Creating America - Case Study Example

Creating America Introduction – Meaning of Creating a New Country. The purview of the aspect of creation of a new country is not just confined to determining new boundaries of a land area, and providing a new name to it. Even issues such as formation of a new government, framing of constitution, bringing out new laws, amongst others, do not go on to complete the process of forming a new country. Now let us thoroughly examine as to what are the things, whose materialization is more or less mandatory for an area of land to obtain a full-fledged recognition as a new nation. When the related political directives are implemented for making a zone into a new country, it goes without saying that, the people residing there would be obtaining a new identity. This is an identity that is far superior to the one they used to hitherto have, as denizens of a nondescript region. This position of enhanced superiority is attributable to the fact that, their new identity is the new nationality, which would steadily be recognized on the international landscape. In fact, even as the new country is consistently getting more and more of this recognition, the more closer it will be to the goal of “completion of creation”, discussed in the first paragraph. To put the matter in a nutshell, we cannot conclude that a country has been created with topmost levels of success, solely based on the internal political activities. But we are very close to arriving at that conclusion, when the country displays a steady rise in getting worldwide recognition. After a new country is formed, it is of paramount importance for it to start taking steps in the direction of developing and consolidating international relations. The new nation should start interacting with other countries, more so with the immediately neighboring ones. This interaction can be in the realms of technology, culture, education, commercial ventures, and employment, to name a few. To put the matter succinctly, the region (new country) should leave no stone unturned in maintaining good international relations. At this juncture, the country just cannot afford to enter into any disputes with the already established nations. These disputes would, in all likelihood, be detrimental to its own interests, so much so that all the hard work done by the visionaries, up to that point of time, would just be wasted. Hence utmost care and caution needs to be exercised by this region, which is just in the initial stages of its new identity. The people, who are part of the first government of the new nation, including the head of the state, are necessitated to run the extra mile in realization of all the objectives that are discussed above. The new government should make sure that, the new identity is not just confined to political aspects. They should ensure that this aspect of new and renewed recognition encompasses even the cultural avenues such as poetry, theatre, dance, writings, and painting, etc. The new government would be immensely helping its cause, by using the rich experience of the preceding generations of the region, as a guiding force for all the future actions. It would be worthwhile, at this point, to understand that the process of securing the above-mentioned recognition to a new nation is not an overnight one. On the contrary, the process involves many years of dedication and perseverance, to be displayed not just by the government, but also by the citizens of the country. It can be opined that the new nation has completed the process of its creation with total success, when it reaches the minimum worldwide standards, with regard to various key issues such as internal politics, international relations, technology, and standard of living, among many others. This process can be considered to have been fully completed, when people of other nations start visiting the zone (new country). These visits can be for the purposes of tourism, education, business ventures and employment, to cite a few. There is another vital aspect that warrants immediate attention of the region that is striving in the direction of securing international recognition as a new nation. If there are any practices, usages or customs prevailing in the zone, and which are totally unacceptable by the worldwide standards, they should be instantly discarded! To put it briefly, the new nation should create an ambience that is highly conducive for interactions with other countries, as well as for overseas visitors to the zone (new country). This would go a long way in ensuring that the country’s new identity would be securing worldwide prominence, in a relatively short span of time. Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus “Though there appears to be a bit of debate on the role of Christopher Columbus in the discovery of America, yet, it is an irrefutable fact that it was indeed he who discovered this zone. Here, further elaboration on the topic is more or less imperative to put more clarity into it. Inhabitants were very much present in America, even much before its Discovery by Columbus, in 1492. But they were bogged down by poverty as is evident by the fact that their predominant activity was hunting, along with a bit of agriculture. That their quality of life was way below the minimum standards warrants no special mention. To make the matters worse, there used to be regular wars between various tribes, resulting in severe bloodshed.” (1) At this juncture, it would be worthwhile to understand the vital role played by Christopher Columbus in bringing America on to the international arena. It is only subsequent to this discovery that the other parts of the globe, where civilization was already present, started their interactions with America. The native inhabitants of the region started to note the development that was found in other parts of the planet, and were thus propelled to initiate measures that went a long way in substantially enhancing their quality of life. These measures were inclusive of constantly enhancing relations with other regions, leading to an influx of great ideologies and technologies. In this process, America commenced its long journey, attaining all the required goals, and consequent to all those relentless and dedicated efforts, we have the America of today – a Superpower! It is amazing, to say the least, that America completed this journey from poverty to prosperity in such a relatively short span of time. There are very few instances in history of the World, where a region attained such unparalleled heights, fighting against all odds. Owing to all these facts, it is not at all an exaggeration in stating that, on a global basis, the modern-day America is almost like an eventual destination for all those intending to make it big in life. As a mark of respect for the priceless contribution of Christopher Columbus, even to this day America observes “The Columbus Day”, every year. It is on the second Monday of October. America and Period Literature “America starts finding its place in the Neoclassical period (1690– 1790). The most significant feature of American Neoclassical Period was the rebellion that it (America) carried out against England. The next period is the Transcendental Period (1830 -1850), which witnessed the emergence of great transcendentalists such as Thoreau and Emerson. The next is the Victorian Period (1832-1901), which was marked by the presence of prominent writers such as Ellison and Baldwin. In the Modernist Period (1914-1945) of America, great pro-modernistic literary works resulted from writers such as Flannery O’ Connor and Robert Frost.” (2) The points discussed in the preceding paragraph, vividly focus on the fact that, right from the time America got introduced to rest of the World, it endeavored to leave its mark in all areas activity, including literature. In all the periods mentioned above, America managed to produce its own literary icons comparable with all their counterparts of other regions of the globe. The indelible mark left by them is such that, even the present-day writers/authors of not just America, but of the entire World, derive inspiration from these icons. It is indeed highly praiseworthy that a region where everyone was illiterate, at least up to 1492, managed to produce immortal literary giants, just within a span of few centuries. This again speaks volumes about the strong foundation that Columbus laid in this region, after he set foot on the land of America. In this regard, it is somewhat disturbing to note that there is currently a school of thought that questions the priceless contribution of Christopher Columbus. American Literature – A Reflection of History “With regard to the contents discussed in previous page, we need to understand that American literature and history are inseparable from each other. We can safely conclude that, most of the period literary works of America aptly reflect all the major milestones in American History.” (3) This very fact that the literature aptly depicted various significant events of history ensured that a legacy is handed over to all future generations – a legacy ensuring that passage of time in no way makes Americans to forget their rich heritage and the toils of their forefathers! The literary works are making sure that the citizens of this great region (America) are constantly propelled to deliver the best in their respective avenues, thus contributing their bit in upholding the heritage. Modern-Day America Right from the time of its discovery, both the governments and the people of America have been working in an environment of mutual cooperation and coordination. Owing to that, within due course of time, America emerged as a superpower of the World. In addition, it is now recognized also as the “Land of Opportunities”. Annually, thousands of people from diverse parts of the globe come to America in search of greener pastures, in terms of education, employment and business, to cite a few. Owing to the amicable ambience which is more or less omnipresent in America, most of those people attain the levels of success that are much more than those they would have attained in their respective native regions. This relates to the aspect of “suitable ambience”, which was discussed earlier, in this article. “Abraham Lincoln stated that America is an epitome of Liberty, Democracy and Equality. Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), the great philosopher from India, said that America is never averse to things that are new, and is highly receptive to new ideologies. It is not an exaggeration in stating that, there are very few zones in the World, where the respect for Individual Freedom and Liberty is as high as what is found in America.” (4) Conclusion America is relentlessly toiling to make sure that its image as both a Superpower, and also a land providing umpteen opportunities for the talented people, is permanently intact. People from diverse regions, cultures, religions, etc, have now made America as their homeland. In this context, a highly significant fact is that majority of them have fully comprehended the Essence of American Heritage and History, and have designed their actions accordingly. In this context, we need to note that the people from other regions have now become an integral part of America. That they are contributing significantly to the further growth of this great country, needs no special mention. When we see the humble beginning of this region, in 1492, we are just awe-struck to see all of America’s achievements – an outcome of strategic vision combined with dedicated endeavors! SOURCES (1) “Did Christopher Columbus “Discover” America?” http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=1967, Internet, Michael Berliner, October 10th 2002. (2) “Periods of Literature”, http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Periods_Lit_History.pdf, Internet, N.P., N.D., (3) “American Literature in Historical Context 1865 - Roosevelt”, http://www.articlemyriad.com/49.htm, Internet, Nicole Smith, 2009 (4) “America – A Land of opportunities”, http://www.boloji.com/perspective/142.htm, Internet, Arya Bhushan, November 14th 2009. Read More