To you, what does it mean to be an American?

Question

My political science class is tackling the current issue of immigration in the United States. We have to answer the question, "What does it mean to be an American?" I was interested in what some of your answers would be if you were asked this question.

Answer 1

Freedom, the right to go to the church of my choice without fear. Pride, for all our founding fathers & veterans has done for us.
Gratitude for being able to live in such a wonderful country.

Good luck with your project honey, Marilyn

Answer 2

My freedom means everything to me...i'm so thankful that I won't be arrested for being a Christian, or for speaking my mind. I'm so thankful I can vote, and have a say in our political process. I don't worry about going into a local coffee shop and being blown up by some religious fanatic, or being shot at by some crazy infidel!!!! Being an American is wonderful, and I enjoy my FREEDOM!!!!!!!

PS> what a great question....

Answer 3

Being an American means that I can trace my genetic ancestry to another country, but I have nothing to do with it. I live in a place with millions of other people, who come from someplace else, while all of those people who were here when we got here live in tiny out of the way settlements that we assigned for them so that we didn't have to look at them anymore. In case you didn't get it those are called reservations. I don't feel closely tied to others in my own country because we don't hold the same values in common and don't have many of the same traditions. On the positive side, there is so much opportunity to learn about others who are different from myself. I know about Chinese, Japanese, Indian, English, Scottish, french (the list goes on and on) cultures and traditions because there are people here who have come from there or whose families have.

Answer 4

Being an American means being free. Free to disagree with others or even the government. Free to be offended. Free to say yes. Free to say no.

Unfortunately, some people only want to give that freedom to the minority (not racial, but political). If you're Christian, you are not expected to keep your freedom to believe in what this country was founded on.

Answer 5

It means, in my case, to have had the privilege of being born in the best (overall) country in the world, but watching as it seems to be going the way of all other rich countries in history. Some of it is pretty sad to see. Some has been good.

Answer 6

Freedom
Opportunity
Education
Freedom OF Religion.
Land O' Plenty
My Christian Heritage

Answer 7

On September eleventh, 2001, American history was forever altered. The World Trade Center was hit, but America was not.

The Pentagon was hit, but America was not.

Because America is not about buildings or military centers, America is not even about a place. America is an ideal.

“They may take our lives, but they will never take our freedom”

So, we ask you tonight…What does it mean to be an American?

Over 200 years ago, our Founding Fathers shook off the chains of tyranny from Great Britain, and with the Declaration of Independence, the United States of America was born: “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political bands which have connected them with another…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable right, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

The men who founded our great Nation further ensured our freedoms by signing the Constitution and including a preamble that states, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, extablish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…”

Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.” And in the words of Andrew Jackson, “One man with courage is a majority.”

“Freedom is fragile and must be protected. To sacrifice it, even as a temporary measure, is to betray it.” Everett Hale declared, “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do I should do, and with the help of God, I will do.”

Benjamin Franklin proclaimed, “They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” While Patrick Henry exclaimed, “Give me liberty or give me death!”

We are a strong people, a resilient people, the blood of our forefathers runs in our veins and cries out to us to uphold the truth. It is a truth worth fighting for, worth dying for…they did”

You see, “Every man dies, but not every man truly lives!”

What does it mean to be an American?

“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted by the attack because we are the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world!” President George W. Bush, September eleventh, 2001.

On November nineteenth, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered his great Gettyburg Address. And even though those words may have been penned nearly 200 years ago, they still remain relevent today because…

“Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . . can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth.”

What does it mean to be an American?

Answer 8

To be honest Hispanics and Canadians are Americans too they come from America. If you mean what it is to be a U.S citizen then it is to be free ,have freedom of speech and participation in our own government and free to follow any religeon that we want.

Answer 9

to me being an american means freedom, Strength in number and unity. We americans stand together as one. We fight for what we believe in.

Answer 10

I means to LOVE McDonald's and other fast food joints, to be better than everyone else (and no we can't all just get along), to take care of other country's problems while over-looking our own.

Answer 11

Speak the language, respect the culture, get involved in society.
Be good be nice