American Identity Paper: John Hector St. John de Crevecoeur

The United States of America is a big, powerful and wealthy country in the world. The diversity of class, individuality, religion, and race are a few of the embellishments within the "melting pot" of our society. The blend of these numerous diversities is the crucial ingredient to our modern nation. America has been formed upon them, its inhabitants- the "average American"- have a single means in common; a single concept; a single goal; the American Dream. The Dream consists of a seemingly simple theory; success.

A good description of the US as it was developing into a free land of diverse peoples; it took quite some time for freedom to benefit all ethnicities

In what ways and to what extent did the “American identity” develop between 1750 and 1776?

Although the present day American is a totally a different person, at the close of the Revolutionary War the same individual was a European immigrant impacted by the nature of the American continent. In St. Jean de Crevecoeur’s perspective, an American is a race that results from a mixture of Swedes, Dutch, French, Irish, Scotch, and Englishmen (48). This race consists of unique type of people who are not governed by laws as strict as they experienced in Europe. They are a breed of people who had no home and no country in Europe. This paper discusses what the American was thought to be, in view of St. Jean de Crevecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer.

John Downe, a weaver, letters’ was written to convince his wife to immigrant to the United States from England. Downe use of positive connotation towards America throughout the letter is to substantiate the encouraging side effect of hope. He emphasized all the benefits and opportunities in America by using a persuasive and common-man tone. Downe’s letter uses a variety of literary devices, especially positive imagery, syntax structures and effective diction to present the idea of generosity and abundance that is offered in America.

America — a land known for its ideals of freedom and new opportunities, a nation built under the idea that every man and women is created equal. However, the definition of what makes a person an American is entirely different from what it is that makes up America, itself. J.Hector St. John Crevecoeur, author of Letters from an American Farmer (1782), exposes what he believes makes an American. However, when compared to the standards of what makes an American in today’s world, it seems that becoming an American then was much simpler then, than it is today. The definition of an American is always evolving due to the influences of our changing nation. During a simpler time, Crevecoeur defined an American as someone of European

He discusses this by explaining how everything was when the Native Americans had control and further how is changes as Europeans gained dominance. I found it interesting how Cronon describes how to Europeans viewed the land. “Their image of the area that came to be called New England was shaped by a variety of circumstances that had little to do with the ecology itself” (Cronon 19). With this the settlers saw many things they were not used to seeing in Europe such as large numbers of birds and fish, which led to the Europeans overusing the vast resources. Since the Europeans viewed the land so differently then the Native Americans, their view of Native Americans reflected that. Europeans saw the land having much potential and the Native Americans were not fully utilizing it. Therefore, they were viewed as a lower class; “Many European visitors were struck by what seemed to them the poverty of Indians who lived in the midst of a landscape endowed so astonishingly with abundance” (Cronon

hector St. john de Crevecoeur, the author tells how Europeans were treated very unpoorly and offered very little but America was rich and promising. The author explains why he migrated to America when he says, “what attachment can a poor European emigrant have for a country where he had nothing? The knowledge of the language , the love of a few kindred as poor as himself, were the only cords that tied him: his country is now that which gives him land, bread, protection, and consequence: ubi panis ibi patria, is the motto of all emigrants.” the author means its hard to love a country that gave so little, when in America there’s so much more money and opportunity. That proves that America is a land of giving more and the land of new opportunity to be more successful than you were in the past. And that to me is what defines an

Equality is an ideal that is mentioned nearly everyday in this country. It is an ideal that has transformed this country into a mixing pot of different races and backgrounds. Many people travel to America to seek out the new opportunities that are available here and not in their homeland. Diana Pham is a great representation of the opportunities equality gives everyone in America. She wrote “As immigrant boat people from communist Vietnam, we appreciate the opportunity given to us to build our lives in the United States” (Document A). Equality gives everyone in the

The colors of red, white, and blue reflect the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness established over two centuries ago by the nation’s forebearers. Being American is about anticipating change and being provided with the environment to dream. Americans have dreamed of a more equal union, where Women obtain the right to vote and African Americans are social equals. The country’s images of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller inspire the American dream, where individuals are not satisfied with their socioeconomic standing and have the opportunity to progress. Furthermore, only a minor portion of the United States population is of Native American descent. Therefore, the United States is a country of immigrants,

The definition of what America is, and furthermore what an American is, has been eternally elusive. However, it can be reasonably said that the vision of America rests upon freedom of expression, the right to property, and self-determination. These ideas are explored in one European’s examination of American agricultural society in the late 18th century. Letters from an American Farmer by J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur illustrates the gilded nature of the early vision of America; one that appears to be simplistic and based in freedom, but lies on a foundation of oppression and greed.

Jean de Crevecoeur’s definition of an American does not fulfill John Winthrop’s hope of what America could become. John Winthrop states, “In that we are commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another, to walk in his ways and to his Commandments and his Ordinance…” “ But if our hearts shall turn away so that we will not obey, but shall be seduced and worship other gods our pleasures and profits and serve them…” John Winthrop's vision of what America could become, is of the citizens living their lives for god and to rely on god for their day to day needs, not money and wealth. Jean de Crevecoeur’s definition is completely opposite. “He is an American who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives

Crevecoeur asked a question “What is new man?” meaning that being an American is not just about race but one that see’s the bigger picture behind the richness and one that can make a difference behind it. In his book “What is an American?” he states,

For this week we had to read two journal articles: Tzuetan Todorov's " European Identity" and (my personal choice) Fatima El-Tayeb's " Gays Who Cannot Properly be Gay: Queer Muslims in the Neoliberal European City."

America is known as the land of the free and home of the brave. When thinking of this you think about all the opportunities presented to people and all the freedom. An idea of America is that we’re a meritocracy, which means anyone can be able to to become anything they want as long as they work hard playing by the rules. Along with that many people believe that diversity will bring together the country and unite us all but that’s not the case. America is not a meritocracy.