Immigration, and What it Means to be an American  Now Accepting
Submissions By Cody Brotter View References Printable Version
On the eve of the 19th century, in 1781, French-American
immigrant Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur wrote a letter, the
third in his famed Letters from an American Farmer, entitled
“What Is An American?” His answer, as open for interpretation as
it might be, was best been articulated in his fourth paragraph:
“The American,” he writes, “is a new man, who acts upon new
principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new
opinions” (2). Two centuries later, however, American journalist
James Fallows wrote an article entitled “Immigration: How It’s
Affecting Us,” which almost entirely contradicts the that
appears in de Crevecoeur’s essay. While both of the texts deal
with this concept of “new,” the differentiation in pride and
lack thereof the authors express in presenting the immigrant
story reveals a difference in both personal perspective and an
unfortunate lack of progress in