Letters From an American Farmer: Examining What Is an American? - Research Paper

Introduction

Letters from an American Farmer by de Crevecoeur is a series of letters that were first published in 1782. The twelve letters depicted in the book cover different topics from the emergence of the identity of Americans to the slave trade of the blacks. Moreover, Crevecoeur wrote the depicted letters seven years before the American Revolutionary War, near Orange County, New York while he was always farming. The paper, therefore, is premised on a discussion about the third letter, What is an American, based on De Crevecoeur's ideologies and arguments. A few questions are answered in his third letter, how the man is made and what distinguishes him from the Europeans.

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Biography

Michel Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur was born on 31, December 1735 in Normandy. After migrating to New France in 1755, North America, he served in both the French the Indian war in the French Colonial Militia as a cartographer. He moved to the New York province following the defeat of the French army by the British, where he acquired the English-American name John Hector St. John and married an American woman (Crevecoeur). The bought quite a large piece of land for farming in the Orange County of New York called Pine Hill where he had great success as a farmer. Accompanied by his son, he once tried to leave New York to return to France due to his father's fatal health condition. While passing through the British-American lines, he was imprisoned for three months with an allegation of being an American spy (Crevecoeur). Later he was able to sail towards Britain where he was reunited with his father.

After the publishing of his various essays and letters, his book becomes the first literary success by an author from America living in Europe which made him become famous and became a celebrated figure in the society. He became the first writer to describe the Europeans (who were employing many English terms) life on the American perspective and exploring the ideology and the concept of the American dream hence bringing out the American society as characterized by the argument on self-determination and equal opportunity for all the people.

Historical Perspective

In 1759, Michel Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur was intending to cultivate his garden. He had experienced too much negativity of the civilized world and was willing to retire and for nineteen years he stayed in peace until the civilized intruded on his personal life and family with the outbreak of the American Revolution (Crevecoeur). His writing was generally based on American culture and agricultural activities and was put in a series of letters that were published in London in 1782 (Peterson). His letters and writings provided useful and important information and understanding of the new world which as a result helped create and build an identity for America in the mindsets of Europeans. Thus, he did by describing the whole country rather than describing single colonies. The letters celebrated their ingenuity and the unsophisticated lifestyle (Peterson). It explained the acceptance of religious diversity in European society being established from a number of cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

At the time, the city of New York was the capital and a larger percentage of its inhabitants were catholic based. They met for church sessions at the Spanish consul's home. With time, the numbers increased with the arrival of emigrants, merchants, and some Canadians. The action led to their relocation to a rented space in a garden which was an entertainment location situated along the North River on Greenwich Avenue (Peterson). A few leaders of the church sought to rent the exchange building which was vacant, and they opted for Michel Guillaume as the best choice to make the approach. Although he was slightly different from religion, Crevecoeur was sympathetic to the ideology of conscience liberty. After the proposal was denied and rejected, he was insulted and this made him very active in participating in the establishment of the first Catholic Church. He was elected president of the first president of St. Peter's church board of trustees (Peterson).

The third letter, "what is an American" was the most famous and popular among all his letters which was considered the classic description and definition of the new man who is characterized by his individualism, hard work, self-reliance, a focus on the land free to undertake and pursue his goals and in the process rejecting and ignoring the ideology that had taken over Europe for many centuries (de Crevecoeur 121). The letter reflects and brings out the real experiences of a European born American man who for a long period of time tried to find out who is the American man. His answer to the question, "what is an American", was flattering to the Americans of the time and it still reverberates in today's society that never stops questioning the same idea (de Crevecoeur 121).

Response and Textual Criticism

According to Michel Guillaume de Jean Crevecoeur, America is a unique land just like its people. He describes America as a land where both the classes of the rich and the poor people are not so far removed, there are neither kings nor princes and everybody is a citizen. He continues to remark that America is the most perfect existing society in the world in the sense that its people are hardworking and happy (de Crevecoeur 119). The introduction of new laws, standards of living and the social systems mold men out of anyone, while in Europe, the poor people are not considered men.

America is different from Europe because of the ideology that everyone in America was a man and anyone can participate in an activity to make a living for themselves. Individuals from America are combined into a single race of men. The American is considered "a new man" who has his own principles, ideologies, and opinions. In a later letter, Crevecoeur describes Charles-town as the wealthiest and pleasurable place in the North region referring its inhabitants as the gayest in America (de Crevecoeur 121). The strangest thing about this is that Crevecoeur brings out the contrast between the way the rich inhabitants of Charles-town live and the lifestyle of the slaves and the poor in the area. To the reader, Crevecoeur seems to be torn between the conflict about his previous idea of the opportunities in America for all its citizens and how the struggles of its people handle this divide.

Michel Guillaume de Crevecoeur clearly seems to be fascinated by the land and the promise shown on such an immense and huge part of the land considered to be a wilderness that offers the new kind of man who chooses to settle and dwell in it (de Crevecoeur 122). The principle of usefulness seems to be the main key aspect to what defines an American man according to De Crevecoeur, and that this principle of usefulness is intrinsically tied to the law of nature. De Crevecoeur defines Europe as too crowded for men to dwell and thrive in it, having toil and dwelling activities that do no longer hold any meaning and usefulness due to the lack of enough land and space to nurture and grow that toil (de Crevecoeur 122).

Through the clever use of words, De Crevecoeur connects man to nature, as he does throughout the letter, and says, "that every hardworking European man who transports himself here may be compared or contrasted to a sprout developing at the bottom of a tree, as it enjoys and draws just but a little percentage of the sap, wrench it from the roots of the parent plant, transplant it, eventually it will grow into a tree that bears fruit also. De Crevecoeur argues that the Americans have been regenerated and therefore they must generate new ideologies and establish a new social system, and their dwelling activity on the land is rewarded instantly in both metaphysical and material ways.

He continues to argue that these Americans will be differentiated with the basis on their climates, so in general, the provision of both freedom and space will bring them new space for new ideas and thoughts, but their location in the geographic scope of the New World will hold the same effect as the plants whose effects emanate from their surrounding environment and conditions (Peterson). It may seem that De Crevecoeur wants to make the reader believe that the land itself guarantees and gives man his identity and he continues to argue that his country is now that which grants him land to dwell in, the daily bread, security and protection, and consequence (Peterson). Due to the demanding nature of the land, religion will, at one point become less zealous and coming generations will become less different because of their newly established sense of focus to surroundings and happening of events.

In his next letter, De Crevecoeur describes ways in which nature has tainted and molded the personality of man, the powerful and dangerous ways that certain geographic locations of the world have nurtured their plants and agriculture in general (Crevecoeur). In a previous letter, Crevecoeur seemed incessant on the significance of toil and dwelling activities of man, their hard work in cultivating the land, and here in the description of the rich Charles Town, his tone changes to a snarky one emphasizing on his arguments and comments about the lavish lifestyle adopted by the people living there (Crevecoeur).

He argues that on the one hand, there are people enjoying all that life can afford for them; that is mostly bewitching and pleasurable, without any labor or fatigue but on the other hand, he sympathizes with the condition living and dwelling of the slaves and the poor with the fact that they do not engage in any personal dwelling activities, they work for the rich (Crevecoeur). The letter seems to slightly sober on his earlier ideology. He concludes that it would appear as though nature has brought monsters out of some Americans.

Conclusion

The letter brings out the comparison between both the physical environment and the societies that emanate from it. It continues to explore the aspects and conditions of the new America and what constitutes the identity of its inhabitants. De Crevecoeur pictures himself as an Englishman who has migrated and settled in America. Through his letter, he describes what he would predict in the future of America and how different it would be compared to Europe. America, unlike Europe, has a smaller gap between the rich people and the poor on the basis of class and honor are non-existent. It is clear that from Crevecoeur's point of view, America is a suitable and a great place to live.

Works Cited

Crevecoeur, J. Hector St John. "Letter III: What Is an American?" The Heath Anthology of American Literature 1 (1994). Retrieved from: https://vonsteuben.org/ourpages/auto/2012/4/15/52233825/What%20is%20an%20American--Crevecoeur.pdf

de Crevecoeur, St John H. "Letters from an American Farmer: Letter III. What is American." An Early American Reader (1792): 118-129. Retrieved from: http://blogs.uoregon.edu/environmentalliterature230/files/2012/07/Crevecoeur-2hyfj4k.doc

Peterson, Merrill D. Thomas Jefferson and the new nation: A biography. Oxford University Press, 1970. ISBN 976-0-19-501909-4