Monday, October 7, 2013

Reading #2

The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions. . . . Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world. . . . An [immigrant] when he first arrives . . . no sooner breathes our air than he forms new schemes, and embarks in designs he never would have thought of in his own country. . . . He begins to feel the effects of a sort of resurrection; hitherto he had not lived, but simply vegetated; he now feels himself a man . . . Judge what an alteration there must arise in the mind and thoughts of this man; . . . his heart involuntarily swells and glows; this first swell inspires him with those new thoughts which constitute an American.
—Excerpted from Letters from an American Farmer, 1782, by Hector St. John de Crevecoeur


1 comment:

  1. i think its about how america has so many opportunities and rights that allow you to accomplish what you've always wanted to do . releasing your inner man

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