An American Experience Reflection:
As America has changed in size, industry, and power, the American experienced changed as well. However, the value of adventure and expanding into new horizons has never escaped our hearts, and Americans continue to look for opportunities to experience this sense of adventure. Back in 1809, when Thomas Jefferson was president, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark ventured out on an expedition that transformed America, exploring the land of the West. The thrill of learning and experiencing new things is what led this expedition, and is what made the journey such a success. New forms of geography, plant and animal life, and Indian cultures filled their daily journals; and strengthened the American idea of manifest destiny. The American value in adventure was also seen in Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In Twain’s novel, Tom, Huck Finn, and Tom's friend Joe Harper go on adventures trying to escape the society they live in. Being the children they were, the boys ran away to an island to become pirates, trying to experience a new sense of freedom. Their running away in search of new opportunities reveals that the need for adventure is not something you learn, but is something that you are born with. Even today America is going on new kinds of adventures. The U.S is currently exploring the opportunities to be had with solar and wind power, and is forming new industries and organizations to allow our adventure to carry on.
In regards to my reflection of the
American experience first quarter, my idea of what the real experience is has
not changed, but it has expanded. First quarter I believed that the true
American experience was about equal opportunity, and I still believe that to be
true, only now I think that our chances equal opportunity are formed from the
adventures we take, and the adventures that are possible.
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