Letters from an American Farmer Written by Michel St. John De Crevecoeur Presented by: Heather Justice

Biography Born Michel Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur In 1735 around Caen, France Came to North America by way of England in 1755 Served with Montcalm’s forces during the assault on For William Henry Settled in upstate New York in 1759 Became a British subject in 1764

Biography continued Married in 1770 to Mehitable Tippet Returned to France during the Revolution in 1780 Letters from an American Farmer published in 1782 Wrote under pseudonym J. Hector St. John Returned to North America and learned his wife had been died and children were living with neighbors Crevecoeur was French consul in New York City from 1783 to 1790 Returned to France in 1790 and remained there until his death in 1813

Historical Context Crevecoeur was an American Farmer “we are a people of cultivators” The events leading to the Revolution were of major significance at the time Crevecoeur was targeting the poor Europeans as his audience “What attachment can a poor European emigrant have for a country where he had nothing?” “his country is now that which gives him land, bread, protection, and consequence.”

Main Points The metamorphosis of an European into an American Crevecoeur likens poor Europeans to useless plants that are transplanted and have take root and flourished in America The freedom and opportunities in North America (social, religious, etc.) The chance to be a “freeman” and there are “no princes, for whom we toil, starve, and bleed: we are the most perfect society now existing In the world. Here man is free as he ought to be;” To describe and define what it meant to be an American “The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions.”

Historical Significance The document gave an idealized view on the way of life for an American Attempts to define “what is an American?” The document was important to the poor European giving him hope that he will succeed and encourage him to work hard in America to be a success Refers to “individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men” and “that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country”

Questions Do you agree on the Main Points? What did this document say to you? Do you feel that the descriptions of the transformation of an European into an American was romanticized or idealized? Crevecoeur said “he no sooner breathes our air than he forms schemes, an embarks on designs he never would have thought of in his own country.”

Sources Bibliobase from Houghton Mifflin Company 179/Crevecoeur.html