Nareace Cox
Eng. 1C
2/20/16

In the book "Who are we? The Challenge to Americans Culture," Samuel Huntington suggests that American identity today is neither racial nor ethnic. Nor is it based on adhering to a set of laws or democratic principles. He argues that the American identity is defined by a common culture, Anglo-Protestant to be exact. The core of the Anglo-Protestant culture is shared by many, and they are as reported by Huntington "the English language; Christianity; British concepts of the rule of law; and dissenting Protestant values of individualism, and work ethic." (p.62) Huntington proposes that the very heart of American culture; language, religion and the American Creed is being threatened by the unassimilation of immigrants. Long before America was referred to as "The Great Melting pot," a term coined by an immigrant, Israel Zangwill. It was settled by British Protestants in search for religious freedom and other natural resources. The founding fathers set out to create for themselves an elite culture and stamp its image on the world. For over 300 hundred years this civilization has been the essential and the lasting piece of American identity. These settlers brought with them beliefs and government that they inherited from England; thus forth giving birth to the American Creed- principals of liberty, equality, individualism, government and private property, a statement of values and beliefs that embody America. Huntington cites English as the main and dominant language of America, which was actively taught to immigrants. Teaching everyone to learn to speak and write English ensured communication among the immigrant groups. Just ask the Germans, whose immigration efforts of the nineteenth-century were of no avail. According to Huntington they wanted to maintain German-speaking enclaves in Wisconsin and to use German in