What Does It Mean to Be an American?

416 Words2 Pages
To fully understand what it what it means to be an American is a daunting task. To be an American is to do and and believe a variety of different things, actions, and ideals. The best one can do to convey the true meaning of being an American is to try and explain a few of these things. Among the many aspects of being an American, the most important is the belief in the idea that one deserves to make our wildest dreams a reality. In the story, “The Earth on Turtle's back,” an ancient chief tells his wife, who'd had a cogent dream previously, “When one has such a powerful dream, we must do our best to make it true.” The American Dream is the confidence in the opportunity to live a life the way you wish to live. Americans are dream chasers; we dream a life and strive to towards being able to live it. Dreaming is one of the most valued things an American can do, and having the ability to fulfill those dreams- even more so. Another attribution to the the concept of being an American is knowing where you came from, or your ancestry. In the story, “When Grizzlies Walked Upright,” an ancestry is explained. “They were the first Indians, the ancestors to all the Indian tribes.” While Indian ancestry doesn't pertain to most, the message of the story stays the same. Knowing where you come from and being proud of it is vital to every American. What keeps Americans together is our government. We gathered ideas for our government from several different sources. One such source is the Iroquois Constitution. In one part of the constitution, it is stated, “In all of your effort at law making, in your official acts, self-interest shall be cast into oblivion.” Our government is all about the people, and appealing to their interests. The intention is to do what's best for the nation as a whole, not just the government and its officials. Being an American has
Open Document