What_Is_An_American_

What Is An American' “De Crevecoeur: What is an American'” In Hector St. John de Crevecoeur’s essay “What is an American'” he attempts to describe American’s as a diverse people from many different walks of life. He describes how people came to this country to find freedom from an oppressive caste-like system. Europeans came to this country to find a new life far away from their kings, churches, and countrymen. Here, they found tolerance and a new way of life… and a new and ever-changing identity. This new race of people was strong, hardworking, and risk-taking. They had a real need to leave Europe. The countries they left were stagnant and unchanging. Their kings were oppressive. The rich got richer and the poor stayed poor. These people had nothing in the countries they left: “Can a wretch who wanders about, who works and starves, whose life is a continual scene of sore affliction or pinching penury; can that man call England or any other kingdom his country' A country that had no bread for him, whose fields procured him no harvest, who met with nothing but the frowns of the rich, the severity of the laws, with jails and punishments; who owned not a single foot of american, people, country, new, americans, came, america, whose, each, 60, life, heritage, find, society, poor, countries, rich, power, person, now, nothing, kings, immigrants, great, europe, different, called, variety, values, today, take, sons, place, over, mix