European American and Italian Heritage: A Historical Overview

Topics: Culture, Heritage Words: 580 Pages: 2

Points	European American	Italian Heritage
A Brief History of the Group	The end of the 16^thcentury was the period when the first European Americans appeared; Martin de Arguelles could be defined as one of the first official European-Americans (Barkan, 2013).	The beginning of the 17^thcentury was the period when the first Italians inhabited America; Pietro Cesare Alberti was one of the first official Italians who lived in America.
Values	Family; Independence; Individualism; Economic success; Importance of religion.	Family; Education; Traditions; Good food; Recreation of old country (Laurino, 2014).
Worldview	To live the lives considering the present; To meet personal needs; To make good use of land.	To live the lives considering the future; To respect adults; To provide the people of old age with financial security.
Language and Communication Patterns	English is predetermined; Spanish, And others.	Italian is predetermined; English; Sicilian.
Art and Other Expressive Forms	Art as a chance to express the culture and traditions; Square dancing, literature, and painting are three main art forms; Arshile Gorkey (painter), Jackson Pollock (expressionist painter), Gutzon Borglum (sculptor).	Art as an opposition to the American context; Promotion of Renaissance made painting and sculptures the part of Italian traditions (Burgan & Asher, 2009); Respect for such names as Clara Fasano (sculptor), Frank Stella (modern artist), Robert Fasanella (painter) (Burgan & Asher, 2009).
Norms and Rules	Equality should be promoted in society; Control of personal actions and decisions is required; Christianity establishes the rules for people to be followed.	Respect for adults is a crucial obligation for people; Rights to get an education; Family respect and consideration of family traditions that cannot be broken or replaced.
Lifestyle Characteristics	Emotions should be under control; Communication is appropriate in family circles or with close relatives and friends; People respect traditions but support both public and private celebrations; People are reserved and do not spend their time on additional movements without any reasons; Food and lifestyle should not do harm to the organism.	Emotions play an important role in human life; People are eager to communicate and welcome everyone; People have to socialize and celebrate all holidays and traditions in families; Gesticulation plays an important role in this group of people; The importance of good food cannot be ignored because food could gather people and unite them with one certain topic.
Relationship Patterns	Loving affairs are used to develop adrenaline; Marriage is stability, love, and giving birth to children; Same-sex relations are not always properly understood but are legally approved in many countries.	Loving affairs fulfill a human life; Marriage is a chance to create a family and develop traditions; Same-sex relations were legalized at the end of the 1800s, but the majority of actions remain to be symbolic.
Common Rituals	Many Euro-Americans prefer to follow American culture to avoid shame; Infant baptism is supported by the majority of Europeans in America; Europe Day is the celebration of peace between nations.	Festivals are used to celebrate different religious figures; Sunday dinners cannot be ignored by family members; Columbus Day celebration.
Degree of Assimilation or Marginalization from Mainstream Society	Euro-Americans try to take into consideration the traditions of other people and nations they have to live with; They do not want to marginalize from mainstream society.	Italian-Americans cannot ignore their roots and neglect family tradition; They can follow the norms and rules of the nation they have to live with but respect personal values and traditions at home.
Health Behavior and Practices	Attention to personal health is important; Knowledge of the best health practices is required; Public hospitals are frequently used by people who want to check their health.	Health is an important issue but not among young people; Health awareness is the requirement in a family; Private hospitals are chosen to indicate important information.

References

Barkan, E.R. (2013). Immigrants in American history: Arrival, adaptation, and integration. Santa-Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

Burgan, M. & Asher, R. (2009). Italian immigrants. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing.

Laurino, M. (2014). The Italian Americans: A history. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.