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

Revolutionary Visions of St. John De Crevecoeur, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson - Essay Example This paper stresses that he was the first European to develop a considered view of the new American character and the first to exploit the â€Å"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 â€Å"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: â€Å"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†. He 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 ca use changes in the world. 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. Thomas Paine has been deemed as the most controversial leader of the American Revolution.