What It Means to Be American

What It Means to Be American

I believe that an essential civic value that benefits all Americans is planning for the future, whether it is our future or the future of generations to come. If no one had ever planned for our future our country would be an entirely different country, but because when our country was just starting out the founders anticipated that times would change and new people would come to live in America it is still one of the best places to live.
When you read the Constitution, before you even get to the document itself, the preamble states that “We the People of the United States in Order to for a more perfect Union,” will “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,” therefore we know that the founding fathers believed that our countries future was just as important as the present. I think that everyone should share in this belief. Another way the Constitution ensures that it will continue to govern our country, more than 200 years after it was written, is the Elastic or Necessary and Proper Clause in Article One. The Elastic Clause states, “To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States,”. By including this clause the writers of the Constitution made sure that as times change we, as a country, will be able to pass needed laws, thus ensuring that in the future the Constitution will continue to be able to govern us.
Throughout our countries history there have been many important figures, but one who shares my belief that planning for the future is an essential civic value would have to be Jackie Robinson. When you look back on American history Jackie most likely isn’t the first person you think of, but I believe that Jackie strongly agrees that planning for the future is an essential value to have. I have come to this conclusion because Jackie Robinson was a Civil Rights Trailblazer during the Civil Rights...

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