Being An American

Being an American is much more than passing a citizenship test or simply being born in America. Being an American means speaking up when you disagree, it means contributing to the success of yourself and the nation as a whole, and most importantly it means being the best example you can for other Americans and future generations of Americans. There are an endless number of things that can represent being American, but what would be the defining lifestyle, characteristics, or morals of being an American? In simple terms, being an American is pursuing happiness, taking advantage of the freedoms you have, and appreciating the work and sacrifice that has contributed to the development of this great country. An American needs to be humble and appreciate

However, not only soldiers and war has contributed to the success of America, but even our darkest times when slavery was prominent and civil rights movement was only a dream. In a poem by Langston Hughes, he said, “There’s never been equality for me, nor freedom in this ‘homeland of the free’” (Hughes 37). America certainly isn’t perfect, especially during its era of slavery, but knowing the truth and respecting those who have been oppressed in our past is what raises awareness and helps us look to the future with the ability to keep history from repeating itself. By being an American individual, people around the world will judge you as soon as they know you are an American, but at one point we were admired for the diversity and liberty of our country. In the fictional, “Letters from an American Farmer” by J. Hector St. John de Crévecoeur, the author says, “Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great change in the world” (Crévecoeur 29). That was written in 1781, when the pain of the

Our founding fathers gathered to lay the foundation for this great country over 200 years ago, and they established recognition for a number of rights of the people that other countries around the world thought were unheard of. Furthermore, by being an American who exercises their rights, we recognize the opportunity we have to make a difference in our country domestically and abroad. Most importantly, we are lucky to have these freedoms recognized by our government, because for some, the opportunities granted with being an American are only a dream. For example, there are millions of immigrants who seek American citizenship to gain access to the “land of opportunity”. In the short story, “America and I” by Anzia Yezierska, she says, “As one of the dumb, voiceless ones I speak. One of the millions of immigrants beating, beating out their hearts at your gates for a breath of understanding” (Yezierska 15). Anzia is describing the struggle she and millions of others endure just to be heard, and the only difference between those immigrants and us Americans is that we have the power to be heard and we can speak for them. Without our practice of free speech, the average person would be powerless against the government. A professor at Solano Community College once said, “If you take every right from me except the freedom of speech, I can use my last right to