What, according to Crevecoeur, is an American? How is this “new man” made? What distinguishes him from a European? Does Crevecoeur’s later letter on Charleston undermine his somewhat idealistic vision of the American? Why does he include this chapter?
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Crevecoeur’s first letter depicts America as a place where class fails to be divisive, multiple religious views and practices exist harmoniously, and immigrants can forge a newly prosperous life for themselves through their hard work and determination. His rhetoric suggests that a European might become Americanized by embracing the American ethos of patriotism and by being “melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world” (607). Where a European would be tangled amongst national and religious alliances, Crevecoeur’s ideal American embraces certain particulars of his identity, such as his religion, while still declaring himself “allied to all” (610). The later letter on Charlestown creates a clear tension with the idealistic language of the first letter. In the latter letter, Crevecoeur acknowledges that class divisions do exist in America, and he goes on to insist that lawyers have taken an unfairly large share of society’s “richest spoils” (615). Class divisions aside, his most striking negative commentary of America comes with his discussion of slavery. It’s clear that Crevecoeur feels personally appalled by the practice. The end of the chapter includes a vivid recounting of his encounter with a slave whom he found alive in a cage after 48 hours of being refused water and food by his master. Obviously, the idealized first letter and the graphic second letter seem at odds at first glance, but, to me at least, both letters come off as sincere emotional reactions. Crevecoeur comes off to me as an individual prone to a passionate style interpretation, and that style comes off as strongly positive in the first letter and reciprocally negative in the second.
Crevecoeur speaks of America with pure excitement. It is like he has found a utopia that seems to be too good to be true. He draws a contrast of life in America to the one he has left in Europe. Casually, it is like he is saying to the reader, “remember what you did not like in Europe?….well that no longer exists!” What amazes Crevecoeur the most is the idea of freedom. There is no great divide between the wealthy and royal and the paupers. He speaks down upon Europeans and states, “we have no princes, for whom we toil, starve, and bleed; we are the most perfect society now existing in the world.” In the United States, everyone has the chance to own land and neighbors get along in the pursuit of religious freedom. He speaks fondly of the different races of people who have come together in a new land, different backgrounds now living as one. He calls themselves.
However, towards the end of his later letter describing Charles-town Crevecoeur regrets to admit some displeasure in America. He has come to realize the relationship between the wealthy and the slaves is similar to the life he left behind in Europe. The slaves are forced in subservience to the wealthy. Crevecoeur, unfortunately, had to learn utopias do no exist… at least not for very long.
De Crevecoeur is clearly fascinated and enraptured by the land and the promise such an immense swath of wilderness offers the new breed of man who choses to settle it. Usefulness seems to be the key to what defines an American for De Crevecoeur, and that usefulness is intrinsically tied to nature. He describes Europe as too crowded for men to thrive, with toil that no longer holds any meaning because of the lack of space to nurture that toil. He linguistically connects man to nature, as he does throughout the piece, and says, “Every industrious European who transports himself here may be compared to a sprout growing at the foot of a great tree; it enjoys and draws but a little portion of sap; wrench it from the parent roots, transplant it, and it will become a tree bearing fruit also” (604). Americans have been regenerated and must therefor generate new ideas and a new social system, and their toil on the land is immediately rewarded in ways both material and metaphysical. These Americans will be differentiated based on their climates, so generally speaking their freedom and space will afford space for new thoughts and ideas, but their literal geographic location in the New World will also affect them just as plants are affected by their environments. It seems that De Crevecoeur wants to impart to the reader that the land itself grants man his new identity and he writes, “his country is now that which gives him land, bread, protection, and consequence” (598). Because the land is so demanding, religion will soon become less zealous and generation after generation will become indifferent because of their new sense of focus. In his next letter he describes ways that nature has tainted man, and the powerful and dangerous ways certain geographic locations have nurtured their plants. In his previous letter he seemed incessant on the importance of toil, hard work, and cultivating the land, and here in “Description of Charles-Town” his tone is snarky and his comments about the lavish lifestyle enjoyed are biting. He writes, “On the one side, behold a people enjoying all that life affords most bewitching and pleasurable, without labor, without fatigue…Oh Nature, where are thou?” (607). He bemoans the condition of the slave and the fact that they do not work for themselves, and this letter seems to be a slight sobering of his earlier idealism. It would appear that nature has produced monsters in some Americans.
To Crevecoeur, America is a land like no other, just like the people. He describes America as a place where the rich and poor are not so far removed, there are no princes or kings, and everyone is a citizen. He remarks that America is the most perfect society now existing in the world. Americans are happy and hard-working. The new laws, new modes of living, and new social systems create men out of anyone, while in Europe the poor were not men. America is different than Europe because of this notion that everyone is a man, and anyone can make a living for themselves in America. In America, individuals from all nations are melted into one race of men. The American is a new man who has new principals, idea, and opinions. Crevecoeur’s later letter starts out like the first one, describing Charles-town as the richest, most pleasurable city in the North, calling its inhabitants “the gayest in America.” Whats strange about this letter is that Crevecoeur then reveals the contrast between the way the wealthy residents of Charles-town live and the way the slaves in the area live. He seems as though he is conflicted about his earlier idea of America and its opportunities for all, and struggles with how to handle this divide.