A Cultural History of the United States: Part I What is an American?

Voice is breaking up on my chromebook

I'm curious about the similarities between the modern east and west coasts. I would speculate that it's because the tech folks which dominate the west coast were originally east coast engineers who migrated for cheap real estate (if memory serves. I may be wrong there). There may also just be a common culture around large cities, especially considering after WWII there were more concerted nation-wide infrastructure development projects. That money primarily linked cities together, thus allowing them to develop into a more similar amalgam of "America", but again, speculating. If that's true, a similar effect should be noticeable when the transcontinental railroad was completed. As transportation became more efficient, that would have a homogenizing effect.

I've just noticed, Rhode Island is almost a city state, except there's a 2nd city, and a few villages, and a forest.

Very excited for this series

softer mic sound this episode

I've enjoyed your work on logical fallacies alot and I just recently learned about one that seemed relevant to this topic of America. The Sunk cost fallacy. I've often wondered about traditions in the US, mainly because of the capitalism behind every one of our holidays. So when you spoke about how basically no one knew each other and no one had any traditions, I wondered why we have all of these pseudo traditions that don't seem to hold water. Something people often say when their ideas are questioned is "we've always done it this way", which in the case of America is definitely not true. Why does America seem to have this odd relationship with tradition when we don't really have any? Are we just trudging along telling ourselves these traditions are meaningful? I'm especially looking at Thanksgiving because of the story we tell about the Native Americans, and how utterly false it is, but other holidays are included too.

Minor criticism, but you have the 13 original states highlighted, I would suggest extending the highlighting to their territory at the time (ie make Alabama and Mississippi Orange or West Virginia and Kentucky dark blue). Edit:also, you got 14 highlights, Vermont is in there

24:15 Whooo! Michigan gets a mention!

Truth, justice and the American way.

Liking it a lot

Thanks yet again! American Nations by Colin Woodard draws a bit of a parallel. He looks at US as more just states, but distinct "nations" or mindsets. Great read and he has some lectures on YT. Factual note on your thumbnail... although Maine didn't become a state until 1820, its was part of Massachusetts since the 1650s.

Hi Wes. Thanks for adding a Q&A section to your upcoming videos. My question relates to your video on McCarthy. In a NYT interview McCarthy remarked that ‘there’s no such thing as life without bloodshed. I think the notion that the species can be improved in some way, that everyone could live in harmony, is a really dangerous idea. Those who are afflicted with this notion are the first ones to give up their souls, their freedom. Your desire that it be that way will enslave you and make your life vacuous.’ What are your thoughts on this quote and how it relates to McCarthy’s mythopoetic writing of the human condition? Is this quote a pushback against totalitarian ideologies such as facism, or, as you rightly point out in your critique of the reception of McCarthy, will most readers of this quote draw the worst conclusions from it?

So just to be clear with all of this, you're not so much saying that ansin same duine Have an observable and distinct culture, but that we don't have a strong cultural identity? Because there are clear things you can describe about American cultúir, things that are either American or regional. The are distinct architectural styles, there are accents and rebondi slang, there are shared beliefs and ideals, both regional and countrywide. I'm from Michigan, and we have a strong identity as Michiganders in a lot of ways, we share a collective frustration that the coasts perpetually forget that we exist. There are times when it feels like more Canadians know and care about Michigan than people in DC or New York... Anyway, just asking for clarification.

QUESTION #1 where is Vermont on your map? I could ask more....

Thank you Cecil. Looking forward to the libertiniasm episode. Also if you could talk a little bit of the cultural history of Louisiana, I would be grateful..

America has always been based on small, limited government and maximum freedom. We are the libertarians of the world, in stark contrast to the authoritarians and totalitarians (socialists, fascists, and communists).

American is abiding by the Constitution.

It’s simple native Americans are Americans and the European settlers who had children on this land are Americans. and Mexico was always Mexico until we took their land, inhabited it, and had children there who became Americans. it doesn’t matter where your parents are from, if you were born on land that was considered America at the time you were born, you can call yourself in American.

an american is someone who listens to rupert murdoch (fox news), and votes for reagan.... lol sorry to joke about this wes, I love your channel, I'm researching murdoch's and reagan's influence on propaganda/financial regulation laws a lot lately, I feel such an intense urge to mock anyone who engages with these corrupt forces, sorry, needed to mock thse demographics based on your title... btw really wish you would talk about the bretton woods/global financial crisis situations in depth sometime - these two events have been more influential on modern culture than almost any other imo... imagine systems and situations that create such powerful bureaucratic limitations on our global species, affecting the lives in billions currently and tens of billions more in the future... your audience deserves to understand these key points more imo - also the concept of journalism in the modern world and how that died when reagan's administration legalised "opinion" journalism - such key ideas to the modern human condition here I think many thx to you wes for your ongoing teachings 🙌

Ironically over the last 20-odd years I've been coming to associate myself more as a Californian then an American, despite being politically moderate. 40-50 years ago American culture was pretty homogeneous, but nowadays it seems as though other parts of the country are embracing values that, while not foreign, are certainly anachronistic. It feels as though the emulsion has broke in the pot and we are clustering back into the individual ingredients.