Thales Essay Contest: First Place
By Alexander Luna.
One of the great things about Americans is their ability to overcome great obstacles. This nation was founded by the union of thirteen squabbling colonies, who, with one of the most ragtag armies in history, defeated the world’s leading superpower, Great Britain. It was expanded by courageous mountaineers and pioneers who persevered through hardships that included starvation, extreme weather, and disease to make America stretch from sea to shining sea. It was nearly torn in two by the Civil War but, through the strength of its loyal defenders, was stitched together and made whole again. It was defended by brave soldiers and spies through two World Wars. Through it all, Americans have survived and thrived in the most adverse conditions.
In all of these situations, it is individuals who are remembered. Men and women like Jedediah Smith, Harriet Tubman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower are considered American heroes for two reasons: they charted their own course, illustrating self-reliance. But that independence became a source of help to America in some way.
Yet none of these heroes did these things on their own. Jedediah Smith had dozens of fellow mountain men who traveled and worked alongside him. Harriet Tubman had an extensive network of spies and safe-houses. Eisenhower had the Allied Armies. Furthermore, these heroes are not remembered for things that they did for themselves. They are remembered because they used their individualism to help this nation in some tangible and great way. Heroes, though they may rely on themselves, do not do things purely for self-interest.
But what does this mean for modern Americans? What can long-dead men and women teach a nation moving increasingly toward narcissism and self-absorption? Quite a lot, actually. American heroes show that individualists can and should be team players who work for the common good.
Jedediah Smith, the famed mountaineer, was a self-reliant hero. Throughout his life, Smith adventured far and wide in the mountains of western America, trapping beavers, trading with Native Americans, and exploring the land that would someday comprise several U.S. states. He often traveled for years at a time. Naturally, any man willing to undertake such a daring escapade would have to be bold, brave, and self-reliant. Smith certainly was so, possessing enough skills and leadership qualities that he was made a partner of the trapping firm he worked for only three years after joining it.[1] However, Smith also understood that no man could go it alone. Throughout his travels, he was accompanied by close friends and fellow mountain men, working together to survive.[2] Achieving great things required friends on the journey.
Around 1823, Smith and some of his companions were attacked by a grizzly bear. The bear grievously mauled Smith, leaving him with severe injuries. Smith’s compatriots quickly engaged the bear, driving it away. Despite his wounds, Smith was still lucid enough to give orders to his company. At his direction, they found a place to make camp and patched him up.[3] Had Smith not had a team with him, he likely would have died. Being a part of a team saved his life that day, showing how even the most rugged and self-sufficient people sometimes need others to survive.
The story of Harriet Tubman is one of the greatest tales of working for the common good. Though born a slave, Tubman’s independent spirit drove her to flee her master, even though she had already failed once to escape and had been punished.[4] A second failure would have meant a far more severe punishment, but Tubman chose to make a run for freedom, citing her right to “liberty, or death.” She decided that “no man should take me alive. I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted.”[5] After she reached freedom, Tubman, instead of trying to get as far away from the slave states as possible, decided that she would help other enslaved people gain their freedom too. She worked as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, going into slave states to guide others to freedom.[6]
Many people who gained their freedom, like Harriet Tubman, might be tempted to do whatever they could to secure that freedom for themselves. Tubman chose the noble and heroic path. She worked for the greater good, at much personal risk to herself. Even though she had an independent spirit and great self-reliance, she chose to use these parts of herself to help others gain their freedom. Her heroism is an inspiration to all, an example of an independent hero who worked for the common good.
Though born to a middle-class family, Dwight David Eisenhower ascended the heights of American society. He led the Allied Armies to victory in World War II, eventually becoming President himself. Despite being thought of by some as an unremarkable man early in life, Eisenhower’s route to the presidency shows a remarkable amount of independence and courage.[7]
Even though Eisenhower faced extreme pressure to run as a Democrat, he chose not to, believing it was better to run as a Republican and restore balance to the nation after twenty years of a one-party executive.[8] Despite the fact that he faced an uphill battle for the Republican nomination, a battle he probably would not have faced had he gone the other way, he still chose this course, believing it would be for the greater good of the American people.[9] Eisenhower’s independent spirit helped ensure a return to moderate politics at a moment when America desperately needed it.
These American heroes show us that we must be self-reliant, while also being team players and working for the common good. Independence and self-reliance do not make heroes ends in themselves. They enable great acts of heroic service to the American people.
Alex Luna is a senior in high school living in Alabama.
[1] Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, Throne of Grace (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2024), 24, 194.
[2] Ibid., 195-196.
[3] Ibid., 111-112.
[4] Thomas B. Allen, Harriet Tubman, Secret Agent (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2009), 23.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid., 30.
[7] Bret Baier and Catherine Whitney, Three Days in January (New York: Mariner Books, 2017), 15.
[8] Ibid, 69.
[9] Ibid, 70.
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