Cultural and political ties between Europe and the Americas have been strong since the first European settlements. This is understandable, since it was Europeans who colonized North and South America between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Before the nineteenth century, the Spanish Empire included territory in South America, Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean, much of what is now the Western United States, and the entire northern Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas. From their earliest contacts, Spanish explorers, priests, and conquistadors spread European architecture, religion, language, political systems, and even food to the lands they conquered.
Similarly, in North America, especially in areas along the Atlantic coast, English, Dutch, and French settlers brought their languages and traditions with them when they arrived. Over time, the English came to dominate much of North America, but evidence of Dutch and French involvement still remains. French is still widely used as the first language in Quebec, Canada. There are many cities in parts of the United States that still bear their Dutch names: Batavia, New York; Hoboken, New Jersey; Amsterdam, New York; and many others. Evidence of English influence is evident throughout North America in the language people speak, the architecture used, the legal system, and the political system.
The European way of life: work to live, not live to work?
In America, our lives tend to revolve much more around work – and not just because we have a weaker social safety net. According to a Pew Research study , Americans are far more likely than Europeans to agree that “hard work is very important for success in life” (73 percent, compared to the European average of 35 percent), and to disagree that “success in life is largely determined by forces beyond our control.” Much of this goes hand in hand with the fact that Americans prioritize personal freedom, while Europeans are more community-oriented and consider it more important that no one be needy.
What’s mine is mine.
Americans and Europeans have different ideas about personal space and thus about personal property. In a sense, this also has to do with our different ideas about distance. Europe is a small continent; America is a huge country with states the size of European countries.
Shopping is sacred.
The United States as a whole is a more religious place than Europe: more than half of Americans surveyed by Pew Research say religion is very important to them (twice as many as Poland, which scored the highest among EU countries in the survey). More broadly, the American way of life is also more faith-oriented than the European way of life. Americans believe in religion, their own sense of national pride, and the sanctity of consumerism. In the U.S., we celebrate holidays (like Black Friday) that revolve around buying things, which in Europe is much less so.
Smile! And Nod?
It’s true – Americans are smiley. Sometimes it’s really weird for the rest of the world. But it’s worth thinking about how things came to be this way. The United States is a country of immigrants, who had to (in theory) find common ground with people from all walks of life. Demonstrating friendliness was often necessary to overcome cultural and linguistic barriers, as was prioritizing friendliness over honesty and forthrightness. However, this does not seem to imply that Americans are categorically more politically correct than Europeans. According to Pew Research, 77 percent of Americans believe in the right to say things that offend someone’s religion or beliefs, and 67 percent said the same about statements that might offend various minority groups, higher than in any other European country surveyed.