Tani’qua Jones
Dr. Boyd
American Lit.
After reading and analyzing de Crevecoeur’s essay, “What is an American,” one could argue that the entire purpose of the essay was to describe an egalitarianism society, a society which has never existed in his eyes. De Crevecoeur was raised in a family of Counts and Countesses, experiencing the fortune of being born into a wealthy and prosperous family, while witnesses the misfortune of those who weren’t. Through the details and images described, from his experiences, in Letters of an American Farmer we obtain the true sense of being English or French; something de Crevecoeur wasn’t all too proud to be called. John de Crevecoeur was more honored to be called an American, working as a farmer, a life vastly different from the comfort and riches of being a Count. In “What is an American,” De Crevecoeur compares Europe and America to define the nature of being an American. And he illustrates throughout the essay, why the great American frontier is preferred by the vast majority.
Although de Crevecoeur was born in France, he sees himself as an Englishman who has come to settle in America. Through his eyes we explore the differences he encounters in America that he would never discover in England. Most of these changes are based on his experience of being an American farmer, working on the beautiful open frontier. Here de Crevecoeur sees the industry of his native country displayed in a new manner, “there are no great manufacturers employing thousands, no great refinements of luxury,” and there’s no huge division between rich and poor, unlike England who has all those qualities and more. America is not “composed, as in Europe, of great lords who possess everything,” it caters to the majority, making everyone equal and placing them on the same level. America is the land of opportunity, welcoming the majority, the lower class of England, to come there and actually work for their selves; because, unlike being English, when you become an American you are not only allowed, but encouraged to revel in the rewards of your labor. De Crevecoeur makes this point constantly throughout the essay, stating how in America “he sees a parson as simple as his flock, a farmer who does not riot on the labor of others.” De Crevecoeur allows us to see how the fact of a simple person, of no royal or distinct status, being permitted to grind for themselves is the very make-up of being an American. “Here the rewards of his industry follow with equal steps the progress of his labor; his labor is founded on the basis of nature, self-interest.”
In Europe, being separate and unequal is not difficult to grasp. The rich breed with the rich, more than likely in the same race, and the poor stays with the poor; there’s no intermixing within the race or the social classes, everything remains separate in order to maintain the social order. On the other hand, arriving in America de Crevecoeur has a hard time taking in what he sees, and to him the “difficulty consists in the manner of viewing so extensive a scene.” De Crevecoeur reaches the new continent and automatically feels “a share of national pride, when he views the chain of settlements which embellishes the extended shores.” People of different races and backgrounds were living amongst each other, socializing and breeding with others from different cultures. It amazed De Crevecoeur to see America as a standing contradiction to England, viewing everything he’s used to in Europe now being shattered. He witnessed the blend of English, Irish, Germans, Scotch, Swedes, Dutch, and French; a mixture of cultures and classes that would never be heard of in Europe. De Crevecoeur saw “from this promiscuous breed, that race now called Americans has arisen.” Although an American “is either a European or the descendent of a European,” it is that strange mixture of blood” that makes them unique, something that could not be found in any other country. “Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and prosperity will one day cause great changes in the world.” America is a binary opposition to Europe, which simply means that whatever England is or incorporates itself with, America contradicts it. That being said, De Crevecoeur states that “the greatest political error that the crown ever committed was to cut off men from a country which wanted nothing but men.” Meaning England was selective with who they allowed in their country, and treated immigrants as slaves, someone lower than dirt, the laws of the English didn’t create room for new cultures and citizens; it didn’t allow change of any kind. Yet, as people migrate to America, the laws place them under its shield, “stamping on them the symbol of adoption.” America welcomes change, which is why “everything tends to regenerate them”; they attain a new social system, laws, and a new mode of living. In America they essentially become true men, a citizen, and actually receive benefits for their labor, not abuse. De Crevecoeur makes it clear to see how the laws of England imprisons, while those of America “confer on them the title of freemen.” In America “there are no aristocratical families, no courts, no kings, and no invisible power giving to a few a very visible one.” There’s basically no government, only laws created to protect their natural rights as a human being. Through these differences described in the essay, de Crevecoeur illustrates that the nature of being an American is also attaining the basic instinct of self-preservation. “He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds.”
Everyone wants the opportunity to decide how they are going live their life, what job they’re going to hold, the type of government they desire to live under, and more importantly what religion they want to follow. In Europe there is an ecclesiastical dominion, and by law everyone must follow that set religion. It is easy to relate to de Crevecoeur’s point of view, when he describes America as being the preferred choice of the masses, because their rights are limited. After living in an overcrowded and populated country, with a monarchy over the land, in a social society that has a great division between the rich and poor, they are now required to worship in the same Anglican Church as their oppressors. In America you are free from it all; the country is set on an open frontier with every citizen owning their own land, working as farmers, meaning no great division in social classes; furthermore, and most importantly, in America, one can obtain religious freedom. There’s no difficulty in understanding why de Crevecoeur desired America over Europe when one is an aristocracy society and the other a meritocracy, and while one attains religious freedom and the other does not. In America, “religion demands little of him; a small voluntary salary to the minister, and gratitude to God.” It’s this religious freedom, in America, that helps to create the individual, and mark a difference between the people as well as their county, unlike Europe, which “contains hardly any other distinctions but lords and tenants.” The very theme of individualism, that is valued in America, augments to the nature of being an American.
In order to become a better and more refined nation than Europe, Americans had to form new opinions and ideas. They desired a country far removed “from involuntary idleness, servile dependence, penury, and useless labor.” Americans wanted to oppose everything that England stood for; which is why de Crevecoeur emphasized the way the American society catered to the individual, unlike Europe. And he continued these comparisons, in order to give us a more accurate definition of who Americans are, someone more than descendants of Europeans. Through these comparisons, de Crevecoeur supplies, we are able to see that an American is an innovative man, who acts upon new ethics. “He has passed toils of a very different nature, rewarded by ample subsistence. - This is an American.”
In Letters from an American farmer, de Crevecoeur compares Europe and America to define the nature of being an American. Throughout the essay we view examples of these comparisons, and it’s through these contrasts that we get the definition of an American. Unlike in Europe, America is not based on class and honor, the people in America are farmers who live in comfortable but modest houses, this is an American. America is a country that has become a melting pot of different cultures, treated fairly and regarded as citizens under the law, this is an American. In America, people give up the old for the new and they’re constantly motivated by hard work and having the opportunity to improve their life, this is an American.

Works Cited
Hanson, Victor Davis. The Land Was Everything: Letters from an American Farmer. New York: The Free Press, 2000.
Philbrick, Thomas. St. John De Crevecoeur. New York: Twayne, 1970.
Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 2: St. Jean De Crevecoeur." PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide.