Great American Melting Pot Analysis

One of the first things that young students are taught in American history is the idea of a ‘Great American Melting Pot’. This idea has been formulated over many years and deals with the immense amount of immigration to America and how society allows these groups to live among them in peace. Thomas Paine in The Rights of Man confirms this idea of diverse groups working together, often times when it seems impossible they could, and creating a successful society and government. This classification of still having the ability to function in a society even when fundamental ways of life are vastly different, still holds true to America and its society today.
The fundamental belief system of a human being is often times held in their religious ideals.
In many foreign countries, religion is held with government and there is no separation in the systems. For immigrants, there becomes a major culture shock in the fact that there are an incredible amount of religions practiced in the United States. This, in turn, forces them to create an understanding of their peers’ beliefs, as they will have to work together to create a functioning society. Although some may see this impossible, movements like CoExist teach people to come together and spread the word about religions they may not understand. CoExist is an international organization founded in Washington D.C.. Mainly focussing on the world’s largest religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism), the group launches many programs to teach and encourage the learning and interaction of the followers in separate religions. American society has taken greatly to this movement. Once again, this allows for a great ability to function and allow society to work together due to the divide of the individuals being thinned.
Along the lines of the government, Americans have vastly different ideas on how the government should be run.
This is nothing new to America, as different beliefs on government structure were dominating America even before it was America. However, there stands two main political parties--the Republicans and the Democrats-- that have effectively driven politics for years. Inevitably, there has been times in which the beliefs are too different and people have felt the need to protest and speak out, but that has only made us stronger. Especially within the recent 2016 election, many people are not happy with the outcome. Donald Trump is different from any candidate American politics have ever seen, and that has left people angry, scared, and even in denial. On the other hand, there are people who think Trump could be the greatest thing to happen to America. Overall, however, Americans have always seen a peaceful transition of power along party lines, dating all the way back from the election of 1801, when America saw its first shift of parties from Federalist to Democratic-Republicans. There, a precedent was set that compels the peaceful shift of power when a candidate is elected from a different party than his predecessor. The fact of the matter is that people do recognize that they are the ones who hold the true power in the government. Even though opinions differ, there has always been an understanding that the people have chosen, even if these are the people who do not
agree with them on anything, and therefore must live in unison with them.
Inevitably, America will have its rough patches. Its very strength-diversity-sometimes causes incredible consequences. This, however, only allows for more knowledge to be spread and creates and understanding of differences. The truth is, any other country could not even come close to the amount of successes that America has due to its completely diverse groups people; however, America has never given up on its ability to have success. The American people may disagree on everything, but everyone wants their country to flourish and for them to be able to live the life of their dreams. This has been the common ground among different groups since the dawn of American history, and still is prevalent today--America works because the people make it work because that is the only option.