People have been saying, “When was America great,” well I have an answer for you America. To the world, America has been the beacon of the shining city on a hill since its inception. It was great when it revolted against a harsh, wealthy, arrogant, greedy King and taxed settlers beyond the needs of the country of Britain, and the original 13 colonies tossed the over-taxed Tea into the harbor of Boston. On the first feast of harvest, later to be called Thanksgiving, when both settlers and Native Americans rejoiced in the harvest. America was at one of its finest hours when the greatest parchment ever written by a man was authored, the Constitution.
America was great when the telegraph was patented in 1837 by Samuel Morse. His assistant, Alfred Vail, developed the Morse code signaling alphabet with Morse. We were great with the discovery of electricity, and the first steam locomotive was created on July 25, 1814. America was great when the North beat the South to free the slaves, and over the last 240 years, there have been free elections to elect 45 different Presidents. We were great when in 1872, American George Brayton invented the first commercial liquid-fueled internal combustion engine. We were great when Ford built the first large scale Automobile assembly line.
America was great when it helped win WW1 and when Adolf Hitler and his Nazi army was destroyed. America is great because Americans have taken civic pride above all else, and saluted her flag, sang her National Anthem with conviction, and have done what was needed for the war efforts around the world. Lee De Forest in 1906, led to the development of inexpensive vacuum tube AM receivers and transmitters during World War I. Commercial AM broadcasting developed from amateur broadcasts around 1920 and was the only commercially important form of radio broadcasting until FM broadcasting began after World War II. This period is known as the “Golden Age of Radio”, which is when America was great. America was great when the Electronic television was first successfully demonstrated in San Francisco on Sept. 7, 1927. The system was designed by Philo Taylor Farnsworth, a 21-year-old inventor who had lived in a house without electricity until he was 14.
America was great when it saved a country that was under seize by another foreign country. America was great when “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” occurred as the first man on the moon. America was great when “Gorbachov tear this Wall down” was spoken by Ronald Reagan.
America was great when politicians signed the Emancipation Proclamation and slavery was ended. America was great when the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were ratified. America was great when the 19th Amendment was ratified, and when the separate but equal was struck down by the Supreme Court. America is great for having the first African American Senator to be elected in South Carolina, home of Strom Thurmond. America was great 8 years ago when it elected its first African American President. America was great when George W. Bush appointed an African-American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and following that with the first African American Female Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. America is great when it elected a Cuban-American, the son of a bartender and a maid to the U.S. Senate, and 2 years later elected its second Cuban-American, from Texas Ted Cruz. America is great for electing its first Indian-American Governor in Bobby Jindal and elected its first female Indian American Governor with Nikki Haley of South Carolina. America is great when the City of Charleston South Carolina came together as one after a mass shooting at an African American church, and when the Confederate Flag was put in a museum, no longer flying at the South Carolina state Capitol.
America is great because it has afforded two different ladies the opportunity to run for president, while having 2 Cuban-Americans running for President, and also an African American surgeon and governors of several states all running for the highest office. We have seen Mormons and other great leaders all run for the highest office, giving America its very unique flavor and greatness.
America will never be perfect, but has flown to heights our founding fathers never imagined, and moved at speeds not long ago would only be of dreams. America has defended peace around the world, afforded millions of immigrants to safely immigrate lawfully to the land of their dreams. To state in any way that America is not great, or has not been great is to spit In the face of our founding fathers, those who have made the firsts throughout the last 240 years, and to the progress yet to come.
As we read this, let us never forget the giants who came before us, and will come after us. For America is great from within the hearts and souls of every American, when they wake up and become part of history. This story is long from ending, and let no person ever tell you that America has lost its greatness.
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