What is an American?

What indeed... Upon looking in a dictionary, he or she would find a general definition of being born in the country of America and embracing its ideals. However, the secret to understand what is an American, is found via a more analytical approach. The roots of American ideals can be found as early as the first Puritan settlement. From this, an American can be described as the descendant of the first experimental settlers. The Puritan ideal of a "City Upon A Hill" is the major aspect that we can still observe today, and every American is an example of this. As the years progressed, and the earliest notion of the existence of America came into view, the ideals of America were written down and spread throughout all the colonies. It is from these that we may interpret the question"What is an American?". An American similar to that of a piece of a large puzzle, assuming that America is the puzzle. And just like one of those 5,000 piece puzzles you can get, it takes many pieces to make America. Usually, an American is not one nationality, much like other countries where one is born into the society, but a conglomeration of such. Essentially, an American is one that exhibits both social and religious tolerance, mainly because of the fact that they come from all around to a country with no boundaries, where religion to them is not a factor in their lives. This was the way Crevecoeur saw America upon first visit, and it's still the way we see it today.