What It Means to Be an American

Although some americans take for granted the oppertunities at hand, there have been several historical figures that know the true meaning of being apart of the United States. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, former president of the united states, said, "My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." He also said, "The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission." Kennedy understood the true honor of what being an american is. There have been other presidents who know it too, such as Theodore Roosevelt. He stated, "I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit.” Even before America was formed, there were still people who dreamed of peace and equality. The men who put their lives on the line in order to accomplish their goals of having a country free of slavery and unjust treatment believed in their cause and in their leaders. George Washington, the general who lead the american revolution and the first president of the united states made a speech saying, "Our cruel and unrelenting Enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance, or the most abject submission; this is all we can expect - We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die: Our own Country's Honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions - The Eyes of all our Countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the Tyranny meditated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each