On July 4, 1776, George Washington proclaimed the Declaration of Independence, and the United States, which would become the most powerful country in the world, was born.
Although the history of the United States is only more than 200 years, and even 300 years since Britain established its colonies, the multi-ethnic state composed of immigrants from Britain, Spain, France, the Netherlands, and other countries has become the only superpower today.
Americans' widespread admiration for liberal democracy and individualism has led people to wonder how these people from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds came to be a united America
And how do individualistic Americans build a sense of national identity?
The existence and development of a country not only needs to be recognized and supported by the people at home, but also needs to be recognized by the international community.
For example, the navigator Christopher Columbus discovered the New World in the 15th century, although the indigenous people there had formed three major civilizations: the Maya, Inca and Aztec.
But their culture, language and way of life are very different from those of Europe, so the international community and European culture need a process of recognition for the existence of the New World.
However, it is this recognition and acceptance that has allowed the American continent to exist and develop as a real nation.
The arrival of Columbus shattered the peaceful life of the indigenous population, and Spain and the Netherlands seized the opportunity to establish colonies in the Americas. Subsequently, Britain became the "empire on which the sun never sets" to dominate the seas, and mastered 13 territories of the American continent, laying the foundation stone of the United States.
In England, the conflict between Catholicism and Puritanism intensified, making it impossible for a large number of Puritans to survive in Europe, and they were forced to migrate to the Americas and establish the Massachusetts colony.
Then, Britain continued to migrate to the Americas, becoming the main immigration country of the United States. The vast land and abundant resources of the Americas were hailed as "Promised Land" by the West, attracting large numbers of immigrants from Ireland, Germany, France, and Jews.
In the process of British colonization of the Americas, the capitalists not only sold black slaves from Africa to the Americas, but also introduced a multicultural mix.
At that time, the population of the Americas was about 2.5 million, with 20% being black, 52% British immigrants, and the rest of the population including ethnic groups such as Irish, Scottish, German, and Italian.
Although there were already many peoples in the Americas, the British were the most powerful colonizers, ruling over the local immigrants and indigenous peoples. With the expansion of the colony, the immigrant population grew, triggering an escalation of tensions between the local population and the British authorities.
Eventually, the settlers gathered and resolved to break free from British control and establish an independent power in the Americas.
The British, having created an ideal place, resolutely did not allow it to slip out of their hands, and therefore threatened them with force that they must obey the English king.
France, the Netherlands, Spain and other countries saw this as a good opportunity to weaken Britain, so they united in support of the independence of the Americas.
With the joint efforts of the "Continental Army" led by Washington and the French and other allied forces, the British ** team suffered a crushing defeat on the North American continent.
France and other countries were the first to recognize the legitimacy of the United States, and by 1783, Britain had to recognize the independence of the United States under the pressure of the situation.
Since then, the United States has been recognized by the international community as a true country. In the 19th century, after the United States won the Second Revolutionary War, the number of immigrants reached a new peak.
After the American Revolution, people from all over the world flocked to the country, including Poles, Hungarians, and post-World War II Asians such as Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Indians, as well as Latin Americans.
Today's America is a culturally diverse and ethnically complex country. So, in such a complex environment, how did the United States succeed in bringing together these different ethnic groups and making them identify with the United States?
Building national identity is key to building a sense of identity for all people with the United States. We need to strengthen the ideology of the nation and the state through the promotion of nationalism, so that the scope of the nation is in line with the scope of the state.
This is the political foundation of multi-ethnic countries, and it is also an important way for the new American people to achieve identity.
The goal of the United States is to unite the various ethnic groups in the country into a unified "American nation." This will not happen overnight, and the United States has been working to achieve this goal for two hundred years since its founding in the 18th century.
At the heart of this goal is the "Anglo-center" and "melting pot" policy. Anglocentric theory argues that Anglo-Saxon culture should become the dominant global culture, and that other Asian and African cultures should be subordinated to or integrated into Anglo-Saxon culture.
During the colonial period, the United States was dominated by white Westerners, with the British in the majority, which laid the foundation for a new American nation and eventually established the United States of America through armed uprisings.
In order to achieve cultural assimilation, the United States has made the "Anglocentric" theory its primary task, requiring all ethnic groups in the country to abandon their own cultural customs and integrate into the mainstream American culture, including learning English and Western etiquette.
As a result, English became the native language of the United States. Under this policy, the United States authorities first assimilated the Native American Indians by establishing schools to force them to speak only English and forbidding the use of their own national languages.
Such policies have led to the exalted status of white Americans, while people of color in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have been discriminated against, and even other national cultures have been despised by whites.
The United States has historically experienced racial discrimination and the movement to exclude people of color, especially in the treatment of black people.
At the beginning of the 20th century, American colleges and universities practiced racial segregation, but this changed with the large number of colored people from Asia, Africa and Latin America immigrating to the United States after World War II.
People of all colors in the United States began to launch civil rights movements, and the status of blacks was greatly improved during this period.
America's ethnic policy, driven by the civil rights movement, underwent a transformation from an "Anglocent" to a "melting pot." In the 18th century, French immigrant De Créfoco proposed the idea of a "melting pot" in the 20th century.
The American Jewish writer Zangeville carried forward this idea, emphasizing that the American nation should be regardless of color, so that different nationalities and races can be integrated into a new "American nation."
In this context, the United States has abolished the policy of ethnic segregation in schools, marriage, politics and other social fields, and racial discrimination has gradually disappeared. Although some extremists tried to block the new ethnic policy by assassinating Kennedy**, racial equality has become an unstoppable trend of the times.
The growing number of black protagonists in Hollywood movies symbolizes the success of the civil rights movement and the growing sense of national identity among diverse ethnic groups immigrating to the United States.
There is a marked difference between the value culture of the United States and the ideological education of our country, which no longer emphasizes the connection between the individual and the state, but tends to be self-centered individualism.
Thus, even if it does a good job of national identity, the United States still struggles to establish national identity on an individual level. The only way for every American to identify with their country is to work deeply on the ideological level.
The religious and cultural characteristics of the United States are based on ** religion, which originated from the Puritan immigrants in the 17th century. They worked hard to get rich, valued the spirit of contract, and had a profound impact on American society.
Although the European Middle Ages had a political system of unity between church and state, this was not the case in the United States, where religion still occupies an important place. The Puritans amassed a great deal of wealth through hard work, rather than plundering as in the Catholic past.
Their faith also includes a covenant with God, and the faithful communicate with God. This makes the religious faith deeply rooted in the United States and has become an important cornerstone of the country's culture and values.
American Churches: Religious culture has shaped the hard-working, positive, and innovative spirit of Americans, which in turn influences and reinforces a sense of national identity. Americans are convinced that turning their backs on their country is betraying God and will be punished.
Scholars therefore believe that without the constraints of religious morality, the course of American history may have been slower. In addition, patriotic education is equally important in the United States.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, ** has focused on cultivating civic consciousness and allowing them to pledge allegiance to the United States, not to a certain emperor by swearing an oath to the national emblem and flag, singing the national anthem, etc.
In the movie, you may see people who immigrate to the United States taking an oath to renounce their original nationality, unconditional allegiance to the United States, and always ready to fight for the United States. This is an example of patriotic education in the United States.
In the early years of American independence, Washington, in order to achieve Americanization, advocated the establishment of churches and schools for civic education and cultivated civic consciousness and national consciousness.
As Washington said, as long as they live in this country, the United States has the right to make them love this country, and the name American must have patriotic pride, above all geographical names.
Under the impetus of Washington and others, the first textbook on civic education in American history was published in 1790. Recently, it was also reported that American elementary school students were called to the police by their teachers because they refused to sing the American national anthem before class.
The concept of education in the United States is not limited to book knowledge, but through various forms, such as sports activities, Hollywood movies, holiday celebrations, etc., so that children can feel the influence of patriotism from an early age.
This kind of education not only allows children to learn happily, but also cultivates their sense of national identity.
In the 200 years since its founding, the United States has attracted global talents and become a world power with its strong national strength. In recent years, however, there has been a downward trend in the sense of national identity in the United States.
According to a June 2023 poll released by Gallup in the United States, only 39% of American adults currently have an extremely strong sense of pride and identity in their country and nation, a record low.
Notably, this figure was as high as 55% in the first poll in 2001. In addition, while the percentage of adults with pride is 67%, it is still not far from last year's all-time low of 65%.
By comparison, a decade ago, 85 percent of American adults were proud of their country. Genoves, a professor at Marymount University in the United States, believes that the decline of Americans' sense of national identity began in the 60s of the last century.
The main reason lies in the dishonesty of citizens. During this time, the United States, which had always been invincible in the hearts of the people, suffered setbacks in the Vietnam War, followed by major scandals such as the "Watergate scandal", which greatly undermined the people's trust in ** and the pride of the country.
Partisanship has damaged the image of the United States in the hearts of the people, and the patriotic fervor of young Americans has gradually waned. The reason is that since the beginning of the new century, the "9/11" incident, the Iraq war, the 2008 financial crisis and the new crown epidemic have occurred one after another, so that they cannot find something to be proud of.
In addition, the rise in the national strength of Europe, China, Russia, and other countries, the fact that the United States' position is no longer stable, and which has also been criticized by the international community for "hegemonism," have all had a negative impact on the United States.
In particular, the Vietnam and Iraq wars launched by the United States put a heavy burden on young people.
Title: Young Americans Lack Favor with the Authorities, and Their National Identity Fades Text: Young Americans' sense of identification with the American authorities is gradually declining, and they feel distant from the glorious era of defeating fascism and defeating the Soviet Union.
In the United States, individualism prevails, and they do not see any possibility of benefiting from patriotic acts. As a result, the sense of national identity that the United States has spent 200 years building is fading.
The fundamental reason is that the United States has forgotten its original intention and only focuses on the interests of the capitalists and **, while ignoring the people at the bottom. No matter how strong a country is, only by adhering to the people-oriented principle can the national identity and national pride of the people be enhanced.