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Portraying America as a single entity cannot be done. Yes, in general terms it is a very capitalist, religious nation with a strong sense of patriotism that values creativity and imagination. It loves to see an artistic vision can be converted into something of commercial value. In a bit of a contradictory way, Americans love technological innovation even though math and science are two subjects at which many American high school students do not excel in comparison with First World foreign students.
It is a multi-racial nation of about 303,000,000 people with great differences between the rich and the poor. What they have in common is still the idea of somehow achieving the American Dream. Politically speaking, most conservative American politicians would like to divide America into two parts: First there is a patriotic flag-waving and religious nation of doers. Then there is a nation of liberals who want big government and lots of government assistance for social programs. Liberal politician reject this polarization and point out that what all Americans believe in is personal freedom.
So if you asked a lot of Americans the average response would that America stands for freedom and, for example, a place where someone like Barack Obama can become president. It’s a place where the Terminator can become governor of California or a former professional wrestler can become governor of the state of Minnesota. Let’s take a look at America through the websites that have selected and work out for yourself what America ultimately means. First begin at the CIA’s websiteand read its political/geographic summary of the USA
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Have you ever wondered who discovered what we call the Americas? Who first explored North America and where were the first European colonies? Evidently, we know that the Vikings and that Columbus came to the New World, but were there others? Who were the Native Americans who suffered the most from European colonialism? The websites listed below will help you answer some of those questions. If you want a good general set of timelines of Colonial American and modern American history click here and look at the clear timelines there.
Who was Cabeza de Vaca? Well, he was Spanish and the first European to describe his experiences with North American Indians. Find out more about the first European conquistadores, colonists and explorers. You can explore what life was like for the Indigenous people of North America at this website . What was life like for an early English colonist? This American Public Broadcasting Websitegives you a great opportunity to explore what life was like at
Similarly, this websitealso clearly shows what life was like for Colonial Americans. While you’re at it, why not check out Colonial Williamsburg’s, an entire authentic colonial town in Williamsburg, Virginia, website and learn more about colonial life . Finally, to learn about the America’s first president, George Washington, and the beautiful Mt. Vernon estate.While on the subject of ‘the father of our nation’, it is important to state that many wealthy landowners in colonial times possessed slaves; and with George Washington being no exception. Slavery in North America was a horrible reality for tens of thousands of black Africans, which you can begin to explore by clicking here.
Finally, the American Civil War had a tremendous impact on America. It divided the young nation and its scars took half a century to fully heal. These websites will help you visualize and comprehend the nature of the savage conflict.
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What better way to explore American culture than to listen to America’s National Public Radio. You can listen to American English directly to the web-cast or by downloading a pod-cast from the website. You can virtually explore the astonishing collections of the Smithsonian Institute’s museums and piece together a historical narrative of your own of America’s past. The National Museum of American History is especially interesting.
How is American English different from British or Australian English? Start by looking at this PBS site. America has produced an incredible list of popular culture, or pop culture, icons. You can go to VH 1 and check out for yourself what many of them are. If you are interested in the great outdoors, you should check out the National Parks website. If you love cinema then you have to have a look here and find out everything you wanted to know about the Oscars and Hollywood.
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Americans are huge sports fans and we play soccer (European football is what Beckham and Messi play), rugby, ice hockey, basketball and baseball. Those sports are familiar to most Spanish and do not require much of an explanation. You may not know that cricket is rarely played in the USA. However, one sport you probably know little about is American football, which is played really only in the USA and Canada. It can be confusing even for Americans to figure out what is happening on the 100-yard field but the following website and diagram explain clearly how to play the game.
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Currently, American politics are dominated by the Democratic and Republican parties. Americans consider the USA to be a single nation that uses English as its official language. We pledge allegiance to the flag and most Americans view it with pride as a powerful symbol of national unity. We have far fewer consequential political parties than in Spain, but within the dominant American parties there are conservative and liberal wings. Indeed, sometimes a very conservative Democrat can almost seem to be a liberal Republican. Occasionally, a disenchanted politician will become an independent and will vote as his/her conscience dictates. President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton are Democrats and former President George Bush is a conservative Republican. Although, Americans from both parties tend to be religious and patriotic, obvious differences between the two parties exist. In general, Democrats emphasize domestic spending to improve social equality and social progress. Democrats often advocate socially liberal agendas in an effort to accommodate into the American democratic experience a wider spectrum of lifestyles and viewpoints. They also insist on making the wealthy contribute more in the form of taxes while the Republicans typically cut taxes on the rich. They reason that the rich use their money to create new business and jobs for other Americans. Most Republicans stress the benefits of free market Capitalism, claiming that government should have limited influence over the financial sectors. Go to the White House and see for yourself where President is directing the nation. At the same website, by clicking on the different tabs, you can also find very clear explanations of the history of the USA and how the U.S. government works.