It is a significant part of your culture and heritage, you should actually read it at least once. It does not need to be the archaic original version, many if not all have meticulously modernized revisions that retain all of the meaning while making it easier to read for modern audiences.
American: [Visible confusion]
It would have to be The Song of Hiawatha by Longfellow, even if he is currently so far out of fashion as to be essentially forgotten.
I’m pretty sure it would be George Washington parting the Delaware to get to the Promised Land, catching the Nazis by surprise.