Americans – A Revolutionary Idea

Unlike other countries, America cannot say they have a long history.

Nations like China all have written histories that go back thousands of years binding them to a shared tradition and culture. By contrast, here in the U.S.A., we have a history of a few hundred years.

Where do we begin to identify ourselves as Americans? I believe it is in our compacts and agreements, namely the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

The Declaration states we are all entitled to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

And the Bill of Rights protects these freedoms.

This may be different things to different people, but the basic meaning, freedom, is the same and it binds our people from sea to sea unifying us as a nation.

We are at worst a melting pot and at best a stew. A melting pot meaning we come to these shores, shuck off our previous identities, and become Anglo-Americanized.

For example, we change our names from Nüchter to Nichter; or change our fashion of dress to a more Anglo-American fashion.

In our history, it has been noted that we once forced Native Americans to go to our Western schools to learn our history and speak our English language in an attempt at “civilizing” them.

I prefer the more modern way of thinking about our people as a stew containing different ingredients.

Sure we want our stew to be the best on the kitchen table, but without all the ingredients necessary, the stew is just too bland, too tasteless so to speak.

This brings me to our immigration policy. Do we look for ways of containing ourselves within a wall? Protecting our families from outsiders as China once did by building the Great Wall?

Or do we welcome our neighbors?

I say, give them a chance as our grandparents and great grandparents were once given the chance to assimilate and participate in the American Dream of individual liberty, but keeping their traditions as an additional ingredient in the American stew.

This best preserves our identity, our freedom, and our hope for future generations.