Issue What defines us as Americans? Starter Part I: In the Middle Ages the link of religion alone was enough to unite all the various races of Europe in one civilization. The English of the New World [Americans] have a thousand other links between them, and they live at a time when there is a general tendency toward equality in human affairs…. Therefore the time must come when there will be in North America, one hundred and fifty million people all equal one to the other, belonging to the same family, having the same point of departure, the same civilization, language, religion, habits, and mores, and among whom thought will circulate in similar forms and with like nuances. All else is doubtful, but that is true." Excerpted from Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835 Part II: What Is an American? By Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. An American is, technically, one who is born in the United States or who, if born elsewhere, has sworn to support and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States. American citizenship, in other words, does not rest, at least in theory, on common ethnic origins. It rests on common legal standards and common political ideals. For too much of American history, practice has fallen behind theory. The full rights of citizenship at first were restricted to adult white males. Black Americans were slaves until 1865; women could not vote until 1920. But a basic theme of American history has been the movement, uneven but steady, from exclusion to inclusion. This movement has been fueled by the egalitarian political principles enshrined in our fundamental political documents-principles that constantly goad Americans to live up to their own proclaimed ideals. It has been fueled by a Constitution and Bill of Rights that give people who are wronged the means of claiming their rights. And it has been fueled by the demand of excluded groups to secure the rights due them as American citizens. The entry of new groups into full membership in the national community both enriches and modifies the content of American nationality. Though American society remains inescapably English in language, ideals and institutions, the infusion of non-Anglo stocks has reconfigured the British legacy and reconstituted the American culture. The result is to diversify the internal content of Americanness-but always within the framework of the overrriding national identity based on the Constitution. In the American scheme civic principles outweigh ethnic loyalties." This excerpt from "What Does It Mean to Be an American?" by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., published in "Scholars' Essays: A National Conversation on American Pluralism and Identity (1995)" by the National Endowment for the Humanities, is used with permission of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Focus Questions Writing in 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville saw a future American democratic culture characterized by people who possessed "the same civilization, language, religion, habits, and mores." What do you think of his vision of America? Do you think Arthur Schlesinger shares Tocqueville's vision of Americans and America? Would Schlesinger and Tocqueville agree on the answer to the question, "What is an American?" Why or why not? When Schlesinger writes, "In the American scheme civic principles outweigh ethnic loyalties," what do you think he means? Do you agree with this statement? How would you answer the question, "What is an American?" Suggested Resources In Search of Tocqueville's Democracy in America C-SPAN resource on Alexis de Tocqueville. Includes famous passages from Democracy in America. Biography of Alexis de Tocqueville More resources for this topic Starters for this topic: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  All (.pdf) Note: The views expressed here have not been approved by the House of Delegates or the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association, and accordingly, should not be construed as representing the policy of the American Bar Association, nor do they represent the official position or policies of the ABA Standing Committee on Public Education.