American Values and Beliefs

American Values and Beliefs

Before we can fully understand the dominant American worldview we need to analyze the historical and cultural roots of mainstream American society.

The earliest settlers who came to the North American continent were motivated by the desire to escape the control and the social order of monarchy, aristocracy, and established churches. They were seeking relief from oppression and poverty and were ready to make a fresh start. The American myth proclaims that this frontier-nurtured culture is uniquely democratic, egalitarian and free. Freedom is at the center of all that Americans value and hold dear.

In the Constitution that Americans wrote for their nation they separated church and state and forbade titles of nobility, creating a climate of freedom that placed the emphasis on the individual. The U.S. Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791, assures individual rights such as freedom of speech, press and religion. The concept of individual freedom began to be associated with the United States. By “freedom” Americans understand the desire and the ability of an individual to control his own life without interference from any organized authority. The desire to be free of controls which moved the founding fathers has continued to attract immigrants from all over the world who have wept at the sight of the Statue of Liberty.

As we can see Americans’ notion of freedom focuses on the individual and individualism has strong philosophical and religious roots in America. Thomas Jefferson believed that a free individual’s identity should be held sacred and that the dignity of an individual should never be violated. Being a Protestant nation, Americans cherish the belief that if the human being is made in God’s image, then every person has value. Protestant theology also emphasizes the moral responsibility of an individual for his behavior and achievements. Individualism, understood not only as self-reliance but also as economic self-sufficiency, has always been a central theme in American history. The early settlers were mostly farmers whose success depended on their ability to survive and confront the hardships on their own. This idealized self-reliant individual is easy recognizable in the industrial age as a small businessman who became a financial success on his own. Though many people in modern America work for large corporations, individual proprietorship in business is still highly praised. This strong belief in self-reliance and self-sufficiency is the basic aspect of the American character. Americans believe that they cannot keep their freedom and “do their own thing” if they rely too much on the support of their families or the government.

Besides the desire to obtain freedom, early settlers were driven by the belief that unlike Europe with its firmly established class hierarchy, the newly found land would give everyone an equal chance to succeed. The hopes of many immigrants were fulfilled and America really became “the land of opportunity” for them. Though people are not equal in their abilities, equality of opportunity is understood by Americans as an equal chance for success, and equal start to enter the race for success. Capitalist ideology, which has an almost unanimous acceptance in the United States, is based on an almost unchecked competition between individuals for social and economic status. At the same time capitalism does promise and often provides opportunities for social and economic advancement for those who are capable. However, this myth proclaiming equal opportunities has become one of the most battered ideals of today. Competition for wealth and status results in some highly undemocratic consequences. Clever entrepreneurs who reach the pinnacle of success also include robber barons and corporate raiders with enormous concentration of wealth and power. Only a relatively small number of people under corporate capitalism can reach this pinnacle, no matter how many people are talented or motivated to succeed.

The conservative version of capitalism accepts these effects as perfectly natural; it assumes that only a few can reach the top because they could discipline themselves and work hardest, while other people are simply lazy and undisciplined. There is also a support from Protestant theology, which tends to associate hard work and personal achievement with being in favor with God. In any context working hard is highly honored by Americans. Hard work has always been considered to be a road to personal success and material well-being as it enables the individual to climb the ladder of wealth and social prestige. The self-esteem of many Americans is closely connected with performing productive and rewarding work. Students and children are encouraged to work part-time to gain valuable experience and become contributing members of the family instead of being a dependent. Being a productive member of the society is very important and praised and it is not surprising that elderly people and the disabled strive to be useful and productive in any way they can.

The concept of material wealth and well-being has always been part of the American dream. For the vast majority of immigrants the desire to raise their standards of living was one of the most compelling reasons to come to America. Historically Americans regarded their country as “a land of plenty”, “a land of abundance” with limitless resources so different from the scarcity of the lands from which they came. Most of the immigrants did not become rich overnight but with time were able to improve their former standards of living and hopes for their children. The phrase “to go from rags to riches” reflects the great American dream in which material wealth and possessions are one of the top priorities. The desire to obtain material wealth together with the need to survive made the first settlers and immigrants very practical. In America what works is what counts. Practicality and productivity are more important than spiritual discovery, contemplation, inner questioning. This practicality is found in numerous “how-to” books, self-service opportunities and do-it-yourself attitudes. At the same time European intellectuals often view American culture as anti-intellectual and hostile to the life of the mind.

The early settlers who found in their new motherland what they were striving for became loyal citizens who took pride in their new found homeland. This national pride for being American is easily observed nowadays by foreign visitors who notice the prevalence of patriotic symbols everywhere: the U.S. flags are flying, the national anthem is played, and slogans proclaiming love for America are to be found everywhere. In European countries national loyalty and patriotism are inherited through deep-seated historical, mythical, religious and artistic traditions. Patriotism there is essentially associated with love of the land, its beauty, landscape, history and traditions. American patriotism, however, does not mean the identification with the land, but the identification with a certain body of ideals, the American worldview, the “American Way of Life”. This deeply seated conviction that American society is absolutely unique, absolutely different from all other societies is sometimes viewed by other nations as nationalism with an aggressive, missionary tone which coexists with a nagging feeling of insecurity. While other nations have ancient traditions, a long-life motherland and a secure national identity, Americans need to prove their loyalty to a set of abstract ideals.

Tasks

1. Read the text for obtaining the information. Analyze the structure of the text. Give a heading to each paragraph. Draft a plan of the text.

2. Make a list of all word-combinations with the word “American” as an attribute.

3. Make a list of dominant American values as they are presented in the text. Do you think that there are some other important values which have not been mentioned?

Vocabulary(definitions!!!):

Define what is meant by:

historical and cultural roots

to make a fresh start

frontier-nurtured culture

egalitarian

to forbid titles of nobility

to place the emphasis on the individual

to assure(individual rights)

to focus on an individual

individual proprietorship

equality of opportunity

capitalist ideology/capitalism

to reach the pinnacle of success

corporate raiders

a productive member of the society

practicality

to go from rags to riches

to strive for doing sth

what works is what counts

prevalence

patriotism

to coexist with a nagging feeling of security

loyalty(to)

Find some cultural information about the underlined notions from the text in the Dictionary of Foreign Language and Culture.

About the U.S.flag

Respect the flag

No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America. The flag should not be dipped to any person or thing.

The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire fire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.

Never allow the flag to touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water or merchandise.

The flag should never be used as clothing or drapery.

Never mark the flag with or place upon it any letter, word, design, picture or drawing of any nature.

The flag, when in such condition that is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.

Cultural tips (Additional information)

Это дополнительная информация, которую достаточно просто просмотреть, чтобы лучше понять особенности национального характера Американцев, в частности, их патриотизма)

Thinking about patriotism on this "Independence Day"...

Too many Americans confuse patriotism with nationalism today, but these words have 2 very different meanings. Nationalism describes not a love for one's country, but a devotion to its central government. Nationalism places the collective over the individual, the State over the community, and power above liberty. George Orwell describes nationalism like this:

By ‘nationalism’ I mean... the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognising no other duty than that of advancing its interests. Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism. Both words are normally used in so vague a way that any definition is liable to be challenged, but one must draw a distinction between them... By ‘patriotism’ I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force on other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality.

Historian John J. Dwyer describes the difference between patriotism and nationalism this way:

The patriot says, "I love my country," works for its good, and defends it if necessary – against enemies within and without. He strives and prays not primarily that God will bless his country, but that his country will bless God. The nationalist, meanwhile, says, "My country is better than yours." "My country is the greatest there has ever been." "The greatest nation on God’s green earth." "They hate my country because it is so good."

The original American patriots fought the Revolutionary War against a nation (Britain) and its central government, to preserve man's natural rights. They fought as 13 free and independent states too. Not as one nation. (See July 4th “Independence Day” History.)

It's a mistake to believe that patriotism "means that you place the welfare of your nation ahead of your own even if it costs you your life," because this means placing the collective above the individual. In other words, "whatever decisions our politicians make, I will die for them, because the King can do no wrong." This is the antithesis of our original American patriots.

Patriotism is a devotion to the ideas of our founding, as described in our Declaration of Independence.

The True Meaning of Patriotism

I subscribe to a patriotism rooted in ideas that in turn gave birth to a country, but it’s the ideas that I think of when I’m feeling patriotic. I’m a patriotic American because I revere the ideas that motivated the Founders and compelled them, in many instances, to put their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor on the line.

What ideas? Read the Declaration of Independence again. Or, if you’re like most Americans these days, read it for the very first time. It’s all there. All men are created equal. They are endowed not by government but by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. Premier among those rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Government must be limited to protecting the peace and preserving our liberties, and doing so through the consent of the governed. It’s the right of a free people to rid themselves of a government that becomes destructive of those ends, as our Founders did in a supreme act of courage and defiance more than two hundred years ago.

Call it freedom. Call it liberty. Call it whatever you want, but it’s the bedrock on which this nation was founded and from which we stray at our peril. It’s what has defined us as Americans. It’s what almost everyone who has ever lived on this planet has yearned for. It makes life worth living, which means it’s worth fighting and dying for.

I understand that America has often fallen short of the superlative ideas expressed in the Declaration. That hasn’t diminished my reverence for them, nor has it dimmed my hope that future generations of Americans will be re-inspired by them.This brand of patriotism, in fact, gets me through the roughest and most cynical of times. My patriotism is never affected by any politician’s failures... government policy, or any slump in the economy or stock market. I never cease to get that “rush” that comes from watching Old Glory flapping in the breeze, no matter how far today’s generations have departed from the original meaning of those stars and stripes. No outcome of any election, no matter how adverse, makes me feel any less devoted to the ideals our Founders put to pen in 1776. Indeed, as life’s experiences mount... I get more fired up than ever to help others come to appreciate the same things.

During a recent visit to the land of my ancestors, Scotland, I came across a few very old words that gave me pause... “It is not for honor or glory or wealth that we fight, but for freedom alone, which no good man gives up except with his life.”

Freedom—understanding it, living it, teaching it, and supporting those who are educating others about its principles. That, my fellow Americans, is what patriotism should mean to each of us today.

American patriotism is rooted in the pride of our colonial past as a country of pioneers, as well as in our Revolutionary War. Steeped in the doctrine of natural rights and tired of the pomp of British rule, the colonists rose up and fought to be free!

Patriotism

The original American patriots were those individuals brave enough to resist with force the oppressive power of King George. I accept the definition of patriotism as that effort to resist oppressive state power.

The true patriot is motivated by a sense of responsibility and out of self-interest for himself, his family, and the future of his country to resist government abuse of power. He rejects the notion that patriotism means obedience to the state. Resistance need not be violent, but the civil disobedience that might be required involves confrontation with the state and invites possible imprisonment.

True patriotism today has gotten a bad name, at least from the government and the press. Those who now challenge the unconstitutional methods of imposing an income tax on us, or force us to use a monetary system designed to serve the rich at the expense of the poor are routinely condemned.

Statism depends on the idea that the government owns us and citizens must obey. Confiscating the fruits of our labor through the income tax is crucial to the health of the state. The draft, or even the mere existence of the Selective Service, emphasizes that we will march off to war at the state's pleasure.

A free society rejects all notions of involuntary servitude, whether by draft or the confiscation of the fruits of our labor through the personal income tax.

The principle of patriotism is turned on its head. Whether it's with regard to the defense of welfare spending at home, confiscatory income tax, or an immoral monetary system or support for a war... the defenders of liberty and the Constitution are portrayed as unpatriotic, while those who support these programs are seen as the patriots.

The true patriot challenges the state when the state embarks on enhancing its power at the expense of the individual. Without a better understanding and a greater determination to rein in the state, the rights of Americans that resulted from the revolutionary break from the British and the writing of the Constitution will disappear.

Let not those who love the power of the welfare/warfare state label the dissenters of authoritarianism as unpatriotic or uncaring. Patriotism is more closely linked to dissent than it is to conformity and a blind desire for safety and security. Understanding the magnificent rewards of a free society makes us unbashful in its promotion, fully realizing that maximum wealth is created and the greatest chance for peace comes from a society respectful of individual liberty.

Patriotic Quotations:
United States of America

Related Quotes Support Troops Gratitude Freedom Flag Day 4th of July

Note: Not all these authors are from the U.S.A.; however, the sentiments can be applied to patriotism all around the globe.

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him. ~Abraham Lincoln

America is a tune. It must be sung together. ~Gerald Stanley Lee, Crowds

We can't all be Washingtons, but we can all be patriots. ~Charles F. Browne

What is the essence of America? Finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom "to" and freedom "from." ~Marilyn vos Savant, in Parade

[P]atriotism... is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. ~Adlai Stevenson

A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle. ~George William Curtis

When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect. ~Adlai Stevenson

Love your country. Your country is the land where your parents sleep, where is spoken that language in which the chosen of your heart, blushing, whispered the first word of love; it is the home that God has given you that by striving to perfect yourselves therein you may prepare to ascend to him. ~Giuseppe Mazzini

There are those, I know, who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American dream. ~Archibald MacLeish

National honor is national property of the highest value. ~James Monroe, first inaugural address, 4 March 1817

How often we fail to realize our good fortune in living in a country where happiness is more than a lack of tragedy. ~Paul Sweeney

May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country! ~Daniel Webster

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. ~Elmer Davis

The stern hand of fate has scourged us to an elevation where we can see the great everlasting things that matter for a nation; the great peaks of honour we had forgotten - duty and patriotism, clad in glittering white; the great pinnacle of sacrifice pointing like a rugged finger to heaven. ~David Lloyd George

Yet America is a poem in our eyes; its ample geography dazzles the imagination, and it will not wait long for metres. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Poet," Essays, Second Series, 1844

If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace. ~Hamilton Fish

And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
~Lee Greenwood

The cement of this union is the heart-blood of every American. ~Thomas Jefferson

America is much more than a geographical fact. It is a political and moral fact - the first community in which men set out in principle to institutionalize freedom, responsible government, and human equality. ~Adlai Stevenson

From every mountain side
Let Freedom ring.
~Samuel F. Smith, "America"

Ours is the only country deliberately founded on a good idea. ~John Gunther

America is a passionate idea or it is nothing. America is a human brotherhood or it is chaos. ~Max Lerner, Actions and Passions, 1949

Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all!
By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall.
~John Dickinson

If you are ashamed to stand by your colors, you had better seek another flag. ~Author Unknown

Where liberty dwells, there is my country. ~Benjamin Franklin

Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable! ~Daniel Webster

If you take advantage of everything America has to offer, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish. ~Geraldine Ferraro

Oh, it's home again and home again, America for me!
I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea
To the blessed land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.
~Henry Van Dyke

Sometimes people call me an idealist. Well, that is the way I know I am an American. America is the only idealistic nation in the world. ~Woodrow Wilson

This, then, is the state of the union: free and restless, growing and full of hope. So it was in the beginning. So it shall always be, while God is willing, and we are strong enough to keep the faith. ~Lyndon B. Johnson

We sleep peacefully at night, cradled by the big strong hands of America. ~Val Saintsbury

America is another name for opportunity. Our whole history appears like a last effort of divine providence on behalf of the human race. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love my freedom. I love my America. ~Jessi Lane Adams

This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in. ~Theodore Roosevelt

Of all the supervised conditions for life offered man, those under USA's constitution have proved the best. Wherefore, be sure when you start modifying, corrupting or abrogating it. ~Martin H. Fischer

He loves his country best who strives to make it best. ~Robert G. Ingersoll

It is the love of country that has lighted and that keeps glowing the holy fire of patriotism. ~J. Horace McFarland

"Our country, right or wrong." When right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right. ~Carl Schurz

Off with your hat, as the flag goes by!
And let the heart have its say;
you're man enough for a tear in your eye
that you will not wipe away.
~Henry Cuyler Bunner

It is the flag just as much of the man who was naturalized yesterday as of the men whose people have been here many generations. ~Henry Cabot Lodge

The winds that blow through the wide sky in these mounts, the winds that sweep from Canada to Mexico, from the Pacific to the Atlantic - have always blown on free men. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Some Americans need hyphens in their names, because only part of them has come over; but when the whole man has come over, heart and thought and all, the hyphen drops of its own weight out of his name. ~Woodrow Wilson

Star-spangled happiness
and banner waves of pride.
~Cherishe Archer

My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy! ~Thomas Jefferson

America, for me, has been the pursuit and catching of happiness. ~Aurora Raigne

I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom. ~Simone de Beauvoir

There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America. ~William J. Clinton

My favorite thing about the United States? Lots of Americans, one America. ~Val Saintsbury

Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong. ~James Bryce

Our great modern Republic. May those who seek the blessings of its institutions and the protection of its flag remember the obligations they impose. ~Ulysses S. Grant

For what avail the plough or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail? ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Those who won our independence believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty. ~Louis D. Brandeis

Men love their country, not because it is great, but because it is their own. ~Seneca


Territory is but the body of a nation. The people who inhabit its hills and valleys are its soul, its spirit, its life. ~James Garfield

Ev'ry heart beats true
'neath the Red, White and Blue,
~George M. Cohan

We need a type of patriotism that recognizes the virtues of those who are opposed to us..... The old "manifest destiny" idea ought to be modified so that each nation has the manifest destiny to do the best it can - and that without cant, without the assumption of self-righteousness and with a desire to learn to the uttermost from other nations. ~Francis John McConnell

I believe in America because we have great dreams - and because we have the opportunity to make those dreams come true. ~Wendell L. Wilkie

To me, being an American means feeling safe. ~Currielene Armstrong

We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls. ~Robert J. McCracken

It is sweet to serve one's country by deeds, and it is not absurd to serve her by words. ~Sallust

We need an America with the wisdom of experience. But we must not let America grow old in spirit. ~Hubert H. Humphrey

May I never wake up from the American dream. ~Carrie Latet

A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works. ~Bill Vaughan

I think there is one higher office than president and I would call that patriot. ~Gary Hart

My patriotic heart beats red, white, and blue. ~Author Unknown

Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and excusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may. ~Mark Twain

All we have of freedom, all we use or know - This our fathers bought for us long and long ago.
~Rudyard Kipling, The Old Issue, 1899

What we need are critical lovers of America - patriots who express their faith in their country by working to improve it. ~Hubert H. Humphrey

You cannot spill a drop of American blood without spilling the blood of the whole world.... We are not a nation, so much as a world. ~Herman Melville

Our hearts where they rocked our cradle,
Our love where we spent our toil,
And our faith, and our hope, and our honor,
We pledge to our native soil.
God gave all men all earth to love,
But since our hearts are small,
Ordained for each one spot should prove
Beloved over all.
~Rudyard Kipling

He is a poor patriot whose patriotism does not enable him to understand how all men everywhere feel about their altars and their hearthstones, their flag and their fatherland. ~Harry Emerson Fosdick

We have enjoyed so much freedom for so long that we are perhaps in danger of forgetting how much blood it cost to establish the Bill of Rights. ~Felix Frankfurter

Patriotism is easy to understand in America - it means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country. ~Calvin Coolidge

We dare not forget that we are the heirs of that first revolution. ~John F. Kennedy

The American Revolution was a beginning, not a consummation. ~Woodrow Wilson

Intellectually I know that America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every other country. ~Sinclair Lewis

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