I Hear America Singing: The Role Of Individualism In America

As President Donald Trump said in his 2018 State of the Union address, “...the state of our Union is strong because our people are strong,” showing that it takes strong individuals to make a strong nation. Individualism is important to society as people need to better themselves in order to be able to better society. If the individual parts of a building are better, than the building as a whole will be better. Similarly, if individuals work to better themselves, then society will improve. By showing how individualism has improved society in the past, and how individualism has continued to shape society, then one can fully understand how individualism and society are connected. While some may believe that individualism no longer plays a role

He believed, “The Americans of all nations at any time upon the earth have probably the fullest poetical nature. The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem,” (preface to the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass) meaning that America is great because Americans are great. Whitman’s work showcases that he felt the common people such as the workers he mentioned in his poem “I hear America Singing” are the best thing about America, and it is these people who have made the country great. The United States was founded by small groups of individuals who were breaking away from society to pursue their own goals, yet as stated in “Sweet Land of...Conformity” by Claude Fisher, “John Winthrop, who would be the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, addressed his

Anyone who chooses to be different- to stand out- is acting as an individual. In “Self-Reliance” Ralph Waldo Emerson says, “Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood...” showing that anyone who is well-known by society (or “great”) for their ideas thought differently than society. This idea is continued to modern times with great minds continuing to think beyond the confines of society’s beliefs to inspire new innovations. People like Steve Jobs, or Malala Yousafzai act on their own to improve society. Steve Jobs co-founded Apple and was behind many technological innovations. He thought differently than much of society in order to provide society with new tools. Malala Yousafzai spoke for female education in Pakistan where women weren’t encouraged to go to school. She acted apart from what society was telling her to do in order to improve the lives of others around her. When people act separately from society, they are often able to bring about change that, in the long run, improves