United by Differences “I am an American.” No phrase has held so many meanings and explanations that it requires the context of the world to understand. America has come to be identified as a conglomeration of different ethnicities and cultures from across the world. Almost all Americans emigrated from another nation to form an encompassing society in this nation. America is comprised of a literal and metaphorical “melting pot” of immigrant cultures, customs, religions, and philosophies. Although our flag is not tied together by one culture or ethnicity, certain characteristics are truly woven into a person on this soil. An American is not defined by their religion, customs or place or origin, but by their drive for freedom, equality and the pursuit of the American Dream. Every American has been shaped by the plethora of different cultures that permeate through this unique society. While many other nations divide or separate through differences, Americans can be tied together by these very same disparities. A citizen can be English, Chinese, Polish, Italian, Greek; they can be Catholic, Buddhist, Jewish, or Islamic. No religion, no custom, no ethnicity can truly define every citizen of America because it “is every person’s country” (Crevecoeur 309). Yet, because of this great diversity, many Americans have an appreciation or understanding for the co-existence of lifestyles and beliefs. Since the founding of this country in Jamestown and the Pilgrims of Plymouth, immigrants “of every hue and caste … of every rank and religion” (Whitman 1015) have brought their different ways of life to the United States. Traditions and customs of many different cultures were introduced to America with the arrival of immigrants from various societies. This diversity that composes this country has forced citizens to seek new areas of unity, understanding, and brotherhood. Even with these vast differences, Americans are tied together by their drive for freedom. Since Winthrop’s voyage to the colonies, an American is inextricably connected through aspiration of personal liberty. Winthrop preached on how to construct and live in a “godly” community, while trying to see spirituality and God in all things. He called on his followers to “be a city upon a hill,” a model for other societies (Winthrop 105). In his manifesto, Winthrop demonstrates the religious freedom that has drawn millions to America. Some early colonists left England to avoid religious persecution from the Church of England and later settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Although religion and conquest were the initial motives for venturing to the colonies, the drive to rule their own lives and to make their own future was an encapsulating theme. After this early drive for freedom, especially religious, the notion of self-determination and liberty became embedded into the psyche of an American. From the Revolutionary War to the current war in Afghanistan, the idea of independence and fighting for change is clearly an ideal embraced by the people of this country. Celebrations like the Fourth of July show a deep commitment of Americans to represent and live their freedom. Nevertheless, personal liberty has to be fought for. The use of philosophy and logic to combat the repression of both thought and lifestyle was prominent in Enlightenment literature. While representing a secular, yet open message, The Age of Reason articulates an exceptional American ideology by “always strenuously support[ing] the Right of every man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine.” The repression of freedom was a condition that many Americans faced while in early America or before they immigrated to the country. This same repression created the spirit and overwhelming presence of free will in an American citizen today. This unrelenting pursuit of freedom continued as a major theme among the Beat writers, although it took a very different form. The normalcy and conformity in the new post-WWII society was a smothering and contaminating environment for the “Just Go!” mantra of the Beat generation. (Kerouac 204). In Kerouac’s On the Road, Sal, the protagonist, drives back and forth across the nation on a “search for God” (Kerouac). Whether it was an enlightened thought or just to “go,” Dean and Sal were both relentlessly searching to break though provincial life and reach a sort of spiritual freedom. The entire Beat generation was looking for this individual freedom that they felt deprived of in the new American society. They were “hung-up running from one falling star to another” until they could no longer follow it, and then stop, only to realize they were still lost (Kerouac 116). The American ideal of being free or searching for that freedom spilled into the Beat generation. On the Road was the new American dream; not about being successful, but the individualism and autonomy that could be achieved only on the fringes of “acceptable.” Ginsberg portrays the changing American dream and the effects of their journey for freedom in Howl. The new American was lost, who “chained themselves to subways for the endless ride from Battery to holy Bronx on benzedrine until the noise of wheels and children brought them down shuddering mouth-wracked and battered bleak of brain all drained of brilliance.” America, a nation unified by massive differences consisting of two or more extreme cultures, waged a metaphorical war on life itself. But, the fundamental aspect of an American’s desire remained: the drive for freedom and independence. During the counter-cultural social movement beginning in the early 1960s, equality and liberty were again sought because of the inequality in America. Martin Luther King was a driving force in the civil rights movement, campaigning for black equality. By using pacifist tactics and civil disobedience and protests, he was able to create a change that will forever shape America. The freedoms given under the Constitution had never been so severely tested or publicly used, yet through his and others work change was inevitable. The freedom he sought for blacks from white suppression was so similar to all great American movements. From the Revolutionary War to Romanticism to Gothic, Americans are always seeking new ways of thought and change, forming the American today. The drive for freedom has metamorphosed since the colonization of America, but the basic idea has become ingrained in an American and continues to tie society together. Along with freedom, the pursuit of the elusive American dream is part of what makes up an American. Immigrants came and continue to come from nearly ever country for largely similar reasons; ambition for success and hope for a better life. The American dream has changed over the years. Crevecoeur explained the ideal America as a place where hard work and talent count more than who you are or who your family is. “Here individuals of all nations are melted into one race of men, whose labors and prosperity will one day cause great change in the world” (Crevecoeur 303). Because people came to America to be free and to work hard for their success, similar values are naturally within an American. The dream of being successful and achieving greater accomplishment than the previous generation has tied the American society together, whether or not they have reached that dream. An American does not have to be wealthy or of a certain race to be an American, but striving to have a better life with unity and equality is what defines and binds them. The pilot… the canal boy… the bride …the patriarchs” are all Americans. (Whitman 1014). “And of these one and all I weave the song of myself. An American is not a hippie from the 60s, a pilgrim from Plymouth, or a slave in the 1800s, but is all of them combined. The many different cultures that have come to reside in this country have manifested into one complete society with a similar philosophy. Whatever the motives, an American has steadfastly steered this country to pursue a new freedom and to seek the American dream. America can never be bound together by one culture or one religion or one social cloth, but it can be unified by an innate goal within the population. A person who has overcome the barrier of many cultures and ethnicities and who has the spirit of freedom and the passion for the American dream…”this is an American” (Crevecoeur 303).