What It Means to Be An American Judge Learned Hand made it clear that liberty “lies in the hearts of men and women” and does not depend on any laws nor the constitution. I agree with Hand because it does not matter what the constitution or any law says, if we as people of the United States do not support what the constitution states it is useless. If we are strongly against it, it will not stand. To me, being an American is capitalizing on my freedom and pursuing all the opportunities that are brought forth. We live in a free country and have all the opportunities in the world to do what we please. One man who embodies my ideal of what an American should be is Abraham Lincoln. I believe Lincoln was one of the greatest leaders America has ever had and that he stood for freedom in a big way. As Americans, we have the freedom to do amazing things, but we are held back by the people in our country, nothing more. In fact, nothing stops us from doing the things we want most except for ourselves. Lincoln, our sixteenth president of the United States once said, “America will …show more content…
I believe that Americans look past at what we have and take it for granted. We live in the greatest country in the world and we need to realize that. As Americans we need to be appreciative of every person that lives here. People come to America to seek better lives and more opportunities. Everyone should be accepted and appreciated because the citizens are who make America such a great country. There are many diverse cultures; however, everyone brings something new and exciting to the table, and that is what makes America so great. Steven Stosny, author and founder of CompassionPower in Washington, DC wrote, “In the act of appreciation, life means more to us; the experience of being alive seems better.” We need to appreciate everyone because everybody has a purpose in making America the best place to
How My Generation Defines What it Means to Be an American What does it mean to be an American and how is an American identity created? My generation defines what it means to be an American by an expression of independence and capability (freedom). Education helps to define my American generation with discovering new topics that shape who we are and what we’ll be. How we socially interact with each other is another way that describes the meaning “to be an American”.
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
In the speech “The Spirit of Liberty ”Learned Hand says, ”Liberty lies in the heart of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much help.” I agree with Hand because if the people think they have no liberty and can never get it they won't fight for liberty. For me to be an American means to have freedom as a whole, equality, and justice.The most important Ideals related to being an American are equality, freedom and justice
According to the Scholastic News Online, when individuals were given the question of what it means to be an American, most of them described it as “being free” and having certain rights while others gave explicit examples and mentioned the fact that we as Americans receive opportunities such as “voting”. I somewhat agree with most of these individuals. I believe that being an American consists of having certain rights and a given amount of freedom, to a certain extent. I also strongly believe that by being American, we are guaranteed opportunity if we work hard for something. Being an American also means we have the power to make a difference and express what we feel in order to make this country better than before. Coming from a family that had a much more distinct experience than
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.
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.
With all the controversy in what it means to be American at this point in history, coming to a consensus on the meaning of the term is crucial. The meaning of being an American can often be tied to one’s emotional connection to the United States of America. If this attachment is taken away from the definition of the word, the most authentic and traditional interpretation of what it means to be an American is revealed. To be an American means to be a citizen of the United States and to align yourself with the ideals of America.
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.
Americans having rights is a very important part in what it means to be an American . Americans have rights in order to protect themselves from the government
By birth, all humans are given the basic right to an identity. It tells people who we are, and sometimes, tell the owner who they are. However, some countries even take this necessity away. In the United States of America, despite all of its flaws, gives her citizens these basic rights. Some of these rights are the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to petition the government, right to bear arms, and civil trial by jury. Many countries, unfortunately, do not even give their residents these rights.
After reading the transcript of the speech, “The Spirit of Liberty”, given by federal judge for more than 50 years, Learned Hand, who served most of the time on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, my idea of what it means to be an American was slightly shifted. The statement made by Hand which really caught my attention was, “What do we mean when we say that first of all we seek liberty? I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon courts. These are false hopes.” I agree with Hand in the sense that the constitution can only serve purpose to our country if we, as Americans, learn to be truly accepting.
How does our generation define what it means to be “American”? Being in America gives us the freedom to become who we want to be and, to do what we want to do. We are using technology to get places or to make a point. We want to support things we don’t know anything about. For example, Black Lives Matter. I’m not saying I know everything about it but I know enough. So one day as I was scrolling through Facebook I came across a post. The post was about a 9/11 “Never Forget” picture. A teen one or two older than me had said something along the lines of “When is our never forget day?” along with the hashtag “#Blacklivesmatter”. I got pretty upset by that. Not to mention it was said on 9/11. I was thinking about how they have a whole month to
Liberty is another thing that makes someone a real American. Being an American you have the liberty to do almost anything you choose. If you want to practice a different religion you are free to with out anyone telling you that you cant. This is one of the many reasons that immigrants came over to America. Their lives were threatened if they tried to practice a different religion then
What It Means To Be An American My true definition of what it means to be an American is, celebrating the holidays with your family. Our country of the United States is and will always be Interwoven from the Fourth Of July to celebrate the Independence that we are given from the soldiers that fought in a war for us, our freedom of Independence that we are not disparate from each other, and spending time with you family or friends celebrating this special day by firing off fireworks or going to your local parade. Also my favourite of the holidays being Christmas with the long break that us kids in school get, or spending time with family and eating celebratory dinners with the people you love the most. All though other people have many different ideas of what it means to be an American, this is what I believe is the definition of being an American.
What does it mean to be an American? To be an American can have several answers depending on one’s' self and how ones' self outlook of America. To be an American is to have freedom. Americans have more freedom than some other countries. Some freedoms Americans have are freedom of religions, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press.