Colonial America
Writing in 1782 J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur tried to define "the American, this new man." as "neither a European nor a descendent of a European, [but an] American, who, leaving behind all his ancient 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."
Based on the what we have learned about Colonial America in class explain why you would agree or disagree with this statement.
Based on the what we have learned about Colonial America in class explain why you would agree or disagree with this statement.
posted by Mark Killian | 4:46 AM
1 Comments:
Although I believe Colonials left behind a lot manners and traditions in England they were still mainly English. Many of this country's early prejudice problems came from the fact that certain immigrants were from certain parts of Europe or held different traditions or beliefs. True, Americans came to adopt new modes of life, but they did not throw away their old ways of life. Over time modes of life were never thrown away, but blended into one. I suppose if you want to you can call that a new mode of life. I mean, it doesn't exactly have a single european descent since it's a blend of so many. But Americans certainly didn't leave their old prejudices behind, and the obviously shouldn't have embraced the rank they were given once they arrived. America was the land of opportunity, therefore you didn't hold to your initital rank, but work hard to rise above it. Although I can see where this guy was getting his ideas from, I don't think he could generalize America to that extent.
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