Can you think of one thing that is uniquely "american"?
By sweetdesign
@sweetdesign (5142)
United States
January 5, 2009 7:58pm CST
We are sitting here watching superstars of dance and it got us to thinking about things. we are trying to come up with one thing that America can all its own. One thing that is not based or origniated from another culture. After all America is a melting pot of different cultures. Our greatest strength is that we are a Country made up of many diverse ethnic backgrounds and influences.
So tell me something you can think of that is unique to America and not originated in one of the many cultures that make up America.
6 people like this
19 responses
@Sheepie (3112)
• United States
6 Jan 09
Baseball is English, I think. Hamburgers and hot dogs are German or European. Apple pie is from the 16th century or something, I read, and there was no US back then. I think Native Americans were American. Obesity is everywhere, not just American, but it's tempting to say that.
I got it! To be American is to Sue.
@sweetdesign (5142)
• United States
6 Jan 09
Hamburgers were invented by german americans lol. that makes them german american not uniquely american . WHOOOOOO this is fun fun fun.
@teapotmommommerced (10359)
• United States
6 Jan 09
the first thing that comes to mind is the cotton gin and it was invented by Eli Whitney he was born in Massachusetts. Ben Franklin invented the bifocals and he was born in Boston Massachusetts, these two of the first things I could think of.
2 people like this
@teapotmommommerced (10359)
• United States
6 Jan 09
There names came to mind by I cheated my facts to make sure they where born here in the USA. I knew the products where made in the USA but I wanted to make sure the men where born here so that is why I got the spelling of their names correct.
1 person likes this
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
6 Jan 09
I can think of a lot of things that are unique to the United States and also some unique to other American countries, such as Peru, Canada, Mexico, etc. For example, Evita was unique to Argentina. Well, I live in the US and here I thing of the term "babysitter" as unique to the US. That is not because other societies do not farm out the care of their children, but rather because when I was taking college classes in the French language our teacher made a big thing out of the fact that at that time there was no word in French for that, but that the French spelled it the same as we do but pronounced it BAY-BEE-SEAT-AIR, and he put an emphasis on the AIR. Well, I don't know if any of that was true, but I cannot think of the word babysitter without thinking of that funny guy and laughing.
1 person likes this
@urbandekay (18278)
•
7 Jan 09
Perhaps then, it is indiscriminate shootings that are uniquely American?
all the best urban
2 people like this
@Fortunata (1135)
• United States
6 Jan 09
How about the banjo? Boogie woogie, the Charleston-I think we invented a lot of dances, lol, like the twist and the mashed potato. Jazz I think is uniquely american. I think the hamburger was created over here, and the corn-dog! MoTown is all american, and the Ford automobile, too.
2 people like this
@urbandekay (18278)
•
7 Jan 09
Sorry, banjos were developed from gourd banjos used in Africa
all the best urban
1 person likes this
@sweetdesign (5142)
• United States
6 Jan 09
baseball is derived from Cricket definatly not unique to us. Hamburgers are german.French fries are based on Pom Frites definatly not unique to us.rap I think can be traced perhaps loosely to african chant songs not sure about computers.
@urbandekay (18278)
•
8 Jan 09
Scots were making illicit whiskey long time afore you, so were the Irish. Probably Scots and Irish there that made Moonshine.
all the best urban
1 person likes this
@savak03 (6684)
• United States
8 Jan 09
You are claiming moonshine was invented by the British? Can you back that up with facts? I will concede the baseball and even the apple pie but come on making moonshine has been a product of the hillbillies in Kentucky for as long as I can remember. In fact I can't imagine a stuffy Britt condescending to drink home brewed corn liker (misspelled on purpose) 
1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
7 Jan 09
All that I can think of are McDonalds outlets who are of american origin, if I am not mistaken McDonalds originated in California. Living in a country where mixed races, mixed cultures, religions and traditions mix together might be enriching to the country and the people living in it.
1 person likes this
@urbandekay (18278)
•
6 Jan 09
What about 'Grits' I have no idea what these are but believe them to be American.
Harley Davidsons.
Hanging Black people up on trees by the roadside
Klu Klux Klan
Hummer
all the best urban
1 person likes this
@urbandekay (18278)
•
7 Jan 09
Road movies
Witch hunts (In the modern sense)
Air-heads
Celebrities (Sorry to repeat the above)
all the best urban
1 person likes this
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
6 Jan 09
The land and waterways of America are unique to her alone. The soil, rocks, trees, and most of the creatures that call America home are also unique to her alone.
1 person likes this
@KaMlBob (786)
• United States
6 Jan 09
Well an old commercial use to say "baseball, hotdogs apple pie and chevrolet". That's the first thing that came to my mind. Rock n' Roll comes to mind also.
It makes me go back to the original Americans, Indians, so you could say something like dream catchers, cowboys...cotten gin (Ely Wjitney),popcorn?
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@urbandekay (18278)
•
6 Jan 09
Sorry to dispel a myth but Apple Pie is British
all the best urban
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@urbandekay (18278)
•
7 Jan 09
Oh, and hot dogs are almost certainly German or Austrian
all the best urban
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@crimsonladybug (3112)
• United States
6 Jan 09
I'm not sure if it was inspired by another sport from a different country but basketball was invented at the YMCA in Springfield, Mass, using a peach basket. It was invented by a Canadian so I don't know if that disqualifies it.....
Cheerleading was introduced at the University of Minnesota in 1898 and has been called by Newsweek "the quintessential American sport."
1 person likes this
@sweetdesign (5142)
• United States
6 Jan 09
The roots of basketball are firmly embedded in Canada. In 1891 the game was invented by Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian who hailed from Almonte, Ontario.
Having been given the task of creating a new indoor sports activity while conducting a physical education class at the international YMCA training school in Springfield, Massachusetts, Naismith designed what we now call basketball. The original game involved 13 rules and a peach basket hung ten feet above the floor. Even though it took place in the United States, at least ten of the players who participated in the first-ever game were university students from Quebec.
Basketball was invented by Canadian Dr. James Naismith.
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Basketball played by school and local amateur teams has been part of the Canadian sports scene since the turn of the century. Hoops teams representing Canada have participated in Olympic Games since 1936 and in the World Championships since 1954.
One of the most storied amateur teams in Canadian basketball history is the Edmonton Commercial Graduates (Grad's), a group of Canadian women who dominated the sport in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Over 25 years, the Grad's played 522 games at home and abroad, against both women's and men's teams. The Grad's accomplished a record-breaking winning streak of 147 games and throughout their basketball tenure won a remarkable 502 times.
The National Basketball Association also has origins in Canada. The NBA's first game was played in Toronto over fifty years ago, on November 1, 1946 when the New York Knickerbockers defeated the Toronto Huskies 68-66 at Maple Leaf Gardens. The teams were part of the Basketball Association of America, the forerunner to the NBA.
@sweetdesign (5142)
• United States
6 Jan 09
That was copied from an internet article. I didn't make it up.
@dtp882 (110)
• United States
6 Jan 09
The NBA originated in New York City.
Also it was invented in Mass. and after that it was in American college so it did originate in America where it has been played ever since. And it spread to Universities of California, Chicago, Kansas, and Kentucky.
The first game had only 10 people, so the first game couldn't have had atleast 13 Canadians.
1 person likes this
@BlueGoblin (1829)
• United States
6 Jan 09
Video games. Most people consider it Japanese because they did so much with it but Americans invented the first technologies.
1 person likes this
@snowcat46 (2322)
• United States
7 Jan 09
The American Indian. Sioux, Apache, Arapaho, etc. Their artwork and culture. Their knowledge of how to use everything. When they hunted, they used every bit of a bison.
@nilzerous1 (2434)
• India
6 Jan 09
I think it a strong, resolute and confident American Character. I have observed sea change in the attitude of my friends once they are in the US. And you have rightly pointed out America is a big melting pot - an assimilation of different cultures. US has a big heart to welcome and accommodate everyone.
1 person likes this
@rusty2rusty (6763)
• Defiance, Ohio
6 Jan 09
is country music uniquely American?
1 person likes this
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
6 Jan 09
Two things that come to mind are the Model T Ford, and George W. Bush. The Model T Ford is long gone from the roads of America, but George W. Bush was at the wheel, when greed, mismanagement, and war, brought the world to it's knees in the Greatest Financial Crises of all time.
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@Fleura (30403)
• United Kingdom
6 Oct 15
Well, definitely not apple pie; the saying 'as American as apple pie' always makes m laugh because I thought apple pie was a British staple!
I guess anything native American, unless you are going to go back thousands of years to when their ancestors migrated to the north American continent.
