LAWLzoR

What's the difference between the USA and yogurt?
If you leave yogurt out for 200 years it'll grow culture!

I've heard this joke plenty of times an I've wondered why the joke was even made. I'm not sure how well you guys know about America's culture, but it is true that quite a bit of our culture does derive from other cultures. Even the food we love come from other nations including pretzels, cookies, and sausages. Our words derive from German, French, and even Latin. When it comes to culture, we always seem to follow the crowd to something and not make anything ourselves. Why is this? Is America just uncultured? Or is there a deeper answer? To figure this out, let's talk about the US history.

The US was kick-started by Great Britain in the 17th century trying to get more economic power. This led to the creation of Roanoke (the "Lost Colony" because it was completely abandoned when other colonists got there. Famously, the only thing found was the word "Croatan" carved on a tree) and later Jamestown in 1607. Meanwhile over in the midwest, and the deserts of western and southern US the Spanish made its own colonies.

This lead to the four way competition between France, Spain, Great Britain, and the Native Americans that were already there. The English/British were actually very strong against the French and the Indians, giving the Indians small pox infected blankets and using biological warfare in addition to the usual guns and steel. During the early 18th century, the French and Indian War broke out between the French and the Indians versus the English.

To keep this very long story short, the English won and then the American Revolution, and then the USA was formed. During the early 19th century the USA was the center of immigration. People coming from mainly Europe and Asia were heading to the USA for whatever reason they had. This explains why the US doesn't quite have its own culture. The English of course founded the USA, the French derived to the language and of course to the US culture because of the immigrants that came in. Italians, Chinese, Japanese, German, a whole bunch of European immigrants came to New York.

But how does this explain why the US doesn't have quite its own culture? When people move from one place to another, people just don't drop their own culture. For example, an Italian that goes to New York doesn't just stop being Italian or stop playing his favorite Italian music, or eating his favorite Italian food. This is the same for any country someone is from. They bring the culture of their country with them. This is how America became known as the Melting Pot. It was a melting pot of culture and people and places.

Of course the USA wasn't just going to reject the new culture and people. So the culture and people stuck and the USA became the melting pot of culture and ideas. I have a strong belief and this is the reason why the USA doesn't have its own firm and strong culture and why it has "borrowed" from others.