Being an American 2

Hannah Deindorfer, Great Lakes Region
Saranac High School, Saranac, MI; Teacher: Cynthia Sanford

No one expected that creating a country would be easy. From the Mayflower Compact, to the Declaration of Independence, to the Bill of Rights, America's Founders had to fight against every imaginable odd to create the country that I know and love today. Without the civic virtue of perseverance, America would be nothing more than a British colony. Perseverance is defined as a steady persistence in a course of action, in spite of difficulties, obstacles, and discouragement. Americans have truly faced all of the above, but it is equally true that members of this nation have displayed, without falter, the perseverance necessary to overcome any
difficulty, all obstacles, and every discouragement imaginable. In December of 1776, Americans were in the midst of the Revolutionary War, and facing the largest obstacle
to the freedom and existence of this country that has ever existed. At first, patriot soldiers were buoyed with confidence, especially after the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the quick response of minutemen at Lexington and Concord. But when December came, it was a different story. Washington's troops were on the run, lacking
basic supplies, and the outlook for victory was bleak. In this dark time, no document embodied what it means to be an American more than Thomas Paine's The American Crisis. This pamphlet, written on a drum, declared to all that, "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will...shrink from the service of the country, but he that stands now, deserves the loved and thanks of man and woman." General George Washington was so moved by Paine's patriotic rhetoric that he read The American Crisis to his troops just before their enlistments were up, and many were encouraged to persevere and eventually win the war for independence. The spirit of Thomas Paine's famous series of articles lived on through the end of the victorious Revolution to the 1800s. An African American woman named Harriet Tubman was faced with adversity from birth. Harriet was born a slave in 1820, and by the age of thirteen, she was used as a field hand by her cruel master. In 1849,Harriet resolved to run away. She left the plantation where she was raised and abused, and followed the North Star all the way to Philadelphia. What truly makes Harriet an American hero was that she persevered into slave country nineteen times. Harriet escorted over three hundred slaves to freedom, and as the most wellknown conductor of the Underground Railroad, she "never lost a passenger." By 1856, the price for the capture of Harriet Tubman was $40,000. On any of her dangerous journeys, she could have been easily caught or killed, but to Tubman, persevering to secure the freedom of others was worth more than her own life. Though I haven't found myself leading slaves to freedom, I have persevered through adversity in my own life. When I was thirteen years old, my father was diagnosed with a serious illness. This disease threatened to tear my family apart. For the next year, I faced the most difficult time of my life. As the oldest child, I had to set an example of courage for my younger siblings. Though I wanted to break down, I had to stay steady for them. In the midst of this personal crisis, I found my own strength and sense of perseverance. Today, my dad has his disorder under control and my family is closer than ever. I thank God every day for giving me the will to persevere. Thomas Paine said, "What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is darkness only that gives everything its value." The history of the United States has been built on fighting for what we hold dear. In the face of
darkness, persevering to reach our goals is the only thing that matters. To me, being an American means always striving for something better and never giving up. "Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm...will pursue his principles unto death." Thomas Paine believed, like me, that nothing is
more important than aspiring to bring one's own ideals to realization. In a moment of adversity, it is easy to give up, but a true American has the strength to persevere.