Opportunities, Freedom, and Unison Freedom is a major component and necessity in today's society with many opportunities. Opportunities are known to being provided to everyone living in the United States. America’s origins began when people were seeking freedom and equality for everyone. Being an American means all people in America have freedom, welcoming opportunities are provided to immigrants, along with unity between all Americans. First, freedom is provided to all people living in America. Yezierska shows the beauty within freedom by saying, “Freedom singing to me in my prison—deathless songs tuning prison-bars into strings of a beautiful violin” (Yezierska, 3). By using sound imagery, Yezierska, when she immediately moves from Russia to America, specifies how it feels to have freedom and a big part of being an American is having freedom. Freedom was Yezierska’s savior, an opportunity calling for her in a place with little to no freedom at all. Also, “If we keep the faith for our day as those who came before us kept the faith for theirs, then you and I can …show more content…
In Emma Lazarus’s sonnet, she expanded on freedom for immigrants. Lazarus stressed the idea of immigrants having many opportunities given by America when stating, “Give me your tired, your poor, you huddled masses yearning to breathe free(3).” Lazarus elaborated on the symbol the Statue of Liberty by showing how they are welcoming to all the immigrants leaving their homelands, whether it is from religious oppression or simply just seeking a new and better life with opportunities. In Franklin D. Roosevelt's speech, he displays how the many immigrants have opportunity to come to America and start a new life. By saying, “They made the New World's freedom safer, richer, more far-reaching, more capable of growth (4),” he expands even more by mentioning that immigrants and foreigners make America a better place by using their opportunities
Throughout history, Americans have sought to spread the spirit of equality, which is believed to be the realization of true freedom. Before establishing this freedom, every American had only one question stuck in their head: What is freedom? Our country received it in the year of 1776 from the British through a series of difficulties and wars. African Americans defined it as an escape from slavery, while immigrants defined it as their acceptance into a new society. More yet, women of the women’s suffrage defined their freedom as their recognition into society and for their rights to be equal to that of every other man. These different perceptions of cultures/groups in America tied together to form an American view of freedom. Freedom is something that every American should be willing to do anything in order to maintain. We may have weapons of mass destruction, but when it comes to living in a peaceful, American lifestyle, our freedom is our greatest weapon.
In Eric Foner’s book, The Story of American Freedom, he writes a historical monograph about how liberty came to be. In the book, his argument does not focus on one fixed definition of freedom like others are tempted to do. Unlike others, Foner describes liberty as an ever changing entity; its definition is fluid and does not change in a linear progress. While others portray liberty as a pre-determined concept and gradually getting better, Foner argues the very history of liberty is constantly reshaping the definition of liberty, itself. Essentially, the multiple and conflicting views on liberty has always been a “terrain of conflict” and has changed in time (Foner xv).
Edgar Allan Poe was alive during the period of the 1800s though the 1850s. During this period of time there was a mass movement of European Immigration to the United States (Educating About Immigration). On the Statue of Liberty, which is located in The New York Harbor which many immigrants had to pass through, the words “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” this quotation gave immigrants hope while entering the new land (Educating About Immigration). Immigrants made great contributions to the United States with the opportunities they were given. (Educating About Immigration) As many people may know Alexander Graham Bell the creator of the telephone was a Scottish immigrant (National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation). “Immigration has defined us as a nation,” (Educating About Immigration).
While the picture of Statue of Liberty gives a visual image on who the Statue of Liberty looks like a lady holding a torch and the plate has the date of July 4, 1776, which in American was declared independent. Emma Lazarus gives an emotional response to the audience by showing how a lady is a symbol of peace and unity to send the immigrants to her as the last sentence of Emma Lazarus poem states. The Statue of Liberty portray a landmark of liberty in the United States of American it gives an emotion that unity in America with other countries.
Ronald Takaki quotes Langston Hughes in his book A Different Mirror “ Let American be America again, let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed, … I am the red man driven from the land, I am the Immigrant clutching the hope I seek, O let my land be a land where, equality is the air we breathe.” (Takaki, 19-20). “‘We the’diverse ‘people of the United States’ transformed America into a mighty economy and an amazing unique society of varied races, ethnicities, and religion.” (Takaki, 20). Takaki wrote in his book, “ Day of spacious dreams! I sailed for America, Overblown with hope.” ( Takaki, 14). Would not all immigrants come here for a better life? Yes, Ken Vinson, who works at a local power station in Marshalltown, Iowa said, “Some people came here because they were desperate. I don’t care how they got here, and they have a family. Now all of the sudden you want to rip these people out and send them back? I wouldn’t want my family torn apart like that.’” (Barabak, 2016) . An opponent may say, their desire and dreams take away our hope. Desires, dreams, and hopes, however, are contagious and
Emma Lazarus, a Jewish-American poet, wrote “The New Colossus” in 1883. Her poem was selected out of a competition to be placed on the Statue of Liberty. She depicted the United States as the land of opportunity for all. She even compared the great ancient Greek monument, the Colossus of Rhodes, to the Statue of Liberty and asserted that the Statue of Liberty serves as a constant American symbol, a welcoming, but powerful woman, who provides millions of people safety and saves them from persecution and death. In comparison, Langston Hughes notes America as no longer being the welcoming America of old in the poem “Let America Be America Again”. Throughout Hughes’ poem, he describes his personal opinions towards the America he lives in. He feels like America is not the dreamland people once sought out. Instead, he feels like many Americans feel oppressed and think they can no longer reach their hopes and aspirations. However, he still has hope that one day America will once again be great and redeem itself regardless of his current disappointment with the modern state of
Writer Marilyn Vos Savant once stated, “What is the essence of America? Finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom ‘to’ and freedom ‘from’.” When you are an American, freedom is just one of the multitudinous privileges that come with the package. Benefits such as rights, the pursuit of happiness, and diversity are some additional perquisites. However, everything has flaws and America has a few.
The meaning of being American is the ability to do and feel what u want to do and be able to do it freely. Is the quote, "here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and prosperity will one day cause great change in the world"(What is an American paragraph 3), there is an example of freedom in Americans. The freedom that he has the ability and freedoms to be able to cause change and have a voice in how the way things are done.
In both of these stories they talked about the contributions that immigrants made to America. “Nearly all shared two great hopes: personal freedom and hope for economic opportunity.” Kennedy said. Kennedy also states, “Every aspect of the American economy has profited from the contributions of immigrants.” Both people agree that every ethnic minority helped strengthened the fabric of liberty in American life. In both stories American’s found ways to bridge
Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. In America there is numerous of choices that someone may make on a daily basis. If someone were allowed to make their own choices and were being told what to do; then they would not be free. When someone is allowed to speak when they want to, and say what they want; such as their opinion or view of something. Being allowed to have a right to speak is one of the most important characteristics of being an American. Thinking and stating your opinion in any predicament it a strong part in being a citizen because people in the United States are known for being able to think in their own ways. Freedom can stretch too many things such as being able to do as they please, they are not forced into doing anything that someone may want. The citizens of the United States are not made to do anything that one may not want to do; like
Freedom is having the right to own, act, think, and speak without any restrictions from the outside. Ever since the New World was discovered, people have been fighting for their independence till this day. People of other colors and race have been forced to do labor without their consent. Today, those same people have been blamed or accused of crimes that were not committed by them despite of being free. Freedom has different meanings and those meanings change overtime; however sometimes the significance of freedom does not change.
The American Ideological Consensus is that “…the American people have shared much of the same ideals, the same basic principles, and the same patterns of belief” (McClenaghan 104). When America filled itself with ideologically homogenous people, their beliefs started to define our nation and became American identities. If asked what they think of America, peoples of other nations would say that the roads are made of glass, opportunity is in the air, and civil rights are plentiful. These accounts maybe accentuated; however, the underlying message is that the American people have more freedoms then the peoples of other nations do. The most widely known American identity is freedom, and even though that American identity has been tried and tested throughout much of its history, it can still be said that America is a land of liberty.
The Great Concept of American Freedom Early America was a place for anyone to live their life the way that they wanted, as it is now, but back then this was a new concept. Much of this idea comes from the freedoms obtained by living here. Many other countries in the world had many freedoms, but not as numerous as they were in America shortly after the country was founded. Americans during the late 1700's and early 1800's embraced their freedoms and became leaders and expanders, and what we now consider the founders of many present-day cities and towns. One thing that has been present throughout the generations of people living in America, is the desire to set themselves apart from other nations.
When we tell the story of the American dream the image that should be conjured up is that of Preston Tucker the protagonist in Tucker: The Man and His Dream. With an eye for design and a heart for speed Tucker set out to build the car of the future. It was the end of the Second World War and as the GI came home Tucker theorized that he would want a car, but not just any car that they could’ve purchased before the war but a new car, a better car, one with safety standards, ones that would save lives, like a pop out windshield and the revolutionary new idea of seatbelts. Preston Tucker had seen the future and with his vision and leadership led a team that would try and change the face of the automobile.
Freedom is a human value that has inspired many poets, politicians, spiritual leaders, and philosophers for centuries. Poets have rhapsodized about freedom for centuries. Politicians present the utopian view that a perfect society would be one where we all live in freedom, and spiritual leaders teach that life is a spiritual journey leading the soul to unite with God, thus achieving ultimate freedom and happiness. In addition, we have the philosophers who perceive freedom as an inseparable part of our nature, and spend their lives questioning the concept of freedom and attempting to understand it (Transformative Dialogue, n.d.).