Why should Americans love their country? Here are a dozen good reasons to be grateful and proud to live here.

1. The United States was the first nation in history created out of the belief that people should govern themselves. As James Madison said, this country�s birth was �a revolution which has no parallel in the annals of human society.� The U.S. constitution is the oldest written national constitution in operation. It has been a model for country after country as democracy has spread across the continents.

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2. America really is the land of the free. There are large parts of the world where people can�t say what they think, learn what they�d like, or even dress the way they want. There are places where people spend years in jail or disappear if they question their rulers. Less than half of the world�s population lives in countries where people are truly free. In this nation, as George Washington put it, the love of liberty is interwoven with every ligament of American hearts.

3. No other country has done a better job of establishing equal rights for all citizens. Certainly there have been times when the United States has fallen tragically short of its founding principles. But especially in recent decades, no country has worked harder to eliminate discrimination and protect the rights of minorities. There are plenty of nations where people�s ethnicity, religion, or gender defines them as second-class citizens. In contrast, America has been a pioneer in striving toward the ideal that all are created equal.

4. This is the place where dreams can come true. U.S. newspapers are full of stories that read almost like fairy tales: the son of a laborer who grows up to be a doctor, the stay-at-home mom who turns a hobby into a flourishing business, the immigrant who becomes a movie star and governor. The United States has long been the country people flock to for the chance to make better lives. No other country has built a sturdier ladder for people to climb to success.

5. We enjoy one of the world�s highest standards of living. Americans live longer, have better health, and enjoy safer and more comfortable lives than the vast majority of the world�s people. Ours is one of the most prosperous nations in history. U.S. companies provide some of the best jobs in the world. They have also built countless hospitals, libraries, and parks; created great universities; filled museums with works of art; found cures for diseases; and improved human life in countless ways.

6. No other country has welcomed and united so many people from so many diff