

In the first paragraph of Thomas Paine’s article, Common Sense, he states that society is produced by our wants while government by our wickedness. Thomas Paine goes further on explaining that every society is blessings while governments in their best state are evil (he is criticizing for even the existence of government).

Thomas Paine goes on comparing the two different governments: absolute and constitution of England. He even says that the absolute government has advantage over the constitution because it is simple while the England’s is too complex.

Paine explains that Britain was binding America like a tyranny. First of all, the main purpose of creating America was to separate from the Great Britain in order to have their own way of life. However, what Britain thought of that incident was that they were just being loyal to England, trying to bring back goods. In the beginning, the colonists were just establishing, meaning that they were in weak position. The Britain taking a use of the colonist’s weakness puts millions of slaves to America to benefit themselves of all the crops. Also, England even taxes America for many things, of course making the colonists angry. And Thomas Paine realizing this represents Britain’s tyranny control as a type of slavery.

Lastly, another of Paine’s statement is that man did not enter society to become worse but to have his rights secured.

The Declaration of Independence (In congress, July 4, 1776) is one of the most important in American history, set for the decision of the 13 American colonies to separate from England in the late 1700's. It also stated the principles under which the new nation would be governed. The Declaration of Independence was finally adopted on July 4, 1776, celebrated ever since as the nation's birthday.

Few people were surprised when the colonies declared themselves an independent nation. The Revolutionary War against Britain had already begun and many battles had been fought when, in June 1776, the Continental Congress appointed 5 of its members to write a Declaration of Independence. The 5 were Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman. Adams was later to be America's second president and Jefferson was to be the third. Franklin was one of the patriots and leaders in the colonies.

The Declaration begins “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.

The document goes on to say in clear language that the purpose of a government is to secure these rights and that the government receives its powers from the consent of the people it governs. When the government misuses its power, it is the right of the people to change it or abolish it and to set up a new government that will serve them better. The central idea of the Declaration of Independence is that governments should be the servants and not the masters of the people.

The Declaration of Independence marked America’s final revolt against Britain. Moreover, this document remains one of the finest and most influential single statements of the “rights of the people”.

Fredrick Jackson Turner’s thesis entitled "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" proposed that the American frontier explained why America developed in a distinctly different manner than its European progenitors. He believed the fluid frontier situation faced new and unpredictable problems.

The Turner Thesis and the Four Frontiers (fur trading, mining, ranching, and farming/urban): When the first Americans arrived in the New World, they were forced to confront new challenges, climates, and large tracts of land, all unlike what they knew in Europe. While, initially they thought and acted like Europeans, the conditions encountered in the New World forced them to adapt to new ways of doing things, and react to the limitations of the geography they encountered. It was this confrontation on the edge of civilization and the savage wilderness, according to Turner, which forged the American character. This process produced a strong individualism. As following generations moved further west, they shed the institutions, class distinctions, churches, and established governments of their past, and in the process they became more democratic and free.

Turner recognized the roots of American civilization lay in European migration to the New World, but he believed the major distinctive arising from this process was democracy. As these hardy souls traveled west they somehow managed to survive: American democracy came out of the American forest, and it gained new strength each time it touched a new frontier.

They further contend that the idea of "homogeneity" was of two types: a similar level of social and economic status and of similar aspirations, but also a lack or absence of any kind of community leadership structure, so democracy became a necessity. The need to work together as a community.

American experience was reliant on Puritan beliefs and codes of behavior. William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation describes the trials experienced by Pilgrims in England, Holland, and North America from 1620 to 1647. In it, Bradford regards his fellow Pilgrims as chosen people destined to fulfill God's divine plan who are, in essence, repeating the biblical history of the Israelites. The most widely recognized section of the book is chapter IX, the part of Bradford's story that tells "Of their Voyage, and how they Passed the Sea; and of their Safe Arrival at Cape Cod." The premise of the chapter is that God provided divine guardianship over the Puritans as they made their way to North America, just as he did for the wandering Israelites before finding the promised land of Canaan.

Slavery. Africans became slaves in the American Colonies during the 1600's. Most of them worked in mines or on plantations, while some became servants. People were getting more slaves in the South where large plantations grew cotton. These plantations needed many workers to take care of the farms. Plantation slaves in the 1800's were called field hands, who worked the longest. On the other hand, some slaves worked in factories while others became construction workers on canals and railroads. Some even worked hard in mines. In some cases slaves were released from their owners when the owner died leaving a will saying they were free because of their good work and loyalty. The slave states had approximately 4 million slaves by 1860 and made up one-third of the South's population. In the 1700's, religious leaders and philosophers in North America and Europe began saying that slavery was wrong, especially during the Revolutionary War in America (1775-1783). George Washington and Thomas Jefferson even spoke out against slavery. Throughout the South, most people remained supportive of slavery. Abolitionists started a movement in the 1800's to try to end slavery. Some southerners involved in the movement quarreled that slavery was like "the law of nature" which allowed the strong to rule the weak. By 1860, almost all southerners thought slavery should continue. Slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865.

The Southern Argument for Slavery. Defenders of slavery argued that in the South, reliance on slave labor was the foundation of their economy. The cotton economy would collapse. The tobacco crop would dry in the fields. Rice would cease being profitable. They also argued that if all the slaves were freed, there would be widespread unemployment and chaos. This would lead to anarchy. They argued for the continuation of the status quo, which was providing for stability for the slaveholding class and for all free people who enjoyed the payment of the slave society. Some slaveholders believed that African Americans were biologically inferior to their masters. Defenders of slavery argued that slavery had existed throughout history and was the natural state of mankind. The Greeks had slaves, the Romans had slaves, and the English had slavery until very recently. Defenders of slavery noted that in the New Testament, Paul returned a runaway slave to his master, and Jesus never spoke out against it. They argued that by comparison with the poor of Europe and the workers in the Northern states, that slaves were better cared for. They said that their owners would protect them when they were sick and aged. Who was the minister in the 60s said that the abolitionists were Atheists, Socialists, Communists or Red Republicans, and the slaveholders were friends of order and regulated freedom.

Independence War. Francis Marion was a military officer who served in the American Revolutionary War. Acting with Continental Army, he was an adversary of the British in their occupation of South Carolina in 1780. "The Patriot" is one of the top 10 historically misleading movies, where the fictional character Benjamin Martin describes violence he committed in the French and Indian War.

The “I have a dream” speech by Martin Luther King is recognized as one of the best speeches ever given. In 1963, ‘I Have a Dream’ speech was dramatically delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. His rhetoric demanding racial justice and an integrated society became a motto for the black community and is as familiar as the US Declaration of Independence. His words gave the nation a vocabulary to express what was happening. The key message in the speech is that all people are created equal and, although not the case in America at the time, M. L. King felt it must be the case for the future. As well as rhythm and frequent repetition, alliteration is a hallmark device, used to bang home key points. The first half portrays not an idealized American dream but a picture of an American nightmare of racial injustice. It calls for action (“Now is the time” / “we can never be satisfied”). The second half of the speech paints the dream of a better, fairer future of racial harmony and integration. The most famous paragraph carries the theme “I have a dream” and the phrase is repeated constantly. While the address has a very strong message for white people and hints at revolution, King’s words are mostly about peace.

In Malcolm X's speech “the Ballot or the Bullet" he makes a strong critique of the civil rights movement. He goes on to boldly state that, "The entire civil-rights struggle needs a new interpretation, a broader interpretation. We need to look at the civil-rights thing from another angle-from the inside..." Not only Malcolm feels that African Americans are being stopped from gaining equal opportunity but also that he and his fellow Africans are victims of Americanism. Malcolm even makes claims about the senators and congressmen. He suggests that it is in fact these people that are violating the constitutional amendments that guarantee individuals of that state or providence the right to vote. He goes on to urge individuals to not vote Democrat. He even takes it a step further by suggesting that making a difference through the ballot, this will be effective in gaining freedom in relation to passive protest.  Not only Malcolm believes that an individual should resort to violence against "criminals" but then goes on to discuss the importance of human rights and its relation to the struggle for freedom and equality: " Human rights are your God given rights, something you were born with, and they are recognized by all nations of the earth." Malcolm X believes that in order for African Americans to gain freedom they should better educate themselves and realize the power of their vote. However, he also suggests that sometimes violence is needed to make a point and ultimately gain control over the "criminals." In order to successfully make progress, the world would be made aware of how bloody Uncle Sam’s hands really were.