American Identity

Identities Essay

Following the Revolutionary War, America quickly matured into a preeminent nation, specifically with the help of implementing basic rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Although a massive economic gap is enlarging, America's values have revolved around the abstract ideas of liberty, while also thriving to welcome diversity, and being innovative in technology and sciences.

In order to be considered an American, you do not need to have any particular accent, have a specific religion, or an ethnic background. All that is expected of one, is to accept the political ideology of equality and liberty. Since 1776, America was built on the basic philosophies of equality through freedom. The founding fathers
freed the nation from the tyranny of oppression carried out by the England monarchy, to provide a country that ensured all its citizens their basic human rights. For example, one defining factor to American culture is freedom of speech, as a cause of this liberty, other nations could have the impression that all Americans are loud and obnoxious. But, this is only because in America, citizens are encouraged to speak their mind and share their ideas. While in other parts of the world, this could be overbearing because sharing your true thoughts could lead you to displease the wrong people or worse, land you in trouble. The freedom of speech, petition, and press are all such indispensable values of American culture that they are protected by the first amendment of the Constitution, however, there are still restrictions to this. Americans should not be inclined to abuse their rights to conduct hate speech, part of being an American is accepting other cultures and religions even if they differ from your own.
It can be inferred that being American means one is involved in the most diverse culture in the world.
America is a truly unique nation in which it is impossible to identify its people as one particular race or religion. America can be described as a mixing pot of contrasting cultures and ethnic backgrounds, which makes it highly improbable that one will find someone who is not of either European, Asian, or African descent. In truth, the only people that can be rightly identified as American would be Native American Indians. Native American migrated from Asian lands thousands of years ago, claiming the land of the new world way before any explorer, but modern day Americans do not use race to classify as American. Instead, Americans are defined by their exclusive political and social values. Americans’ ability to accept other people is the root of the country’s success and growth. These days, everyone wants to be like America; countries are adopting the United States’ political model and duplicating its pop culture. The true key is the manner in which America has inherited all cultures and religions, thus creating a diverse nation in which no one is left
behind.
Part of what jumpstarted America’s dominance of the global economy, solidifying it as a superpower is the country’s gift for being innovative in all terms.
Especially, in regards to technology and sciences. From the Model T Ford created by Henry Ford in 1908, to the World Wide Web developed with the help of Robert E. Kahn in the early 1990s. America is the legitimate land of opportunity since its birth, the foundation of America is built on its unmatchable creativity. In America, anyone is allowed to start their own business at a relatively low cost. Compared to other countries it's it easily done and cost effective. A key reason for this is the country's GDP is made from 70% of small service businesses. So without much regulation, a small business owner can manage and gain profit from the service or goods they supply. A train conductor on the first privately owned railroad used to sell pocket watches to other conductors, but after the railroad business jump started he realized that he could make a profit selling numerous items in the vast market across the United States, thus the world-known Sears catalog was born. Comparable stories can be identified in the case of countless American success stories such as the Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg. In conclusion, America's forefathers built a country with free enterprise, and unregulated capitalism granting all citizens a chance to reach one's own manifest
destiny.
Overall, what it means to be American can be summed up into primary key points. It is much more than reciting the pledge or raising a flag. It predominantly involves with the way one lives and carries oneself, do they believe abstract ideas of liberty, do they thriving to welcome diversity, can they be innovative in technology and sciences. If so they can be an American.