Some you of may not know that my brother is a US naval officer. In June, my eldest daughter and I visited Newport R.I., Boston and points in between to celebrate his graduation from a course at the Naval War College. Here she is pictured with my brother and her two cousins.
New England is a region of the US steeped in colonial history. It is much like parts of North Carolina in this sense. However, North Carolina was a sleepy little colony compared to Boston's urban industry. Conflicts in North Carolina during the revolution were generally scattered skirmishes between Loyalists and revolutionaries, with county militia on each side. It is a much different picture than the city-wide bombardments, encircling fortifications, and British Army occupation of Boston.
RI is also the location of homes of some of the great captains of business our country has generated. A walk along the Breakers and a visit to the Vanderbilt Mansion were part of the trip.
My eldest daughter has a particular fascination with Paul Revere. As part of our trip we were sure to pilgrammige to all the relevant sites in downtown Boston including his home, the Old North Church (one if by land...), Bunker Hill and the USS Constitution, among others.
Coming right before the 4th of July, the trip brought back memories of the research I've done on the history of my family tree and aroused a bit of patriotic spirit. So I put together this little piece in celebration of our country and who we are.
"Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better." --Albert Camus
I Am An American
by Karl Feld
I am an American.
I am descended of foreigners from many lands. Most of them came to our country speaking no English with little but their bodies, minds and a desire to succeed. Some sold everything they had to get here. Some sold themselves into servitude to reach our shores.
I am descended from farmers and tradesmen who accepted the risk and pursued the possibilities of choosing the challenging, the uncertain, the opportunity: people who rejected the reliable, dependable sameness of their existences for an opportunity with no guarantee of success but their own hard work.
I am descended from ordinary people who took to up rifles to protect what they had built with their own hands from a government who burned our cities, seized our money and quartered troops in our homes.
I am descended from people who fought to provide the opportunity to have our way of life to people they’d never met. Some fought their cousins to free others they didn’t know. Others volunteered to protect and assist other peoples they couldn't communicate with. All did it because they believed it was right.
I am descended from ordinary people who through their own hard work earned economic success, watched it erode from their fingers, and built it anew; people determined to build a better life for themselves and their families whatever the personal price.
I am descended from people who continue to demonstrate the same spirit, energy and stubbornness that brought their Dutch, German and English ancestors to our shores many generations before. I will do my best to pass it down to my own children and grandchildren as their heritage.
I am an American and this is who I am.
I am descended of foreigners from many lands. Most of them came to our country speaking no English with little but their bodies, minds and a desire to succeed. Some sold everything they had to get here. Some sold themselves into servitude to reach our shores.
I am descended from farmers and tradesmen who accepted the risk and pursued the possibilities of choosing the challenging, the uncertain, the opportunity: people who rejected the reliable, dependable sameness of their existences for an opportunity with no guarantee of success but their own hard work.
I am descended from ordinary people who took to up rifles to protect what they had built with their own hands from a government who burned our cities, seized our money and quartered troops in our homes.
I am descended from people who fought to provide the opportunity to have our way of life to people they’d never met. Some fought their cousins to free others they didn’t know. Others volunteered to protect and assist other peoples they couldn't communicate with. All did it because they believed it was right.
I am descended from ordinary people who through their own hard work earned economic success, watched it erode from their fingers, and built it anew; people determined to build a better life for themselves and their families whatever the personal price.
I am descended from people who continue to demonstrate the same spirit, energy and stubbornness that brought their Dutch, German and English ancestors to our shores many generations before. I will do my best to pass it down to my own children and grandchildren as their heritage.
I am an American and this is who I am.
"We have enjoyed so much freedom for so long that we are perhaps in danger of forgetting how much blood it cost to establish the Bill of Rights." --Felix Frankfurter
No comments:
Post a Comment