De Crèvec[oe]ur (1731-1813) was a French writer who
emigrated to America at the age of twenty-three. He
settled on a farm near the City of New York, and
came to know many of the great men of his day. For
instance, he had the friendship of Washington and
Franklin. France appointed him as her consul at New
York. In 1782 Crèvec[oe]ur published his _Letters
of an American Farmer_. As this extract shows, it
is almost prophetic in its insight into the future.
What then is the American, this new man? He is
either a European, or the descendant of a European,
hence that strange mixture of blood which you will find
in no other country. I could point out to you a family
whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was 5
Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose
present four sons have now four wives of different nations.
An American is he 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 10
obeys, and the new rank he holds. He becomes an American
by being received in the broad lap of our great Alma Mater.
Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race
of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause
great changes in the world. Americans are the western 15
pilgrims, who are carrying along with them that great
mass of arts, sciences, vigor, and industry which began
long since in the East; they will finish the great circle.
The Americans were once scattered all over Europe;
in America they are incorporated into one of the finest
systems of population which has ever appeared, and which
will hereafter become distinct by the power of the different
climates they inhabit. The American ought therefore to
love his country much better than that wherein either he 5
or his forefathers were born. 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.
Can it want a stronger allurement?
Women and children, who before in vain demanded a 10
morsel of bread, now gladly help their men folk to clear those
fields whence exuberant crops are to arise to feed and to
clothe them all, without any part being claimed either
by a despotic prince, a rich abbot, or a mighty lord.
Religion demands but little of the American: a small 15
voluntary salary to the minister, and gratitude to God.
Can he refuse these?
The American is a new man, who acts upon new
principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas and form
new opinions. From involuntary idleness, servile dependence, 20
penury, and useless labor, he has passed to toils of
a very different nature, rewarded by ample subsistence.--This
is an American.
--_Letters of an American Farmer._
1. What is Crèvec[oe]ur's definition of an
American? How would you define an American to-day?
2. Explain lines 15-18, on page 336. What does the
last clause of the sentence mean?
3. What reasons does the author give for a great
love of country on the part of Americans? Do these
reasons still hold good?
4. Explain: Alma Mater, posterity, allurement,
voluntary, servile, penury, subsistence.