My name is Jason Weller; and I live outside of Chicago, IL. I am
pursuing a BS in History. While working
full time and studying, in what little spare time I have I enjoy researching my
ancestry, traveling, reading and I also practice photography on an amateur
level as hobbies. Somewhere in there I am also planning my wedding with my
fiancé for summer of next year.
American culture makes me think of the motto of the United States of
America, e pluribus Unum. The motto states, out of many, one. American culture
is just like that motto. People from all over the world have come to the United
States and with them their cultures. Dictionary.com defines culture as, “the
quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded
as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.”[1] The best way I could define
the American culture today is diverse. The United States has a very diverse
population and with that comes the different cultures from around the world that are placed into the melting pot that is this country.
The exposure of all the cultures to the country has brought different
aspects to everything. The culture of America is a wide range of topics such as
religion, food and technologies to name a few. This country has a tolerant view
to religion. For the most part the country allows people to worship the
religion of their choice or even not to worship at all.
Food brought from different cultures is enjoyed throughout the country
and continues to evolve. People don’t just eat what their ancestors ate they
have learned to expand their palate of taste.
Technologies have also changed the culture of America. As the country
grows the technology available at the time shrinks the country. In the early
years of the country letters were the only way to communicate across the
country later to be replaced by the quicker telegraph invented by Samuel Morse.
“In addition to helping invent the telegraph, Samuel Morse developed a code
(bearing his name) that assigned a set of dots and dashes to each letter of the
English alphabet and allowed for the simple transmission of complex messages
across telegraph lines”.[2]
This new technology was a faster way to receive information about what was
happening to other parts of the country and to bring cultures from one side of
the country known to the other and share ideas. Eventually the telegraph was
replaced by the telephone. Today the telephone for the most part has been
replaced by the internet with social media like Facebook, Twitter and texting
being popular forms of communicating. Technology is just a small window into
what is becoming a more digital way of life.
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