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Theculture of the United States encompasses varioussocial behaviors, institutions, andnorms, including forms ofspeech,literature,music,visual arts,performing arts,food,sports,religion,law,technology, as well as other customs, beliefs, and forms of knowledge. American culture has been shaped by thehistory of the United States,its geography, and various internal and external forces andmigrations.[1]
America's foundations were initiallyWestern-based, and primarilyEnglish-influenced, but also with prominentFrench,German,Greek,Irish,Italian,Scottish,Welsh,Jewish,Polish,Scandinavian, andSpanish regional influences. However, non-Western influences, includingAfrican andIndigenous cultures, and more recently,Asian cultures, have firmly established themselves in the fabric of American culture as well. Since the United States wasestablished in 1776, its culture has been influenced by successive waves ofimmigrants, and the resulting "melting pot" of cultures has been a distinguishing feature ofits society.Americans pioneered or made great strides in musicalgenres such asheavy metal,rhythm and blues,jazz,gospel,country,hip hop, androck 'n' roll. The "big four sports" areAmerican football,baseball,basketball, andice hockey. Interms of religion, the majority of Americans areProtestant orCatholic. Theirreligious element is growing.American cuisine includes popular tastes such ashot dogs,milkshakes, andbarbecue, as wellas many other class and regional preferences. The most commonly used language is English, though the United States does not have an official language.[2] Distinctcultural regions includeNew England,Mid-Atlantic, theSouth,Midwest,Southwest,Mountain West, andPacific Northwest.[3]
Politically, the country takes its values from theAmerican Revolution andAmerican Enlightenment, with an emphasis onliberty,individualism, andlimited government, as well as theBill of Rights andReconstruction Amendments. Under theFirst Amendment, the United States has thestrongest protections of free speech of any country.[4][5][6][7] American popular opinion is also the most supportive offree expression and theright to use the Internet.[8][9] The large majority of the United States has a legal system that is based uponEnglish common law.[10] According to theInglehart–Welzel cultural map, it leans greatly towards "self-expression values", while also uniquely blending aspects of "secular-rational" (with a strong emphasis onhuman rights,the individual, andanti-authoritarianism) and "traditional" (with highfertility rates,religiosity, andpatriotism) values together.[11][12][13] Its culture can vary by factors such asregion,race and ethnicity, age, religion,socio-economic status, orpopulation density, among others. Different aspects of American culture can be thought of aslow culture orhigh culture, or belonging to any of a variety ofsubcultures. The United States exerts major cultural influenceon a global scale and is considered acultural superpower.[14][15]
The European roots of the United States originate with theEnglish andSpanish settlers ofcolonial North America duringBritish andSpanish rule. The varieties of English people, as opposed to the other peoples on the British Isles, were the overwhelming majority ethnic group in the 17th century (the population of the colonies in 1700 was 250,000) and were 47.9% of percent of the total population of 3.9 million. They constituted 60% of the whites at the first census in 1790 (%: 3.5 Welsh, 8.5Scotch Irish, 4.3 Scots, 4.7 Irish, 7.2 German, 2.7 Dutch, 1.7 French, and 2 Swedish).[16][citation needed]The English ethnic group contributed to the major cultural and social mindset and attitudes that evolved into the American character. Of the total population in each colony, they numbered from 30% in Pennsylvania to 85% in Massachusetts.[17] Large non-English immigrant populations from the 1720s to 1775, such as the Germans (100,000 or more), Scotch Irish (250,000), added enriched and modified the English cultural substrate.[18] The religious outlook was some versions of Protestantism (1.6% of the population comprised English, German, and Irish Catholics).[citation needed]
Jeffersonian democracy was a foundational American cultural innovation, which is still a core part of the country's identity.[19] Thomas Jefferson'sNotes on the State of Virginia was perhaps the first influential domestic cultural critique by an American and was written in reaction to the views of some influential Europeans that America's native flora and fauna (including humans) weredegenerate.[19]
Non-indigenous cultural influences have been brought by historical immigration, especially fromGermany in much of the country,[20] Ireland and Italy in theNortheast, and Japan inHawaii.Latin American culture is especially pronounced in former Spanish areas but has also been introduced by immigration, as haveAsian American cultures (especially in the Northeast and West Coast regions).Caribbean culture has been increasingly introduced by immigration and is pronounced in many urban areas. Since the abolition of slavery, the Caribbean has been the source of the earliest and largest Black immigrant group, a significant source of growth of the Black population in the U.S. and has made major cultural impacts in education, music, sports and entertainment.[21]
Indigenous cultures remains strong in both reservation and urban communities, including traditional government and communal organization of property now legally managed byIndian reservations (large reservations are mostly in the West, especiallyOklahoma,Arizona andSouth Dakota). The fate of indigenous cultures after contact with Europeans is quite varied. For example,Taíno culture in U.S. Caribbean territories is undergoingcultural revitalization and like many Native American languages, theTaíno language is no longer spoken. By contrast, theHawaiian language andculture of the Native Hawaiians has survived in Hawaii alongside that of immigrants from the mainland U.S. (starting before the1898 annexation) and to some degree Asian immigrants. Indigenous Hawaiian influences on mainstream American culture includesurfing andHawaiian shirts. Most languages native to what is now U.S. territory are endangered,[22] and the economic and mainstream cultural dominance of the English language threatens the surviving ones in most places. Some of the most common native languages includeSamoan,Hawaiian,Navajo,Cherokee,Sioux, and a spectrum ofInuit languages. (SeeIndigenous languages of the Americas for a fuller listing, plusChamorro, andCarolinian in the Pacific territories.)[23][better source needed]Ethnic Samoans are a majority inAmerican Samoa;Chamorro are still the largest ethnic group inGuam (though a minority), and along withRefaluwasch are smaller minorities in theNorthern Mariana Islands.[citation needed]
American culture includes both conservative and liberal elements, scientific and religious competitiveness, political structures, risk taking and free expression, materialist and moral elements. Despite certain consistent ideological principles (e.g.individualism,egalitarianism, and faith infreedom andrepublicanism), American culture has a variety of expressions due to its geographical scale and demographics.[24]
As amelting pot of cultures andethnicities, the U.S. has been shaped by the world'slargestimmigrant population. The country is home to awide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values,[25][26] and exerts major cultural influence on a global scale, with the phenomenon being termedAmericanization.[27][28][14][15]
Semi-distinct culturalregions of the United States includeNew England, theMid-Atlantic, theSouth, theMidwest, theSouthwest, and theWest—an area that can be further subdivided into thePacific States and theMountain States.[citation needed]
According to cultural geographer Colin Woodward there are as many as eleven cultural areas of the United States, which spring from their settlement history. In the east, from north to south: there are Puritan areas ("Yankeedom") of New England which spread across the northern Great Lakes to the northern reaches of theMississippi andMissouri Rivers; theNew Netherlands area in the densely populatedNew York metropolitan area; the Midland area which spread fromPennsylvania to the lowerGreat Lakes and the trans-Mississippi upper midwest; GreaterAppalachia which angles from West Virginia through the lower midwest and upper-south to trans-Mississippi Arkansas, and southern Oklahoma; the Deep South from the Carolinas to Florida and west to Texas. In the west, there is the southwestern "El Norte" areas originally colonized by Spain, the "Left Coast" colonized quickly on the 19th century by a mix of Yankees and upper Appalachians, and the large but sparsely populated interior West.[29][30]
Thewest coast of the continental United States, consisting of California,Oregon, andWashington state, is also sometimes referred to as theLeft Coast, indicating itsleft-leaning political orientation and tendency towardssocial liberalism.[citation needed]
TheSouth is sometimes informally called the "Bible Belt" due tosocially conservativeevangelicalProtestantism, which is a significant part of the region's culture. Christianchurch attendance across all denominations is generally higher there than the national average. This region is usually contrasted with themainline Protestantism andCatholicism of theNortheast, the religiously diverseMidwest andGreat Lakes, theMormon Corridor inUtah and southernIdaho, and therelatively secularWest. The percentage ofnon-religious people is the highest in thenortheastern and New England state ofVermont at 34%, compared to 6% in the Bible Belt state ofAlabama.[31]
Strong cultural differences have a long history in the U.S., with the southern slave society in the antebellum period serving as a prime example. Social and economic tensions between the Northern and Southern states were so severe that they eventually caused the South to declare itself an independent nation, theConfederate States of America; thus initiating theAmerican Civil War.[32]
Although the United States has noofficial language at the federal level,28 states have passed legislation making English the official language, and it is considered to be thede facto national language. According to the2000 U.S. Census, more than 97% of Americans can speak English well, and for 81%, it is the only language spoken at home. The national dialect is known asAmerican English, which itself consists of numerous regional dialects, but has some sharedunifying features that distinguish it from British English and other varieties of English. There are four largedialect regions in the United States—theNorth, theMidland, theSouth, and theWest—and several dialects more focused withinmetropolitan areas such as those ofNew York City,Philadelphia, andBoston. Astandard dialect called "General American" (analogous in some respects to thereceived pronunciation elsewhere in theEnglish-speaking world), lacking the distinctive noticeable features of any particular region, is believed by some to exist as well; it is sometimes regionally associated with the Midwest.American Sign Language, used mainly by the deaf, is also native to the United States.[citation needed]
More than 300 languages nationwide, and up to 800 languages inNew York City, besides English, have native speakers in the United States—some are spoken byindigenous peoples (about 150living languages) and others imported by immigrants. English is not the first language of most immigrants in the US, though many do arrive knowing how to speak it, especially from countries where English is broadly used.[33] This not only includes immigrants from countries such asCanada,Jamaica, and theUK, where English is the primary language, but also countries where English is an official language, such asIndia,Nigeria, and thePhilippines.[33]
According to the 2000 census, there were nearly 30 million native speakers ofSpanish in the United States. Spanish has official status in theCommonwealth of Puerto Rico, where it is the primary language spoken, and the state ofNew Mexico; numerous Spanish enclaves exist around the country as well.[34] Bilingual speakers may use both English and Spanish reasonably well and maycode-switch according to their dialog partner or context, a phenomenon known asSpanglish.[citation needed]
Indigenous languages of the United States include theNative-American languages (includingNavajo,Yupik,Dakota, andApache), which are spoken on the country's numerousIndian reservations and at cultural events such aspow wows;Hawaiian, which has official status in the state of Hawaii;Chamorro, which has official status in the commonwealths ofGuam and theNorthern Mariana Islands;Carolinian, which has official status in the commonwealth of theNorthern Mariana Islands; andSamoan, which has official status in the commonwealth ofAmerican Samoa.
| Language | Percentage of the total population |
|---|---|
| English only | 78.2% |
| Spanish | 13.4% |
| Chinese | 1.1% |
| Other | 7.3% |
The cuisine of the United States is extremely diverse, owing to the vastness of the country, the relatively large population (1⁄3 of a billion people) and the significant number of native and immigrant influences. Mainstream American culinary arts are similar to those in other Western countries. Wheat and corn are the primarycereal grains.[citation needed] Traditional American cuisine uses ingredients such asturkey, potatoes,sweet potatoes,corn (maize),squash, andmaple syrup, as well as indigenous foods employed by American Indians and early European settlers, African slaves, and their descendants.[citation needed]
Iconic American dishes such asapple pie,donuts,fried chicken,pizza,hamburgers, andhot dogs derive from the recipes of various immigrants and domestic innovations.[36][37]French fries, Mexican dishes such asburritos andtacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are consumed.[38]
The types of food served at home vary greatly and depend upon the region of the country and the family's own cultural heritage. Recent immigrants tend to eat food similar to that of their country of origin, andAmericanized versions of these cultural foods, such asChinese American cuisine orItalian American cuisine often eventually appear.Vietnamese cuisine,Korean cuisine, andThai cuisine in authentic forms are often readily available in large cities.German cuisine has a profound impact on American cuisine, especially Midwestern cuisine; potatoes, noodles, roasts, stews, cakes, and other pastries are the most iconic ingredients in both cuisines.[39] Dishes such as the hamburger, pot roast, baked ham, and hot dogs are examples of American dishes derived from German cuisine.[40][41]
Different regions of the United States have their own cuisine and styles of cooking. The states of Louisiana and Mississippi, for example, are known for theirCajun andCreole cooking. Cajun and Creole cooking are influenced by French, Acadian, and Haitian cooking, although the dishes themselves are original and unique. Examples includeCrawfish Étouffée,Red beans and rice, seafood or chickengumbo,jambalaya, andboudin. Italian, German, Hungarian, and Chinese influences, traditional Native American, Caribbean, Mexican, and Greek dishes have also diffused into the general American repertoire. It is not uncommon for amiddle-class family fromMiddle America to eat, for example, restaurant pizza, home-made pizza, enchiladas con carne,chicken paprikash,beef stroganoff, andbratwurst withsauerkraut for dinner throughout a single week.[citation needed]
Soul food, mostly the same as food eaten by white southerners, developed by southern African slaves, and their free descendants, is popular around the South and among manyAfrican Americans elsewhere.Syncretic cuisines such as Louisiana Creole, Cajun,Pennsylvania Dutch, andTex-Mex are regionally important.
Americans generally prefer coffee over tea, and more than half the adult population drinks at least one cup of coffee per day.[42] Marketing by U.S. industries is largely responsible for makingorange juice andmilk (now often fat-reduced) ubiquitous breakfast beverages.[43] During the 1980s and 1990s, thecaloric intake of Americans rose by 24%;[38] and frequent dining at fast food outlets is associated with what health officials call theAmerican "obesity epidemic." Highly sweetenedsoft drinks are popular; sugared beverages account for 9% of the average American's daily caloric intake.[44]
The Americanfast food industry, the world's first and largest, is also often viewed as being a symbol of U.S. marketing dominance. Companies such asMcDonald's,[45]Burger King,Pizza Hut,Kentucky Fried Chicken, andDomino's Pizza among others, have numerous outlets around the world,[46] and pioneered thedrive-through format in the 1940s.[47]
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In the 1800s, colleges were encouraged to focus on intramural sports, particularlytrack and field, and, in the late 1800s, American football. Physical education was incorporated into primary school curriculums in the 20th century.[48]
Baseball is the oldest of the major American team sports. Professional baseball dates from 1869 and had no close rivals in popularity until the 1960s. Though baseball is no longer the most popular sport,[49] it is still referred to as "thenational pastime." Also unlike the professional levels of the other popular spectator sports in the U.S.,Major League Baseball teams play almost every day. The Major League Baseballregular season consists of each of the 30 teams playing 162 games from late March to early October. The season ends with thepostseason andWorld Series in October. Unlike most other major sports in the country, professional baseball draws most of its players from a"minor league" system, rather than fromuniversity athletics.
American football, known in the United States as simply "football", now attracts more television viewers than any other sport and is considered to be the most popular sport in the United States.[50] The 32-teamNational Football League (NFL) is the most popular professional American football league.TheNational Football League differs from the other threemajor pro sports leagues in that each of its 32 teams plays one game a week over 18 weeks, for a total of 17 games with onebye week for each team. TheNFL season lasts from September to December, ending with theplayoffs andSuper Bowl in January and February.Its championship game, theSuper Bowl, has often been the highest rated television show, and it has an audience of over 100 million viewers annually.[citation needed]
College football also attracts audiences of millions. Some communities, particularly in rural areas, place great emphasis on their localhigh school football team. American football games usually includecheerleaders andmarching bands, which aim to raise school spirit and entertain the crowd athalftime.
Basketball is another major sport, represented professionally by theNational Basketball Association. It was invented inSpringfield, Massachusetts, in 1891, by Canadian-born physical education teacherJames Naismith.College basketball is also popular, due in large part to theNCAA men's Division I basketball tournament in March, colloquially known as "March Madness".
Ice hockey is the fourth-leading professional team sport. Always a mainstay ofGreat Lakes andNew England-area culture, the sport gained tenuous footholds in regions like theAmerican South since the early 1990s, as theNational Hockey League pursued a policy of expansion.[51]
Lacrosse is a team sport ofAmerican andCanadianNative American origin and is most popular on the East Coast.NLL andMLL are the nationalbox andoutdoor lacrosse leagues. Many of the top Division I college lacrosse teams draw upwards of 7–10,000 for a game, especially in theMid-Atlantic andNew England areas.
Soccer is very popular as a participation sport, particularly among youth, and theUS national teams are competitive internationally. A twenty-six-team (with four more confirmed to be added within the next few years) professional league,Major League Soccer, plays from March to October, but its television audience and overall popularity lag behind other American professional sports.[53]
Other popular sports aretennis,softball,rodeo,swimming,water polo,fencing,shooting sports,hunting,volleyball,skiing,snowboarding,skateboarding,ultimate,disc golf,cycling,MMA,roller derby,wrestling,weightlifting, andrugby.
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Relative to other parts of the world, the United States is unusually competitive in women's sports, a fact usually attributed to theTitle IX anti-discrimination law, which requires most American colleges to give equal funding to men's and women's sports.[54] Despite that, however, women's sports are not nearly as popular among spectators as men's sports.
The United States enjoys a great deal of success both in theSummer Olympics andWinter Olympics, constantly finishing among the top medal winners.
Homecoming is an annual tradition in the United States. People, towns, high schools and colleges come together, usually in late September or early October, to welcome back former residents andalumni. It is built around a central event, such as abanquet, aparade, and most often, a game ofAmerican football, or, on occasion,basketball,wrestling orice hockey. When celebrated by schools, the activities vary. However, they usually consist of a football game, played on the school's home football field, activities for students and alumni, aparade featuring the school'smarching band and sports teams, and the coronation of aHomecoming Queen.
American high schools commonly field football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, golf, swimming, track and field, and cross-country teams as well.
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The United States observes holidays derived from events inAmerican history,Christian traditions, andnational patriarchs.
Thanksgiving is the principal traditionally-American holiday, evolving from the EnglishPilgrim's custom of giving thanks for one's welfare. Thanksgiving is generally celebrated as a family reunion with a large afternoon feast.Independence Day (or the Fourth of July) celebrates the anniversary of the country'sDeclaration of Independence from Great Britain, and is generally observed by parades throughout the day and the shooting of fireworks at night.
Christmas Day, celebrating the birth ofJesus Christ, is widely celebrated and a federal holiday, though a fair amount of its current cultural importance is due to secular reasons.European colonization has led to some otherChristian holidays such asEaster andSt. Patrick's Day to be observed, though with varying degrees of religious fidelity.
Halloween, also known as All Hallows' Eve, is a holiday of diverse origins. It has become a holiday that is celebrated by children and teens who traditionally dress up in costumes and go door to door trick-or-treating for candy. It also brings about an emphasis on eerie and frighteningurban legends and movies.Mardi Gras, which evolved from the Catholic tradition ofCarnival, is observed in the state ofLouisiana.
| Date | Official name | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| January 1 | New Year's Day | Celebrates beginning of theGregorian calendar year. Festivities include counting down to midnight (12:00 am) on a preceding night, New Year's Eve. The traditional end of the holiday season. |
| Third Monday of January | Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., orMartin Luther King Jr. Day | HonorsMartin Luther King Jr.,Civil Rights leader, who was actually born on January 15, 1929; combined with other holidays in several states. |
| Third Monday of February | Washington's Birthday | Washington's Birthday was first declared a federal holiday by an 1879 act of Congress.The Uniform Holidays Act, 1968, shifted the date of the commemoration of Washington's Birthday from February 22 to the third Monday in February. Though its formal name was never changed, many call it "Presidents' Day" and consider it a day honoring all American presidents.[56] |
| Last Monday of May | Memorial Day | Honors the nation's war dead from the Civil War onwards; marks the unofficial beginning of the summer season. (Previously May 30, shifted by the Uniform Holidays Act.) |
| June 19 | Juneteenth | Juneteenth honors the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States. An informal graft of the words "June" and "nineteenth", it refers to June 19, 1865, the final enforcement of President Lincoln'sEmancipation Proclamation in distant Texas, which received belated news of it.[57] |
| July 4 | Independence Day | CelebratesDeclaration of Independence, also called the Fourth of July. |
| First Monday of September | Labor Day | Celebrates the achievements of workers and thelabor movement; marks the unofficial end of the summer season. |
| Second Monday of October | Columbus Day | HonorsChristopher Columbus, traditional discoverer ofthe Americas. In some areas it is also a celebration of Italian culture and heritage. It is celebrated asAmerican Indian Heritage Day andFraternal Day inAlabama;[58] celebrated asNative American Day inSouth Dakota.[59] In Hawaii, it is celebrated as Discoverer's Day, though is not an official state holiday.[60] |
| November 11 | Veterans Day | Honors all veterans of theUnited States armed forces. A traditional observation is a moment of silence at 11:00 am remembering those killed inWWI. (Commemorates the1918 armistice, which began at "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.") |
| Fourth Thursday of November | Thanksgiving Day | Traditionally celebrates the giving of thanks for the autumn harvest. Traditionally includes the consumption of aturkey dinner, and starts theholiday season. |
| December 25 | Christmas | Celebrates the Nativity of Jesus. |
The United States has fewlaws governing given names. Traditionally, the right to name your child or yourself as you choose has been upheld by court rulings and is rooted in theDue Process Clause of theFourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Free Speech Clause of theFirst Amendment. This freedom, along with thecultural diversity within the United States has given rise to a wide variety of names and naming trends.
Creativity has also long been a part of American naming traditions and names have been used to express personality, cultural identity, and values.[61][62] Naming trends vary by race, geographic area, and socioeconomic status. African Americans, for instance, have developed a very distinct naming culture.[62] Both religious names and those inspired by popular culture are common.[63]
A few restrictions do exist, varying by state, mostly for the sake of practicality (e.g., limiting the number of characters due to limitations in record-keeping software).
Fashion in the United States is eclectic and predominantly informal. While the diverse cultural roots of Americans are reflected in their clothing, particularly those of recent immigrants,cowboy hats andboots, and leathermotorcycle jackets are emblematic of specifically-American styles.[citation needed]
Blue jeans were popularized as work clothes in the 1850s by merchantLevi Strauss, a German-Jewish immigrant in San Francisco, and adopted by many American teenagers a century later. They are worn in every state by people of all ages and social classes. Along with mass-marketed informal wear in general, blue jeans are arguably one of US culture's primary contributions to global fashion.[64]
Though the informal dress is more common, certain professionals, such asbankers andlawyers, traditionally dress formally for work, and some occasions, such asweddings,funerals,dances, and some parties, typically call forformal wear.[citation needed] The annualMet Gala inManhattan is known worldwide as "fashion's biggest night".[65][66]
Some cities and regions have specialties in certain areas. For example, Miami for swimwear, Boston and the generalNew England area for formal menswear, Los Angeles for casual attire and womenswear, and cities like Seattle and Portland for eco-conscious fashion. Chicago is known for its sportswear, and is the premier fashion destination in the middle American market. Dallas,Houston,Austin,Nashville, and Atlanta are big markets for thefast fashion and cosmetics industries, alongside having their own distinct fashion sense that mainly incorporates cowboy boots and workwear, greater usage of makeup, lighter colors and pastels, "college prep" style, sandals, bigger hairstyles, and thinner, airier fabrics due to the heat and humidity of the region.
Family arrangements in the United States reflect thenature of contemporaryAmerican society. The classicnuclear family is a man and a woman, united in marriage, with one or more biological children.[67] Today, a person may grow up in a single-parent family, go on to marry and live in a childfree couple arrangement, then get divorced, live as a single for a couple of years, remarry, have children and live in a nuclear family arrangement.[26][68]
| Year | Families (69.7%) | Non-families (31.2%) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Married couples (52.5%) | Single parents | Other blood relatives | Singles (25.5%) | Other non-family | |||
| Nuclear family | Without children | Male | Female | ||||
| 2000 | 24.1% | 28.7% | 9.9% | 7% | 10.7% | 14.8% | 5.7% |
| 1970 | 40.3% | 30.3% | 5.2% | 5.5% | 5.6% | 11.5% | 1.7% |
Exceptions to the longstanding American custom of leaving home when one reaches legal adulthood at age eighteen can occur especially among Italian and Hispanic Americans, and in expensive urban real estate markets such as New York City,[69] California,[70] andHonolulu,[71] where monthly rents can be prohibitively high.
Marriage laws are established by individual states. The typical wedding involves a couple proclaiming their commitment to one another in front of their close relatives and friends, often presided over by a religious figure such as a minister, priest, or rabbi, depending upon the faith of the couple. In traditional Christian ceremonies, the bride's father will "give away" (handoff) the bride to the groom. Secular weddings are also common, often presided over by a judge,Justice of the Peace, or other municipal officials.Same-sex marriage is legal in all states since June 26, 2015.[citation needed]
Divorce is the province of state governments, so divorce law varies from state to state. Prior to the 1970s, divorcing spouses had to allege that the other spouse was guilty of a crime orsin like abandonment or adultery; when spouses simply could not get along, lawyers were forced to manufacture "uncontested" divorces. Theno-fault divorce revolution began in 1969 in California; New York and South Dakota were thelast states to begin allowing no-fault divorce. No-fault divorce on the grounds of "irreconcilable differences" is now available in all states. However, many states have recently required separation periods prior to a formal divorce decree.
State law provides forchild support where children are involved, and sometimes foralimony. "Married adults now divorce two-and-a-half times as often as adults did 20 years ago and four times as often as they did 50 years ago... between 40% and 60% ofnew marriages will eventually end in divorce. The probability within... the first five years is 20%, and the probability of its ending within the first 10 years is 33%... Perhaps 25% of children (ages 16 and under) live with a stepparent."[72] The median length for a marriage in the U.S. today is 11 years with 90% of all divorces being settled out of court.[citation needed]
Historically, Americans mainly lived in a rural environment, with a few important cities of moderate size. TheIndustrial Revolution brought a period ofurbanization accelerated by theGI Bill that incentivized soldiers returning from WWII to purchase a house in thesuburbs.
American cities with housing prices near the national median have also been losing themiddle income neighborhoods, those with median income between 80% and 120% of the metropolitan area's median household income. Here, the more affluent members of the middle-class, who are also often referred to as being professional orupper-middle-class, have left in search of larger homes in more exclusive suburbs. This trend is largely attributed to themiddle-class squeeze, which has caused a starker distinction between thestatistical middle class and the more privileged members of themiddle class.[73] In more expensive areas such as California, however, another trend has been taking place where an influx of more affluent middle-class households has displaced those in the actual middle of society and converted former Americanmiddle-middle-class neighborhoods intoupper-middle-class neighborhoods.[74]
Alexis de Tocqueville first noted, in 1835, the American attitude towards helping others in need. A 2011Charities Aid Foundation study found that Americans were the first most willing to help a stranger and donate time and money in the world at 60%. Many low-level crimes are punished by assigning hours of "community service", a requirement that the offender perform volunteer work;[75] some high schools also require community service to graduate. Since US citizens are required to attendjury duty, they can be jurors in legal proceedings.
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American attitudes towards drugs and alcoholic beverages have evolved considerably throughout the country's history. In the 19th century, alcohol was readily available and consumed, and no laws restricted the use of other drugs. Attitudes on drug addiction started to change, resulting in theHarrison Act, which eventually became proscriptive.
A movement to ban alcoholic beverages called theTemperance movement, emerged in the late 19th century. Several American Protestant religious groups and women's groups, such as theWomen's Christian Temperance Union, supported the movement. In 1919, Prohibitionists succeeded inamending the Constitution to prohibit the sale of alcohol. Although the Prohibition period did result in a 50% decrease in alcohol consumption,[76] banning alcohol outright proved to be unworkable, as the previously legitimate distillery industry was replaced by criminal gangs that trafficked in alcohol. Prohibitionwas repealed in 1933. States and localities retained the right to remain "dry", and to this day,a handful still do.
During theVietnam War era, attitudes swung well away from prohibition.[clarification needed] Commentators noted that an 18-year-old could bedrafted to war but could not buy a beer.[citation needed]
Since 1980, the trend has been toward greater restrictions on alcohol and drug use. The focus this time, however, has been to criminalize behaviors associated with alcohol, rather than attempt to prohibit consumption outright. New York was the first state to enact toughdrunk-driving laws in 1980; since then all other states have followed suit. All states have alsobanned the purchase of alcoholic beverages by individuals under 21.
A "Just Say No to Drugs" movement replaced the more liberal ethos of the 1960s. This led to stricter drug laws and greater police latitude in drug cases. Drugs are, however, widely available, and 16% of Americans 12 and older used an illicit drug in 2012.[77]
Since the 1990s,marijuana use has become increasingly tolerated in America, and a number of states allow theuse of marijuana for medical purposes. In most states marijuana is still illegal without a medical prescription. Since the 2012 general election, voters in the District of Columbia and the states ofAlaska,California,Colorado,Maine,Massachusetts,Nevada,Oregon, andWashington approved the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Marijuana is illegal under federal law.
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It is customary for Americans to hold awake in afuneral home within a couple of days of the death of a loved one. The body of the deceased may beembalmed and dressed in fine clothing if there will be an open-casketviewing. Traditional Jewish and Muslim practices include a ritual bath and no embalming. Friends, relatives and acquaintances gather, often from distant parts of the country, to "pay their last respects" to the deceased. Flowers are brought to thecoffin and sometimeseulogies,elegies, personal anecdotes or group prayers are recited. Otherwise, the attendees sit, stand or kneel in quiet contemplation or prayer. Kissing the corpse on the forehead is typical among Italian Americans[78] and others.Condolences are also offered to the widow or widower and other close relatives.
A funeral may be held immediately afterward or the next day. The funeral ceremony varies according to religion and culture. American Catholics typically hold afuneral mass in a church, which sometimes takes the form of aRequiem mass. Jewish Americans may hold a service in a synagogue or temple.Pallbearers carry the coffin of the deceased to thehearse, which then proceeds in aprocession to the place of final repose, usually a cemetery. The uniqueJazz funeral of New Orleans features joyous and raucous music and dancing during the procession.
Mount Auburn Cemetery (founded in 1831) is known as "America's first garden cemetery."[79] Americancemeteries created since are distinctive for theirpark-like setting. Rows ofgraves are covered bylawns and are interspersed with trees and flowers.Headstones,mausoleums, statuary or simple plaques typically mark off the individual graves.Cremation is another common practice in the United States, though it is frowned upon by various religions. The ashes of the deceased are usually placed in anurn, which may be kept in a private house, or they are interred. Sometimes the ashes are released into the atmosphere. The "sprinkling" or "scattering" of the ashes may be part of an informal ceremony, often taking place at a scenic natural feature (a cliff, lake or mountain) that was favored by the deceased.
Architecture in the United States is regionally diverse and has been shaped by many external forces.U.S. architecture can therefore be said to be eclectic.[80] Traditionally American architecture has influences fromEnglish architecture[81] toGreco Roman architecture.[82] The overriding theme of city American Architecture ismodernity, as manifest in the skyscrapers of the 20th century, with domestic and residential architecture greatly varying according to local tastes and climate,rural American andsuburban architecture tends to be more traditional.
In the late-18th and early-19th centuries, American artists primarily painted landscapes andportraits in a realistic style or that which looked to Europe for answers on technique: for example,John Singleton Copley was born in Boston, but most of his portraiture for which he is famous follow the trends of British painters likeThomas Gainsborough and the transitional period betweenRococo andNeoclassicism. The later 18th century was a time when the United States was just an infant as a nation and as far away from the phenomenon where artists would receive training as craftsmen byapprenticeship and later seeking a fortune as a professional, ideally getting a patron: Many artists benefited from the patronage ofGrand Tourists eager to procure mementos of their travels. There were no temples of Rome or grand nobility to be found in the Thirteen Colonies. Later developments of the 19th century brought America one of its earliest native homegrown movements, like theHudson River School and portrait artists with a uniquely American flavor likeWinslow Homer.
A parallel development taking shape in rural America was theAmerican craft movement, which began as a reaction to theIndustrial Revolution. As the nation grew wealthier, it had patrons able to buy the works of European painters and attract foreign talent willing to teach methods and techniques from Europe to willing students as well as artists themselves; photography became a very popular medium for both journalism and in time as a medium in its own right with America having plenty of open spaces of natural beauty and growing cities in the East teeming with new arrivals and new buildings. Museums in New York,Boston,Philadelphia, andWashington, D.C. began to have a booming business in acquisitions, competing for works as diverse as the then more recent work of theImpressionists to pieces fromancient Egypt, all of which captured the public imaginations and further influenced fashion and architecture. Developments in modern art in Europe came to America from exhibitions in New York City such as theArmory Show in 1913. After World War II, New York emerged as a center of the art world. Painting in the United States today covers a vast range of styles. American painting includes works byJackson Pollock,John Singer Sargent,Georgia O'Keeffe, andNorman Rockwell, among many others.
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Theater of the United States is based in the Western tradition. The United States originatedstand-up comedy andmodern improvisational theatre, which involves taking suggestions from the audience.
Theminstrel show, though now widely recognized as racist and offensive, is also recognized as the first uniquely American theatrical art form. Minstrel shows were developed in the 19th century and they were typically performed by white actors wearingblackface makeup for the purpose of imitating and caricaturing the speech and music ofAfrican Americans.Stephen Foster was a famous composer for minstrel shows. Many of his songs such as "Camptown Races", "Oh Susanna", and "My Old Kentucky Home" became popular American folk songs.Tap dancing andstand-up comedy have origins in minstrel shows.[84]
Banjos, originally hand-made by slaves for entertainment onplantations, began to be mass-produced in the United States in the 1840s as a result of their extensive use on the minstrel stage.[85]
American theater did not take on a unique dramatic identity until the emergence ofEugene O'Neill in the early 20th century, now considered by many to be the father of American drama.[citation needed] O'Neill is a four-time winner of thePulitzer Prize for drama and the only American playwright to win theNobel Prize in Literature. After O'Neill, American drama came of age and flourished with the likes ofArthur Miller,Tennessee Williams,Lillian Hellman,William Inge, andClifford Odets during the first half of the 20th century. After this fertile period, American theater broke new ground, artistically, with theabsurdist forms ofEdward Albee in the 1960s.
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Social commentary has also been a preoccupation of American theater, often addressing issues not discussed in the mainstream. Writers such asLorraine Hansbury,August Wilson,David Mamet andTony Kushner have all wonPulitzer Prizes for their polemical plays on American society.[86]
The United States is also the home and largest exporter of modernmusical theater, producing such musical talents asRodgers and Hammerstein,Lerner and Loewe,Cole Porter,Irving Berlin,Leonard Bernstein,George andIra Gershwin,Kander and Ebb, andStephen Sondheim.Broadway is one of the largest theater communities in the world and is the epicenter of American commercial theater.
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American music styles and influences (such ascountry,jazz,blues,rock,pop,techno,soul, andhip hop) and music based on them can be heard all over the world. Music in the U.S. is very diverse, and the country has the world'slargest music market with a total retail value of $4.9 billion in 2014.[87]
The rhythmic and lyrical styles ofAfrican-American music have significantly influenced American music at large, distinguishing it from European and African traditions. TheSmithsonian Institution states, "African-American influences are so fundamental to American music that there would be no American music without them."[88]Country music developed in the 1920s, andrhythm and blues in the 1940s. Elements from folk idioms such as theblues and what is known asold-time music were adopted and transformed intopopular genres with global audiences.Jazz was developed by innovators such asLouis Armstrong andDuke Ellington early in the 20th century.[89] Known for singing in a wide variety of genres,Aretha Franklin is considered one of the all-time greatest American singers.[90]
Chuck Berry,Elvis Presley, andLittle Richard were among the pioneers ofrock and roll in the mid-1950s. Rock bands such asMetallica, theEagles, andAerosmith are among thehighest grossing in worldwide sales.[91][92][93] In the 1960s,Bob Dylan emerged from thefolk revival to become one of America's most celebrated songwriters.[94]
American popular music, as part of the wider U.S. pop culture, has a worldwide influence and following.[95] Mid-20th-century Americanpop stars such asBing Crosby,Frank Sinatra,[96] and Elvis Presley became global celebrities,[89] as have artists of the late 20th century such asMichael Jackson,Prince,Madonna, andWhitney Houston.[97][98] American professional opera singers have reached the highest level of success in that form, includingRenée Fleming,Leontyne Price,Beverly Sills,Nelson Eddy, and many others.
As of 2022[update],Taylor Swift,Miley Cyrus,Ariana Grande,Eminem,Lady Gaga,Katy Perry, and many others contemporary artists dominateglobal streaming rankings.[99]
The annualCoachella music festival inCalifornia is one of the largest, most famous, and most profitable music festivals in the United States and the world.[100][101]
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The United States movie industry has a worldwide influence and following.Hollywood, a northern district of Los Angeles, California, is the leader in motion picture production and the most recognizable movie industry in the world.[102][103][104] Themajor film studios of the United States are the primary source of themost commercially successful and most ticket selling movies in the world.[105][106]
The dominant style of American cinema isclassical Hollywood cinema, which developed from 1913 to 1969 and is still typical of most films made there to this day. While FrenchmenAuguste and Louis Lumière are generally credited with the birth of modern cinema,[107] American cinema soon came to be a dominant force in the emerging industry. The world's firstsync-soundmusical film,The Jazz Singer, was released in 1927,[108] and was at the forefront of sound-film development in the following decades.Orson Welles'sCitizen Kane (1941) is frequently cited in critics' polls as thegreatest film of all time.[109]
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Television constitutes a significant part of the traditionalmedia of the United States. Household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%,[110] and the majority of households have more than one set. The peak ownership percentage of households with at least one television set occurred during the 1996–97 season, with 98.4% ownership.[111] As a whole, thetelevision networks of the United States is the largest and mostsyndicated in the world.[112]
As of August 2013, approximately 114,200,000 American households own at least one television set.[113]
In 2014, due to a recent surge in the number and popularity of critically acclaimed television series, many critics have said that American television is currently enjoying a golden age.[114][115]
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Early American philosophy was heavily shaped by the EuropeanAge of Enlightenment, which promoted ideals such as reason and individual liberty.[116] Enlightenment ideals influenced theAmerican Revolution and theConstitution of the United States. Major figures in theAmerican Enlightenment includedThomas Jefferson,Benjamin Franklin,George Mason andThomas Paine.
Pragmatism andtranscendentalism are uniquely American philosophical traditions founded in the 19th century byWilliam James andRalph Waldo Emerson respectively.Objectivism is a philosophical system founded byAyn Rand which influencedlibertarianism.John Rawls presented the theory of "justice as fairness" inA Theory of Justice (1971).
Willard Van Orman Quine,Saul Kripke, andDavid Lewis helped advancelogic andanalytic philosophy in the 20th century.Thomas Kuhn revolutionized thephilosophy of science with his bookThe Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), one of the most cited academic works of all time, and he coined the termparadigm shift.
Artificial intelligence and thephilosophy of mind have been heavily influenced by American philosophers such asDaniel Dennett,[117]Noam Chomsky,[118]Hilary Putnam,[119]Jerry Fodor, andJohn Searle, who contributed tocognitivism, thehard problem of consciousness, and themind-body problem. The Libet experiment created by American neuroscientistBenjamin Libet raised philosophical debate regarding theneuroscience of free will. TheChinese room thought experiment presented by John Searle questions the nature of intelligence in machines, and it has been influential incognitive science and thephilosophy of artificial intelligence.
Education in the United States is and has historically been provided mainly by the government. Control and funding come from three levels:federal,state, andlocal. School attendance is mandatory and nearly universal at the elementary and high school levels (often known outside the United States as the primary and secondary levels).[citation needed]
Students have the option of having their education held inpublic schools, private schools, orhome school. In most public and private schools, education is divided into three levels:elementary school,junior high school (also often called middle school), andhigh school. In almost all schools at these levels, children are divided by age groups intogrades.Post-secondary education, better known as "college" in the United States, is generally governed separately from the elementary and high school systems.[citation needed]
In the year 2000, there were 76.6 million students enrolled in schools fromkindergarten throughgraduate schools. Of these, 72 percent aged 12 to 17 were judged academically "on track" for their age (enrolled in school at or above grade level). Of those enrolled in compulsory education, 5.2 million (10.4 percent) were attending private schools. Among the country's adult population, over 85 percent have completed high school and 27 percent have received abachelor's degree or higher.[120]
The large majority of the world's top universities, as listed by various ranking organizations, are in the United States, including 19 of the top 25, and the most prestigious – Harvard University.[122][123][124][125] The country also has by far the mostNobel Prize winners in history, with 403 (having won 406 awards).[126]
Amongdeveloped countries, the U.S. is one of the most religious in terms of its demographics. According to a 2002 study by thePew Global Attitudes Project, the U.S. was the only developed nation in the survey where a majority of citizens reported that religion played a "very important" role in their lives, an opinion similar to that found in Latin America.[128] Today, governments at the national, state, and local levels aresecular institutions, with what is often called the "separation of church and state". The most popular religion in the U.S. isChristianity, comprising the majority of the population (73.7% of adults in 2016).[129][130]
Although participation in organized religion has been diminishing, the public life andpopular culture of the United States incorporates many Christian ideals specifically about redemption, salvation, conscience, and morality. Examples are popular culture obsessions with confession and forgiveness, which extends fromreality television totwelve-step meetings.[131]
Most of theBritishThirteen Colonies were generally not tolerant of dissident forms of worship. Civil and religious restrictions were most strictly applied by thePuritans of theMassachusetts Bay Colony which saw various banishments applied to enforce conformity, including thebranding iron, thewhipping post, thebilboes and thehangman's noose.[133] The persecuting spirit was shared byPlymouth Colony and the colonies along theConnecticut river.[134]Mary Dyer was one of the four executedQuakers known as theBoston martyrs, and her death on the Boston gallows marked the beginning of the end of Puritantheocracy and New England independence from English rule; in 1661 Massachusetts was forbidden from executing anyone for professing Quakerism.[135]Anti-Catholic sentiment appeared in New England with the firstPilgrim and Puritan settlers.[136] The Pilgrims of New England held radical Protestant disapproval ofChristmas.[137] Christmas observance was outlawed inBoston in 1659.[138] The ban by the Puritans was revoked in 1681 by an English appointed governor; however, it was not until the mid-19th century that celebrating Christmas became common in the Boston region.[139]
Thecolony of Maryland, founded by the CatholicLord Baltimore in 1634, came closest to applying freedom of religion.[140] Fifteen years later (1649), theMaryland Toleration Act, drafted by Lord Baltimore, provided: "No person or persons...shall from henceforth be any waies troubled, molested or discountenanced for or in respect of his or her religion nor in the free exercise thereof." The Act allowed freedom of worship for allTrinitarian Christians in Maryland, butsentenced to death anyone who denied the divinity ofJesus.
Modeling the provisions concerning religion within theVirginia Statute for Religious Freedom, the framers of theUnited States Constitution rejected any religious test for office, and theFirst Amendment specifically denied the central government any power to enact any law respecting either an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise. In the following decades, the animating spirit behind the constitution'sEstablishment Clause led to the disestablishment of the official religions within the member states. The framers were mainly influenced by secular,Enlightenment ideals, but they also considered the pragmatic concerns of minority religious groups who did not want to be under the power or influence of astate religion that did not represent them.[141]Thomas Jefferson, author of theDeclaration of Independence said: "The priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot."[142]
Gallup polls during the early 2020s found that about 81% of Americans believe in some conception of aGod and 45% reportpraying on a daily basis.[143][144][145] According to their poll in December 2022, "31% report attending a church, synagogue, mosque or temple weekly or nearly weekly today."[145] In the "Bible Belt", which is located primarily within theSouthern United States, socially conservativeevangelical Protestantism plays a significant role culturally.New England and theWestern United States tend to be less religious.[146] Around 6% of Americans claim a non-Christian faith;[147] the largest of which areJudaism,Islam,Hinduism, andBuddhism.[148] The United States eitherhas the first or second-largest Jewish population in the world, and the largest outside ofIsrael.[149] "Ceremonial deism" is common in American culture.[150][151]
Around 30% of Americans describe themselves as havingno religion.[147] Membership in a house of worship fell from 70% in 1999 to 47% in 2020, much of the decline related to the number of Americans expressing no religious preference. Membership also fell among those who identified with a specific religious group.[152][153] According toGallup, trust in "the church or organized religion" has declined significantly since the 1970s.[154] According to the 2022Cooperative Election Study, younger Americans are significantly less religious. AmongGeneration Z, a near-majority consider themselvesatheist,agnostic, ornothing in particular.[155]
Though the majority of Americans in the 21st century identify themselves asmiddle class, American society has experienced increasedincome inequality.[26][156][157] Social class, generally described as a combination ofeducational attainment,income and occupational prestige, is one of the greatest cultural influences in America.[26] Nearly all cultural aspects of mundane interactions and consumer behavior in the U.S. are guided by a person's location within the country'ssocial structure.
Distinct lifestyles, consumption patterns and values are associated with different classes. Early sociologist-economistThorstein Veblen, for example, said that those at the top of the societal hierarchy engage inconspicuous leisure andconspicuous consumption.Upper class Americans commonly have eliteIvy Leagueeducations and are traditionally members of exclusive clubs and fraternities with connections tohigh society, distinguished by their enormous incomes derived from their wealth inassets. The upper-class lifestyle and values often overlap with that of the upper middle class, but with more emphasis on security and privacy in home life and forphilanthropy (i.e. the "Donor Class") andthe arts. Due to their large wealth (inherited or accrued over a lifetime of investments) and lavish, leisurely lifestyles, the upper class are more prone toidleness. The upper middle class, or the "working rich",[158] commonly identify education and being cultured as prime values, similar to the upper class. Persons in this particularsocial class tend to speak in a more direct manner that projects authority, knowledge and thus credibility. They often tend to engage in the consumption of so-called mass luxuries, such asdesigner label clothing. A strong preference for natural materials, organic foods, and a strong health consciousness tend to be prominent features of the upper middle class.American middle-class individuals in general value expanding one's horizon, partially because they are more educated and can afford greater leisure and travel. Working-class individuals take great pride in doing what they consider to be "real work" and keep very close-knit kin networks that serve as a safeguard against frequent economic instability.[26][159][160]
Working-class Americans and many of those in the middle class may also face occupation alienation. In contrast to upper-middle-class professionals who are mostly hired to conceptualize, supervise, and share their thoughts, many Americans have little autonomy or creative latitude in the workplace.[161] As a result, white collar professionals tend to be significantly more satisfied with their work.[162][163] In 2006,Elizabeth Warren presented her article entitled "The Middle Class on the Precipice", stating that individuals in the center of the income strata, who may still identify as middle class, have faced increasing economic insecurity,[164] supporting the idea of a working-class majority.[165] Additionally, working-class Americans who work in the public sector, excluding politicians, are respected and generally respected in the culture, notably postal workers.[166][167]
Political behavior is affected by class; more affluent individuals are more likely to vote, and education and income affect whether individuals tend to vote for the Democratic or Republican party.Income also had a significant impact on health as those with higherincomes had better access to health care facilities, higherlife expectancy, lowerinfant mortality rate and increased health consciousness.[169][170][171] This is particularly noticeable with black voters who are often socially conservative, yet overwhelmingly vote Democratic.[172][173]
In the United States, occupation is one of the prime factors ofsocial class and is closely linked to an individual's identity. The average workweek in the U.S. for those employed full-time was 42.9 hours long with 30% of the population working more than 40 hours a week.[174] The Average American worker earned $16.64 an hour in the first two quarters of 2006.[175] Overall Americans worked more than their counterparts in other developed post-industrial nations. While the average worker in Denmark enjoyed 30 days of vacation annually, the average American had 16 annual vacation days.[176]
In 2000, the average American worked 1,978 hours per year, 500 hours more than the average German, yet 100 hours less than the averageCzech. Overall, the U.S. labor force is one of the most productive in the world, largely due to its workers working more than those in any other post-industrial country, except for South Korea.[177] Americans generally hold working and being productive in high regard.[160]Individualism,[178] having a strongwork ethic,[179]competitiveness,[180] andaltruism[181][182][183] are among the most cited American values. According to a 2016 study by theCharities Aid Foundation, Americans donated 1.44% of total GDP to charity, thehighest in the world by a large margin.[184]
The United States has anethnically diverse population, and 37 ancestry groups have more than one million members.[187]White Americans with ancestry from Europe, the Middle East or North Africa, form the largestracial andethnic group at 57.8% of the U.S. population.[188][189]Hispanic and Latino Americans form the second-largest group and are 18.7% of the U.S. population.African Americans constitute the nation's third-largest ancestry group and are 12.1% of the total U.S. population.[187]Asian Americans are the country's fourth-largest group, composing 5.9% of the U.S. population, while the country's 3.7 millionNative Americans account for about 1%.[187] In 2020, the median age of the U.S. population was 38.5 years.[190]
According to theUnited Nations, the U.S. has the highestnumber of immigrant population in the world, with 50,661,149 people.[191][192] In 2018, there were almost 90 million immigrants andU.S.-born children of immigrants in the U.S., accounting for 28% of the overall U.S. population.[193] In 2017, out of the U.S. foreign-born population, some 45% (20.7 million) were naturalized citizens, 27% (12.3 million) were lawful permanent residents, 6% (2.2 million) were temporary lawful residents, and 23% (10.5 million) were unauthorized immigrants.[194] The U.S. led the world inrefugee resettlement for decades, admitting more refugees than the rest of the world combined.[195]
Race in the U.S. is based on physical characteristics, such as skin color, and has played an essential part in shaping American society even before the nation's conception.[26] Until thecivil rights movement of the 1960s, racial minorities in the U.S. facedinstitutional discrimination and both social and economic marginalization.[196] TheU.S. Census Bureau currently recognizes five racial groupings: White, African, Native, Asian, andPacific Islander. According to the U.S. government, Hispanic Americans do not constitute a race, but rather an ethnic group. During the2000 U.S. census, Whites made up 75.1% of the population; those who are Hispanic or Latino constituted the nation's prevalent minority with 12.5% of the population. African Americans made up 12.3% of the total population, 3.6% were Asian American, and 0.7% were Native American.[197]
With its ratification on December 6, 1865, theThirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery in the U.S. The Northern states had outlawed slavery in their territory in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, though their industrial economies relied on raw materials produced by slaves in the South. Following the Reconstruction period in the 1870s, racist legislation emerged in the Southern states named theJim Crow laws that provided for legal segregation. Lynching was practiced throughout the U.S., including in the Northern states, until the 1930s, while continuing well into the civil rights movement in the South.[196]
Chinese Americans were earlier marginalized as well during a significant proportion of U.S. history. Between 1882 and 1943, the U.S. instituted theChinese Exclusion Act barring all Chinese immigrants from entering the U.S. During theSecond World War against theEmpire of Japan, roughly 120,000Japanese Americans, 62% of whom were U.S. citizens,[198] were imprisoned inJapanese internment camps by the U.S. government following theattack on Pearl Harbor, an American military base, by Japanese forces in December 1941.
Due to exclusion from or marginalization by earlier mainstream society, there emerged a unique subculture among the racial minorities in the U.S. During the 1920s,Harlem,New York City became home to theHarlem Renaissance. Music styles such asjazz,blues,rap,rock and roll, and numerous folk songs such asBlue Tail Fly (Jimmy Crack Corn) originated within the realms of African American culture and were later adopted by the mainstream.[196]Chinatowns can be found in many cities across the country and Asian cuisine has become a common staple in mainstream America. The Hispanic community has also had a dramatic impact on American culture. Today, Catholics are the largest religious denomination in the U.S. and outnumber Protestants in the Southwest and California.[199] Mariachi music and Mexican cuisine are commonly found throughout the Southwest, and some Latin dishes, such as burritos and tacos, are found practically everywhere in the nation.
Asian Americans havemedian household income andeducational attainment exceeding that of other races. African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans have considerably lowerincome and education than do White Americans or Asian Americans.[200][201]
White Americans (non-Hispanic/Latino andHispanic/Latino) are the racial majority and have a 72% share of the U.S. population, according to the 2010 U.S. census.[202] Hispanic and Latino Americans comprise 15% of the population, making up the largest ethnic minority.[203]Black Americans are the largest racial minority, comprising nearly 13% of the population.[202][203] TheWhite, non-Hispanic or Latino population comprises 63% of the nation's total.[203]
Throughout most of the country's history before and after its independence, the majority race in the United States has been Caucasian—aided by historic restrictions on citizenship and immigration—and the largest racial minority has been African Americans, most of whom are descended from slavessmuggled to the Americas by theEuropean colonial powers. This relationship has historically been the most important one since the founding of the United States. Slavery existed in the United States at the time of the country's formation in the 1770s. TheMissouri Compromise declared a policy of prohibiting slavery in the remaining Louisiana lands north of the36°30′ parallel.De facto, it sectionalized the country into two factions: free states, which forbid the institution of slavery; and slave states, which protected the institution. The Missouri Compromise was controversial, seen as lawfully dividing the country along sectarian lines. Although the federal governmentoutlawed American participation in theAtlantic slave trade in 1807, after 1820, cultivation of the highly profitable cotton crop exploded in theDeep South, and along with it, the use of slave labor.[204][205][206] TheSecond Great Awakening, especially in the period 1800–1840, converted millions toevangelical Protestantism. In the North, it energized multiple social reform movements, includingabolitionism;[207] in the South,Methodists andBaptists proselytized among slave populations.[208]
Slavery was partially abolished by theEmancipation Proclamation issued by the presidentAbraham Lincoln in 1862 for slaves in the Southeastern United States during theCivil War. With the United States' victory and preservation, slavery was abolished nationally by theThirteenth Amendment.Jim Crow laws prevented full use of African American citizenship until thecivil rights movement in the 1960s, and theCivil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed official or legal segregation at any level and forbid placing limitations on minorities' access to public places.
In 1882, in response to Chinese immigration due to theGold Rush and the labor needed for the transcontinental railroad, the government signed into law theChinese Exclusion Act which banned immigration by Chinese people into the U.S. In the late 19th century, the growth of the Hispanic population in the U.S., fueled largely by Mexican immigration, generated debate over policies such as English as the official language and reform to immigration policies. TheImmigration Act of 1924 established the National Origins Formula as the basis of U.S. immigration policy, largely to restrict immigration fromAsia,Southern Europe, andEastern Europe. According to theOffice of the Historian of the U.S. Department of State, the purpose of the 1924 Act was "to preserve the ideal of U.S. homogeneity".[209] In 1924, Indian-bornBhagat Singh Thind was twice denied citizenship as he was not deemed white.[210] Marking a radical break from U.S. immigration policies of the past, theImmigration and Nationality Act of 1965 opened entry to the U.S. to non-Germanic groups.[211] This Act significantly altered the demographic mix in the U.S. as a result, creating a modern, diverse America.[211]
A huge majority of Americans of all races disapprove of racism. Nevertheless, some Americans continue to hold negative racial/ethnicstereotypes about various racial and ethnic groups. Professor Imani Perry, ofPrinceton University, has argued that contemporary racism in the United States "is frequently unintentional or unacknowledged on the part of the actor",[212] believing that racism mostly stems unconsciously from below the level of cognition.[213]
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Personal transportation is dominated by automobiles, which operate on a network of 4 million miles (6.4 million kilometers) of public roads, making it thelongest network in the world.[214][215] In 2001, 90% of Americans drove to work by car.[216] As of 2022, the United States is thesecond-largest manufacturer of motor vehicles[217] and is home toTesla, the world's most valuable car company.[218]General Motors held the title of the world's best-selling automaker from 1931 to 2008.[219] Currently, the U.S. has the world's second-largest automobile market by sales[220] and thehighest vehicle ownership per capita in the world, with 816.4 vehicles per 1,000 Americans (2014).[221] In 2017, there were 255 million non-two wheel motor vehicles, or about 910 vehicles per 1,000 people.[222]
Beginning in the 1990s, lower energy and land costs favor the production of relativelylarger cars, leading to a decline ineconomy cars. The culture in the 1950s and 1960s often catered to the automobile withmotels anddrive-in restaurants. Outside of the relatively few urban areas, it is considered a necessity for most Americans to own and drive cars. New York City is the only locality in the United States where more than half of all households do not own a car.[216] In a car-dependent America, there is a common dislike ofcar dealerships andcar salesmen, with only 10 percent of U.S. citizens in aGallup poll rating them highly honest.[223]Matilda byRoald Dahl gives an example of this stereotype:Matilda's father sellsused cars by filling their engines with sawdust or reversing theirodometers with a drill.
The United States emerged as a pioneer of theautomotive industry in the early 20th century.General Motors Corporation (GM), the company that would soon become the world's largest automaker, was founded in 1908 byWilliam Durant.[224] The U.S. also became the first country in the world to have a mass market for vehicle production and sales, and mass market production process.[225][226] In the 1950s and 1960s,subcultures began to arise around the modification and racing of American automobiles and converting them intohot rods. Later, in the late-1960s and early-1970s Detroit manufacturers began makingmuscle cars andpony cars to cater to wealthier Americans seeking hot rod style & performance. This culture has evolved into a worldwide phenomenon for car enthusiasts of today, and theproject car is a common sight in American suburbs.[citation needed]
The United States government does not have aministry of culture, but there are a number of governmentinstitutions with cultural responsibilities, including thePresident's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, theFederal Communications Commission, theCorporation for Public Broadcasting, theNational Endowment for the Humanities, theNational Endowment for the Arts, theInstitute of Museum and Library Services, theU.S. Commission of Fine Arts, theLibrary of Congress, theSmithsonian Institution, and theNational Gallery of Art.
Many state and city governments have a department dedicated to cultural affairs.
TheNational Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is theUnited States federal government's officiallist ofdistricts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy ofpreservation for their historical significance or "great artistic value." For most of its history, the National Register has been administered by theNational Park Service (NPS), an agency within theU.S. Department of the Interior.
Major private US-based culture institutions include thePoetry Foundation, theSolomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, theJ. Paul Getty Trust, and theAndrew W. Mellon Foundation.
In the United States, there are manymuseums, both public and private. Major museums in the US include theMetropolitan Museum of Art, theMuseum of Modern Art, themuseums of the Smithsonian Institution, theAmerican Museum of Natural History, theArt Institute of Chicago, andThe Getty Museum.
There are various archives in the United States for the preservation of history and culture, such as theNational Archives and Records Administration.
As predicted, in post-industrial societies, characterized by predominately liberal social cultures, like the US, Sweden, and UK...
These maps indicate that the United States is not a prototype of cultural modernization for other societies to follow, as some modernization writers assumed. In fact, the United States is a deviant case, having a much more traditional value system than any other postindustrial society except Ireland. On the traditional/secular dimension, the United States ranks far below other rich societies, with levels of religiosity and national pride comparable with those found in some developing societies. The United States does rank among the most advanced societies on the survival/self-expression dimension...
William Boucher, Jr., the earliest known commercial manufacturer, started building banjos around 1845 from his shop in Baltimore, Maryland.
From 1659 to 1681, anyone caught celebrating Christmas in the colony would be fined five shillings. ...
[There] was evidence to suggest a statistically significant association between infant mortality and income inequality...this effect may have been because of the disproportionate influence of the USA which has 'exceptionally high income inequality and poor child health'
More affluent Americans have quit smoking en masse over the past few decades, but the poor have not...Richer beneficiaries live longer & cash more generous checks from Social Security. Poorer beneficiaries rely more on programs such as Medicaid & disability insurance, in part because they aren't as healthy.
People with higher incomes live in areas with healthier resources available, like good grocery stores, safe housing, opportunities to exercise, clean air, and better schools.
Most who have come to the United States in the past year were middle-class adults who have headed to New York after being released from custody. New York has been a prime destination for migrants from other nations as well, particularly Venezuelans, who rely on the city's resources, including its shelters. But few of the Chinese migrants are staying in the shelters. Instead, they are going where Chinese citizens have gone for generations: Flushing, Queens. Or to some, the Chinese Manhattan..."New York is a self-sufficient Chinese immigrants community," said the Rev. Mike Chan, the executive director of the Chinese Christian Herald Crusade, a faith-based group in the neighborhood.
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