The aspirations cut a wide swath through American history since 1776, from the country’s name — the UNITED States of America — to the sentiment of the motto written in Latin on its coins and one-dollar bills: E Pluribus Unum, or “out of many, one.”
The desire for unity has been optimistic and unrealistic, successful and a failure, enduring as an American ideal during moments when citizens struggled — and struggle today — to practice it.
