What is an American
Introduction
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.
The American
St. Jean de Crevecoeur describes the American as a person who originated from an enlightened Englishman who first landed on the American continent. This Englishman and his fellows took refuge in this continent when they were convulsed by factions, and troubled by a variety of miseries and wants in Europe. In Europe, they were treated as plants by the ravenous and carnivorous society of lords, princes, and harsh magistrates. They were starved and harshly forced to work to satisfy the demands of a few, who were viewed as the owners of all the land. These few individuals were the lords and princes who owned all the land. Downtrodden by the European societal lifestyle, this Englishman came to America with geniuses and these clever people are the people to whom the Americans owe the liberty they enjoy and all the things they call their possession.
The American society is different from that in Europe, which is composed of great lords who own everything and a herd of people who own totally nothing. This society has no ecclesiastical do...
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... a special race who having been downtrodden and harshly treated by the European society sought refuge in America. In this continent, they established a culture of their own, with their own rules, governments, and modes of living, social systems, and principles. The American race is said to have resulted from a mixture of Swedes, Dutch, French, Irish, Scotch, and Englishmen. The American can be described as a person with a strange mix of blood not found in any other country. He is a person who has abandoned his ancient manners and prejudices, and has embraced new ones from his new mode of life. He is also described as a pilgrim of west who was once scattered all over Europe but who has now been incorporated into a different population system.
Works Cited
St. John de Crevecoeur, Hector. Letters from an American Farmer. Carlisle, MA: Applewood Books, 2007. Print.
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Hector St. John Crèvecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer, composed in the 1770's, published 1781
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