What Does It Mean To Be An American?

Historian Philip Gleason once stated, “To be or to become an American, a person did not have to any particular national, learning languages, religious, or ethnic background. All he had to do was to commit himself to the political ideology centered on the abstract ideals of liberty, equality, and republicanism.” The meaning of being American goes deeper than having a title of being a citizen, having a language, religious preference, and nationality. As Philip Gleason stated, all an American had to do was focus on liberty, equality, and republicanism. There are duties a person undertakes that makes he or she American. To be an American means having patriotism, freedom, and being an industrious worker in all aspects of life.
An American
How does America define freedom? In Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech, “The Four Freedoms”, he defines freedom as the “supremacy of human rights everywhere” (Roosevelt 45). A type of freedom that Americans have is expressing their religion. In America, there are many different religions. Everyone has their own right to express their thoughts and beliefs. Freedom of religion is included in the constitution and is the very first amendment. It also states that congress is forbidden to promote one religion over others and restricting their religious practice (“First Amendment”). Americans therefore are not interfered by the government with what religion they believe in. Another type of freedom and right an American has is the “freedom of petition”. According to the Constitution, the freedom of petition is the right to ask your government to do something or to refrain from doing something (Hartley “The Rights and Freedoms of Americans”). An American is free to write to their congressmen to identify their concerns and is free to ask to change any laws he or she doesn't agree with. Like the saying goes “We the people, for the People” then Americans have the right to have their voice be heard in democracy. Being an American means having freedom to be who one wants to be. An American youth says that being an American means, “ Having freedom to choose what school I want to attend, what church I want to go to, study what I am interested in, travel freely throughout this country without any restrictions, listen to any radio or TV stations that I want to, and achieve my career and educational goals ...”(“What Being American Means to Today’s Youth”). The government does not have the right to get involved with someone’s choices. It is up to an American citizen what he/she wants to do in their life. Another example is choosing who to vote for in elections. Americans have the right to vote who they feel will be