Explain What It Means To Be An American

490 Words2 Pages

What exactly does it means to be an American you may ask ? A historian by the name of Philip Gleason had once stated that ¨To be or to become an American, a individual didn 't have to be any particular nationality, learning language, religious, or ethnic background. All he had to do was to commit himself to the political ideology centered on the abstract ideals of liberty, equality, and republicanism. Nevertheless, the Universalist ideological persona of an American nationality meant that it was willingly open to become an American¨. Furthermore, what Gleason is explaining is that all one has to do is act like an American and embrace the American way of life, but is this really what it implies to be an American? In this essay I will identify whether or not it is enough to embrace culture, or if there is more to identifying what it is to be an American.
Identifying as being an American has many characteristics as well as distinct aspects. First, to be an American it means that I 'm free as an individual of the United States of America. This simply exemplifies that when I grow up I have the ability to choose the career or job that I want free willingly. In addition, that I have the right to a good education and to have intentions to become someone in this society of …show more content…

As you can clearly see being an American isn 't as it was perceived. However, being an American is a great privilege and living the American lifestyle is very meaningful. Throughout this essay I have learned that being an American contains lots of exemplorific characteristics that go along with it. Just as Philip Gleason explained “To pursue as an American an individual didn 't have to be any particular nationality, language, religion, or ethnic background.” What I have taken from this essay is that Americans have the right to be free and pursue the American Dream with