John Heathcote - Article

America: Character and Identity

John Heathcote, 2-5-04

America over the decades has become a very diverse and unique country of the world. We have citizens with different religions, hopes, dreams and even ethnic and cultural backgrounds. There is no other nation in this world that can exemplify the characteristic of Independence better than the United States of America. In one word, America is Independence.
Our nation was brought up in struggle for Independence and consequently our nation’s first official declaration was the Declaration of Independence. Written by our celebrated forefather Thomas Jefferson it states, “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” In other words this declaration states that all men are independent to choose what they want to do in life and how they want to live. This same freedom that allows us to live also allows at the same time the right to injure others. The Bill of Rights does its best to grant all citizens everywhere the same rights, which help protect “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” These ideas in theory work and are the foundation of ourgovernment however, without them our government would no longer be a symbol of freedom and independence.

The first and by far most important amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” This revolutionary law laid down the foundation for religious and press-related freedom which indisputably still exists today.

In the early 1960’s many minority groups such as the African Americans, under the leadership of Martin Luther King, had very little social power, however they still had as United States Citizens, the right to free speech. Without this special and unique power granted to all citizens it would have been easy for the American oppressors to keep them quiet. Through the right of free speech many people were convinced of the problems and unjust actions facing the African American’s at the time. Since that time many other groups have spoken out and have received aid from the government, people and other organizations.

However despite these laws and freedoms of independence granted to African Americans and all citizens, the oppressive party still had freedom and Independence to criticize and in many instances physically hurt African Americans. Although it is strictly against the law these days to make an assault against anyone, the freedom of speech has continued and still exists today. Sometimes I will catch many friends and close peers I know ignorantly speaking negatively about other people different than themselves. Again, despite our laws and amendments to society there will always be people in society that will try to feel superior by presenting their cutting remarks and in some ways naive ignorance to the world.

The first amendment also states the right to practice free religion. Many early settlers came over to the United States to seek religious freedom. Despite our struggle to try to preserve the freedom of people we have sometimes gotten carried away with one group of people and forgotten an entire group of people who have the same rights as everyone else.

The Latter Day Saints in the early 1800’s were led by Joseph Smith a great and honorable leader who did everything in his power to protect his people. Notwithstanding these efforts the surrounding mobs and leaders, even of government, sought to kill the members of the church and jailed Joseph Smith many times until he was killed by an angry mob. Governor Boggs of Illinois in 1838 signed an extermination order allowing the killing of Latter Day Saints legal. The Saints were driven from the state and settled peacefully in Utah. The question remains what caused our government “by the people for the people,” to drive these peaceful Christian Saints out of Illinois? This answer is unexplainable but the source of problem still exists today. One cause may be that the LDS communities became so successful that the surrounding citizens began to get scared and sought to solve their problems through violence. We are not over these times and the same independence to seek selfish rights over the rights of others exists today.

Many innocent Middle Eastern Americans were tormented and hurt with criticism during the days after nine-eleven. Although these Middle Eastern families had rights similar to that of other Americans, fear and hatred caused the freedoms to all but disappear even as public officials would be found guilty of ignoring their rights. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross said “We need to teach the next generation of children from day one that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind's greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear.” I agree with this statement entirely. There is no greater curse than the problems we can cause others with our freedoms.

I believe, that overall our nation of freedom and independence does protect us. We have rules and guidelines that most people understand the consequences of, however this does not keep some people from doing things that are unpunishable by the law. For example, when was it ever against the law to call someone a dirty name? It is however, very rude and socially unacceptable. You could possibly be kicked out of a public place, but I have never heard of anyone getting arrested. Our nation leaves a gap of freedom that allows us to do whatever we want even if it may be morally incorrect. It is no wonder Mark Twain once stated, “It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them.” Despite Twain’s comment this same gap that allows us to hurt others also allows us to help others with our increased independence and freedom. The idea of freedom and how it can best strive in our country is better stated by William Hazlitt when he says, “The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.” We are all given the power, freedom and independence to love either others or ourselves.

We must remember our freedom and independence greatly sets us apart from any other nation in the world. We can be called the best nation and at the same time the worst of nations. We must decide and start with ourselves. Some people make a fool of us with their freedom and some people make us proud. In the end it is up to us as individuals of this nation to decide whether we want to be for the good or for the bad. This collective idea and feeling of pride and independence characterizes the United States of America.