American? In J. Hector St. John De Essay

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American?

In J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur's letter "What is an American?," the author attempts to familiarize the reader with the general lifestyle and character of a settler inhabiting the British North American colonies in an effort to demonstrate the concept of a uniquely American identity, formed out of the disparate influences which informed the culture of the time and region. De Crevecoeur describes the terrain, climate, religious attitudes, and occupations found on the newly colonized continent, and in doing so he illustrates the set of conditions which had helped transform the colonies' diverse European population into a unique, new culture known as American.

According to de Crevecoeur, the essence of the American identity is its multicultural heritage, or more specifically, its diverse European background. Because of the intermarriage of many European settlers since the early days of colonization, the American "is either an European, or the descendant of an European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country" (de Crevecoeur, 1782, p. 54). Although most Americans are generally of European descent, they tend to be a combination of several nationalities rather than of only British, French, Dutch, or German descent.

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This multicultural heritage enables new trends of thought and behavior to emerge, as the American leaves "behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, [and receive] new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds" (de Crevecoeur, p. 55). Thus, for de Crevecoeur, the central reason for America's unique character is the combination of European heritages such that their blending results in a culture fundamentally different from any of its constituent parts.

From this mix of heritages come new attitudes regarding the notions of equality and hard work motivated by self-interest. These ideas, coupled with fundamentally altered attitudes toward religion, resulted in an American identity that was wholly different from its European ancestors, because home-taught catechism and the fact that many families of different religious beliefs were living in such close proximity to each other caused first generation children to be less….....

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