What is America by Trace Gaynes
America is many things, to the rest of the world America is a place where people come to have a new life and start over. America is a place where they can escape the horrors of the rest of the world, but for true Americans it is much more than that. Throughout the history of this place, that we call our home we have learned how to love, deal with adversity, unite as one, and take down enemies through George W. Bush’s speech after 9/11, The Great Gatsby, JFK’s inaugural address, and President Obama’s speech on the death of Osama Bin Laden. These significant events are big reasons why America is the way it is today.
On September 11, 2001, the history of this country was changed forever. A terrorist group that goes by the name of Al Qaeda ordered two airplanes to crash into the twin towers located in New York. This would lead to the killing of approximately two thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven people. The nation was in complete shock and feared more attacks until George W Bush gave arguably one of the greatest speeches in American History. On September 14, 2001, George W Bush gathered rescue workers at the site of the world trade centers. George Bush told the workers there and the rest of America who were tuning in on the TV that “Terrorists attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.” He told America that the terrorists can take down a couple of buildings, but they will never be able to take down the foundation that holds America together. George Bush being at the site of the attack showed America that it does not matter that he is the president, he will still show up for his people and be there for them in tough times. After this speech Americans were ready to take on Al Qaeda and were willing to do whatever it would take to defeat them.
The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald teaches us that love is one of the strongest things on earth and has the ability to bond two people together like no one can imagine. Jay Gatsby is derived by his love for Daisy and is willing to do whatever it takes to be with her. Gatsby decided to join the army, and this is how he met daisy. He left for the war but his love for Daisy just grew stronger as time went on. Five years later after Jay returned from war, he decided to find Daisy and express his love to her. Jay Gatsby says “She’s never loved you. She loves me” to Daisy’s Husband Tom. This shows how much Gatsby loves Daisy; he is willing to call out the husband of his lover to be with her.
John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address was given on January 20th nineteen sixty-one. At the time Kennedy was the youngest president in United States History. During his address President Kennedy says, “Let both sides” and is referring to the United States and other opposing countries. This is an effort to let the other countries know that we are not against them. JFK also tells the citizens of the United States that the torch is being passed down to a new generation.
The people listening are the new generation. He is telling them that the success of the country is now on them and that they have the power to make a difference in the world. JFK tells them that they must work together and unite as one in order to achieve their goals.
Around ten o’clock at night on May 1st, President Obama appeared on the tv screen and announced the death of Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda. Osama Bin Laden is responsible for the death of thousands of innocent Americans. In the speech President Obama talks about how we were united as one American family after 9/11. That is what America is all about, going through some hard times and uniting even stronger than before. The Announcement of Osama’s death boosted the confidence of the American people and made them come together even more. This showed them that when we come together, we can take down anything and anyone.
Throughout the History of America, it has had its ups and downs, but every time it faces some adversity it bounces back stronger than ever. George W. Bush’s speech after 9/11, The Great Gatsby, JFK’s inaugural address, and President Obama’s speech on the death of Osama Bin Laden are just some of the highlights that have united us as one, showed us the true meaning of love, proved that we face adversity we must come together as one to be even stronger than before. America is one of the greatest countries in the world and these events are a big part of that. We must continue to be united in order to keep getting stronger as a country. When America is at its best nothing can stop us.
Final Exam by Michael Romano
Throughout the past 83 years, the United States of America has been one of the fastest growing countries in the world in almost any way imaginable. There has been substantial economic growth, while at the same time the USA has maintained the largest military in the world. Based on this, one would think that everything inside the country is going great all the time, but that has not been the case the whole time.
82 years ago, the United States of America entered World War Two. One of the largest Countries and Armies in the world entering the war would have a huge impact on it, changing the outcome completely. But with such a big country, war propaganda and positive news towards the war is extremely important, because if the public opinion turns against the war, then it becomes a lot harder for the government to run a war without the people on their side. A way they got the people on their side is with cartoons and tv shows that encourage the American people that the war was good, and this is shown with the Bugs Bunny cartoon, “Herr meets Hare.” The cartoon is a great way to inform people of all ages about the war. In the cartoon, the big stereotypical German is outsmarted by the creative American bugs bunny. It is a very American cartoon because it is a great example of American Exceptionalism, considering how much smarter bugs are then the German. But even if this worked for World War Two, when the Vietnam War was at its height, it was beyond the point of cartoons swaying public opinion.
The Vietnam War is one of the longest lasting wars in American history, beginning on November 1st 1955 and ending on April 30th 1975. Mainly because of the longevity of the war, the public opinion on the war quickly changed from good to bad. The war protests were growing daily, and they needed just one big message to get the opinion through to the government. At Woodstock 1969, Jimi Hendrix was the main attraction at the music festival. People had waited all day for him to come on stage and play his guitar, and when he finally appears on stage, the first thing he plays is an improvised version of the Star Spangled Banner. His version of the song had many of the sounds of war within it, such as gunshots, planes, and bombs. Hendrix’s version of the National Anthem was seen by the 400,000 people at Woodstock that year, and by anyone who wanted to see it on TV. This performance swayed public opinion on the war even more against it. But this is not the only major divide in America since World War Two.
More recently, there have been many racial divides in America. In the past couple years with the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter Movement, but even earlier in places such as Charlottesville, Virginia. In 2017, a statue of confederate general Robert E. Lee was supposed to be removed, when a protest of hundreds of armed people stood in a “Unite the Right” rally against taking down the statue. These protesters were met with many people there to watch the taking down of the statue. When these two groups interacted with each other, it ended up with one person killed and dozens injured. All of these injured people were from the side who were there to watch the taking down of the statue, and they were all killed or injured by people from the “Unite the Right” rally who drove their trucks through the crowd. This all escalated to the top when President Trump said that “there are good people on both sides.” This statement caused a ton of controversy with him and with our government in general. But not long before, our country had been united by one single speech.
On May 2nd 2011 at 11:35 PM, President Obama made a speech that would impact everyone in the country and bring them together. When Obama announced “ Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children,” it brought everyone in the country together. While there are not a ton of things that everyone in the country can agree on, this was one of them. The killing of Osama Bin Laden is one of the most important moments in the history of the country for the people. It represents closure on all of the previous terrorist actions on the US, and while it won’t end these actions, at the time it felt like it to the American people. This moment really signifies America throughout history, because when there is controversy, either from other countries or within ourselves, America always bounces back from it to become an even stronger country in the future.
