Topic > An overview of the evolution of American identity

As America becomes more and more diverse, the question of what it means to be American provides an increasingly complicated answer. Since the beginning of the colonial period in the 1600s, the question, “What is American?” has been questioned and it is so complex to answer this question. However, the only thing known about “American and American identity” is that “Anglo-Protestant culture has been central to American identity for three centuries.” America had been seen as a suitable place for people who had fled religious persecution. 1620, William Bradford, was protesting against the Anglican Church. He and his friends, called Pilgrims, founded the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts known as Pilgrim. This landing in 1620 was a religious moment in American history and the American nation arrived with the Puritan Settlement in 1630, founded by the Puritans, still part of the English Church, who made the move for the religious life of New England so that to analyze “ the American and American identity”, this culture is so crucial as Tocqueville said “The destiny of America was formalized completely by the Protestants”. This process, which began in 1600 with the colonial period, profoundly affected American culture and society and constituted the fundamental elements of American America. Thus, Samuel P. Huntington's book, Who Are We? published in 2004 and Max Weber's views on the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism would be useful in understanding the Anglo-Protestant roots of American identity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To begin with the religious impact of Anglo-Protestant culture in America, it is best to say that it all began for the reason of free practice of religion. As for historical context, Protestantism is the form of Christian faith and practice that originated with the Protestant Reformation, a movement against what its followers considered errors in the Roman Catholic Church. Protestantism includes all churches outside the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church traditions. The Protestant churches affirm the principles of the Protestant Reformation set in motion by Martin Luther's 95 theses in 1517. The Protestant tradition has historically been represented by the five solas: faith alone, Christ alone, grace alone, Scripture alone and the glory of God alone. five alone emphasize the following three doctrinal points: First, Protestants believe that the Holy Bible is the sole authority on matters of faith and practice. The Orthodox Church, by contrast, recognizes sacred tradition as equally authoritative. The Roman Catholic Church includes sacred tradition and the authority of the Pope. Second, Protestants hold exclusively to faith for salvation, regardless of works. The Roman Catholic Church requires observance of the seven sacraments and often speaks of works as part of a person's salvation. Third, Protestants believe in living only for the glory of God. Although Roman Catholic teaching agrees with this belief, it is often expressed in conjunction with faithful obedience to the Church and its leaders. Today, approximately 800 million Protestants seek to worship God under the authority of Scripture, believing in salvation through faith alone and honoring the priesthood of every born-again person. So that it can be clearly concluded that Protestants have brought about radical changes in the way of practicing religion and it can be said that it has lasted so far. Furthermore, it can be said that Protestant culture created a religious society in America. Some features of Protestant culture such as worldly asceticism have.