President Biden’s View of American History in His Inauguration Speech

From the excerpt, President Biden recognizes that even though the American Constitution stipulates that all Americans were born equal, the country still lives with the harsh reality that racism, nativism, fear, and demonization are rife within its ranks. This was a reminder that the United States is not a united country anymore. Indeed, the theme of unity preordained the president’s speech. It must be remembered that a few weeks ago, on January 6, Capitol Hill was attacked by a mob that refused to accept that President Trump had lost the November elections. Some Americans also felt that the country had gone through years of divisive rule under President Trump.

Drawing from The American Revolution, the American Empire, The Great Depression, and The Unravelling readings, it is apparent that American history is rich with instances of racism, nativism, fear, and demonization. In The American Revolution lecture notes, it is apparent that the institutions of division and racism were built during the Revolution, which introduced radical ideas to justify their new nation. Although the Revolution was supposed to guarantee liberty to the people, it systematically allowed the persistence of slavery (The American Yamp, n.d). It was mainly concerned with gaining independence from Britain but internally, it did not care about democracy.

In the American Empire lecture notes, it is stated in no uncertain terms that as America sought to dominate global trade, it created an empire where it used its cultural and political powers to control the actions and choices of other nations. However, the most significant aspect of this international trade was the opening up of the nation to outside missionaries. These missionaries acquired large tracts of land and established sugar plantations. It was during this time that the US established a friendship with Mexico through its leader Porfirio Diaz who was interested in modernizing his country the same way America was shaping. However, Diaz was an authoritarian leader who was hated by his people. Many Mexicans thought that the US was interfering in its internal affairs (The American Yamp, n.d). The bad blood that was born then has persisted up to date.

The Great Depression is one of the most significant defining moments in American history. From the lecture notes, it is clear that it fundamentally exposed the serious agricultural and industrial problems bedeviling the nation. It came about as a result of poor leadership and bad economic choices of the time. The public particularly blamed President Herbert Hoover and his Republican Party policies for the mess. Ever since then, the Republicans and Democrats have had a consistent love-hate relationship between them (The American Yamp, n.d). Indeed, this reared its ugly head on January 6, 2021, when Capitol Hill was attacked by a mob that refused to accept that President Trump had lost the November elections.

The Unraveling lecture notes detail the sorry state of the youth culture in the 60s in the United States. The youths then were mostly associated with drugs, violence, anger, and death. Many pundits blamed this on social inequality that existed then. The rights of the youths were trampled upon, leaving behind a population that was increasingly dissatisfied with the state. It is such issues that induce public disillusionments that are even witnessed today (The American Yamp, n.d). During Trump’s presidency, many Americans felt disappointed with his approach to various issues.

Therefore, President Biden was careful in his inaugural address that the struggle for the American ideal of equality for all is ongoing. In the wake of the ugly events that have threatened American unity over the past few years, it is instrumental that the nation joins hands in uniting under one accord. President Biden ascended to the office at a time when the nation was more divided than ever before. The just-concluded presidential election was significantly divisive.

References

The American Yamp. (n.d). American Empire. The American Yamp. Web.

The American Yamp. (n.d). The American Revolution. The American Yamp. Web.

The American Yamp. (n.d). The Great Depression. The American Yamp. Web.

The American Yamp. (n.d). The Unraveling. The American Yamp. Web.