J.Hector St. John de Crevecoeur

BIOGRAPHY

In 1755 John de Crevecoeur (Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur) immigrated to New France in North America. There, he served in the French and Indian war as a surveyor in the French Colonial Militia, rising to the rank of lieutenant. Following the British defeat of the French Army in 1759 he moved to New York State, then the Province of New York, where he took out citizenship, adopted the English-American name of John Hector St. John, and in 1770 married an American woman, Mehitable Tippet. He bought a sizable farm in Orange County, N.Y., where he prospered as a farmer and took up writing about life in the American colonies and the emergence of an American society. In 1779, during the American Revolution, the faltering health of his father forced him to travel to Europe.
(from Wikipedia)

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN FARMER

Letter 3
In short the first pages of Crevecoeur`s third letter are about how to define an American.
He points out that every American is different and that different areas will produce different people. He also compares America with Europe: "It is not composed, as in Europe, of great lords who pass everything, and of a herd of peole who have nothing. Here are no aristocratical families, no courts, no kings, no bishops, no eccelesiastical dominion (...)" (ll.10-12). In the following I sum up some definitions:
An American...
...loves his country.
...is formerly poor and punished people who create a new democracy.
...is a new race that builds up a new world without discrimination.
...gets what he deserves: reward for hard labour.
...has ancestors from all over the world (e.g. mostly pilgrims: industry, art, science).
...has a mixture of european blood.
...lives according to the new principles: declaration of independence.
...entertains new ideas and forms new opinions.
...is a free person and an equal citizen.
...leaves behind ancient prejudices, traditions, manners as well as values.
...participates in the country (e.g. to elect politicians).
...is independent from Europe.

In my opinion Crevecoeur is right, America was and is an independent country and you are free. A lot of people from Europe immigrated to America because there was a new social system, more work, they did not make big differences between poor, rich and new laws, "no courts, no kings" (p.300, l.10). They are "melted into a new race of men" (melting pot).

I think it is really important to learn something about America's history, about its beginning and how it went on. Especially these documents, like Crevecoeur's letters help you to understand how the situation was like and which differences the American saw between the New World and Europe. If you do not have a certain backgroundknowledge of the American history it may be harder to understand how the life differed from Europe and America. I am from Europe and you could mean that I have an imagination how the life was like, but although I am an European I did not really know a lot of things from the past. So for me it was even more interesting to see how people or in this case important humans or maybe historicans desribe and see the differences between Europe and America. This quotation of Crevecoeur's third letter surprised me in the beginning: "It is not composed, as in Europe, of great lords who pass everything, and of a herd of people who have nothing. Here are no aristocratical, famalies, no courts, no kings, no bishops, no eccelesiastical dominion."

I think although the papers and documents we read and discuss in class or in our life are over 100 years old, they are still right and important to know. I often wonder about how much we can learn from things that people have written down a long time ago. For me are these documents not only papers that are written down by someone at some time but they are written by a person who wanted to let others know about his thoughts, emotions and stories. I think these people must had a reason for poblishing their work.
For me Literature is a collection of all important and significant works. It does not matter how long they are but I think when you deal with them you will find out a kind of message why the authors wrote them.