The American Promise Throughout the world, the United States is infamous for its guaranteed freedom to its citizens. People travel from all around many different parts of the world to get a taste of the lifestyle and opportunity the United States citizen’s are offered everyday. This nation thrives on preserving our personal freedoms, property, and liberty; moreover, it is the nation’s promise to its citizens. These rights are binded in our coveted Bill of Rights and the Constitution, a document for the people by the people.
Many people can find their own personal definition of what they believe to be the American Promise; however, growing up I have always believed and had been taught that the American Promise was the opportunity to live out my American Dream. I was always taught as a young girl that I could be anything I wanted to be with zero limitations and I have always believed that was America’s promise to me. Throughout history, our nation has expanded, changed, and developed over the many decades where we see that this nation has broken and kept its promise.
The well known battle of World War 11 was a war, nonetheless, that lasted during the years of 1935- 1945. This worldwide war is made epic for the vast involvement of some of the world’s largest nations and for its alarming fatality rate of roughly fifty to seventy five million deaths. The United States became apart of this war unwillingly when Japan launched an attack December 7, 1941. This attack was on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii destroying countless aircrafts, ships, homes, etc and more importantly as well as the loss of hundreds of lives.
Previously, America had taken pride in the fact that they were planning on remaining neutral between all foreign affairs so that they could not be involved with the chaos of other countries. This policy was known as isolationism. The idea to stay isolated from the political affairs and involvement of other countries started out as a seemingly good plan. In this case, America wanted to be neutral so that they could work to improve and fix their own problems and hardships and that would be the primary focus; to keep our nation running smoothly.
However, after this dreaded attack, America took action and proceeded to declare war on Italy, Germany, and Japan of course. By declaring war on these other countries, America proved to break its promise of remaining neutral: “isolationism”. Moreover, by becoming involved in World War 11, I believe that America as a whole actually showed strength and bravery with this decision. It conveyed how citizens of this nation were willing to lay their lives down for this country to protect their freedom.
The negative outlook on this war may be that the United States broke its promise of isolationism and did become involved in War World 11; but more importantly, a positive outlook would be that this country is willing to fight, and keep on fighting, to preserve its freedom and to protect its citizens. Throughout recent history, the fifties proved to be the most interesting to me because not only was it a time of great economic expansion; but it was also known as a period where current citizens and leaders of the United States frowned upon.
The “Golden Age” proved to be one of the most outbreaking movements of the industrial age. This period in American history gave citizens of the United States access to a better standard of living, transformed American agriculture, and brought the rise of the suburban nation. Remarkably, the employment rate for women had skyrocketed during the year of 1955 proving that the United States was an equal and fair nation. As our nation proceeded to keep its promise of letting its citizens live out their American Dream in this booming economy, it was also a time of hostility and racial segregation.
Notably, this period marked a famous movement in American history when blacks and whites were separated based on their ethnicity and begun the political movements for equality before the law known as the Civil Rights Movement. During this controversial movement, the United State’s leaders were thoroughly tested based on their actions regarding this matter. During this time, President Eisenhower and his administration did not frown upon this segregation and actually promoted it.
By the end of his administration in 1960, only 2% of black children attended integrated schools. The fifties gave way to promoting and conveying America’s promise to allow us to live out our dream to our fullest potential; moreover, marked a period of how our nation has evolved and developed throughout the years. Today, ethnicity and race are something to be proud of in this nation and people throughout the entire world are constantly welcomed into this country to learn and live the way that we do.
Not only does America believe in giving us the opportunity to thrive in the country but also to many other people throughout the world. Our nation has opened to the idea that we can actually learn other traditions and lifestyles, if not more, from people from other countries. Learning about America’s history, its not hard to see that as a nation we are not perfect. Like all other nations, we have dealt with many hardships such as war, racial discrimination, gender inequality amongst many other controversies.
However, with pride I say that this nation has come together for the better to protect its original promise to give us a life where we can fully explore and live out our dream the way that we always hoped to. A nation’s growth is an overall learning process and our nation’s history can attest to that. No matter the reasoning or outcome, it is clear that the United States has the pure intentions to protect our birth rights, and to continue to keep the people of the United States protected, all while upholding its promise of freedom to its citizens.
