1. Identity
   1. diverse country
   2. country of immigrants
   3. Native American Indians
      1. 0,7%
   4. race
      1. non-Hispanic white>60%
      2. Hispanic/Latino<16%
2. Waves of immigration
   1. Pre-independence
      1. Europeans
      2. Black African slaves
   2. Early 19th c.
      1. North/West Europeans
   3. Late 19th/early 20th
      1. South and East Europeans
      2. Latin American and Canadian
      3. Asians
   4. Post WW2
      1. Europeans
   5. Recently
      1. Latin Americans
      2. Asians
   6. common ancesty
      1. German (Irish, African American)
3. The melting pot
   1. groups melt from single groups
   2. assimilate to dominant culture
   3. Pros
      1. shared sense of identity
      2. noone becomes isolated
      3. everyone treated the same
      4. ideals of us (liberty, equality, etc.)
   4. Cons
      1. pressure: abandon their culture and identity
      2. ostracises those who don't
      3. less cultural vibrancy
   5. 'Little Italy', 'Chinatown'
   6. no single American culture
4. African Americans
   1. early economy: slaves
   2. late 18th c.
      1. abolish slavery
      2. Pennsylvania
         1. 1780
   3. Civil War
      1. 1861-65
      2. emancipation of slaves
   4. Segregation
      1. 1870s-1960s
      2. southern states
   5. Culture
      1. 'Harlem Renaissance'
         1. 1920s-30s
      2. national trends
         1. music
         2. dance
   6. Civil Rights Movement
      1. 1950s
         1. emerged
      2. march to Washington
         1. 1963
      3. 1964-67
         1. success
      4. black-white integration
   7. Black Power Movement
      1. black pride
      2. racial cohesion
      3. 'black nationalism'
   8. Muhammad Ali
   9. 2008 Presidential Election
      1. 95% black voters
         1. Obama
      2. Obama effect
         1. greater optimism
         2. less crime
         3. better educational performance
5. Religion
   1. 41%
      1. attend churches/synagogues weekly
   2. 92%
      1. believe in God
   3. 1. Protestans Churches
   4. 2. Catholic
   5. The Bible Belt
      1. south-east/south-central
      2. Evangelical Protestantism
      3. personal conversion
      4. adherence to biblical texts
      5. socially conservative
      6. support for the Republican Party
   6. Mormon Corridor
      1. 1830
         1. NY
         2. the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
      2. 1850s-1890s
         1. persecution
         2. Rocky Mountains
      3. Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada
      4. suspition
6. Islamophobia
   1. 9/11
   2. hostility
   3. 2.35 Muslims
      1. middle class
      2. assimilated
      3. little support for extremism
7. American Exceptionalism
   1. the US, its people, its institutions and its values are special, superior, unique
   2. God
      1. special role in history
   3. 20th c.
      1. American century
      2. 'The world's policemen'
         1. 2000
      3. victory in Cold War
8. American Values
   1. freedom, equality, democracy
   2. Individualism, self-sufficiency, work ethic, opportunity
   3. Morality, faith, community, mutual support
   4. enshrined in founding documents