My American creed

MY AMERICAN CREED

The founding fathers were held together by their creed of what the United States should

be. Later on in American history others influenced the U.S. with their creeds, such as Abraham Lincoln’s fight for the eradication of the slave industry in America, Martin Luther king’s fight for equal rights for blacks, and Theodore Roosevelt’s protection of our national parks and American health. I too, like many other Americans, have my own American creed. As an American citizen my creed includes the importance of properly rewarding hard work combined with the equal treatment of the people from the government and the freedom of speech.

No matter what country it is, you will find people who are working hard for something. This is usually a better life for them, current family, and/or future family. Unfortunately throughout history and even today hard work is not rewarded as it should be in several countries. Examples include the French people of the third estate before 1789 who would do backbreaking work their entire lives only for their children and grandchildren to do the same and today in China while you can work for a better future it is a much slower and unrewarding process than the system in place in the United States. The founding fathers knew that hard work needed to be rewarded properly for America to be a thriving nation. Alexander Hamilton knew the importance of hard work himself from experience. Alexander was born into a poor family and his father abandoned him and his mother when Hamilton was only nine. Then two years later his mother died. Despite his family tragedy and his financially poor background he still worked for a better future, joining the military, rising its ranks and becoming famous for his political beliefs and writing. Not only did Hamilton become a founder father but one of the most famous of them as well.

I believe the importance of hard work being properly rewarded is crucial to being an American citizen, because without this the motivation to work is diminished and hatred for the government in place grows. And without motivation and feeling support from your government a country will grumble. Although America has not alway rewarded those worthy, I believe today and of recent times this is one thing citizens of the United States love about their country.

Persecution from the government is something that has, is , and most likely in the future will always be done somewhere in the world. Some of the most severe persecutions in history include the Nazis hatred toward the Jews and the intense persecution of the Christians by Nero. In modern day theocracies like Pakistan and India will kill and imprison those who leave the faith of that government’s theocracy. Even the United States has brutally persecuted groups of people in history, namely the Africans. Even still, equal treatment of the people was something the founding fathers wanted in their new country, which is why they wrote “All men are created equal” in our founding documents. The equal treatment of the citizens from the government is something that has been fought and died for throughout American history. From the first pilgrims fleeing religious persecution, to the freeing of slaves in the Civil war, to finally getting women the right to vote in 1920, and etc. Americans have shown that they care about equal treatment of all in their nation. Being able to achieve your goals no matter your race, gender, or religious beliefs is something incredible about the United States. Although America is not the only country to have freedom like this it was one of the first to make it a priority, which is why I believe and many other Americans believe so strongly about maintaining freedom like this in their country. As history has shown we Americans have a love of equal treatment that we have united for, fought for, and died for. I believe that without equal treatment of the government to the people a country cannot fully unite and without the union of the people and government a country is doomed to fail. This is why equal treatment of the people is a part of my American creed.

Freedom of speech is one of the foundations of the United States of America. The freedom to voice opinions without persecution and have an effect on your country with those opinions is the way a nation is molded into something great. Few countries had the privilege of freedom of speech before America was founded. Today still, several countries like North Korea and Iran do not have this as a right of the people. Throughout history examples of speaking out against the acts of the government and voicing your opinion are met with an iron fist from the king, emperor, dictator, or whatever government is in place. Severe Examples of this are the Chinese Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 and the Boston massacre in 1770. The founding fathers held freedom of speech as a crucial part of their new country. They and many other Americans had been silenced and persecuted for voicing their opinions that all men were created equal. Which was really just the truth. The 13 colonies had to fight a war against the most powerful nation in the world over the basic truth that all men are created equal. The founding fathers knew that for the United States of America to be a good nation the voice of the people had to be heard without persecution and heeded by the government. Many of them had fought in the war themselves and did not want the same thing to happen to their country that had happened to England.

I believe that for a nation to be both successful and be a welcoming place to live the people's voice has to be heard so that improvement of the country may happen. Without freedom of speech a country will repeat mistakes and cripple. I and many other Americans have and do believe this as has been shown in the founding of the United States alone.

The founding fathers were bound together by their American creed. Today in 2024 the United States of America has been and is being influenced by the American creeds of citizens who boldly share their beliefs of their home. This has been my American creed which highlights the proper reward of hard work, equal treatment of the people, and freedom of speech.