Artifact 1: Crevecoeur’s "Letter from an American Farmer"

Group 2,

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Crevecoeur’s “Letters from an American Farmer”. There is a simplicity in his words that is very comforting. In his first letter, he warns the reader that his opinion is not that of a “philosopher, politician, divine or naturalist, but a simple farmer” (438). This is a very important aspect of this writing because it means that he will only speak the plain truth, without taking in consideration any of the ramifications of voicing his opinion.

In the second letter, Crevecoeur couldn’t be more right about his life as a farmer. He seems truly happy with his life as a farmer, then as a married man and finally as a father – passing on what he has learnt in life to his son, taking the same pleasures out of life that his father had in passing on his way of life to him and so on. Somewhere, I think everyone wants a laid-back life as such where one can simply be self-sufficient within the confines of one’s own land and raise a family.

The third letter was very tragic to read. It highlighted an important point that there is a balance somewhere. For one part of society to live well, someone somewhere has to suffer.

The definition of what an American is very diverse. However, the aspects of these letters, in my opinion, ties in very well with what that means and what it requires. The pursuit of truth is something outlined in the first letter and is central to what being an American means. The second letter gives a feeling of living a life as an island, living off one’s own land and being self-sufficient. However, the third letter really shows that although living on one’s own terms might seem like the most harmless thing to do, there will always be someone who has to pay the price for our comforts – just like the “fate of this Negro in all its dismal latitude” (453). The encounter with the nine Haudenosaunee (aka Iroquois) and the naïve Andrew also ties in with the fact that others have to suffer the simple, quiet life that some of us are lucky enough to enjoy. Today, this same fate is being handed to the people in foreign countries.

It is true that Crevecoeur predicted America as being a great nation one day but there were problems of slavery, as there have always been in every civilization, but America is unique in that it has moved beyond these problems and tried to live in harmony with all cultures and races here. Maybe being American means moving outside of our comfort zones and moving beyond our fears of the unknown and living in harmony. Maybe.

Sincerely,

Arjun Thakur
ENGL 214