Who Are We? And How Can We Be Defined?

During the discussion, Andrew Deblanco stated without war we, as country, don’t know who we are. Yet I am not quite satisfied with statement and I am baffled by it. I understand his point on the surface in that wars help us, as a country, determine progress and explain the situations during that time period. I also understand that we should learn from the wars in our past. But I cannot even begin to argue that what defines our country is the wars that we fought in. In that case, the injustice of Vietnam would define us? Somehow I think there is more to this country, then simply the fighting that has gone on in the past two-hundred and fifty years. There are multiple ways to define our country, one being the speeches that president present. For example, speeches from Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and even Barrack Obama have uplifted our country in times disparity. Not only can president’s speeches define our country but words of wisdom from the non-violent Martin Luther King Jr., or Susan B. Anthony on behalf of women’s right. If I were to define the country I would automatically think of the times when George Washington spoke of the dangers of having political parties as well as his moving words about the future of America, or Thomas Jefferson and the Constitution in which has stood the test of time, or even the burning of bras in Washington D.C during the Women’s Rights Movement or presently the election of an African- American man, Barrack Obama and his words on hope and change for the future. America is not simply a fighting nation but a place of change and integrity. If anything America, should be known for its rebellious citizens who speak their mind at ease, and a government that is, as Lincoln said, “by the people, for the people, and of the people.” It was not just simply the Civil War that defined America, but Lincoln’s words and radical views that shape our belief’s today. As Jefferson said in Philadelphia “we have given you a republic if you can keep it”, therefore it is the events, which may include war, and words of the people in America that define who we are.