American Experiment

Tomorrow Project Challenges

Abstract painting of US flag

American Experiment

What does it mean to be American? Can we still find the answer in the Declaration of Independence — that each person has the equal right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

 

Author Colin Woodard, writing in The New York Times, argues that a majority of Americans believe in the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and that this civic vision of America — opposed to the ethnonationalism or tribal membership promoted by JD Vance and others — must prevail, or "we're done for." Read the opinion piece: Opponents of JD Vance's Story of America Need to Speak Up, Colin Woodard, New York Times, Nov. 3, 2025.

[Art credit: "Flag" by cedar, YWP Archives]

Submissions

  • Poetry

    By Creativity641

    Caged Birds

    You know what we are?

    We’re caged birds.

    Birds trapped in a gilded cage.

    They try to take away our freedom.

    But will we let them?

    What’s your answer to that?

    We can’t let them.

    But we already have.

    Read More

  • Poetry

    By maelynslavik

    Patchwork Flag

    To be American is to

    Listen to the rain fall and to

    Let it wash over our faces, just

    As all who came before us did

    (not just the founding fathers did but

    the children, the mothers, those

    Read More

  • Opinion

    By Nola_hall

    Which Day is History?

    When is the question history can never tell us because it is always and never for someone. 

    And everyone is rarely possible, but many

    is a blessing only found when the puzzle is given attention to be solved carefully.

    Read More