America is the most powerful country in the world and to achieve that title, they have had to go through ups and downs. Even after experiencing the terror of the wars and the devastating tragedies, they still manage to overcome the entire crisis and stand strong until today. However, the wars and tragedies must have left scars and caused tremendous pain to Americans. Not only that, the struggle that came along with the wars affect the way Americans perceive their nationality. Therefore, it has always been interesting to go back in time and discover how they established themselves as a nation in the first place. We believe that every nation is born from the same purpose, history, and culture but the most significant reason is the feeling of wanting to belong to one nation and unite with fellow citizens. In other words, Americans realize that they need nationalism to establish the whole ideas of a nation, America.
Over a period of time, wars and tragedies brought different impacts on how they identify themselves as Americans, as portrayed in several American literatures; the speech of Inaugural Address by George Washington in 1789, Walt Whitman’s post Civil War poem Song of Myself, Ernest Hemingway’s In Another Country, and the post 9/11 fiction Falling Man written by Don DeLillo. Coming from different periods, we see that these literatures examine the situation of America after the wars occurred. In addition, these literatures are not only illustrations but they are also the reflections of the real condition experienced by the writers. Each of us will try to analyse and focus on the impact the war brought to the nationalism of Americans. We believe that there is a dynamic trend in the Americans’ nationalism shown due to the wars and tragedies.
American Revolution is one of the significant events for American history since it marks the establishment of a new nation, the United States of America. Under the British command, side by side, the American colonists and the British troops defeated France in the French and Indian War. However, the triumph was not meant for the colonists. For them, America was the hope of freedom, yet England disposed it from their hand. Moreover, since England was in a devastating debt, the British Parliament published some abhorred laws towards the colonists, such as tax for everyday items and involuntary to join as British soldiers. Feeling exhausted of being used by the British and having the idea of freedom triggered the 13 colonies to rebel and unite. As a result, two years after the Boston Tea Party, American Revolution was signaled. Soon after that, the combat was fired, and finally won by the American Colonists. Later, the construction of the nation was begun, and George Washington was elected as the First President of the United States of America.
Giving his speech on his Inaugural Address in 1789, George showed how the ideas of nationalism among Americans after the Revolutionary War. George mentioned, “I was summoned by my Country”,” I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my Country”, and “ When I was first honoured with a call into the Service of my Country”. From those three lines, especially the word “my country” clearly state that there is a sense of belonging toward America. The ideas of coming from the same pain, the same feelings, and the same land after revolutionary war shape the thought patterns of the Americans about how the country finally possessed to them since they had been longing for the independence as a country which leads them to see America as part of themselves. Also, there is a proud of being American. As we can see from the line “No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States”. It implies that they are really proud of being American. The Revolutionary War was the battle for their freedom as a nation. They fought for America and united as one even though they were still colonies. They assume that Americans are the greatest people since they could defeat the British which shows the power of the Americans. Thus, they are honored to be part of America after they successfully went through the hard time during the Revolutionary War. In addition, this Inaugural speech is actually a way for America to tell the world that they officially become a nation with President George Washington and wanted to be recognized internationally.
All in all, this speech conducts the Americans to the excitement of the establishment of a new nation. Also, it leads the American to the ideas of being a nation which unite and attach to one another after experiencing the revolution.
Source : :Literature the Reader’s choice, American Literature – Interactive Student Edition
Anisa Sulistyorini
The Southerners (The Confederate) used slavery as an attempt to expand their cotton selling westward, raising anger from the Northerners (the Union), who strongly opposed the expansion of slavery. The clash of the purposes caused the Southern states to withdraw from the United States and the Civil War (1861-1865) to break out. Together with Abraham Lincoln, the Union soldiers won the battle and the secession was called off; however, African Americans still suffered from racism and discrimination for many decades later. The ferocious battle between the Southerners and the Northerners resulted in thousands of deaths and tremendous casualties and horror to Americans, marking it as one of the most devastating periods in the history of America.
source: betterworldbooks
After the war, the ideas of identity and nationality seemed to be varied and every person seemed to have a different opinion about nationalism. The fact that both the Southerners and the Northerners were Americans but showed no mercy and brutally killed each other made those who survived question the true meaning of being Americans. This is what brought Walt Whitman, an American poet who experienced the horror of the Civil War and even went to volunteer in army hospitals, caring for both the wounded Union and Confederate soldiers, to write to his fellow Americans that the war was over and it was time for them to be united again. In one of his famous poem titled Song of Myself*, Whitman not only talks about the importance of appreciating oneself and the beauty of nature, Whitman also touches the subject about one’s identity which in this case is the identity of Americans.
In lines 28-30, “I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise, Regardless of others, ever regardful of others, Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man,”Using paradox, Whitman points out that regardless the differences in age or nature, they were all born Americans. In lines 32-35, Whitman uses the words ‘A Southerner, a Northerner, A Kentuckian, A Georgian, A Louisianian’ to identify people who live in certain places or cities in America, not to differentiate them but to tell people that West or South, East or North, as long as they live in the same continent, they are all under the same rules and laws. Then in lines 45-46, Whitman uses the words ‘A farmer, artist, gentleman, sailor, quaker, Prisoner, fancy-man, rowdy, lawyer, physician, priest’ to tell people all professions and jobs are not to be valued by its payment, that even a prisoner also deserves a place in the society.
source: journeymart
In the lines 28-49, Whitman, who is famous for using free verse in his writings, tries to remind Americans that they are equal and belong to one nation. Through this poem, Whitman also encourages Americans to appreciate American literatures more and to share their personal adventures and experience to the world. Not only that, Whitman, who was born and raised in America wrote this poem to show his love for his country and people as he says, “The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem.”
*Song of Myself by Walt Whitman retrieved fromSparknotes, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/context.html,accessed on 8 June, 2014
Muthia Nadia Rukmana Putri
Though its narrator is never named, “In another Country” is widely accepted as one of Hemingway’s series of stories featuring Nick Adams, a largely autobiographical character, as the protagonist. It was based on Hemingway’s own experiences recuperating in a Milanese hospital after being wounded in World War I. At the time of Hemingway’s graduation from High School, World War I was raging in Europe, and despite Woodrow Wilson’s attempts to keep America out of the war, the United States joined the Allies in the fight against Germany and Austria in April, 1917. When Hemingway turned eighteen he tried to enlist in the army, but was deferred because of poor vision; he had a bad left eye that he probably inherited from his mother, who also had poor vision. When he heard the Red Cross was taking volunteers as ambulance drivers he quickly signed up. He was accepted in December of 1917, left his job at the paper in April of 1918, and sailed for Europe in May. In the short time that Hemingway worked for the Kansas City Star he learned some stylistic lessons that would later influence his fiction. The newspaper advocated short sentences, short paragraphs, active verbs, authenticity, compression, clarity and immediacy. Hemingway later said: “Those were the best rules I ever learned for the business of writing. I’ve never forgotten them.” While Hemingway suffered directly to World War I, though his experience he wrote this story. Background of this story is World War I.
World War I gives several impacts to America. World War I marked a turning point in world history. It reduced the global influence of Europe, destroying some of its monarchies and empires and diminishing the strength of others. It enabled new nations to emerge. Shifting economic resources and cultural influences away from Europe, the war encouraged nations in other areas of the world, notably the United States, to challenge Europe’s international leadership.
We can find out that nationalism in In another Country. For example,“We all had the same medals, except the boy with the black silk bandage across his face, and he had not been at the front long enough to get any medals.” Narrator feels inferior to the three other officers with medals as they proved their bravery in battle and he received his medal merely for being an American.
“…. and there were always girls at the tables and the illustrated papers on a rack on the wall. The girls at the Cova were very patriotic, and I found that the most patriotic people in Italy were the café girls—and I believe they are still patriotic.” Narrator have good thinking to the girls who is very patriotic.
Lee Ru Da
Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong. -Stephen Decatur (1 8 16)
What do we mean by patriotism in the context of our times?I venture to suggest that what we mean is a sense of national responsibility . . . a patriotism which is not shout, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. -Adlai Stevenson (1952)
September 9, 2001 was a day of grief for America, where two airplanes crashed into the world trade center, a third airplane crashed into the Pentagon and a fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. The south and north world trade center building collapsed to the ground in just two hours, resulting under 3,000 people died and leaving over 10,000 people injured. This tragedy has changed America. Their economy, laws, foreign policy, and even their sense of themselves have changed. Americans reacted different ways to the attack, for instance, national surveys found that between 74% and 82% Americans reacted to the attacks with flag displays on their homes, cars, or person (e.g., Moore, 2003; Roberts, 2002). A research found out that the displays of the American flag in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 reflected patriotism and a desire to show solidarity with fellow citizens rather than of expressing nationalism. However, this patriotism has some negative effects, and one of them led to misinterpretation and misunderstanding towards Muslims. (more on://www.csun.edu)
In this essay, our group chose to analyze “Falling Man” because the novel discusses about the event, its aftermath and we could also find examples of negative patriotism. The novel “Falling Man” written by Don Delillo, was published in May 15 2007. We can see two examples of patriotism in this novel from the characters, Lianne and Keith. The first character, Keith, was one of the survivors and he was haunted at the image of death. Due to his experience, he began to change his own point of view on Muslims:
“He went to the local post office to pick up his undelivered mail and then walked north toward the barricades, thinking it might be hard to find a taxi at a time when every cabdriver in New York was named Muhammad.” (Page 29)
With the number of information and knowledge he received, Keith began to think about the meaning of life: “Now he wondered whether he was born to be old” (page 83). The second example of misconstruction could be seen from Lianne’s behavior. She was traumatized of the tragedy, especially a fear of death. Lianne lives in an apartment close to Elena, a Middle Eastern woman. Elena liked to play Middle Eastern music, Lianne was disturbed by the noise and complained to Elena. Elena refused to lower the volume, therefore Lianne was raged with anger decided to punch Elena on the face. We can see from Lianne’s behavior towards Elena that she detests her, the same that many Americans experienced from the attack where many of them were wounded and some grow a sense of misunderstanding towards Muslim.
All in all, America was forced to realize that their country was vulnerable, the incident effected many people, and many also showed a sense of patriotism. However some of the patriotic act has its negative effect, such as misunderstanding of a certain group.
Patriotism (oxford dictionaries) : The quality of being patriotic; vigorous support for one’s country
Source: Patriotism or Nationalism? Understanding Post-September 11,2001, Flag-Display Behavior’ [LINDA J. SKITKA~ Universiry of Illinois at Chicago]
After reading the four different timeline of America shaping its national identity, we can conclude that the trend is fluctuated. In the “new nation”, we can perceive that Americans are at the peak of their identity as a result of the excitement of the establishment of a new nation. The next timeline, Walt Whitman’s work in the civil war period shows that America was lacking its identity due to the war and conflicts. Then in the beginnings of the modern age, the victory of the war caused Americans to revive their nationalism. Finally, the 9/11 tragedy caused some Americans to have change their American identity and some remain to their identity.
The Aftermath 