Revolutionary Visions of St. John De Crevecoeur, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson - Essay Example

Revolutionary Visions of St. John De Crevecoeur, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson Leaders like Thomas Jefferson and ThomasPaine acted out of great philosophical convictions about the government while essayist St. John de Crevecoeur gave a deep understanding into the strengths and weaknesses of American liberalism. They expressed their thoughts of the ideal society they had in mind. De Crevecoeur’s revolutionary vision led to the utopian revolution in the farming industry in America. Personally, he wanted to become an ideal American through being a simple orderly farmer. De Crevecoeur expressed his feelings and thoughts by writing about the life of an American farmer. Even though not all Americans were farmers most of them were and that is where there was hardship. Through his letters from an American farmer (1782) he gave Europeans glowing ideas of opportunities for wealth, peace and pride in America. In his letters that depicted America as an Agrarian paradise, he enthusiastically praised the colonies for their tolerance, industry and growing prosperity (Everett, 77) He was the first European to develop a considered view of the new American character and the first to exploit the “melting pot” image of America. He portrayed how different people in America came together as one and tolerated one another despite their differences in cultures and religions. He also helped in defining “who is an American?” a question that was bringing a lot of controversies. In one of the passages of What is an American, he asks: “What then is the American, this new man? He is either a European, or the descendant of a European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country” (De Crèvecouer 46-47). To this he provides the answer: I could point out to you a family whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have now four wives of different nations....Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause changes in the world (De Crèvecouer 46-47). He defined an American as any person leaves all his ancient manners and prejudices behind him and receives new ones from the new ways of life he or she has embraced. Basically, according to him an American is a person who is dedicated, open minded to the changing ideas of the times and willing to work hard to develop the newly created country, America (Everett, 1977). Thomas Paine has been deemed as the most controversial leader of the American Revolution. He was an English citizen who moved to the colonies at the age of 37years. His contributions to the society and his country through writing have been felt for years. He was opposed to the laws that the British had imposed upon Americans. He argued that they were unfair and anti-human (Boswell, 46). In 1776, he wrote his ideas of American Independence in his pamphlet Common Sense where he supported the American spirit of rebelling from England. He believed that that America would one day break from England and by writing Common Sense he helped in speeding up the process to create the Declaration of Independence. His main aim was to bring up the argument of independence which was still in its early stages to the people of America. In common sense, he referred to many verses in the Christian Bible in order to appeal to the reader’s emotions (Boswell, 1776). For instance, the following verse from Common Sense expresses his goal: "In the early ages of the world, according to the scripture chronology, there were no kings; the consequences of which there were no wars; it is the pride of kings which throws mankind into confusion" (Sacred-texts para 3). After Common Sense, Thomas Paine wrote a series of pamphlets entitled The American Crisis which also discussed the same issues as Common Sense. The American Crisis was very influential and persuasive. It informed the American people that they held no loyalty to Britain and that they would only survive if all ties between them were to be broken completely. He wrote, “I am as confident, as I am that God governs the world, that America will never be happy till she gets clear of foreign dominion” (Pain 10). He used three techniques: comparison and contrasting, confidence building and derision in his writings to call for support and patriotism of the colonists. Thomas Paine used his words and phrases in the right time and place. Through his writings the American people were able to find strength to stand up and fight for freedom. His words gave the people motivation and determination to push a head when they felt they had nothing to give. Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States. He was a writer who was persuasive and gifted. His writings encouraged the American people to take arms and fight for their independence. He wrote the Declaration of Independence and is credited for writing The Thirteen Virtues which he encouraged people to follow as he strictly did. In his draft Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson said that “all men were created equal” including slaves (US History para 2). He wrote: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" (US History para 2). However, the part on slavery was dropped because the Americans did not treat slaves as equal. The Declaration of Independence set forth the problems with British rule and the need for natural equality, freedom of the people, inalienable rights and the right of revolution gave the American Revolution high purpose. Jefferson’s Summary View of the Rights of British America of 1774 gave a vital or important contribution to the revolutionary debate. He argued that the American people possessed the same natural rights of governing themselves just as their ancestors had exercised when they migrated to England from Germany. Conclusion Though dead, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine and St. John de Crevecoeur remain major personalities in the development of the United States of America. Their achievements both small and large and their beliefs both personal and political remain inspiring to the people of America especially their masterpieces, the Declaration of Independence, Common Sense and What Is an American. Work Cited De Crèvecouer M., Letters from an American Farmer. Philadelphia: Matthew Carey. 46-47. 1793. Print. Available at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/crevecour2.html Everett H. Emerson: American literature, 1764-1789: the Revolutionary years. Los Angeles: Univ of Wisconsin Press, 1977. James Boswell: The Scots magazine (Vol. 38). Princeton City: Sands, Brymer, Murray and Cochran (Princeton University), 1776. Pain Thomas (1776) The crisis. Available at http://www.ushistory.org/paine/crisis/c-01.htm Sacred-texts (nd) Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession. Web. Available at http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/paine/cs/cs04.htm United States, Thomas Jefferson, American Philosophical Society. The Declaration of Independence: Thomas Jeffersons manuscript draft from the collections of the American Philosophical Society. New-York: The Society, 2000. US History (2011) In Congress, July 4, 1776: The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America. Available at http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/ Read More