1 Megan Bara May 22, 2013 John Jay College of Criminal Justice Benjamin Franklin a True American The

United States of America is known as a melting pot. It is used to describe the way immigrants come to the US and their traditions and cultures blend to create a variety of different cultures that are considered American, which J. Hector St. John De Crvecoeur described in Letter III. What is an American from Letters from an American Farmer. Over the past semester we have read different literary views of what American is and each author has a different opinion. American is an idea and being able to have a different opinion is part of what being American is. We are given freedom of speech, which is not given in many other countries. Many people come to the United States not just for economic reasons, but also in hopes of becoming an American. An example of this is in Carlos Bulosans Be American.

In J. Hector St. John De Crvecoeurs, Letter III. What is an American from Letters from an American Farmer, he asks the question What then is the American, this new man? He then states He is either a European or a descendant of a European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no country (p. 607). Crvecoeur also says, Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men Describing that America is

2 a melting pot of Europeans with a mixture of blood from different nations. This mixture of ethnicities and cultures are American. Crvecoeur was born in France and moved to America as an adult and was later naturalized as an American Citizen. Crvecoeur, also states The Americans were once scattered all over Europe (p. 607), inferring that Europeans in European countrys with mixed blood are American. Crvecoeur also talks about the many religions that are practiced between neighbors and that it was normal and that if it were anywhere else they would have been persecuted. Another reading was Carlos Bulosans Be American where he tells the story of when his cousin, Consorcio comes to America with the hope of becoming an American. Bulosan describes how his cousin wanted to live in the United States permanently and become a citizen right away. Consorcio did not speak English that well and he could not read either, but was still determined to become a citizen in one year because he felt he would make a great American citizen. Bulosan left and made a point to visit his cousin from time to time then was unable to find him. He bumped into him nearly five years later than when he first met him in the US, while wandering in and out of Los Angeles, CA. He describes how his cousin looked more American and was talking with his hands and clapping with one hand. Bulosan years later began receiving letters from Consorcio and now says, My cousin Consorcio, the one-time illerate peasant from the vast plains of Luzon, had indeed become an American without knowing it. Bulosan considered him an American because he could read and write in English. Consorcio then

3 started his own publication defending the rights and liberties of all Americans, native or foreign born... Consorcio then began to realize what American is and that he was American. Benjamin Franklin was an American patriot, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America and former President. He is the definition of an American. He played an important role in the liberties that we have today given by the United States Constitution. Benjamin Franklin wrote Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America where he calls Americans the real savages and that the Native Americans of the Six Nations are anything but savages. He wrote of the government in the US compared to the tribal counsels of the Natives. Franklin states, their government is by counsel of the sages; there is no force, there is no prisons, no officers to compel obedience, or inflict punishment. If America did not have any of this, the crime in this country would much higher. Americans and the Natives are both American but that the true savages are the white Americans. There are many different views of what true American is, but part of the meaning is the ability to have your own opinion and rights whether native or foreign born. Each of the pieces analyzed were from a different period of time. An American is anyone is believed to be an American. Our culture as Americans is a melting pot of those from the places that the citizens have brought and shared.

References Baym, Nina, Wayne Franklin, Philip F. Gura, and Arnold Krupat. "J. Hector St. John de Crvecoeur: Letters from an american farmer." The Norton anthology of American literature. 8th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2012. 605-614. Print. Baym, Nina, Wayne Franklin, Philip F. Gura, and Arnold Krupat. "Benjamin Franklin: Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America." The Norton anthology of American literature. 8th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2012. 476-480. Print. Bulosan, Carlos, and E. Juan. "Be American." On becoming Filipino: selected writings of Carlos Bulosan. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995. 1. Print.