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Essays on American Identity

Hook examples for identity essays, anecdotal hook.

Standing at the crossroads of cultures and heritage, I realized that my identity is a mosaic, a tapestry woven from the threads of my diverse experiences. Join me in exploring the intricate journey of self-discovery.

Question Hook

What defines us as individuals? Is it our cultural background, our values, or our personal beliefs? The exploration of identity leads us down a path of introspection and understanding.

Quotation Hook

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." These words from Ralph Waldo Emerson resonate as a testament to the importance of authentic identity.

Cultural Identity Hook

Our cultural roots run deep, shaping our language, traditions, and worldview. Dive into the rich tapestry of cultural identity and how it influences our sense of self.

Identity and Belonging Hook

Human beings have an innate desire to belong. Explore the intricate relationship between identity and the sense of belonging, and how it impacts our social and emotional well-being.

Identity in a Digital Age Hook

In an era of social media and digital personas, our sense of identity takes on new dimensions. Analyze how technology and online interactions shape our self-perception.

Identity and Self-Acceptance Hook

Coming to terms with our true selves can be a challenging journey. Explore the importance of self-acceptance and how it leads to a more authentic and fulfilling life.

American Identity in Sandra Cisneros Mericans

American identity in mericans, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

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I Love America Research Paper

The way an american identity is created, characteristics that shaped an american identity, an overview of the evolution of the american identity, let us write you an essay from scratch.

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Questioning The Identity: The Meaning of Being an American

What does it mean to be an american citizen, the rising of american identity, what america means to me, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

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The American Identity and The Role of The Foreigner in American Nation and Other Nations

An analysis of native american identity as a result of colonialism in sherman alexie's novel the absolutely true diary of a part-time indian, a discussion on latin americans developing their american identity, the view of frederick douglass on american identity, what it means to live in america, what it means to be an american today, the impact of class in social identity, representation of the american family in the works of roth and miller, my cultural identity: who i am, understanding the concept of the american dream, freedom as the root of what it means to be an american, what america means to you: education, rights, and equality, tocqueville on the toxicity of american ideals, american dream as an integral part of american ideals, the evolution of native american identity in joy harjo's poetry, establishment of american ideals during american revolution, the great gatsby: what it means to be an american in a negative connotation, italian-american identity in stallone's rocky, exploring america’s identity subjugation in "americanah", representation of toxic american masculinity in slaughterhouse-five by kurt vonnegut.

National identity can be defined as an overarching system of collective characteristics and values in a nation, American identity has been based historically upon: “race, ethnicity, religion, culture and ideology”.

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Social Justice
Cultural Appropriation
Discourse Community
Sociological Imagination
Sex, Gender and Sexuality
Media Analysis
Social Media
Effects of Social Media

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Research: What Is American Identity and Why Does It Matter?

Why Does the American Identity Matter?

The most important reason for understanding American identity is related to white racial identification. It may not be prevalent in U.S. political attitudes, but it’s still an issue. A survey from 2012 asked white respondents to indicate if whiteness represented the way they thought of themselves most of the time, as opposed to identifying themselves as Americans . One fifth of the survey’s white respondents said that they preferred the term white to American when identifying themselves.

How to Analyze American Identity

There’s no such thing as a universal identity, especially for an omni-cultural country such as the USA.
Everyone has their own understanding of what it means to be American today, as citizens come from different religious, ethnic, ideological, and geographical backgrounds.
Explaining the concept of American identity calls for an inclusive approach based on solidarity.
Depending on how you discuss the concept, an academic essay may require arguments on modern-day immigration and immigrant policies. How do they fit within the common understanding of American identity?

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The Perpetual Debate: A Consideration of American Identity

Russell Fehr, UC Riverside

In considering the question “Does America have a distinctive identity?”, there are two ways I wish to interrogate it. The first of these involves the way in which the question is phrased. By asking if America has a distinctive identity, it implies that this is a question that can be addressed in quantitative terms. Rather, I would argue that what is essential is the widespread belief in an American identity. Viewing American history, there have been many issues that have been shaped by the belief in a distinctive American identity, with public policy being especially influenced by this concept. As a result, I would argue that the belief that there is an American identity is key, as this belief has had an impact that makes debating whether or not this is the case moot.

The second point I wish to question involves an implied aspect of the question. By asking if there is a distinctive American identity, there is an implication that there is a singular American identity and that it has been static over time. Neither of these concepts are tenable when looking at the length and breadth of American history. Instead, the American identity has been heavily contested, with much fighting concerning who is incorporated into this identity. Paralleling these fights is a sense that the meaning of the American identity has shifted over time, with these disputes serving to shape the American identity.

A case study for considering the American identity can be found in the Detroit of the mid-1920s. During that time, the Ku Klux Klan became a major force in the city’s political life, only failing to elect a mayor in 1924 when thousands of votes were thrown out on dubious grounds. Looking at the Klan and its opponents, we can see two different visions of American identity with different logics behind them. The Detroit Klan responded to several conditions present in Detroit during the mid-1920s, including the illicit liquor trade becoming the city’s second-largest industry, the rising significance of Catholics in Detroit society and politics, and a system of municipal politics where the working-class Protestants whose electoral support had been responsible for restructuring local government in the previous decade had their interests neglected by those in elected office. The Detroit Klan responded to these conditions in its political practices with somewhat vague anti-vice and anti-boss messages and with more specific efforts to defeat Catholic politicians and shut down Detroit’s parochial schools. In these regards, the Klan had an exclusive vision of the American identity, fighting to support a core set of values against its perceived enemies.

The foes of the Detroit Klan were more diffuse in nature. Some were targets of the Klan, such as Detroit’s Catholic, Jewish, and African-American populations. Others had concerns about their own religious schools being shut down as a result of the anti-parochial education campaign, such as most of Detroit’s German-heritage Protestant denominations. Still others found the Klan to lack any appeal- Detroit’s Protestant elite generally found the Klan unappealing in policy terms and a threat to their political influence, leading them to strongly oppose it. These foes lacked a common message against the Klan, using everything from economic arguments to invective against it. However, this was all ultimately underpinned by a vision of the American identity different from that of the Klan. Whereas the Klan was exclusive in their understanding of American identity, its foes offered an inclusive vision in which all of these groups had a role in Detroit civic life. While the Klan was animated by concerns over various issues, its foes saw these issues either as too complex for the solutions proposed by the Klan or as too insignificant to merit being treated as major concerns. Overall, this vision of American identity differed strongly from that of the Klan by not being restrictive in terms of either audience or general purpose, instead offering an American identity with room to incorporate large numbers of people.

Ultimately, these dueling visions are relevant in several ways for understanding the concept of American identity. It demonstrates how exclusive and inclusive visions of this identity have developed through competition with each other. Moreover, this competition has had continued relevance in the decades since the mid-1920s. There have been shifts in this competition: cultural pluralism (to say nothing of multiculturalism) was just emerging as a concept during the mid-1920s, and many of the groups who are at the front line for disputes concerning American identity now are ones that were on the fringes (if that) at this point in time. Overall, these competing visions of American identity hold two pieces of significance that have continued to the present day. The very fact that the concept of American identity has been so heavily contested demonstrates its importance, as it shows how various groups have found it important to claim to be a part of this identity. Finally, these disputes demonstrate how American identity, rather than being unitary and unchanging, is instead perpetually contested and perpetually shifting, leading to far differing interpretations over time.

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History of the United States and American Identity Essay

Introduction, the origins of the identity, contradictions in the identity, support and opposition to the identity.

The United States began its existence as a British colony far removed from Europe, which was the center of civilization in the 17th century. Since then, it has attained independence, grown into a financial superpower, and become one of the most prominent drivers of scientific progress. The country managed to achieve this due to its unique and powerful identity that allowed the people to successfully revolt and create a nation unlike those seen before. This essay aims to describe the influences behind the formation of that identity as well as its original qualities and weaknesses.

America was an unexplored frontier where people were expected to fend for themselves, as any help from their homeland would take a great time to arrive. As a result, the people who chose to settle there typically had fiercely independent natures and were determined to achieve everything they wanted on their own. Nevertheless, America was a colony, and the immigrants were considered citizens of Great Britain and answered to the king’s authority.

These factors eventually led to resentment against the British rule, as the settlers felt that Britain gave them no more than the right to claim land that belonged to no one but demanded taxes and obedience. Meanwhile, according to Davidson, the philosophical idea that all people were equal began gaining popularity among the population of America, being used by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence (85). Americans united and eventually rebelled because of the conflict between the concept of equality and the British claim that the king’s rule was divinely mandated, in addition to various grievances toward their government.

The resulting national identity was a combination of the above factors. The new American nation strongly valued independence and equality, and the ideas were reflected in the organization of the country they created. All states were independent of each other, and although there was a Congress that consisted of state representatives and settled matters with a majority vote, a state could refuse to follow its decisions. Furthermore, each state was a collection of independent individuals whose rights were considered inherent and not granted by some outside entity.

Although the United States claimed that all people were equal in the Declaration of Independence, it initially only included a small part of the human race into the definition. Neither the Native Americans who were confined to reservations nor the African slaves enjoyed treatment as equals of the white citizens. Furthermore, women did not have a variety of civil rights that men possessed, leading to the eventual rise of feminist movements.

The equality of the states also came into question shortly after the formation of the Congress. According to Davidson, politicians such as Patrick Henry believed that the small states had too much power, while they were concerned about losing their influence to the more populated members of the Union (93). As a result, the states began ignoring Congress, and the nation came close to falling apart, only being saved by the creation of the Constitution.

Not all people of America initially supported the revolution, especially in its early stages, when the defeat of the British forces was a distant possibility. According to Davidson, many New Yorkers remained loyal to the king, and the majority of the civilians would support the British rule if the rebellion appeared to fail (87). Some of the loyalists were not content with watching the conflict, taking up arms, and attempting to help subdue the forces under Washington’s command.

Nevertheless, Americans had overthrown the British rule and created an independent nation founded on the principles that constituted the national identity. According to Davidson, even when the country appeared to be close to collapse due to the distrust of the states toward each other, there were people such as James Madison who strived to keep the United States together (95). He convinced George Washington to preside over a convention that was attended by numerous influential figures such as Benjamin Franklin, and the Constitution was created, reforming the nation and firmly uniting it.

Later on, disagreements about what people should be treated as equals led to the secession of the southern states and the Civil War. The concept of slavery was inconsistent with the recognition of slaves as people and therefore equal to other citizens, but slave owners were opposed to giving up what they considered their property and the source of their wealth. Ultimately, however, the northern states prevailed, and slavery was abolished in the United States, though racism and unequal treatment of African Americans remained critical issues for a long time after that.

The American identity was founded on the principles of independence and equality, as well as the idea that human rights are inherent. Although there were contradictions that sometimes led to severe consequences, and not all citizens supported the nation or the ideas behind it, the United States was able to survive and thrive, unlike earlier republics. The country upholds these founding principles to this day, although they have evolved since then.

Davidson, James West. A Little History of the United States. Routledge, 2017.

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IvyPanda. (2021, May 26). History of the United States and American Identity. https://ivypanda.com/essays/history-of-the-united-states-and-american-identity/

"History of the United States and American Identity." IvyPanda , 26 May 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/history-of-the-united-states-and-american-identity/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'History of the United States and American Identity'. 26 May.

IvyPanda . 2021. "History of the United States and American Identity." May 26, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/history-of-the-united-states-and-american-identity/.

1. IvyPanda . "History of the United States and American Identity." May 26, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/history-of-the-united-states-and-american-identity/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "History of the United States and American Identity." May 26, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/history-of-the-united-states-and-american-identity/.

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American Identity Essay Examples

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Exploring American Values and Assumptions

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What Does It Actually Mean to Be an American

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How Can I Be a Good American

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What It Means to Be an American: then and Now

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What is America for Me: Identity and Belonging

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About American Identity

American identity is built around a constellation of ideals—namely, individualism, liberty, equality, hard-work, and the rule of law.

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