The foundations on which every new nation is created are mainly the individuals within that nation from its infancy. Individuals hold the key to success in times of expansion and colonization because they are the architects of the ideas that lead to settlement or independence for that matter. In this way, they create an image that depicts life in young nations that can be viewed by both the rest of the world and those who are already integrated into the nation's society. In other words, each and every individual has a story, a story in which their experiences, both good and bad, led to their development as person. Every newly established society is represented by those who played a role in its foundation and fruition. And since these individuals are molded by their experiences, the society is essentially molded and represented by their experiences as well. The United States of America fits this description exceptionally well. There are many characteristics that are important to a country's ability to be represented by the lives of the people who live there. Most notably, democracy, which allows those people a voice. The Constitution protects the right of all citizens to pursue whatever life they want for themselves, and also their right to talk about it publicly. These rights, which as citizens we in fact do believe are self- evident, are not always present in the lives of the people living in other countries. This is how American society functions in today's world, freedom for all in all aspects, but for the first two or three hundred years of its existence, these rights were only inherent to white males of colonial descent, then extended to white women, and eventually to African Americans and other minorities. So, in the country's early years, from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, only white males had the ability to influence society. Which meant that their stories and opinions were the only ones representing America and American society. As time went on though, more and more people of various social and economic classes, ethnicities, and gender were telling their stories, and thus contributing to a more inclusive representation of America. Today, many consider the United States of America to be the greatest country in the world, as well as the most powerful. It is important to understand that an overwhelming majority of those who say this, are in fact United States citizens, many of which have never left the United States. However, it is by far the youngest country that is considered one of the major world powers, which gives weight to the argument. The lives and stories of the individuals that were born in America, as well as those who came here from other countries for one reason or another, all represent America in some way. Of course, some are more influential than others, such as Benjamin Franklin, or any of the Founding Fathers for that matter. On the other hand, some stories are never heard and some lives