“In a world of inhumanity, war and terrorism, American citizenship is a very precious possession” (Phyllis Schlafly, 2014, Eager Forum).
Many people believe that Christopher Columbus was the first person to step on America, but was he really the first person to discover America? How did Africans become African Americans? Why should Americans feel lucky to be American citizens? Many people long to live in America. Why is that? All countries have their own flaws, America has lots of flaws, nevertheless it is still called the American Dream. Being an American citizen has lots of advantages and it is so valuable that people all over the world immigrate to the U.S. for opportunities. However, there are only a few ways to become a citizen and hardly there are different types of American citizens.
Many people believe that Christopher Columbus was the first person to discover America, but in reality, it was Native Americans who came upon America first. The natives were really affected by diseases such as chicken pox, influenza, measles, scarlet fever, smallpox, tuberculosis, and whooping cough. So, then Native Americans came upon America for better land. Europeans later came to make a home for themselves in America. Native Americans welcomed the Europeans, they shared land. The United States government and Native Americans signed agreements made between them. Most of the treaties were about land. European Americans broke many of these treaties and took more and more land. All the natives were forced to leave their ancestral lands and travel west on foot and on horseback. The trip was long. As they traveled, many people got tired, hungry and sick. Many died on the way. Today we remember their sad journey west as the Trail of Tears. It was not until years later Native Americans were given citizenship to those who were only born in America. However, the problem was that white Americans did not understand motives and reasons of actions of Native Americans, who just lived their life with respect to their traditions. Over the years, Native Americans have had to fight for land and human rights.
Any person who was born in America is considered an American citizen. Most American citizens consider themselves to be the luckiest people, and I completely agree. Being an American citizen is an opportunity that people should be grateful and not take over advantage. My personal definition of citizenship is having rights and freedom to anything as long as it is according to the law. A few advantages of being an American citizen are having the opportunity to vote, as well as having the opportunity to be part of the army. In addition, many financial grants, including college scholarships are only available to American citizens. Although there are fewer opportunities for those who are not American citizens, there are a couple of ways to become an American citizen. For instance, citizenship through naturalization, marriage, parents, and citizenship through the military. It’s a long process, but totally so worth it. Everyone in America is an immigrant except Native Americans. We all came for the same reason for the hope of a better life. America is known for its immigrants. America has a system of government which protects its citizens and that's why America is one of the greatest countries to live in. As citizens living in the 21st century, we take for granted the rights and freedoms we have. We don't think about and cherish the freedoms and rights we have as citizens, which many people had to fight for. Today’s citizenship has changed from that almost 300 years ago.
Mostly African Americans are descended from Africa to America and were forced into slavery. Africans were brought to American colonies by white masters to come and work on their plantations. They were treated harshly and lived under harsh conditions. After the 14th Amendment was passed, people born in the U.S. could have citizenship, even African Americans. However, African Americans were still discriminated against by whites. Although, African Americans were given citizenship, they still couldn’t vote. Many years later, African Americans were granted the opportunity to vote. The history of Brown V. Board of Education relates so much to the history of African Americans as a result of mistreatments and discrimination simply because of race. “I was a very young child when I started walking to school. I remember the walk as being very long at that time. In fact, it was several blocks up through railroad yards, and crossing a busy avenue, and standing on the corner, and waiting for the school bus to carry me two miles across town to an all-black school. Being a young child, when I first started the walk, it was very frightening to me, um, and then when wintertime came, it was a very cold walk. I remember that. I remember walking, tears freezing up on my face, because I began to cry because it was so cold, and many times I had to turn around and run back home” (Sarah Darville, Chalkbeat, 2018). This quote really touched my heart because I know that right now there are students trying to get to school by walking and taking the bus too. I also know that there are adults trying to get work by bus because their workplace is just too far.
In conclusion, Native Americans were abused, mistreated and discriminated against by white settlers. The settlers came and stripped the natives off their land by wars that the natives were not equipped to fight. Being an American citizen is a very special privilege, not just anyone can become a citizen. Americans should feel lucky to have that privilege. Becoming an American citizen is a very long process in which it can take a lot of time. The reason why people all over the world immigrate to the U.S. is for a better life, success, survival and protection. This is the reason America is called the American Dream. On the other hand, African Americans were enslaved, abused, and discriminated against by their white owners. African Americans fought through tears and war. African Americans never gave up on racial equality. For example, Linda Brown’s story is so inspiring in so many ways because she couldn’t attend Sumner School, which was closest to her home, because she was black and Sumner school was segregated to whites only. Linda Brown had to take a long walk and take the bus to attend another school that was for blacks only. This demonstrates that we shall not just stood there and take no action when you are being discriminated against or abused or any other injustice.