American Identity Paper

American Identity Paper

Shavonne Rabb

HIS/110

November 22, 2010

Lillie Caton

American Identity Paper

Defining American identity has many ways to be done. One can obtain the answer from a book, research, or from one’s own opinion. Although the answer may vary, there is one who was determined to define an American. That person was J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur. In this paper, Crevecoeur’s letter ‘What is an American’ will be discussed stating his compelling view of the American identity.

One would like to know the definition of an American. This is a question that has been asked many times, to many people, and has many answers. To many, an American is considered to be a citizen of the United States. Reading the letter wrote by Crevecoeur, to his friend in England, gives one another view of how American identity is defined. In his compelling letter, Crevecoeur has an opinion that the American identity is formed through diversity, religion, and hard work ethics. [Your intro has good points, but the first and second paragraphs essentially repeat each other. The only thing different is the thesis in the second paragraph.]

The Difference between an American and a European

Crevecoeur describes several differences in the identity between an American and a European, [Punctuation error.] When he looks at the Americans in his or her land, and compare it to the Europeans, he states “It is not composed, as in Europe, of great lords who possess every thing, and of a herd of people how have nothing,” (Crevecoeur, 1782, p. 49). He means that everyone is independent and there are not many people who are poor. [Good] He also stated, “The rich and the poor are not so far removed from each other as they are in Europe,” (Crevecoeur, 1782, p. 49). By this statement, he means that everyone blends in together, and no one is divided by class. [Good points, but why does this matter? Analyze this information. Does it affect interactions? If so, how?]

When Crevecoeur...