CULTURE OF THE U.S.

Culture of the United States
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This article serves as an overview of the customs and culture of the United States. For the popular culture of the United States, see arts and entertainment in the United States.

American cultural icons, apple pie, baseball, and the American flag.
American cultural icons, apple pie, baseball, and the American flag.

The Culture of the United States is a Western culture, and has been developing since long before the United States became a country. Today the United States is a diverse and multi-cultural nation.[1]

Its chief early influence was British culture, due to colonial ties with the British that spread the English language, legal system and other cultural inheritances. Other important influences came from other parts of Europe, especially countries from which large numbers immigrated such as Ireland, Germany, Poland, and Italy; the Native American peoples; Africa, especially the western part, from which came the ancestors of most African Americans; and young groups of immigrants. American culture also has shared influence on the cultures of its neighbors in the New World.

The United States has traditionally been known as a melting pot, but recent left leaning academics tend towards cultural diversity, pluralism and the image of a salad bowl rather than a melting pot.[2][3] Due to the extent of American culture there are many integrated but unique subcultures within the United States. The cultural affiliations an individual in the United States may have commonly depend on social class, political orientation and a multitude of demographic characteristics such as ancestral traditions, sex and sexual orientation.[1] The strongest influences on American culture came from northern European cultures, most prominently from Germany, Ireland and Britain.[3] There are great regional and subcultural differences, making American culture mostly heterogeneous.[1]