Crevecoeur's Essay 'What Is An American'

“What is an American?” This speech, given by Harold Ickes in May of 1941, banded its audience together in a fight for World War II. The speech can be classified as many different things; some might say that it is persuasive, others motivational. Whatever title one might choose to brand it with, one thing is irrefutable; the speech itself does its duty by capturing the attention of its audience through language and technique.

An American can be defined by a variety of things. A natural born citizen is just as American as an immigrant searching for a new life, just like in “America and I” by Aniza Yezierska. An American can be a rich businessman or it could be a dedicated soldier like in “Veteran’s Day: Never Forget Their Duty” by John McCain. An individual’s definition of being an American is shaped by their life experiences. A person’s view on being an American is different because of experiences, such as being a veteran, being an immigrant, or living in poverty, all of which affect one’s perspective.

Michael Walzer’s essay on “What Does It Mean to Be an American?” raises many points about the American citizen. Specifically, he discusses “American” as an adjective (Walzer). “American” is often associated with American citizens; while this is true, the term can also be applied to Canadians and Mexicans (Walzer). American is such an ambiguous adjective that it is applicable to all countries and individuals that are part of the North American continent. Like Mr. Walzer states, American is not a truly defined term and America is not a country (Walzer). Walzer goes on to introduce a Horace Kallen’s opinion on American’s as anonymous and their “unique” pluralism (Walzer). There are exceptions to all things; the positive to being an American is the fact that Americans can be whatever they choose to be. I feel to be an American one must believe in the American ideals, they must believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. American 's in general may be anonymous, however, upon further reflection they have left the definition of “American” open for each American to define the adjective for themselves.

In Edward L. Hudgins article, What is an American?, Hudgins defines an American in ways I had not thought of before. Hudgins stated all these ideas about Americans being driven to do their best and meeting challenges head-on. I would like to think that being an American means everything Hudgins stated, however I think Hudgins is giving the optimistic answer of what being an American means. What Hudgins explains as being an American is what I believe most Americans were like when the country was first founded. The idea of taking risks and working until the risks paid off is one that most Americans do not believe because the possibility of actually achieve one’s dream is extremely less likely today than it was when the country was first established.

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 — 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

What it means to be American? Everybody you ask this question to will have a completely different response. Some responses might have similarities but none will be exactly the same. In the beginning of the year my response was “To be an American means having a rich history, having opportunities to better ourselves, and having freedoms.” Unfortunately not everyone has had the same opportunities or freedoms. Native Americans, who are indigenous, dealt with having their freedoms taken away, less opportunities even though they had rich history in this land before it was taken away from them. Look at what Zitkala-Sa endured. Not only that, but African Americans have fought long and hard for freedom and equality as well. W.E.B. Du Bois stood for

Defining what really is to be an American does not sound as easy as it seem. It will always be complex process. As immigration continues to fuel the growth of the population of our nation, racial and ethnic gap increase and evolve along with it. Racial and ethnic identities become more and more convoluted and difficult to understand. Race and ethnicity continue to intermingle and push a cultural shift in the US– a shift that plays a significant role in redefining America in a day-to-day basis.

“It is obvious that there are three naturally distinct, one might almost say hostile, races” (Tocqueville). In the early years of America, the country was a product of racism, slavery, and social instability. This unstable society was directly related to the settling of the Europeans and the establishment of the North and South territories. In Chapter 10 of “Democracy in America”, Alexis de Tocqueville addresses America’s communal unsteadiness regarding “the three races” as well as the North and South by establishing a loss of identity.

For J. Hector St. John De Crèvecoeur and Phillis Wheatley the seduction of freedom was strong enough to have a hold over them throughout their lives. They express obtaining or wanting independence through writing about certain myths of American culture and identity. This idea of unfiltered, unbiased liberty saturates images of America. Even before it officially became a gaggle of nations, North America was known as a wide-open space full of possibilities. Crèvecoeur and Wheatley want the opportunity of self-determination, but it comes easier for one and with more complications for the other. Wheatley has the added disadvantage of her race and gender, while Crèvecoeur comes to these lands with all possibilities open and within reach. These outstanding factors affect the way these two write about American identity. Crèvecoeur’s Letters of An American Farmer: What is an American and various poems by Wheatley comment on the experience of being an American and share a critique on oppression, but there is a dichotomy in their specific views of the American Dream and the Self-Made Man due to their different positions in society.

“What is American” by Hector St. John de Crevecoeur was an advertisement for America. America is explained as a beautiful and structured place that came to be after work was done to a wild woody place. The text stated “ he beholds air cities, substantial villages, extensive fields, an immense country filled with decent houses, good roads, orchards, meadows, and bridges, where an hundred years ago all was wild , woody and uncultivated!” Another point that was made that America was the land of free. He, as Hector calls America , was free of many things. One major thing he was free of was monarchy. The selling point hector used was there was no one person or power in control. Those who came to America would not

What is an American? This question cannot be answered by one word. There are so many different characteristics, qualities, and features that can be used to describe an American. Besides features, someone is only a real American if they take advantage of all of the many privileges that are given to them. Any person that is not grateful for the privileges that are given to them to me are not real Americans but this is only my opinion. Real Americans use their privileges to benefit themselves and everyone around them. In today's society there are certain things that are expected from American citizens, for instance being a responsible citizen.

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 article, “We Are All Americans” by Vicente Verdu was about his view of America. He states that in a few years it will be hard to separate what is American and what is not. America’s influence on the world might not be bad but it does hurt the individualism of other countries. He described a school shooting in Germany that was a repeat of what happened in Colorado. He assumes that the model of American life is a “fractal” (Verdu 23). of the many everyday aspects that exist and gets repeated. Verdu concludes that everyone in the world will start to dream the same and will want to have the same destinies.

So from my understanding on “What is an American” by Crevecoeur it’s about someone who has high pride for his or her country. Crevecoeur showed us that every American and every religion are equal and free. Crevecoeur shows us in “What is an American” still stands true today that anyone can be an American if he or she is proud their country, has a volunteering heart and acts on new principles. “Self-Reliance” by Emerson is about the natural instinct of American how they are more self-conscious about their life. If you avoid conformity and false consistency, let the important things in life influence your mind, and allowing the past to influence your future you’ll get through life from my understanding after reading this story. In addition, that