America's 'Improbable Idea'

The United States is looked at by the rest of the world as a country of chances, a place where it doesn’t matter who you are or where you came from. In reality, however, it’s quite different. Many say that America the Great will always be divided. Despite being an improbable idea, it is possible for the U.S to succeed by seeing the problems with division and clash, and allowing the benefits of unity to outweigh its own prejudices.

The United States, often referred to as a “melting pot,” is known for its extensive cultures. This paramount aspect of the Unites States makes it so unique yet it also happens to be the center of its many conflicts. America, although seemingly doubtful due to the vast amount of cultures and people, has been able to withstand conflicts and adversities because Americans have been able to learn from the country’s past and find a way to use their differences to come together.

America, a country that could only be described as a quilt as it is made up of many different peoples. Sadly, equality and common respect is hard to come by in a nation full of different opinions, colors, and cultures. Through heart-wrenching pathos, Leutze’s painting Washington Crossing the Delaware and Quindlen’s The Quilt signifies that while America may seem on the verge of breaking at times it manages to succeed through the unification of it’s people.

America has always been associated with the idea of being filled with diversity and for the most part that is true. We are diverse in culture, ethnicity, religion, politics, income, character, and in many other ways. But when you bring us together we aren’t unified and as truly diverse as others might believe. “…what I have seen all around the country is people making strenuous efforts to group themselves with people who are basically like themselves” (Brooks 261). I agree with this statement because, it’s accurate in the sense that we tend to place ourselves in groups that we have more in common with just because

The United States of America is and always will be a haven of diversity in this world. From the opening of Ellis Island, with many immigrants yearning for shelter, to the modern-day process of becoming a citizen, people of countless origins, cultures, and nationalities have flocked to America, creating the greatest melting pot of diversity on the planet. However, one key origin of this peaceful coexistence can often be overlooked. Rather than from immigration, the unique mindset that America is a land of differences was born not long after the first settlers stepped off their vessels in the Chesapeake Bay and Plymouth Harbor. The people from these two ships established two colonies so vastly different from each

Perhaps it is in this controversial statement that the weakness of the enforced multiculturalistic history suggested comes to light. A single unified nation or people will always have more influence, more power, and more ambition; in a world driven by these means that may well be all that matters. Loewen argues that history ought be rewritten to suit factual information rather than be trimmed to the victor’s standard, but this would do nothing except encourage passiveness and submissive behavior. America, the whole nation, has gone through many struggles with others, but also within our own borders. Our struggles have led to us becoming the world's largest military power enhanced by our national rights to strive to be the very best.

Washington reminds the Americans the importance of remaining united. He addresses the citizens by proclaiming, “The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations (21).” He continues by acknowledging the achievement of independence and liberty was due to working together as one. Therefore, Americans, as a unified nation should guard and preserve the union of the nation. He is talking about citizens of the United States, whether naturalized or by birth, should put America above all. And that the very name, American, should conjure up strong patriotism. This new nationalistic uprising in the United States has come with a price - a huge increase of hate crimes under the guise of nationalism and the “Make America Great Again” slogan from the current presidential administration.

The central idea of “Quilt of a Country” is that America is a diverse country.The author, Anna Quindlen says that America was built by people from different nationalities who came together to form one nation. The author uses figurative language as a writing strategy to develop the central idea.

When the U.S. was first established it wasn’t all gumdrops and butterflies, we had to fight for it. And after we won our independence it still didn’t come easy. Now adults may not remember their American history classes but it took more than one try to set up a government. The first attempt, The Articles of Confederation, only lasted four years and it caused so many problems. But the important thing we didn’t give up, we all wanted to be heard and we all had something useful to say. And when we had it all worked out, we all listened to each and got along. We went some rough spots but everyone made it through and people casted the idea of the “American Dream” and how the U.S. was so amazing. Which it was, it truly was at that point in time

America is a country full of ideas that create opportunities and memorable moments people enjoy with the company of others. Within the United States of America, diversity is a huge aspect that allows numerous races, ethnicities, and genders, etc. to roam our flourishing nation. Our nation is exceptional by having a beautiful range of natural wonders, collection of first-rate cities, and a wide variety of art and pop culture.The values and beliefs that unite Americans and define our nation’s purpose are the ideas of our nation steps forward to perform actions for the betterment of society, the lack of and enforcement of equality, and the citizenships that people fought to achieve.

No matter what I tried, I could never truly have an objective mindset if I continued defining the term American as I was. If I clung to my own preconceived notion that there was something unique about Americans, I could never be objective. So instead, I began to look at other countries, trying to find parallels. To my shock and dismay, I found that America is actually similar to North Korea in some ways: citizens of both countries are raised on nationalistic pride and are told that they live in the greatest country in the world, that there is no place better. This corrupts one’s ability to look at their country with a truly objective eye. From this, I discerned a troubling fact: all people are the same, regardless of nationality or personal beliefs. There is no true separation between individuals of different countries, helping to develop my current belief that the term American holds no special regard in comparison to the rest of the world. It is simply a term used to allow an individual to feel

I believe that McClay and Zinn provide a persuasive argument elaborating their notion of the validity of America’s “unique” mission. However, I am inclined to agree with Professor McClay in his assertion in the mythical nature of American exceptionalism that has promoted social cohesiveness and propelled America as the “beacon of liberty and democracy” (McKenna & Feingold 2011, 14). The existence of present-day America developed after a period of empirical practices that allowed us to incorporate the positive qualities of democracy and make note of the negative aspects of wrongfully enforcing democratic ideals internationally (McKenna & Feingold 2011). Since our inception, the “invisible hand” of “divine providence” has directed America to propagate freedom and democracy to all peoples of the world (McKenna & Feingold 2011, 2-3). The majority of American Presidents

America is commonly characterized as the greatest country in the world, the glorious “land of the free and the home of the brave”, “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. This idealization of the American identity conveniently focuses on what people want to hear and blurs out most everything else. In reality, Americans do not live up to the dreamscape created by our views, and we never really have. America is no longer characterized by its freedom and democracy, nearly every first world country can afford that luxury. Nor are we set apart by the great opportunities given to our people, for those are far from universal. We aren’t equal, we aren’t unified, we aren’t kinder or smarter or richer than any other country across the board. It’s easy to find the shortcomings of American culture, all the things we aren’t, but the things we are have proven to be more elusive. First, let’s examine the nots.

America is known as the land of the free and home of the brave. When thinking of this you think about all the opportunities presented to people and all the freedom. An idea of America is that we’re a meritocracy, which means anyone can be able to to become anything they want as long as they work hard playing by the rules. Along with that many people believe that diversity will bring together the country and unite us all but that’s not the case. America is not a meritocracy.

History has changed throughout time and has created a long term impact on how we view ourselves and how our story came about. We’ve moved forward and since the 18th century. Americans had written themselves off as a united nation that share common values and beliefs. Especially on Independence. As we open the history books, America 's growth and development counted on the constant failures and hardships it went through. The nation has grown in power, morality, and size. Americans had grown significantly due to our failures and successes we’ve had in the past, along with the determination and strive for a better nation, while we learned from the conquering and enslavement of our own people.