American Culture Essays

American Culture Essays American Culture Essay American Culture Essay Essay Topic: True Grit American culture is rich, complex, and unique.It emerged from short rapid European invasion of vast landmasses, sparsely settled by diverse indigenous peoples.The Africans arrival added yet another new layer of unique cultural complexity to the territories named the New World.These three cultures, European, Indian, and African were very different and yet a lot alike.Their ways of life were significantly diverse although they did share some similarities.It is a combination of these differences and similarities being brought together that have become part of the foundation for the cultivation of a new culture. These three groups when coming together brought with them their own unique practices of social structure.The African and Indian village structure was based on Kinship, the relationship by blood or marriage to another or others, and was the fundamental component of their village structure, (Encarta).Important also was the fact that these two societies were matrilineal, property and political status descended through the mother rather than the father (Tindall 113).Europeans, as the Indians and Africans, also based their social structure on kinship, but this is were the similarities ended.European society was patrilineal, meaning, descent is established by tracing descent exclusively through males from founding male ancestor (Encarta). Gender roles among these three cultures had different views and practices although, African and Indian gender role beliefs had many similarities.Both African and Indian cultures depended upon the male to provide through hunting, fishing, and defense.Women were expected to rear the offspring, support, gather, and maintain the home front.African relationships were typically egalitarian in nature, the husband and wife had equal status in their marriage (Encarta).