The American Cowboy Top

Americans have a unique vision of themselves and their role in the world. Unlike perhaps any other people in history, Americans see themselves as a people of destiny and people who were put here to do something phenomenal and significant for history and for all the peoples of the earth. This unique self-concept, sometimes seen as arrogance, is deeply embedded in the set of archetypes that Americans use to shape their self-image in the world. And no other archetype is as powerful in the American psyche as that of the cowboy. The real American cowboy was a truly unique individual. While probably not as noble and ruggedly handsome as the images created of him in the movies, they were unique types of men who carved civilization out of the rugged wilderness that was the American West in the years before the turn of the last century. Some of the reasons why the image of the cowboy sometimes includes elements of the outlaw and recluse is that much of the legend of the cowboy comes from stories of refugees from the broken Southern army who took up the life of a cowboy instead of trying to integrate into a society that included incarceration peace with the "Yankee". And this type of individual was certainly responsible for many of the outlaws who have become the subject of legends and stories to this day. The image of a renegade and a loner combined with the rough life of a real cowboy whose job it was to lead those huge herds of cattle along trails like the historic Cumberland Trail where they could and did become marketable steaks, hides and other goods.  rustic American shops of the time. It was a hard life and the stories of the trail are sure to make many history books. But many more stories about the trail celebrate this lifestyle, which must have been difficult indeed. But the image of the cowboy was also something that grew larger than the actual lifestyle these simple but rugged men had to live in the American West. It was an image that united heroes as far apart as the Australian Gaucho cowboy, the Japanese samurai and the knight in King Arthur's court. It was the image of a man who demonstrated the rugged individualism that all Americans see as one of the central unifying features that make America great. The cowboy image is one that holds as much influence in the social strata of America as it does in the presidency. They say there's a tradition for every president when he's first elected and comes to Washington to start learning this big new job. It is a tradition for every president to sit down and watch the movie High Noon as part of his early morning duties. President Clinton is said to have watched it dozens of times in his early years. If true, it explains how often a new president seems to grow and change in office, becoming his own version of the great American hero portrayed in this film. The American cowboy defends the virtue of the weak and powerless. He is a faithful protector of families and people in society trying to make a home in a difficult world. As such, the American cowboy fits the "superhero" image, which also appeals to the American system of justice, morality, and values. Even the epic Star Wars films were fundamentally based on the legend of the cowboy. The cowboy concept grew out of our country's history, which included the settlement of the great land and the settlement of the wilderness, which pitted the God-given will and intellect of man against God's creation. And it was the will of man that prevailed. This is why Americans admire cowboys because it represents their own struggle for greatness, success and to be a heroic figure at least to their families, hometowns and churches. And this desire, so deeply rooted in the culture of American history, will always be what makes America and Americans great.