Alexander Hamilton wasn't born in America. He arrived as a teenager from a small island in the Caribbean and went on to design the financial architecture of a country that didn't exist yet.

Benjamin Franklin was the son of an immigrant. Washington's great-grandfather sailed over from England. When you actually look at the men who signed their names in 1776, most of them were one to five generations off the boat. The "real Americans" who founded this place were, by and large, the children and grandchildren of people who came from somewhere else.

Much like Alexander Hamilton, I came here from an Island in the Caribbean, betting that this strange, unfinished experiment had room for what I brought with me.

America turns 250 this year. It was built by people whose families had recently arrived, carrying different languages, religions, and reasons for leaving their home country. They disagreed constantly, got plenty wrong, and some of the decisions and actions were monstrous and inhumane. And yet, they still managed to birth something that had never been tried at that scale.

This is the actual fabric of the country: immigrants, slavery, civil war, segregation, strife, and unity. We see Americans come together to secure peace, stand up for others, and celebrate during huge events like the World Cup.

America is a decision, made over and over, by people who chose to build here generation after generation.

Happy 250th America. Flaws and all, it remains the most audacious idea a group of immigrants ever talked themselves into.