Crèvecoeur Argumentative Essay

After the Revolutionary War, Europe as a whole was watching the newly independent America and wondering what the young country was going to do and who they were. Letters from an America Farmer, written by J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur serves to answer the question “What is an American?” The traits given by Crèvecoeur are shown also in Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s painting Washington Crossing the Delaware and have endured long enough to appear within President Barack Obama’s “First Inaugural Address”. Together, Washington Crossing the Delaware and President Obama’s “First Inaugural Address” share Crèvecoeur’s claim that Americans are diverse but united, progressive, and industrious.
In “Letter III: What is an American?”, Crèvecoeur discusses the characteristics of an American. He writes that “a mixture of English, Scotch, Irish, French, Dutch, Germans, and Swedes” are from whom “the race now called Americans have arisen” (Crèvecoeur 443). By describing the native lands of the people in America before saying they make up the race of Americans, Crèvecoeur shows the idea of being united and diverse. He describes

Crèvecoeur links hard work with social mobility in the line, “We are all animated with the spirit of an industry which is unfettered and unrestrained, because each person works for himself” (Crèvecoeur 442). According to Crèvecoeur, since each person works for their own gain, they can continue to grow in wealth by their own merit. In fact, he mentions earlier that there is “no invisible power giving to a few a very visible one” (Crèvecoeur 442). Through this line, Crèvecoeur also links social mobility and equality as far as politics is concerned. Since no invisible power is granting power to someone, people have to work for their positions. All of the above ideas proposed by Crèvecoeur can be seen in media, such as Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s Washington Crossing the