The American Creed

What does it take to be an American?

Having been born an American, I cannot go to China and become Chinese. I can't go to Germany and become German. I can't go to Japan and become Japanese. It just doesn't work that way.

But someone born in China can come to America and become an American. Someone born in Germany can come to America and become an American. Someone born in Japan can come to America and become an American.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed....

That's the American creed. If you're willing to accept those "self-evident" truths, as embodied in the United States Constitution, you're an American.

To be an American is to believe in America.