What opportunities has America provided its people throughout history? America has long been marked by a sense of becoming. Through at least the nineteenth century, colonists and pioneers were conscious of building a country and shaping a way of life that was characterized by a bold independence of spirit. Adam Gurowski concluded that “America is unique among nations because other nations are accidents of geography or race, but America is based on an idea” (Robert Penn Warren Talking, Random House, 1980).

America came to be seen as a land where social justice was possible—where the poor and oppressed would find opportunity and freedom, where the ambitious and adventurous could make their fortunes. Americans hold to a persistent belief in individual achievement—a conviction that hard work, talent, resourcefulness, and initiative will be rewarded.

Americans tend to be forward-looking and future-focused. Even as we acknowledge the failings of the past, we remain confident that the principles on which the United States was established will prevail. The very fact that American reality has not yet matched the American ideal makes us more determined to pursue the dream.