What it means to be American
“Citizens by birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.” –George Washington
The basics of the American identity means that you identify yourself as an American first and foremost. There is no such thing as an “African-American”, “Irish-American”, or what ever other hyphenated American you may find. You are either American or you aren’t. Your identity as an American isn’t where you are from, it’s where you are, the country of your citizenship and the source of your national pride. Being American means that you are proud of your country, regardless of its faults. We as Americans believe that ours is the greatest country on the planet. Yes, that’s nationalism! No, there’s nothing wrong with it. The heart of the American identity can be summed up in the oath and law of the Boy Scouts of America:
On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.
Note that God comes before country. Note also the call to duty to both God and country. Each and every American has a duty to their country. What is that duty? Support and defend it against threats which would bring it down.
Boy Scout Law
A Scout is:
Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, Reverent
If you replace scout with American, that is what we are. It is these characteristics, rooted in Judeo-Christian beliefs that makes us great as a nation. It means you hold the four documents which are the foundation of our country in the highest regard. Members of the armed forces of the United States understand this, they reaffirm it every time they reaffirm their commitment to serve.
Our founding fathers had much to say about the character of an American, here are a few of them;
In 1833, Justice Joseph Story wrote, “Let the American youth never forget, that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils, and sufferings, and blood of their ancestors; and capacity, if wisely improved, and faithfully guarded, of transmitting to their latest posterity all the substantial blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty, property, religion, and independence.“Â What he was talking about was not forgetting the fact that freedom is not free. Brave men and women fought and died, and continue to do so, in order to keep us free. The tremendous sacrifice borne by these strong souls should not be taken lightly.
On each generation’s obligation to the next, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us.” Take a look around you, do you see the freedom that you have? What will you do to keep it, how far will you go? We need to remind our children to keep these things in their hearts, so that they may not soon forget them.
Of our national character, Samuel Adams insisted, “[N]either the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt.“ Thomas Jefferson added, “It is the manners and spirit of a people which preserve a republic in vigor. A degeneracy in these is a canker which soon eats to the heart of its laws and constitution.“ What they were advocating was strong moral character. Character which seems to get lost in the sea of political correctness, the unwillingness to “offend” someone. If your child is about to place his hand on a hot burner do you gently tell them not to do it, or do you scream “STOP!!!”? Do you scold your child, sternly and administer discipline, harsh if necessary, when they misbehave? How are you teaching your child to have a strong, moral character?
Understanding that each generation would face its trials, Thomas Paine wrote, “I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” Each generation of Americans will have tough decisions to make, sacrifices must be borne by each generation to make the next stronger, and to remind us that good things take hard work to maintain. Weak willed politicians shrink from the tough decisions. They check the polls, and change almost daily. Strong elected leaders stand on the principals which got them elected. They are willing to make the hard decisions which affect future generations, not future elections.
Knowing that liberty would not survive any generation which turned away from its Creator, James Madison wrote, “The belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the world and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities impressed with it.”
Thomas Jefferson queried, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.”
Regarding liberty in the context of our constitutional republic, James Wilson said, “Without liberty, law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression. Without law, liberty also loses its nature and its name, and becomes licentiousness.”
On liberty beyond our Republic’s borders, George Washington wrote, “It should be the highest ambition of every American to extend his views beyond himself, and to bear in mind that his conduct will not only affect himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that its influence may be co-extensive with the world, and stamp political happiness or misery on ages yet unborn.”
Now I know that not every American has all of these traits all the time, but it is what we are at our core. It’s why people have always wanted to come here, sometimes risking their own lives to get out of the oppressive country that they live in. I remember listening to VP Dick Cheney say something about what he called “the gate principle”, which basically means that if you open the gates, are people wanting to get in, or out?
Mark Alexander wrote “Today, we are blessed with the sacred trust bequeathed to us by our Founders, and we must honor our obligations, continuing our tireless advocacy for individual liberty, the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary and the promotion of free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values.”
These principles are the source of our prosperity, and, in Jefferson’s words, “a gift of God.”
Every day that we share the name “American” should be a day of thanksgiving, and we should not for one solitary second, amid the political rancor, lose sight of all that is good and right with our great nation.”
Rattrap
