"When does it count as American history?" Topic

"To put it bluntly, Ifve observed the following patterns in how we casually talk and write about individuals in the past.

¡men tell us about gAmerica,h women tell us about women

¡New Englanders tell us about gAmerica,h Southerners and Westerners tell us about regional culture

¡Protestants tell us about gAmerica,h Catholics tell us about Catholicism and maybe also the Irish

¡white Americans tell us about gAmerica,h non-white people tell us aboutca variety of things, but rarely America
Itfs obviously not as simple as that, but I think when wefre confronted with a dominant versus a non-dominant group, our analytical brains go in different directions; for the dominant group, we go broad, and for the non-dominant group, we go narrow…"
More here
link

Amicalement
Armand

A lot of words for not much point.

The article still assumes that 'American' refers exclusively to things related to the United States of America. He misses out on the 34 non-US members of the Organization of American States as well as the few remaining colonies that exist in the Americas. I know that I need to qualify any use of 'American' to show if I'm referring to aspects related to the two American continents or only to a single country.

"South America stole our name."
R. Newman, Political Science (1972)

YouTube link

> The article still assumes that 'American' refers exclusively to things related to the United States of America.

Why does NOT spelling out the entire "United States of America" on such articles always get someone in a snit…

I guess for the same reason it winds me up when folks say 'England' when they mean 'Britain'*…

Which happens… er…. a lot
John T

* or Great Britain, or the UK or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Pick any one! I'm not fussy

It does bring up an interesting train of thought. Many countries throughout the world and history have had multiple word names. Many/Most were referred to by a single word name. I do know that the improper use of Britain/England/UK, etc. will illicit the same type of response.

What/Where/Who do people think of when they hear the name "America"? Do people outside of the US use the term "America" to refer specifically to the US? As mentioned above do they use it to refer to either or both of the continents? Or is it used to refer to other individual countries on those continents?

Note to John T.: I got called away from the computer between starting to type and hitting send. Your post beat mine by several minutes. Sorry to repeat your excellent school of thought. Ha Ha

> The article still assumes that 'American' refers exclusively to things related to the United States of America.

Why does NOT spelling out the entire "United States of America" on such articles always get someone in a snit…

It's relevant in that the article complains that only white men from the NE of the USA define 'American'. I'm just adding my gripe that the adjective 'American' goes beyond the list provided in the article (women, US regions other than the NE, people of colour or from non-dominant ethnicities).

That, plus it's Monday and I'm not yet ready to face the new week. 8^)

Much talk for nothing. American history begins at Plymouth Rock, with a sort of Virginia prologue, the same way English--not British--history begins with Hengest and Horsa, Soviet (not Russian) history began with Bolsheviks and French histories begin with "our ancestors the Gauls." When you're the people who conceive a nation and/or a state, and you succeed in creating it, then that's where the history starts.

Please note that when you decide you want to create a nation, the first thing to do is cobble together a history and fake a family tree, then set about creating a native language. A lot of Europe did this in the aftermath of the French Revolution, and it's still going on a lot of places. If your side wins, you become (generally posthumously) the Founders of the Slavatchko Nation, or whatever. If your side never pulls it off, you're a bunch of fanatics and terrorists. It's a chance you take. History can be a very malleable thing.

Is the author saying that if one inquires about American History to women, Southerners, Westerners, and Catholics about American History, they focus only on women, Southerners, Westerners, and Catholics in America?

That would say more about those demographics than it says about men, New Englanders and Protestants (or "white Americans.")

BTW, I get a blank white page for the link, even if I refresh it.

The special thing about the United States is that we are not a young country as many Europeans like to label us as. Due to our freedoms, our strong early support of free public education, and waves of migration we've been able to co-opt and assimilate all of European History without all the baggage of identity that comes with being part of Europe.

It works sort of like this (from Wikipedia):

"United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain"

Now, consider this:

United States of America, commonly known as United States, USA, US, or America.

There is no malicious intent, no insult, condescension, etc. It is a word in common using, qualified in the context of the conversion above by the subject matter.

So calm down, and have a great day.

The History Channel says "History happens everyday !" … So I guess that explains guys driving in the snow or sorting thru junkyards and hunt'n gators in the Bayou …

I wonder if they have ever contemplated the result should they be taken at their word.

They probably don't thing that far …

I don't know if there's anything particularly controversial about what the article ACTUALLY says, rather than skimming the headline.

Yeah, sub-topics of history will tend to get overly specialized and yes, the "default" taught is pretty much the history of old rich people.

"Why does NOT spelling out the entire "United States of America" on such articles always get someone in a snit…"

Because they might be from the USB ( United States of Brazil )and US is confusing? Yes, technically that is what Brazil should be called.