Strong And Rustic Exploration Lewis And Clark - 1145 Words

Robust and rustic exploration has always been seen as part of the American character. Lewis and Clark are viewed as the original American adventurers who defined westward exploration; they were daring and brave pioneers, ready to venture into the new world. Except, the West was not uncharted territory. It was not a thicket of fir trees and wandering wolves, ready for the white men to obviate their loneliness. Yet, the new Americans saw themselves as the prime candidates to take over and do as they pleased. The west was home to the Native American tribes, who lived on millions of acres of pure land. They respected the Earth and its creatures; they made sure the ecosystem was sustained. The Native Americans earned that land. Imagine if you†¦show more content†¦When one group feels superior to another, the American dream crumbles. Manifest destiny in America is the idea of westward expansion, from sea to shining sea. Of course, it is not a purely American invention, as many regions embraced manifest destiny thousands of years before the ink dried on the Constitution. Genghis Khan, for example, loved manifest destiny. The general public’s opinion of manifest destiny is clouded by their view of the time period in which westward expansion in America began. Killing specific groups of people, destroying natural habitats, and not being decent citizens are all just as terrible now as they were then. Yet, the part of that time period that is widely shared is the hope and joy of a new country with the freedom to explore. This is because of the seemingly ubiquitous American pride that seeps into every slightly negative So what is Americanism? For the purposes of this essay, there are 3 core tenets of Americanism: freedom, exceptionalism, and the middle class. It is widely thought that the middle class forms the foundation of our economy, and that is true. Society is built upon the middle class. America is so defined by our middle class; we have teachers and government workers and writers. Every politician, every interest group, in America is for or against each tenent. It could be argued that the tenets are what make political parties, since all a political party is is a group of people who set forth a representative to win