My American Creed

America: The land of the free and the home of the brave, or so they say.

What about the millions of woman who had their rights stripped away with the stroke of a pen in 2022? By a court dominated by men, their endless triumphs and sentimental speeches were flattened by a system that is supposed to ensure liberty for all. But liberty certainly was not insured for all when Roe  V Wade was overturned with Dobbs.

What about when Americans stood by as a group of people were tormented and enslaved because they looked different? These actions were claimed to be justified because the Constitution never said holding human beings as property was unconstitutional. 

But it is not in fact the constitution that makes America the land of the free, it is the people that live here and the immense bravery that they possess. This is my American Creed.

Let us go back to a time when half of the population was not given the right to vote. Women, who were still being taxed and imposed on by the law, had no way to represent themselves in our American government. But, it was the brave American citizens who put a change to this dated system. Through protests, speeches, and endless triumphs these citizens argued their way to an alteration to the Constitution in the form of an amendment. The 19th Amendment brought universal suffrage, and a new-found voice to all women who could now officially call themselves true American citizens. It was the immense bravery of American citizens that furthered the land of the free to both genders, this bravery is my American Creed.

It was the brave who took a stand against the Constitution and ended an institution of torment and slavery. Due to these citizens’ willingness to risk their lives for their beliefs, slavery was outlawed with the 13th Amendment in 1865. But it did not stop there, the monumental bravery of American citizens extended for over 100 years, when people were still (and still are) discriminated against simply because they looked different. 1960s America was a prime example of how the bravery of the people took the lead in American society. Whole organizations of the brave were formed, thousands of citizens gathered to hear the grievances of another brave citizen, and thousands more marched through the streets. All of these brave citizens had one general goal, and that was to bring change to a broken country that claimed to be the land of the free. And so they did, they ended Constitutional segregation, eliminated voting barriers like poll tax, and used their voices to spread awareness that America is not in fact fully and truly the land of the free as it claims to be. These brave citizens are my American Creed.

And so they say, America is the land of the free. But, without the millions of brave citizens that reside in this nation, we would not even be close to having the ability to call ourselves this, and that is my American Creed.