Portraits of America

    While reading Crevecoeur, I was struck by the way much of the picture of America as a country and many of the stereotypes presented in his writing continue to be present in America today. Aspects of his Letters reminded me of John Smith a bit, especially the focus on America as the land of opportunity and the ability to be a self-made person. Crevecoeur seemed to be a little less idealistic than Smith though; he presented some of the problems of America, such as the lack of civility in areas most recently settled and the evils of building an economy on the inhumane institution of slavery.
   Crevecoeur's Letters presents America as a country of individualism and blended culture. In America, a person can be whoever he or she wishes to be; all are welcome into the "broad lap of our great Dear Mother" (which I thought was a great word-picture). America is written to be the most welcoming country, partially because of it's blend of many peoples; a visitor will find his language and customs along with great opportunity, a new class of people to be part of, and a pure, beautiful land. "This is every person's country." The blending of culture along with Crevecoeur's sense of religious plurality are present in America today. Immigrants carry their religion into America with them and, through lack of like-minded believers and living near those of other religions, their grip on their traditions lessen, their children marry those of other denominations, and religion becomes more general. He doesn't seem to hold lack of religion entirely as a good thing though; this is a reason he offers for the uncivilized nature of the people of the lesser settled areas of America. Personally, this section reminded me of the stereotype of the "Wild West", where people handle problems with guns and bar-fights and "backwoods hicks" who eat road-kill or whatever.
   I was impressed that Crevecoeur spoke out against slavery and pointed out the evils of using the torture of other human beings as a base of economy. He seems to be disgusted that the church won't speak out against slavery and asks where Nature (not God?) is to intervene for his fellow-children. It was interesting to have him consider the slaves as fellow-humans; many of this time didn't see them as equally human. The story he told of encountering a slave left strung up in a cage to die was horrifying. I wonder if his writing effectively stirred people up against slavery and how his opinions were received.