Faces of America and a "Nation of Immigrants"

While watching "Faces of America," it became apparent to me how there is no one in North America whose ancestry does not compose of at least one immigrant. I've heard people talk about their "Native American" ancestry and how they might be 1/32nd Cherokee or something along those lines, but in this present time there must be an extremely small number of pure Native Americans left (if any at all). While watching the various celebrities throughout the show gasp and say "Wow!" as they saw characteristics of their family tree, I questioned what might surprise me in my family tree. Perhaps their are family members in my background who did great things, or maybe I'm a long-forgotten descendant of one of the founding fathers. Maybe someday I'll try and figure out just where my true roots are.

What do you think it means to be a "nation of immigrants"? Think about the characteristics of people who decided to leave a homeland to successfully make a life somewhere else and take on a whole new cultural identity! Ask yourself how those traits may have shaped America, and what we see as American culture. Do you feel very aware of your connection to ancestors like the 19th century immigrants you've read about, and watched in the film? (Why or why not?)

A: I think being a "nation of immigrants" means that the United States is a nation that defines itself by its diversity of people from all around the Earth who earned the feeling of accomplishment by finally arriving in the United States. The majority of immigrants who came to the United States spent an exorbitant amount of their lives preparing and saving money to leave their homelands to find a fresh start. Once they had made the journey across the Atlantic Ocean and laid their eyes on Ellis Island, one can only imagine how proud they must have been to have successfully fulfilled their goals of arriving in the land of opportunity. These emotions of pride and accomplishment created the tone in American culture all throughout the country's history. One of the most common slogans around the country is "Proud to be an American." Slogans like this one came to be because of the pride felt by immigrants to have made a new life. Therefore citizens of the United States have a consistent feeling of national pride all across the nation. 
     Personally I probably don't feel as connected to my ancestors as I should. I know very little about who exactly my ancestors were or even where exactly they came from. Honestly I never thought to spend the time trying to try and develop knowledge of my family tree. After watching "Faces of America" and seeing Stephen Colbert and Meryl Streep completely humbled by their origins though, I am now very curious to know more about my lineage. 

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The Success Story of John D. Rockefeller

  The early 19th century was the time to live for a big-businessman. If you were wise enough to take advantage of the lack of legal restrictions, buy out your competitors, and control your product from start to finish you could become a very wealthy individual; John D. Rockefeller was one such individual. John D. Rockefeller was the founder of the late-19th century Standard Oil Company. Through this company John D. Rockefeller became known as the "wealthiest man who ever lived," as well as a cutthroat magnate who dominated oil from the ground to the barrel.

     John D. Rockefeller was unique in his approach to business because he was one of the first business leaders to take advantage of both "horizontal" and "vertical" integration simultaneously. "Horizontal" integration is the idea of beating your competition in business by integrating their enterprise into your own. "Vertical" integration differs in that instead of buying out your competitors, you buyout the enterprises that process your product during the various stages of development. By integrating both "horizontal" and "vertical" integration Rockefeller was purchasing refineries, oil taps, and barreling warehouses all while monopolizing his competition who used those same companies he was purchasing. Nowadays the U.S. federal government has made laws to prevent Rockefeller's imperious approach to business. However Rockefeller was not bound by today's laws and dominated the oil industry from beginning to end.

      Standard Oil Company's success only lasted throughout Rockefeller's life though. The company quickly begin to suffer only a few years after Rockefeller's death. Without the guidance of their genius founder, the company rapidly declined until it's failure in 1917. 

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