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The way of life of americans. Features of character of americans
Contents
Introduction
Part I. The way of life of Americans
1.1. American national character in popular culture
1.2. Urban life of Americans.
1.3. Rural life of Americans and their character
1.4. Language
1.5. Religion if Americans
1.6. Work and jobs
1.7. Recreation
1.8. Health and income
1.9. Food
Part II. Features of character of Americans
2.1. Trust and hope of Americans on God
2.2. Love pf Americans to their native country
2.3. “Americans are vitally concerned in their defense of freedom”
2.4. The other features of character
Conclusion
Introduction
United staffs of Comerica is the third – largest country in the world in population and if is the fourth – largest country in arid. The United staffs is a land of gnat beauty and natural wealth its people enjoy one of the world’s highest standards of living.
The United states today has one of the world’s most varied populations. At has been called “a nation of immigrants”. The Americans – as the people are commonly called – also made major contra but ions in such fields as technology, science, and medicine.
The American way of life is an expression that refers to the "lifestyle" of people living in the United States. It is an example of a behavioral modality, developed during the 20th century. It refers to an nationalist ethos that purports to adhere to principles of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." It has some connection to the concept of American exceptionalism.
During the time of the Cold War, the expression was commonly used by the media to highlight the differences in living standards of the populations of the United States and Russia. At that time, American popular culture broadly embraced the idea that anyone, regardless of the circumstances of his or her birth, could significantly increase his or her standard of living through determination, hard work, and natural ability. In the employment sector, this concept was expressed in the belief that a competitive market would foster individual talent and a renewed interest in entrepreneurship. Politically, it took the form of a belief in the superiority of a free democracy, founded on a productive and economic expansion without limits.
Today, the expression has again become pervasive in popular culture, in part because of its use by President George H. W. Bush, who has stated that "the 'way of life1 of the Americans is not negotiable." The expression has come to be associated with over-consumption, exploitation of natural resources, American exceptionalism, and other negative aspects of American culture, and it has negative connotations in many parts of the world.
In the National Archives and Records Administration's 1999 Annual Report, National Archivist John W. Carlin writes, "We are different because our government and our way of life are not based on the divine right of kings, the hereditary privileges of elites, or the enforcement of deference to dictators. They are based on pieces of paper, the Charters of Freedom - the Declaration that asserted our independence, the Constitution that created our government, and the Bill of Rights that established our liberties."
American way of life is an expression that one finds in all the main documents of American history. Let us see the use by the Americans themselves of this terminology: executive Order 10631 Eisenhower August 17, 1955
Code of Conduct for Members of the United States Armed Forces: 1) Iam an American fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.
In 1998: Powerful Documents Inspire a Nation By Senator Trent Lott:
"When the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired, it signaled one of the most significant changes in the human history. "The shot heard 'round the world" started a struggle for independence not just from England, but from despotism. Our Founding Fathers were literally the first people in history to fight and die for their naturally-given right to self-determination. When those out-manned revolutionaries beat the English, a bold new way of life was born."
ethnographic and wildlife Alaska from the early 1920s:
"This extraordinary collection was selected for this preservation project because it is well organized, identified, documented, and published Photographically, the images are beautifully composed, are in sharp focus, and have been well exposed. As American history, this collection is an important contribution to the chronicle of the time and region, its wildlife and native populations These photographs document a people and a way of life on the brink of change just prior to the modern era. We can see a way of life that changed quickly and completely when the radio made possible rapid communication and the airplane became a common means of transportation across such vast distances. Bailey's keen observations led to an outstanding archive of cultural information. His unique visual and documentary record is essential as it comes at a time when the traditional economies and belief system were beginning to change to heavy reliance on objects and behaviors brought about by schools, tourists, the military, and oil field developers ".
1.1. American national character in popular culture
"The culture of the United States is a Western culture, and has been developing since long before the United States became a country. Its chief early influence was British culture, due to colonial ties with the British that spread the English language, legal system and other cultural inheritances. Other important influences came from other parts of Europe, especially countries from which large numbers immigrated such as Ireland, Germany, Poland, and Italy; the Native American peoples; Africa, especially the western part, from which came the ancestors of most African Americans; and young groups of immigrants. American culture also has shared influence on the cultures of its neighbors in the New World.
The United States has traditionally been known as a melting pot, but recent academic opinion is tending towards cultural diversity, pluralism and the image of a salad bowl rather than a melting pot.
Due to the extent of American culture there are many integrated but unique subcultures within the United States. The culutral affliations an individual in the United States may have commonly depend on social class, political orientation and a multitude of demogrpahic charateristics such as race, ethnicity, sex and sexual orientation. The strongest influences on American culture came from northern European cultures, most prominently from Germany, Ireland and England. [2] It is, however, paramount to remember that there are great differences within American culutre which should therefore under no circumstance be seen as one large homogenous subject.
The American state of California (especially the Hollywood region) is home to a thriving motion picture industry, with prominent film studios such as Warner Brothers, Paramount, and MGM creating dozens of multi-million dollar films every year that are enjoyed around the world. American actors are often among the world's most popular and easily identified celebrities. It's worth noting that Hollywood also tends to attract many immigrant actors and directors from around the world, many of whom, such as actor Russell Crowe or director Ang Lee become just as famous and successful as American-born stars.
The United States was a leading pioneer of T.V. as an entertainment medium, and the tradition remains strong to this day. Many American television sitcoms dramas game shows and reality shows remain very popular both in the US and abroad. Animation is a popular US entertainment medium as well, both on the largeand small screen. The characters created by Walt Disney and Warner Brothers animation studios remain very popular. In music, the United States has pioneered many distinct genres, such as country and western, jazz, rock music, hip hop and gospel. African-American cultural influences play a particularly prominent role in many of these traditions.
1.2. Urban life of Americans.
Urban life. Urban areas, which range from giant cities surrounded by suburbs to small towns, dot the U.S. landscape. Although the urban areas cover about 2 ½ percent of the land, they are the home of about three-fourths of the people. New York City, with about 7 million people, is the largest U.S. city by far. Los Angeles has about 3 million people. Chicago has a population of about 2¾ million. Five other U.S. cities—Houston, Philadelphia, San Diego, Detroit, and Dallas—each have more than 1 million people.
Networks of suburbs surround many U.S. cities. The central cities and their suburbs form units called metropolitan areas. There are about 268 metropolitan areas in the United States. The three largest are, in order of size, the New York-Newark, Los Angeles-Long Beach, and Chicago areas. The New York-Newark metropolitan area has about 17 million people, the Los Angeles-Long Beach area has more than 8¾ million people, and the Chicago area has about 7½million people.
For many years, the vast majority of the country's urban population lived in the central cities. But during the mid-1900s, suburban population soared throughout the United States, while central city growth slowed down or decreased. In 1970, for the first time, more Americans lived in suburbs than in central cities.
The Northeast and Midwest have long had most of the nation's largest urban areas. But during the 1900's, other parts of the country have experienced dramatic urban growth. Since the early 1900's, many California urban communities—especially Los Angeles—have grown tremendously. Since the mid-1900's, the populations of many more urban areas in the West, and in the South and Southwest, have soared. Such metropolitan areas as Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Houston, and Phoenix grew rapidly. Large numbers of people were attracted to the West, South, and Southwest by jobs created by new industries. Also, many of the fastest-growing communities have warm, sunny climates, which helped attract many of the newcomers. Parts of the South, Southwest, and West are sometimes called the Sun Belt because they have such climates.
Urban economies provide jobs for a great variety of workers, including office and factory workers, bankers, doctors, fire fighters, medical personnel, police officers, teachers, trash collectors, and construction and transportation workers. Urban life also has many other positive features. Because of their large populations, urban areas generally offer a wide variety of specialized services and shops. Urban dwellers can take advantage of an assortment of restaurants, recreation facilities, and places of entertainment. Because of such facilities as art galleries, museums, libraries, theaters, and concert halls, many cities are important cultural centers. These and other features make urban areas exciting and interesting places to live for many people.
The people of most U.S. urban areas represent a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Most cities include neighborhoods in which almost all the people belong to the sameethnic or nationality group. The people of large urban areas are also divided economically. Urban society includes extremely wealthy and extremely poor people, and a huge middle class. The wealthy live in luxurious apartments or condominiums, or in large, comfortable single-family houses. Middle-class housing also includes apartments, condominiums, and single-family houses. In general, the housing of the middle class is comfortable, though not as luxurious as that of the wealthy. In contrast, large numbers of urban poor people live in substandard housing. They rent crowded,small apartments or run-down single-family houses.'
In addition to substandard housing, urban areas have a number of other negative features. Such features include high crime rates, racial and ethnic friction, noisy surroundings, pollution, and traffic jams. See City (City problems).
1.3. Rural life of Americans and their character
Rural life. More than 97 percent of all the land of the United States is classified as rural. But much of the rural land is uninhabited or only lightly inhabited. About a fourth of all Americans live in rural areas.
Farms provide the economic basis of the nation's rural areas. But only about 9 percent of the country's rural people work on farms. Many other rural people own or work in businesses related to agriculture, such as grain and feed stores and warehouses. Mining and related activities and light industries also employ many rural people. Still other rural Americans work as teachers, police officers, salesclerks, or in other occupations. Many farmers hold other jobs for part of the year to add to their incomes.
American farmers of today lead vastly different lives from those of their grandparents. Machines have eliminated much backbreaking farm work. Farmers use machines to help them plow, plant seeds, harvest crops, and deliver their products to market. Many farms have conveyor systems so that the farmer no longer has to shovel feed to farm animals. Milking machines make morning and evening chores easier. In the home, farm families may have all the comforts and conveniences of city people. In the 1900’s, the automobile, telephone, radio, and television have brought U.S. farm families into close contact with the rest of the world.
The steady decline in the percentage of the country's rural population has slowed since 1970. Although manypeople continued to move away from rural areas, others chose to move into rural towns and farm communities. Many of the newcomers wanted to escape the overcrowding, pollution, crime, and other problems that are part of life in urban areas and to take advantage of benefits of country living. Rural areas have lower crime rates and less pollution than urban areas. They are also far less noisy and crowded.
Because of their small populations, rural communities collect less tax revenues than urban communities do, and they generally cannot provide the variety of services that urban areas can. For example, rural communities have cultural and recreational facilities that are more limited than those available in urban areas. For many rural Americans, social life centers around family gatherings, church and school activities, special interest clubs, and such events as state and county fairs.
Rural areas generally have less diversified economies than urban areas. Because there are fewer and a smaller variety of jobs to choose from, rural communities may experience more widespread economic hardships than urban communities. A single economic downturn—a drop in farm prices, for example, or the closing of a mine—can cause economic hardship for an entire rural area.
The nation's rural areas, like its urban areas, have wealthy, middle class, and poor people. For the most part, however, the gaps between economic classes are not as large in rural areas as in urban areas. Most rural Americans live in single-family houses. The majority of the houses are comfortable and in good condition. But some people, including many who live in parts of Appalachia—in the eastern United States—and other pockets of rural poverty, have run-down houses and enjoy few luxuries.
1.4.Language
Language. The United States has never had an official language, but English has always been the chief language spoken in the country. Immigrants from the British Isles—who included the nation's founders—spoke English. Many immigrants from other lands who spoke little or no English also came to the United States. They learned at least enough English to be able to communicate with other Americans. Their children learned English in school. The immigrants' children generally spoke both English and their ethnic language, and in many families the immigrants' grandchildren spoke only English.
Today, Spanish is the second most common language in the United States. The region that is now the Southwestern United States was colonized by Spain in the 1500's. As a result, many people from that region speak Spanish. Since the 1950s, many Spanish-speaking people have immigrated to the United States from Mexico, Cuba, and other places. Many of these people learned English. But others speak only Spanish. This is especially true in Spanish-speaking neighborhoods that developed in cities. Some people feel that special efforts should be made to provide education and other services in Spanish for people who speak only Spanish.
Many people believe every American should know English. They point out that it is difficult to get a job outside Spanish-speaking neighborhoods without a knowledge of English. They also argue that a language shared by everyone is an important unifying force for a country. In the i1980’s, a number of states passed laws declaring English to be their only official language. These laws provide that the government must offer its services in English, and need not do so in any other language. But in some places, public documents and signs in public places are written in both English and Spanish.