What Makes an American?

An American can anyone walking down the street. We don't look a like, act alike, pray alike (or at all), dress alike or eat alike. We do, however, all call the land called the United States of America home. In other words, America has not become a complete melting pot, but somehow we are still all brought together.

Firstly, I believe that a American is a legal citizen of the United States. Also, usually a sense of patriotism and a desire to preserve what America has decared that it fights for (freedom, individual rights, fair laws, etc.) come with being American, though it is not a requirement. Similarly, the negative stereotypes of Americans (that we are fat, greed, destroying the environment, etc.) are only, if true, a side effect, not a way to judge. So, put simply, America must emotionally and legally call America home.