Is it not the glory of the people of America, that whilst they have paid a decent regard to the opinions of former times and other nations, they have not suffered a blind veneration for antiquity, for custom, or for names, to overrule the suggestions of their own good sense, the knowledge of their own situation, and the lessons of their own experience? To this manly spirit, posterity will be indebted for the possession, and the world for the example of the numerous innovations displayed on the American theatre, in favor of private rights and public happiness. - James Madison, Federalist No. 14, 1787
America is many many wonderful things but it is also an idea, an idea that says in essence that you can live your life as you see fit (w/in the bounds of the law, of course) without government or private busybodies meddling in your affairs. It is the spirit of the pioneer going forth to reach new worlds, new boundaries, of piercing the unknown. It is the soldier defending their country from threats near and far, of the farmer tending to the land, of the homesteader caring for and managing their lands, etc.
Most of all, America is an idea - that when you are born, your whole life is free to do with as you wish, without concern of class or gender or race. In most countries, when you are born, your life, depending on the country, is all-but-laid out for you; here? The only limits are the limits of one's imagination.
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