Crevecoeur : The Sense Of Freedom And Freedoms In America

America is commonly characterized as the greatest country in the world, the glorious “land of the free and the home of the brave”, “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. This idealization of the American identity conveniently focuses on what people want to hear and blurs out most everything else. In reality, Americans do not live up to the dreamscape created by our views, and we never really have. America is no longer characterized by its freedom and democracy, nearly every first world country can afford that luxury. Nor are we set apart by the great opportunities given to our people, for those are far from universal. We aren’t equal, we aren’t unified, we aren’t kinder or smarter or richer than any other country across the board. It’s easy to find the shortcomings of American culture, all the things we aren’t, but the things we are have proven to be more elusive. First, let’s examine the nots.

For my journal, I am examining the second and third paragraphs on page two of J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur’s essay, “What is an American.” Using persuasive strategies, de Crevecoeur examines “that race now called Americans” (2), juxtaposing their former experiences in Europe with those upon arrival “on a new continent” (1). In this passage, de Crevecoeur anticipates the notion of America as a “melting pot,” while establishing the foundation of the concept of the American Dream.

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.

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.

America has produced many opportunities for the immigrants, who built the nation from the ground up. Those Immigrants are what make the American Identity unique with being recognized by the world. The nation went through the trial of fire beginning with the American Revolution, then the Civil War, and now Global Peace. Furthermore, each event has a common trait, which is the people, who came here to achieve their dreams. America has been the bastion of democracy and opportunities for many centuries. The similarities and differences between “I Hear America Singing,” “To Walt Whitman,” and “I, Too, Sing America” are viewpoints on America, motivates, experiences, and viewpoints.

America is the universal symbol of freedom. But is it really free? Does the history of the United States stay true to the ideas of our forefathers? Or has the definition been altered to fit American policies? Has freedom defined America? Or has America defined freedom? I believe America was at first defined by freedom, then after time, America defined freedom, altering the definition to fit the niche it fits in, but still keeping key components so it still seems to be staying true to the ideas of America’s founding fathers.

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

In his essay to the 1782 society, J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur portrays colonial America. While using a confident tone, Crevecoeur discusses in great splendor the uniqueness of the American society and the opportunities the country holds. He writes to purposefully draw individuals, particularly those within European countries, to the American society through his optimism. He does this effectively by using strong metaphors, selective word choice, and adjusting the syntax of the writing.

America is a country full of ideas that create opportunities and memorable moments people enjoy with the company of others. Within the United States of America, diversity is a huge aspect that allows numerous races, ethnicities, and genders, etc. to roam our flourishing nation. Our nation is exceptional by having a beautiful range of natural wonders, collection of first-rate cities, and a wide variety of art and pop culture.The values and beliefs that unite Americans and define our nation’s purpose are the ideas of our nation steps forward to perform actions for the betterment of society, the lack of and enforcement of equality, and the citizenships that people fought to achieve.

The way the Americans gained independence may not be as valiant as it seems. The war lacked just war criteria despite many arguments. The idea was foolish and unnecessary and proved the lack of development amongst this young territory. Many factors lead to this premature uprising and the French and Indian War is a great reason for most of those factors. The decision by the American colonists to revolt against British rule was premature and overly aggressive.

In the 1780’s when America was approaching on a new era, Hector St. John de Crevecoeur and Benjamin Franklin believed that America had become the freest and most prosperous nation in the world. They went so far as to say that America had become a country unlike any other. A country that was free from things such as poverty, inequality, and all other forms of oppression, things that European nations lacked. Over the next century (1800-1900) what we saw in America was not symbols of freedom and equality for all, but instead for a select few. Instead we saw great inequality and a lack of freedom in many groups such as African Americans or slaves, women, as well as Mexicans and Native Americans. The members of these groups were met with

Possessing a sense of self-independence is an important aspect of the reality of the American Dream. In the letter, “What is an American?,” written by J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, he describes the experience of European immigrants on the verge of becoming an American citizen. According to the author, “The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions” (Crèvecoeur 29). America will mold you into a different person. It is our destiny to

The power or right to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. A word created by man to escape the bonds of tyranny to express the idea of what it means to persist one's own ambitions. Freedom. Freedom is not the absence of confinement but the will to achieve freedom when imprisoned. After carefully concluding the reading done over this semester one is able to clearly understand the confinement these early Americans felt and their decision to achieve a form of freedom. Freedom has always existed but it is the history of this nation that will define what actions freedom takes.

     America is an idea, a set of beliefs about people and their relationships and the kind of society which holds the best hope of satisfying the needs each of us brings as an individual. For countless immigrants, the struggle to arrive in America was rivaled only by the struggle to gain acceptance among the population. Immigrants say they came to America seeking economic opportunity and freedom for themselves and their children, and at the same time they have all, at one time,

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.