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Bill Of Rights Institute Challenges Students To Identify American Values And Their Importance

Tuesday May 4, 2010

   This school year, many students from VUHS were presented with an interesting essay prompt that led to some intense research, discussion and written reflection. Encouraged by a history teacher to enter the Being an American essay contest, sponsored by the Bill of Rights Institute, they joined the over 50,000 students nationally that entered their written pieces in the competition. With an essay prompt of What civic value do you believe is most essential to being an American? trace the enduring importance of this value throughout the American story by discussing a founding document that reflects this value; a figure from American history who embodies this value; and examples of how you have and/or could put this value into practice. Students could choose from an endless list of possibilities. The following pieces are two student reflections and they not only address the issue of American values, but link the past to the present with personal ideas and reflections. Any individual interested in reading the national winning essays or seeing more about this unique writing opportunity can find it at:
   www.BEINGANAMERICAN.ORG.

What is one of the most important American values both historically and today?

   Two hundred years thirty- three years ago America was the collective vision of the founding fathers and based on the principles  that “…all men being created equal and having been endowed by God with certain unalienable rights including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Penned in the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, the wordsmith of the group, the experiment in democracy incurred the wrath of a monarchy and challenged the will of a people concerning their adherence to the moral and ethical principles it required to be a success. In short, America was born based on the collective integrity of the colonists. Without the undiminished acceptance of the doctrines put forth in the Declaration, there would have been no revolution and no new nation. The document spelled out not only for a short sighted king, but for a world in shock, the new ideals that would govern America. The Declaration of Independence is the moral and ethical principles of the nation and the U.S. Constitution is the blue print of how to live in it. The document expressed for all time and generations what Americans believe and hold as sacred. Each generation of Americans must possess and display integrity as the most enduring civic value.

    Americans today have the freedoms they seek and choose to demonstrate integrity by taking action even when no one is watching, in individual decisions and actions made on a daily basis. You choose to help and become involved. You show respect and commitment to the ideals of the founding Americans by stepping out into the mainstream community and making your presence known. The strength that has kept Americans free for over two hundred years is the acceptance and commitment to the higher ideals of the Declaration of Independence and what it stands for in daily life. These are living examples of integrity and proof that the experiment in democracy is steadfast and secure.

   I use my own internal sense and morals to find my own path in America. Linked to the country by birth and knowledge of what it stands for, I choose to take risks and utilize my education and freedoms to make my own future. While I am changing and growing, I lead through Navy Sea cadets, oratorical competitions, civic and historic projects, and stimulate other teens through my energies and open demonstration of my beliefs. Translated from the time of Jefferson and applied to each following generation, they are the definition of integrity and the realization that “…freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for and protected, and handed on for them to do the same. Or one day, we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children, what it was once like to in America, when men were free.”  I believe that in order to keep America strong, citizens must believe in and act on the principles that the country was based on.

   Jefferson’s life of service to America is a defining example of integrity. Whether in this role as ambassador to France, author of the Declaration of Independence, President of the United States, or father of the University of Virginia, Americans can see that his actions were based on his belief in the rights of humans to govern, think and rule themselves. As President, he set the nation of a path of growth with the Louisiana Purchase and challenged the country to expand to the other sea. He set forth programs for education, and institutions to broaden the minds and collective knowledge of the people. He was a firm advocate in the wisdom of the farmers and saw their lives as the representation of what America should be. Sometimes struggling and sometimes victorious, free men were crafting their own destinies with their hands, heart and knowledge of the soil. Based on the tenants of freedom, that was democracy in action.
Integrity does not survive if it is a requirement. It must be a manifestation of the people who share the ideals and commitments to a common good. It must be lived and be active to be real. Ideals that exist only on pieces of aging parchment are far removed from the people and lose their power. When they are in practice and undiminished, they are the heartbeat of a county that is growing and changing through the actions of each citizen, one action at a time.

What is one of the most important American values both historically and today? Industry
by Jacob Steponaitis

    Ben Franklin told the readers of Poor Richard’s Almanack in 1735, that “…the noblest question in the world is, “What good may I do in it?” and “There are lazy Minds as well as lazy Bodies” and with these two statements he clearly outlined the civic quality of industry as the hallmark of a healthy, functioning democracy. The United States (U.S) Constitution and Declaration of Independence provided the blue print of the new American nation and Ben Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack was the translation of the documents into the issues and practices of daily life in the colonies.  

   Written under the pseudonym Richard Saunders, Franklin penned the almanac from 1732-1757, as “…a proper vehicle for conveying instruction among the common people.”(Franklin’s Autobiography). Stressing the civic qualities of industry, education and frugality, Franklin openly discussed translation of the new freedoms into daily life. Franklin knew that the key to maintaining a strong democracy was an educated and active citizen, who openly read, debated and practiced the freedoms of the U.S. Constitution. Poor Richard’s Almanack full of proverbs, weather and articles, encouraged citizens to work hard and to make the country strong with their efforts.

   Franklin’s own life paralleled the lessons put forth in Poor Richard’s Almanack, and his success as a printer, inventor and voice of reason in the American Revolution came from work. He read, debated and utilized each of the fundamental freedoms of speech, religions, assembly, press and right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. He was frugal, but committed to his trade and city of Philadelphia during all stages of his life and wealth.

   Translated into our modern world of instant messaging and twenty-four hour access to the news of the world, an “industrious” citizen by Franklin’s standards is one who is well-read and active in discussion and action in issues of civic government. They are hard workers who pursue their own goals and in doing so, strengthen the structure of America’s economy and convictions. They know their U.S. Constitution and see it as a statement of purpose instead of an aging parchment. They work to better their community and by example motivate others to join them.

   As a teenager about to step from high school into my future, Franklin’s ideas appear more than cute witticisms from the past. They offer sound advice on the realities of an America that needs citizenship to be a paramount concern. There are many ways to serve and as a teenager I chose to be industrious in helping my family, working a job in addition to high school and serving in the U.S. military. I have been raised to debate and discuss issues that concern us today and to draw parallels from the past as points of reference. I believe in the U.S. Constitution and in hard work. I am active in my community and openly encourage my peers to know and translate the words of freedom from the U.S. Constitution into their daily lives.

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