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Redefining America 2001 TO THE PRESENT

s America entered the twenty-first century, it experienced perhaps its greatest
A tragedy and challenge: 9/11 was the defining event of that decade. On the morning
of September 11, 2001, members of the terrorist group al-Qaeda hijacked four air-
planes, crashing two into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center in New
York City, resulting in the collapse of both towers. Terrorists crashed a third plane into
the headquarters for the United States Department of Defense, known as the Pentagon
building. On the fourth plane, passengers and crewmembers fought back, and the plane
crashed in Pennsylvania during the struggle. All told, nearly 3,000 people were killed,
including everyone aboard all four planes and over 400 first responders to the attacks,
and over 6,000 people were injured. The wars that the attacks of 9/11 spawned and the
impact this tragedy had on American culture continue to be felt two decades later.
The twenty-first century has tested America’s idea of itself as a nation: Are we the
economic and moral leader of the world? To what extent are we living up to the vision
of the Founding Fathers? Are we still the land of the free, the home of the brave? What
is our national identity — or is our country too big and too diverse to have a coherent
one? Are we still the land of opportunity? Is the U.S. still a beacon of hope and shelter
for immigrants seeking to make a new life? Have we made progress toward the goal
of liberty and justice for all, and how much progress must we make to achieve it? Are
we effective stewards of the environment, and what are the global consequences if we
are not? At their core, many of these questions relate to some aspect of the American
Dream. What does that dream mean, and is it still alive?
These questions are not new. They have been asked since the earliest days of what
we call American history, a time period that precedes the founding of the nation. This
chapter — which we’ve titled Redefining America — offers literature and rhetoric from
the first two decades of the twenty-first century. Logic might locate it at the end of the
book, but we’ve decided that it belongs at the beginning of the chronological chapters
because the works here provide context for the chronological and thematic study of
literature and rhetoric that follows.
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