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SOPHIA SIDDDIQUI, staff writer
America was established 247 years ago in 1776 after the American Revolution. When British settlers came to America, they brought their language, customs, and religions.The American Revolution won the colonies their independence and even though they broke ties, British culture remained in America. As America developed, it began to open its borders to the global community promising a life of opportunity. In January of 1889, the first immigration system opened on Ellis Island, in New York and people came in search of a better life. America is considered the melting pot because cultures have mixed together to form one nation. It has been argued that America is more of a salad than a melting pot because of the culture polarization inside the country. We all live under one nation but different cultural groups maintain their own identity within. This sparks the question: Does America have its own culture?
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Culture is defined as, “the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group” (Oxford dictionary). Based on this definition, what could we consider to be a part of American culture? While America doesn’t have an official language, English and Spanish take up the majority with 75% and 13% respectivley. Both these languages are not native to the US.
The United States is a fairly young nation and its only association to ancient roots are the indigenous.American football and fast food are the quintessential answers when anyone is asked to name aspects of American culture. Is this enough to say that America has a rich cultural heritage? When the word culture is used it usually follows and preambles places like India, China, and Greece. India has dozens of languages, many religions, and specific food that is uniquely from there. Greece is known for their mythology and theatrics.Chinese philosophy, ancient innovations, and the Chinese language are all originally from China. Despite being a young nation, without any unique and unanimous traditions, can we really call our conglomerate a culture?
