Culture is a constantly changing and complicated being that seems to live and breathe. It never ceases to amaze and shock those who study it and there isn’t a person alive who understands it fully. Because it is always changing, human curiosity asks us why. Why does it change? What makes it change? Well, there are many factors that keep culture changing.

The number one influence of culture change is people. People are always moving and migrating. Typically, people move in packs. An example of this is when the Spanish settled in the Americas. The culture changed from a polytheistic society that practiced human sacrifices (like the Aztec’s) to a monotheistic society. The Spanish set up missions and tried to convert the natives. And directly after them were the English colonists that set up camp to the north of the Spanish. They wiped out the Native Americans and set up a country built on religious freedom and tolerance, though they were only tolerant of Christians. During this period of time the People of the world were the main factors in changing culture. The Americas soon took on a semblance of English culture though England was going through some major religious reforms.

Another thing that majorly effects culture is how each generation teaches the next. The way the children of the world are taught changes much about the world because children are easy to mold. The way the government chooses to teach and the way parents teach their children is an important step to making a better future. In the past children were taught that hard work or talent is what keeps you on your feet and they believed it. This explains why this generation of adults is generally successful.

Culture is changed in part by the government. As much as we don’t want to admit it, the government does affect our day to day life. If our country was in a state of anarchy, then don’t you think that would affect how we lived our lives? It definitely would because the government and the laws and restrictions they place on us shape our society and essentially our culture. If you think about the days when “Bloody Mary” was queen doesn’t it seem that England was a little disheveled? It was because whatever government we have is a major part of our culture.

When you look back at what the culture was like in the 60s and 70s you can really see how most things culture related have changed. Culture change is like the constant shifting of the tectonic plates: slow and unstoppable, wonderful and terrible.