American Spirit

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4th Of July Fireworks Vectors by Vecteezy


It's celebration time--time for picnics and water sports, hotdogs and watermelon. And after a day of fun and food we top it off with firework shows for a spectacular finish. Through it all one important factor that we celebrate is our American Spirit. One article that inspired this blog is called The American Spirit: What Does It Mean? It is full of inspiring quotes and examples of the American Spirit. 



Canada Day was Saturday, July 1, and the US will celebrate Independence Day July 4. Our countries are great friends now, but at one point, the US invaded Canada! Some of my distant relatives were part of the militia protecting their homes in Upper Canada, as Ontario was known in 1812. Canada is part of the American continent, and is part of the American Spirit we want to discuss today. - Valorie


Our history is full of examples of former enemies uniting in friendship and amity, by focusing on shared values. When we declared independence from Great Britain. The 13 American colonies united, after much debate, in declaring independence from British rule. We think of this as an easy choice now, but we were only beginning to fully develop what we now think of as the American spirit. At the time, most colonists thought of themselves as English and Pennsylvanians, Virginians, or Green Mountain Boys -- not Americans. Not yet. 

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Many were loyal to the crown. It was not clear in the beginning that we were beginning to craft together a new nation, open to the world, made up of people, indigenous, enslaved, indentured, rich, poor, from many cultures, speaking many languages, eventually sharing the American spirit.

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Sometimes we made progress, and sometimes we fell backwards, and even endured a war between the states. In the end though, even the former combatants often came together in amity, based on their shared suffering and values.

 

I marvel at the strength of the American spirit that persevered through disasters and hardships to form our country. It was not an instant success; there have been many trials and errors to form this "imperfect union" and we must continue to strive for the good of all mankind. To me, that is the American spirit our forebears constructed for us. - MaryLynn

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One of the reasons I love the Fourth of July is the many stories that are often shared about wonderful actions taken by the most unlikely people on behalf of the nation's ideals, even when they and their families have endured terrible suffering at the hands of that nation. That to me is the American Spirit. Not ignoring injustice, but by overcoming it. - Valorie

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