American Identity Essays

What does it mean to be American? This is a question that people can answer in many different ways. There are tons of ways that people can define to be an American their response can also be based on what kind of people they are. But to me to be an American is to be a hard-working person and a person who does not look down on people who are not doing well in life.

What I think to be an American is to be able to be free and also to be a person who helps others that may not have the same opportunities as everyone else. Also, the definition of being an American has changed throughout time. The definition might have changed in a lot of ways such, as in the past, it could have meant that you have to serve in the military to be an American or to honor the flag in a lot of ways. An example of that could be a story I read called ̈ veterans day: Never forgotten ̈ In this story John Mccain was captured by Vietnamese with other fellow soldiers. While he was captured he and his friend were very American because they would pledge allegiance to the flag his friend made on his shirt every time before they had a meal. This was more important to them because they were captured in the middle of a war so they were at a bigger risk of pledging to the flag before they eat because they were in enemy territory so really bad things could have happened to them.

Also in an article that I have read called Immigrants on the statue of liberty. There were lots of people crying tears of happiness because they knew that they have made it to a place where they can be free and actually have rights and they can finally feel safe because some people come from a place that could have been dictated and could have been a bad place and they actually feel safe here. That can also classify to be an American because being an American is being able to be free to do what they want and also they have rights that they might have not had where they used to live. People also migrate here mostly because of the American dream, the dream is that they can accomplish anything they want because here in the United States of America you have the possibilities and opportunities to be able to accomplish the dreams that people have had that they might have never been able to accomplish in their home town because they might not have had schools and things like that to be able to pursue their dreams and they migrate here because they want to be “American” because they want to be free and have better opportunities here as a new American.

Other reasons that people come to the United States because they run away from their hometown and come here for protection either because their hometown is at war or their hometown had a dictator that makes their lives miserable they come to the United States so they can be safe and they can have a better life. This also ties into the definition of being an American because I personally think that being an American is to make people feel safe and make people feel protected. Also, those people who come here for those reasons are all going to be really paranoid because of what they went through in their hometown and we (the Americans) should be here to make them feel at home here. An American should be a person who should be there for those who need the most help here and that may not know anything or anyone here that’s why we are here to help people who need it the most. To be an American is to be available to help anyone who is in need with no hesitation is what being an American is.

In conclusion the question to what does it mean to be an American? Is a really good question that people who are not from here ask lots of people. So in conclusion everyone will have a different opinion than everyone else. So there really isn’t one definition to this question will always have lots of different answers. Because everyone thinks that an American is something different.