Intro to Culture and

Society
INSTRUCTOR:
TRAN THI NGUYET THANH, M.A
 REVIEW

THE PHYSICAL SETTING OF AMERICAN

CIVILIZATION
The American
People
 CONTENT

I. American
people
II. General
Ideas about
American
III. Specific culture
Aspects of
American
life
I. American people
1. Early
America

2.
5. Colonial
Immigration Period

4. Civil Rights
Movement 3.
(1960’s) Revolution
1. Early America
First Americans/ Native Americans or American
Indians.
 1. The first “Americans”

 crossed the land bridge from Asia

 lived in what now is Alaska for thousands of

years

 moved South into today’s mainland United

States
 Note: Land Bridge Theory
• Land Bridge Theory
claims that during the
Ice Age (about 35,000
years ago), ocean
levels dropped and
exposed dry land
connecting Beringia &
Alaska.

• The new exposed

lands connected Asia
to the Americas.
 Native Americans lived by Pacific Ocean in
Northwest, in mountains & deserts of Southwest,
along Mississippi River in Midwest
 1. Early America
Early groups: Hohokam, Adenans, Hopewellians,
Anasazi.
 built villages & grew crops.

 used picture writing called hieroglyphics.

 traded with each other, also fought.

 Lives connected to the land

 Family & community were important

 Nature their spiritual beliefs.

 These groups disappeared.

 1. Early America
 Other groups: Hopi & Zuni
 came to this land & prospered

 First Europeans
 about two million native people lived in what now is
the United States.

 The Norse (from Greenland) had started a

settlement around 985.
 1. Early America

 500 years later:

 Other Europeans reach North America

 Another 100 for them build permanent

settlements.

 Other Europeans—mostly Spanish & Portuguese,

Dutch, French, British—came for land & the riches of
the “New World.”
 1. Early America
 Queen Isabella
of Spain paid for his trips.

 Columbus landed on
islands in Caribbean
Sea in 1492.

 He never reached what

is now the United States. The most famous
Italian explorer
 1. Early America
.
 1497, John Cabot,
an English explorer
landed in Eastern
Canada.

 His arrival
established
a British claim to land
in North America.
 1. Early America
 1500s, Spain explored & claimed more land in the Americas
than did any other country.

 1513, Juan Ponce de Léon landed in Florida.

 1539, Hernando De Soto landed in Florida, then explored

way to Mississippi River.

 1522, Spain conquered Mexico

 1540, Francisco Vázquez de Coronado wanted to find

the mythical Seven Cities of Cibola.
 started looking in Mexico & traveled North to the Grand
Canyon in Arizona & into the Great Plains.
 1. Early America

• Other Europeans -
Giovanni da Verrazano,
Jacques Cartier, Amerigo
Vespucci - explored further
North.

• Two American continents

were named after Amerigo
Vespucci. Amerigo Vespucci,
Italian explorer
 1. Early America
• First permanent European settlement in North America was Spanish & was built
in St. Augustine in Florida.

• Thirteen British colonies were in the North

 Virginia & Massachusetts were the two earliest.

• 1600s, most people who came to the British colonies were English.

• Others came from The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, France, Scotland,

Northern Ireland.

• 1690, 250,000 people lived in the New World.

• 1790, there were 2.5 million people.

 Why did British
people come to
The New World?
 2. Colonial Period
• British people came for different reasons.

 to escape war.

 to seek political or religious freedom.

 to work as servants to pay back the cost of their trip

before gaining their freedom.

 to arrive as slaves (black Africans)

 2. Colonial Period

13 colonies developed
within three distinct
regions.
 Northeast colonies (New England)

• 3 states: Massachusetts, Connecticut,

Rhode Island

• First settlements : Atlantic coast & rivers

• Major geographical features: hills with trees & soil with

stones, but available water power

• Economy timber, fishing, shipbuilding,

trade
 The middle colonies

• 5 states New York, New Jersey,

Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland.

• Weather mild & more varied in

countryside.

• Economy industry & agriculture.

• Society more diverse & sophisticated

 The Southern colonies

• 4 states: Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina,

South Carolina.

• Long growing season & fertile soil

• Most people farmers.

• Wealthy farmers large plantations & used African

slaves as workers.
 2. Colonial Period

• Relationships between settlers & Native Americans

were good & bad.

• Two groups traded & were friendly in some areas

• Settlements grew bigger & settlers forced the Indians

to move.
 3. Revolution

• American Revolution & war for independence

from Britain began on April 19, 1775.

• Revolutionary War lasted 9 years & America was

free from England (on April 15, 1783).
4. Civil Rights Movement (1960’s)

• In 1954, Supreme Court ruled schools for black children

& white children to be integrated because of equality

• President Lyndon Johnson supported Martin Luther King

for civil rights & voting rights for African Americans.
 5. Immigration

 According to John F. Kennedy in “A nation

of immigrants”, there are three reasons
that made immigrants come to the US:

 Economic hardship

 Political oppression

 Religious persecution
 5. Immigration

 In early 1900s, the migration from Europe to the US

reached its peak.

 The White make up the highest population of the US.

 “Hispanics” refer to all Spanish-speaking Americans in

the U.S.

-> Desire for economic advancement: a major reason for

immigration to the US.
 II. General
Ideas about American culture
• Individualism • Time
1.American
• Freedom • Achievement
Values
• Competitiveness • Action
And
• Privacy • Work
Assumptions
• Equality • Materialism
 Future-Oriented
• Informality • Directness
 Openness
• Goodness of humanity • Assertiveness
 Individualism
• Americans
 are devoted to individualism.

 are trained from childhood to make their own decisions in life & to
have their own opinions.

 are not trained to see themselves as members of a close-knit,

tightly interdependent family, religious group or tribe.

 avoid becoming dependent on others.

Ex: Young people about 20 or more still living with his or her parents
is said to be ‘tied to mother’s apron strings’ & looked upon as
immature or abnormal.
 Privacy
• Americans

 place high value on privacy

 have private thoughts which never share with anyone

 prevent personal situations becoming known by

confidentiality rules abound for doctors, lawyers,
psychiatrists, & others

• Ex: each American child will have his or her own bedroom -
a place to be alone.
 Equality

• Americans

 believe in the ideal of equality

 have a deep faith that in some ways all people are of

equal value - no one is born superior

 be uncomfortable with being the object of open displays

of respect, being deferred to, or treated as if they could
do no wrong.
 Equality

 leads Americans to be informal in behaviour & relationships.

Ex: Store clerks or waiters may introduce themselves by their first names in a
casual, friendly manner.

• Slang is heavily used in most conversations.

• Americans of nearly any station in life appear in public in jeans, sandals, or other
informal attire; they slouch in chairs or lean on walls & furniture.

• Americans feel comfortable with a college president who is just like everyone
else, who doesn’t think he’s too good for others
 Future-Oriented
• Americans

 are generally less concerned about history & traditions

than people from other cultures

 believe the future is what counts

 New things are better than old ones

 ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.’

 Time

 is a resource that can be used well or poorly.

 is money’ is a well-known saying.
 must be saved whenever possible

• Americans
 believe they should be doing something most of the time.

 are usually not content to sit for hours and talk with other people.

• Even recreation involves doing something.

 Achievement

 Americans

 admire achievers who accomplish some physical, measurable

thing.

 Ideal person is a hard worker who works efficiently & meets

reasonably high standards of quality.

 Good leader who will inspire those she/he is leading to work

towards a goal & give them the tools & encouragement to reach
that inspired goal.
 Openness
• Americans

 consider themselves to be open & direct in dealings with other

people.

 are not taught to mask their emotional responses & therefore

think it proper to display feelings within limits.

 are reluctant to discuss things openly

(e.g. when the topic is in an area they consider excessively personal

or sensitive, or when they want to say ‘No’ to a request but do not
want to ‘hurt the feelings’ of the person who made the request).
 Openness

• Americans

 engage in ‘small talk’ on first acquaintance & may inquire briefly

about family matters.

 are not to discuss religion & politics unless they are fairly well
acquainted with the people they are talking to.

 do not consider religion & politics to be appropriate topics for

informal discussion & debate.
 Openness

• Being ‘honest’ is usually more important than preserving harmony

in interpersonal relationships.

• Financial matters are considered personal & usually outside the

bounds of acceptable topics for discussion.

• Americans from the West & East Coast have their cultural
differences.

 Those from the West are often outspoken, open & accepting of
new ideas.
 Those from Mid-West or the East are more reserved by nature &
unwilling to yield to change quickly.
III. Specific Aspects of American life

1. Family
life

2. Religion

3. Social
Ways

4. American
Dream
 1. Family Life

• ‘Family’ means a father, a mother, their children

• Others (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc) are ‘relatives’.

 Children
 are central to the family unit & often receive highest priority.
 are expected to contribute to maintaining the home by doing
‘chores’.

 Teenagers
 have jobs as good training for managing time & money.
 1. Family Life

 Parents

 provide lessons of many kinds (dance, music, sport) for

their children & buy things their children want.

 expect that their children’s lives will be comfortable

materially when they were growing up.
 1. Family Life

 The elderly

 fight to live on their own before moving to a nursing

home or their children’s home.

 feel independent & avoid being “burdening” their

children with Retirement homes & assisted living homes
 2. Religion

• tend to separate religion from other parts of their

personal lives.

• generally take pride in their religious freedom.

• ‘being religious’ means belonging to a church and

attending regularly.
 2. Religion

• American coins bear the words, ‘In God we trust’.

• In the pledge of allegiance, Americans refer to the United States as

a nation ‘under God’.

• Each session of the United States Congress, the Supreme Court,

other official bodies opens with a prayer for divine guidance.

• Candidates for public office make their religious views & affiliations
public.
 3. Social Ways
 Courtesy

 Acknowledging another person’s presence or arrival, either verbally (‘Hi’,

‘Hello’, ‘Good morning’) or non-verbally with a smile

 Not ‘talking down’ to others or giving commands in an officious way

 Saying ‘please’ when making requests

 Saying ‘thank you’ when requests are granted or services performed

 Saying ‘You’re welcome’ in response to a thank you

 Taking a place at the end of the line & waiting patiently.

 3. Social Ways
 Schedules
- Considerate people
 will be mindful of other people’s schedules
 will not telephone too early, too late, or during meals.

 Gifts
- Americans
 give gifts on a relatively small number of occasions (Christmas, birthdays,
graduations, weddings, birth of a child) and to a relatively small circle of people
(relatives and close friends).

 give gifts to people who are in a position to grant or withhold favours can be
construed as an improper effort to gain favour
 3. Social Ways
 Sports and Recreation
• absorb a huge amount of Americans’ emotion, time & money.
 Professional athletes are national heroes & earn salaries in the
millions of dollars.
 Special athletic ability can provide participants with a free college
education.

• jog every day, or play tennis, handball, racquetball, go on ski trips

& hunting expeditions

• clubs for astronomy, bird-watching, cooking, dancing, ecology,

fencing, gardening, hiking….
 3. Social Ways

 Non-verbal Communication

- Americans
 associate smiling with happiness, cheerfulness &
amusement.

 are trained to distrust people who do not ‘look them

in the eye’ when talking to them.
 3. Social Ways

 Space & distance varies from culture to culture.

Ex: An American
 will keep backing away from a Latin or an Arab
 will keep moving toward a Japanese.

 “Appropriate” touching can be a sign of acceptance, friendship,

appreciation or forgiveness.

 Opposite sexes can touch under these circumstances without

arousing suspicion in onlookers.
 4. American Dream
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream

• The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the

set of ideals (democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity and equality)
in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and
success, as well as an upward social mobility for the family and
children, achieved through hard work in a society with few
barriers.

• In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow

Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for
everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or
achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.
 American Dream

• https://youtu.be/c48agtpiuzo
 Racial and Ethnic Diversity

• Chapter 11. Althen, G. et al. American Ways- A

Guide for Foreigners in the United States

• Case study: Austin, Texas, pp. 167-169