Letters from an American Farmer and Sketches of Eighteenth-Century Ameri Book

An exceptionally interesting and at times very poetic book by an exceptionally interesting man, as much literary achievement as penetrating social commentary. J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur was a Frenchman who migrated to the North American colonies, traveled widely not just to the North and South but to the Caribbean, fought on the side of the French during the French and Indian War and then settled in New York as an English subject. Widely read, cultured and traveled, Crèvecoeur was in a unique position to take stock of the country he was calling home. In fact one could argue that Benjamin Franklin might have been the only American then who was more cosmopolitan, and even Franklin hadn't traveled as widely in his native country.

Written in 1782, this collection of about two dozen fictitious "letters" by Crèvecoeur to Europeans wonderfully describes the America of that time. Part social commentary on Americans, Europeans and Indians and what it means to be an American (including amusing stereotypes of Quakers, Irish and German settlers), part description of the wilderness, the trees and animals and weather, it's a fascinating, first-hand portrait of colonial America, unique in its scope and in its hopeful description of the endless possibilities that awaited anyone who came to the country. Crèvecoeur describes many of the qualities that made the land unique - the work ethic, the equality, the religious freedom, the various ethnicities living in peace, the boundless land and natural resources, the peaceful natives, the weather; everything that made the New World such a refreshing contrast to the Old. The language is often superbly poetic and describes the sheer liberation that a European would feel in coming to this faraway land and settling here. Crèvecoeur was quite enlightened for the times, denouncing slavery and celebrating freedom of religion (like Jefferson he was a deist).

For all his warm praise and astute observations, Crèvecoeur oddly enough was persecuted and imprisoned as a Monarchist during the Revolutionary War and was forced to flee to France, where after the war he became a liaison to the newly united colonies, interacting with Jefferson, Adams and others. His book became much more popular in Europe than in the States, and only in the early 20th century when Americans again started to view their origins romantically did it get traction. In spite of this rather anti-climactic coda, "Letters From an American Farmer" remains a uniquely literary portrait of the life and times of America before it became America, written by a unique observer.