Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur writes as a Frenchman
who made a living in the United States. He claims that Americans are a
people untied by land and individuality. He says most Americans are
people from Europe who were suffering from oppression and were
hopelessly dependent on the government. As they came to America, they
were set free from their old way of life. As they adopt new ideals and
government, they themselves become new people. "We are nothing but what
we derive from the air we breathe, the climate we inhabit, the
government we obey, the system of religion we profess, and the nature of
our employment." This quote states that humans are the result of their
surroundings and will continue to change as long as their surroundings
change. When they were in Europe, people were constantly under the rule
of the government or higher authority. When they came to America, there
was no more oppression and it was ruled by a completely different
government, therefore making themselves into a completely different
person. Crevecoeur states, "An American is who leaves behind him all
prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he
has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds."
That is an American.
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