America is known in history as “The Land of Opportunities,” which has led many people to attempt the treacherous journey to experience this land for themselves. Our country was founded on the principles that the people who live there have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I agree with Judge Learned Hand’s speech “Spirit of Liberty” that the theoretical spirit of liberty exists and is what this country was founded on. In my opinion, being an American means having the freedom to work hard and reap the benefits of that work. Being an American allows workers the opportunities they need to be successful. In other countries, workers may be required to forfeit their hard work’s earnings to the government to be evenly distributed to all. Those workers may also live in fear of having all their earnings taken away from them on the walk home by a thief. America has laws that allow workers to retain their earnings and start a good life if they determine to do so. These laws do not guarantee that everyone will be successful but they make it possible. In his “Spirit of Liberty” speech, Judge Learned Hand described the intangible idea of the spirit of liberty. Judge Hand characterized that idea as the spirit who cares about the best outcome for everyone rather than just one’s personal interests and then tries to do what is right. I do agree with him and believe that those principles are what this nation was founded on. If one person were to be the embodiment
Amid the copious countries on Earth there are not many as developed as America. The pledge to protect justice and freedom has made us a more open-minded and adaptable community. In our country all children can receive an education, everyone has a chance to afford health care, and no one can be denied rights because they are different. The freedom to be yourself and hold your own opinion are not only tolerated, but encouraged. Unlike many less fortunate people we can follow our own religion and strive for our own dreams. Of Course, other places are very successful and formidable, but only a selected few actually promote individuals rights in general. These many attributes contribute to why the American Dream is alive and more well than ever.
The United States of America’s history is extensive and full of social and political issues. One word dominates the character of the country: liberty. The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor symbolizes the first glimpse immigrants will get of America. Patrick Henry’s quote, “give me liberty or give me death!” is a constantly-cited piece from the eve of the American Revolution. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson and the other signers insist upon “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. Liberty is something everyone wants, and America is often said to be rooted in this concept. The word has a flexible definition; as times changed, the definition changed, and it had a special meaning to those living in the time of slavery
The American Dream, a dream where one goes to the land of the free to have a successful life for them and their children. America is a place where there is liberty, opportunity, and the right to express yourself in anyway as long as you don’t violate the rights of other people. Some might associate America with the bald eagle, the American flag, or the stars. Others may talk about the colors, red, white, and blue. Beliefs that people have in America is that we are all equal to each other. We have the same rights to freely express ourselves, to practice any religion, or to protest peacefully. Being American means to be free, to have the right to govern ourselves, and to work hard for a better future.
In Jean-Jacques Rousseau's The Origin of Civil Society, he talks about the two liberties (natural state and civil pact) that we have as humans. He writes about the tradeoffs and which has let humans continue to live. The civil pact that united individuals to work together and be equal to one another also added restrictions to the individual. The fight for equality and for justice constantly goes on, whether we see it or not. What are the differences between natural and civil state? Of our natural state and the civil pact, which is the best?
The nation of America or the United States of America has fundamental ideals it was built upon, but they may or may not have been lost along the way. The speaker stated, “America never was America to me” (Hughes 189). America is a country built on the ideal of freedom, yet the speaker has noticed that that is not the case. America, as a whole country, means different things or ideals to different types of people and for speaker as well as who the speaker is speaking for, makes America not America. For the idea of the American dream, one would either think or believe that America needs to be America to the people, but from the perspective of the speaker, that is not so. As noted by the speaker, “There’s never been equality for me, / Nor freedom in this ‘homeland of the free’” (Hughes 190). The American idea of equality has been quite skewed throughout history and has caused a multitude of problems. The problems range from equal rights between classes or races to who actually is going to achieve the so called, “American Dream”, and as noted, has yet to be solved. Due to the notion of equality not being solved, it can relate to freedom as America was built on the notion of freedom,
Despite social status, political views, religious views, or whether you’re a man, woman, southerner, homo-sexual, straight, cis, trans, non-binary, landowner, scholar, student, if you live in the United States of America, you are American. Being American means that you are home to freedom as well as diversity. The poem “ Learning to Love America ” by the immigrant Shirley Geok-Lin Lim says “to have a son is to have a country, because my son will bury me here, because countries are in our blood and we bleed them. ”2 She saw her son as because America would give him the best opportunity to be successful; to live the “American Dream”.
America is the home of the brave and land of the free. It’s the continent known for the start of new beginnings, and renewal of life. You are free to believe what you want, love who you wish, and be you think you are designed to be. Although America may have many benefits that most countries and continents don’t, it came at a price. America had to fight her way to the top, and every constitutional right was earned by the endurance and victories it took to make them possible.From a fledgling nation that didn't have much hope to one that had the courage to proclaim Manifest Destiny America definitely earned everything it has to offer.
“History in North and South America did not begin with the coming of Europeans” (Foner 3). Instead, Native Americans were found to be on the continent when the Europeans arrived meaning that they had inhabited the area meaning that there were more than 350 native societies before the Europeans arrived (Mellinger, Native America). The Native Americans settled down and started their own civilizations within North America. They taught themselves how farm, hunt, and fish as well as perfected their techniques along the way. Also, they engaged in communication and far-reaching networks of trade. Across the continent, the Native Americans flourished and consisted of many tribes that spoke their own languages, had their own religious belief, and
“We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what’s in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense,” Barack Obama. What does being an American mean to you? America is a great land mass that was originally inhabited by American Indians, the Christopher Columbus in 1492 found this land. Then we had the great men who created our government and our Declaration of Independence, from there things haven’t run smoothly, but they have run much better than when we were under the king. The voting
. In the United States constitution when Thomas Jefferson stated “life, liberty and the pursuit of
As an international student, a foreigner to this country, I have thought been asked so many times about the question of what the real spirit of America. There can be hundreds of thousands of answers out there and everyone can have a different one, but liberty is definitely one of the most widely accepted ones. American people’s ancestors came to this continent for many reasons, People came for many different reasons, usually put into two categories: religious freedom or search for wealth. But they did bring a common heritage of common law and many of them brought the idea of covenant or social contract and they have always remained the heart and core of the Americanism. After the British were defeated in the War of Independence, the
We the committee of four, including Jocelyn Zambrano, Ashley Martinez, Irma Yañez, and Nathaly Cuevas have acknowledged that when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for a unity of survivors to form a sufficient society. We want equality, justice, and freedom for all. We proclaim that there shall be peace to all and deter violence for a safer living.
Once upon a time, the nation was founded by those who sought freedom. For the founding fathers, English men, broke free from England and fled to America where they sought the right to be free, a time where, civilization and economical growth was flourishing, a time where land and natural resources was plentiful, this time in where America was rediscovered , this country was often referenced as " American Dream." Even fifty years ago when life in America was better than ever. One in those days went to school graduated highschool and went straigh into a job that paid pretty decent, there were no need to save up for one 's college fund, for the land was plentiful, jobs were of abundance and the eonomy
"All Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among there are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness". It is in this sentence from the Declaration of Independence, that the idea of the American dream has its roots. The phrase, “the American dream” can mean many different things, but among the most basic interpretation is that America is a land of opportunity and freedom for all who come to it. The idea of the American dream has influenced people to come to America in search of economic opportunities, political choice, and religious freedom.
The concept of liberty is important to this very day. Liberty initially means to be fundamentally free within ones society from any types of oppression, either from higher authority or from having different form ideologies that can be political or social. Liberty is a form of power that lets one act on their sets and values. In this paper, concept of liberty will be discussed on behalf of two philosophers, John Locke and Jean- Jacques Rousseau. Although liberty provides one to act as they please, there can be different forms of liberty, which are developed naturally by the state of nature and socially through development of human reasoning; state of nature is based on absolute freedom, while socially liberty is restricted. Firstly, John