Vision of America Before Today
America the Great. America the Powerful. America the Beautiful. Are many ways we use to describe America. We have had many great people say wonderful ideas and have powerful speeches about what America the Great should be; however, we have lacked to take responsibility and courage to become the great. How is America supposed to be great and powerful when we American citizens can’t even do what we were told a long time ago to make America what it should be. Presidents and history making people in our past have had essential American speeches that each changed America into becoming the greatest dominating government; but, in today’s society we have let them down and are degrading everyday. Sojourner Truth
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This amendment was giving colored citizens the right to vote. “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Every citizen should have the right to vote. As I mentioned above segregation continues on today and back then it was just the beginning of it. Abraham Lincoln had a dream that blacks would not be looked down upon due to the color on their backs but looked to as United States citizens. During this time when the amendment was passed the Civil War had ended in April, the Thirteenth Amendment freed the slaves and the Fourteen gave them citizenship and protection. Blacks slowly but surely finally got to have a life that seemed theoretical. America should be proud of every citizen that will stand and support the U.S. government. They are proud and glad to be in our county. That’s what America should …show more content…
John was the 35th president and the only one to have ever been born in the twentieth century. His father was an Ambassador and encourage public service for his family. When John became president he wrote this immediately after he took office. In the Address he talks as if to threaten any potential enemies. He will defend our nation no matter what it takes. Also John addresses the topic of the living poor. They are living on the streets in huts and villages, he gives them a pledge that he is going to help them and go against “aggression or subversion.” If John wanted to stay true to what he said he would have to have cooperation from the people. Despite if many of them are friends or enemies they should come together to make our country great again. “The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.” To make a change we all have to be in it. John was a great president and a strong leader. He would protect our country and was trying to make our country the best it could be. Today in our lives we have a president who should not have been in office twice or even once. We need a leader strong and courageous and who will make the poor strong. That is what America’s government should
Define America In a time of uncertainty and confusion America was a very fragile as a country. Authors through out America's time have told of what this country can be and what it is today. These authors Thomas Jefferson, Walt Whitman, Harry Browne and many others voice their opinions on how America should go about changing and talk about how America used to be the greatest country. Thomas Jefferson, America's 3rd President, was one of the best leaders it had fighting for the freedom of America's people.
“On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy took the oath of office to become the nation's 35th president.” (1). As many, if not all presidents do, John F. Kennedy gave a speech to discuss the pride of the nation. Most importantly John F. Kennedy gave a speech that delivered a message of strength and hope across the world abroad. In his inaugural address, Kennedy not only wanted to inspire those in the United States, but those in other countries across the globe.
The words "all the majesty of this great government" translates into the need for the American government to be a good example for the rest of the world, especially through the adoption of equal voting rights. Connotative diction appears again in paragraph 8 where the words "lay bare the secret heart of America" are used to indicate the issues that affected Americans themselves, but were ignored. The time had come to stop fighting external battles and focus on improving the welfare of the Americans. Paragraph 9 dilutes all the other development efforts of the American government using connotative diction. The use of words "conquer the stars" represents the highest level of development that the American nation would achieve.
America’s founders created the constitution in order to create unification and order in the United States. However, there have been controversy surrounding the interpretation of the constitution, this has caused debate over many issues within the country. These issues and the lack of wartime policy within the constitution directly lead to the Civil War, which was one of the worst alterations this nation has faced. The Missouri compromise, the Dred Scott decision, and Bleeding Kansas were controversial issues surrounding the constitution that directly lead to the Civil War.
America is exceptional, but it has not lived up to its full potential. America has achieved many great things, but has also managed to go too far and ruin what started out as a great idea. A prime example of what started out as a great idea but was then corrupted would be Americanization. America also fell short in the way workers were treated in its means of industrializing.
At the end of the Civil War between the North and South arose the Reconstruction era. This was a time period of the late 1800s where the united states, specifically the North started to attempt the rebuilding of the South. Abolitionists were eager to see the end of slavery and Lincoln attempted to end slavery. President Lincoln attempted to put in place the Emancipation Proclamation which stated all slaves in confederate states would be free. This was to weaken the southern states; except, the confederate states did not obey.
Post Civil War, African Americans started to gain rights to gain rights, and soon gain rights equal to whites. While there were some people/things standing in their way (KKK, Black Codes), in the end they got what they needed; Equality. Many acts and laws were passed to aid the new rights now held by African Americans, as well as the numerous people willing to help. New Amendments were added to give African Americans rights after the war, all giving them some equal rights to whites. The first of the three added was the Thirteenth Amendment, it gave African Americans freedom from slave owners, and stated that no one could be kept as a slave in the U.S..
The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) The amendments were put into place to protect the rights and civil liberties of all American citizens from the federal government. However, prior to the fourteenth amendment, there was no certainty with the constitution. The constitution did not state in a clear enough way who was protected under it and exactly what rights you had as an American Citizen. The 14th amendment was in response to the just passed thirteenth amendment, which ended slavery in all of the southern states.
“For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.” This quote from the 35th president of the United States set a precedent of greatness for our country. The man who set such a precedent was John F. Kennedy. A very persuasive and well-read man, when he gave his inaugural address, our nation and the world knew we were in good hands. JFK not only was well-read, he gave moving speeches.
His diction is very inclusive; he commences his speech with several uses of the words ‘we’ and ‘our’, which makes way for inclusivity. JFK is blurring the distinction between citizen and superior governor by including the people in his proclamation. While describing the hardships and challenges that the country is facing, Kennedy mentions how imperative the occasion is on a global level; in the midst of the Cold War, he reminds his audience of the importance of uniting. Through the use of the lexical field of danger — words such as: ‘defiance’, ‘serious’, ‘risk’, and ‘sacrifice’ — he creates a feeling of tension and urgency, and engages his audience to the concern. To conclude his speech, the President mentions self-guilt on the part of the country on how they had not displayed the “sense of business responsibility” that they should have, a rhetorical strategy that approximates the audience to the government.
However, until today, African Americans still couldn’t get their real voting rights. This act doesn’t totally infer this situation, no matter how industrious blacks demand their completed fundamental rights. Except African American, within the United States, many minorities have struggled for their rights for many years. It is necessary for a government to protect all citizens’ rights, including the minorities. If the government couldn’t do that, as a citizen, we should speak out our perspectives by participating in the voting
The Inaugural speech by John F. Kennedy is a landmark type of speech that was given to the American populace in order to inspire confidence and to provoke them to take immediate action. His speech made extensive use of rhetorical devices in order to successfully express his goals. His stylistic devices include antithesis, parallelism, and varying structure flows in order to attract attention and to show what his service will accomplish. Kennedy details “a new generation of Americans” by contrasting old and new with his antithesis. He states, “Symbolizes an end as well as a beginning” and “signifies renewal as well as change” in order to do so.
America is known around the world as united and free… at least that’s what people say. As Americans, we say these things, but from many perspectives America seems quite flawed. For example, we say we are united, but take a look at our government, we are politically divided. Lets just say, America is viewed in many different ways. Throughout the poems, “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman and “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes, two opposing views are represented.
He did an meticulous job stating that he was not settling for less than the looters and washington men backing off, so he and the other industrialist could take over. John addressed many different points throughout the course of the speech but a few subjects he expressed were desires, knowledge and choices. The small part of the speech that appeared fascinating and true was when John spoke about living life, and man not being able to live unless he can think for himself.
Without these good and even bad events in America’s past, its present and its future as a nation would be completely different. If we don’t know where we’ve been, how can we know where we’re going? That’s why it is important to remember not just the good things, but also all the hardships America has gone through. For if we do not remember, there is nothing to stop them from happening