Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the factors that shaped the cultural, economic, and political landscape of the United States during the nineteenth century. It specifically discusses the amalgamation and blending of cultures within American society and describes examples of when the diverse mixture of races, ethnicities, cultures and languages in America has not been particularly homogeneous.

From the Paper:

"To some extent, this blindness or indifference concerning the current trends of inequality can be attributed to the past two centuries of American history. Specifically, many people within the United States tend to look back at our most tangible achievements in the name of equality--emancipation and the civil rights movement--and make the erroneous conclusion that America is the land of opportunity, instead of the more reasonable belief that America can become the land of opportunity. In other words, the understanding of the American dream as a reality rather than a goal is the major ideological blinding factor in modern American society. Undeniably, the past two centuries have brought this nation closer to its philosophical dreams, but they remain just that--dreams. They may never be reached, but we should never cease in out pursuit of them."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cronon, William. 1991. Nature's metropolis: Chicago and the great West. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.
• Kenneth M. Jackson. 1985. Crabgrass Frontier: The suburbanization of the United States. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Rosenzweig, Roy and Elizabeth Blackmar. 1992. The park and the people: A history of Central Park. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.

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