Letters From An American Farmer By Crevecoeur Language Analysis

When Europeans encountered the Native Americans, the encounter was fraught with difficulties for both sides, for the Native Americans more so than the Europeans. Europeans conquered the Native Americans, forced them into labor, and spread diseases which the Native Americans had no resistance to. In addition to this the Europeans considered themselves superior to the Native Americans. Despite this, the Europeans and Native Americans, both had things the other wanted and so they often engaged in trade with each other. However, the Native Americans thought that, despite not having the luxuries the Europeans had, they were better off than the Europeans. This sentiment is exemplified in “Your People Live Only Upon Cod” by French priest Chrestian LeClerq who was traveling with the Micmac Indians. It is a documented response by an unknown Micmac leader to European, particularly French, claims of superiority. In analyzing this document, we will find that the cultures of the French and the Micmac were vastly different. We will also discover what the Micmac and the French thought of each other.

One of de Crevecoeur’s primary persuasive strategies in his essay is the use of juxtaposition or antithesis in his comparisons of life in Europe versus new life in America. After illustrating the stark distinctions between the hierarchal societies of Europe and

First, we note that the frontier promoted the formation of a composite nationality for the American people. The coast was preponderantly English, but the later tides of continental immigration

2)How does Wertenbaker represent the older and now generally unaccepted view that American society is essentially an extension of European civilization?

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.

Crevecoeur’s connotation of the words can show how he felt about the colonial American society. He uses diction like, “frowns”, “punishments”, withered”, “war”, and many others that give off a negative connotation. This shows his negative feelings toward America. “ A country that had no bread for him, whose fields procured him no harvest…” (line 9-10). This piece of evidence shows how underdeveloped America was when Crevecoeur traveled to it. This gives a sense to his negative connotation towards it because it did not meet his expectations of a prominent country.

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.

Ishmael read does an incredible job of pointing out all possible notions that the people who were here before us are,our cause of success. Reed discusses passionately for the ideas and social behaviors that arrived in the United States of America before and after the first wave of European settlers.

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

Richard Rodriguez in his essay, “Does America Still Exists?” asserts that all citizens of America are Americans despite the difference in their origin. The author narrates the story, using different examples of interconnection between the different origins of people in America. He says, “America was born Protestant and bred Puritan, and the notion of community we share is derived from seventeenth-century faith…we are gathered together – but as individuals, with separate pasts, distinct destinies. Our society is as paradoxical as a Puritan congregation: we stand together alone” (195). The author states that people from all backgrounds live in in the country as

Crevecoeur compares the men in Europe to “useless plants, wanting vegetative’ soil. He describes the European people's desire to flourish, but states that their native country causes them to “wither” and they become “mowed down.” However, Crevecoeur introduces

or herself, and thus placing that self into the tradition of American autobiography, s/he provides proof of "American" identity (91).

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.

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

What does it mean to be an American? In today's day and age, the general perception of an American is to be free, free to practice any religion, free to speak your mind, free in general. However, America has only been able to be perceived as a promised land due to the obstacles and barriers that have been challenged by early Americans. From having to accept others religious beliefs to the abolishment of slavery. A good example is J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer (1782). Letters from an American Farmer is a collection of twelve letters written from the perspective of a fictional character. These letters do a magnificent job at emphasizing on how America is similar to the environment and the people who feed