Essay On What It Means To Be An American

Simply living in America doesn't define you as an American. Being able to proudly own that you're an american, giving up things to better the country, working overtime, helping those who are homeless, picking up the litter, loving your country for what it is. If you don't contribute, if you can't own it, and if you can't stand up for it, you're not an american. Being American is being free, having the right to believe in what you want, being able to not only have a dream, but make that dream come true.

An American can be defined by a variety of things. A natural born citizen is just as American as an immigrant searching for a new life, just like in “America and I” by Aniza Yezierska. An American can be a rich businessman or it could be a dedicated soldier like in “Veteran’s Day: Never Forget Their Duty” by John McCain. An individual’s definition of being an American is shaped by their life experiences. A person’s view on being an American is different because of experiences, such as being a veteran, being an immigrant, or living in poverty, all of which affect one’s perspective.

What does it mean to be an American? In my eyes to be an American means to have privileges, rights, and freedom. America isn't perfect, but it is one of the only countries that have rights given to people of different diversities and gender. America does not have tremendous poverty. Instead we have choices given to us by the people who fought and died for the American people. Without George Washington and the other patriots who planted the first seed in the ground and help plant the American nation we live in now who knows what America would be like now.

What it means to be American? Everybody you ask this question to will have a completely different response. Some responses might have similarities but none will be exactly the same. In the beginning of the year my response was “To be an American means having a rich history, having opportunities to better ourselves, and having freedoms.” Unfortunately not everyone has had the same opportunities or freedoms. Native Americans, who are indigenous, dealt with having their freedoms taken away, less opportunities even though they had rich history in this land before it was taken away from them. Look at what Zitkala-Sa endured. Not only that, but African Americans have fought long and hard for freedom and equality as well. W.E.B. Du Bois stood for

What does it mean to be an American? Being an American means a multitude of different things. It depends on who the person is and what is the most important to them. It may be that they are free, or that they are proud, or simply because they appreciate the country’s history. This country has so many privileges that other countries do not have, and this sets it aside from them.

I believe that what it means to be an American is to struggle,not be accepted for you are,and to feel and be treated as someone less then other people. To be an American is to struggle with being undocumented and not being able to have a an actual document stating you went to school and have and education. “The federal dream act, which would have provided a path for undocumented children and would penalize states that failed to provide in-state tuition for undocumented students, failed to make it through congress in 2011. (I’m American too’:Undocumented students wait for Obama)” This is a key factor as to why being an American isn’t always

What does being an american mean to me? Being an american means that I have freedom to do things that I want,liberty,and the pursuit of happiness which the military fights for. Another thing I have is rights that means that I have choices to pick things that I want to do in life like pick a job or do whatever because of the military fighting for are country. I also have justice which means that things are fair and you have a fair trial if I go to court and can not just go to jail.

To be an American can mean a lot of things to others, but one thing everyone has in common on what they think it means is to be free. It means you can vote for who and what you want. It means you can say “The Pledge of Allegiance.” It means you can have a good education and the job you want. It means to be proud in living in the United States of America. Being an American is having freedom and being able to do things with that freedom. It’s about having freedom of religion, rights, and justice. It also means having equality. To be an American means you have the right and freedom to do what you want. It means having the freedom of speech. It means you can be yourself. To be an American mainly means having freedom.

What does an American mean to you? I think this is a good question what does being an American mean, I think it has something to do with your right and freedom. The reason for this is because we have things that other people in different countries have. I think sometimes we even take advantage of the thing that we have. America is one of the more fortunate countries.

What is an American? This question cannot be answered by one word. There are so many different characteristics, qualities, and features that can be used to describe an American. Besides features, someone is only a real American if they take advantage of all of the many privileges that are given to them. Any person that is not grateful for the privileges that are given to them to me are not real Americans but this is only my opinion. Real Americans use their privileges to benefit themselves and everyone around them. In today's society there are certain things that are expected from American citizens, for instance being a responsible citizen.

Being an American means to have opportunities that are available to us that others don’t get in other parts of the world. The United States of America is a country that is based on being a free country for citizens to have more freedom than anywhere else. It is one of the only countries that give rights to people of different diversities and genders. To be an American means to have opportunities, rights, and freedom.

What does it mean to be an “American”? To each individual person it means something very different. For the writer Bharati Mukherjee, who wrote the essay, “American Dreamer”, to be a true American someone has to want to be an American, not just prove that they merited citizenship. Her essay “American Dreamer” goes in depth into this idea and her opinion that as an American one should believe in bringing together the cultures in America. “We must think of American culture and nationhood as a constantly reforming, transmogrifying “we” (Mukherjee 438). For the author James Baldwin, who wrote the essay “Stranger in the Village”, an American is a person who is integrated with other cultures, and

America has been established as an independent country for a little over two centuries now, growing stronger and wealthier with every passing year. One phenomenon that the majority of Americans now days don’t realize is that this country was founded and built up by foreigners. But when they landed on Plymouth Rock way back then, they had no idea that the unknown land they discovered would one day become one of the most significant countries to ever exist. Though everyone who is born into this country are considered Americans, what does it truly mean to be an American after they have lived on our homeland’s soil for roughly two decades? The main identifications of a true American are: they are patriotic, they contribute to society and their community, and that they are hardworking and innovative.

Despite Merriam-Webster defining American as, "a native or inhabitant of the U.S.", I believe that being "American" means much more. You are not a true American unless you provide an ideal that contributes to America. For example, Albert Einstein is respectably one of the bright minds of American history. Yet, Einstein is not a pure-blooded American.

Being an American is different from being a citizen of any other country for numerous reasons. America is a nation that was created by settlers and immigrants; it boasts an inherently diverse assemblage of citizens, unlike many other countries in the world. It’s a country that was built by people with a distinct set of values that honor an individual’s “God-given” rights; a set of values that further shaped how the world came to understand and view humanity. Admittedly, what I’ve come to learn about America feels fairly distant, as America has grown and changed throughout the centuries, and the nation itself is constantly changing and reshaping. There are, however, some distinctions that American citizens have that set us apart from other countries in the world.