The First American
Franklin, Crevecoeur, and Jefferson are among the people considered as the first great men of America who helped to pioneer enlightenment ideals during America’s political revolutionary. At the time of these democracy figures, America was breaking from Britain’s governmental principles and trying to establish a new society and a special national culture that matched what was perceived as the American character. Franklin, Crevecoeur, and Jefferson participated in shaping the spirit of self-help, individualism, and determination among the American citizens to help them believe that America, as a nation, has a greatness destiny. America during this period was transitioning to an independent country that needed new beliefs to make the shift bearable to the leaders and the citizens. Hence, the process of molding the new, democratic, independent America society made the nation termed sensitive and special at that time.
Benjamin Franklin often gets identifies as the “the father of America” or “first America due to his representation a true American character. According to the people who entrusted the title to him, Franklin portrayed the authentic type of noble, true republican feeling of being an American (Masur 2016). The attributes and attitudes Franklin demonstrated in his autobiography and sense of democracy brought out the “the Americanness” in him, which made people see him as the first person with the true pureness of an American hence the title. The first American aspect of Benjamin Franklin is the way he was able to rise from rags to a millionaire. When one thinks of America, the first thought which strikes is the prosperity of the nation. Franklin was born by poor parents, the father, a soap maker, and the mother, a candle maker. The self-endurance, reliance, determination, and self-education brought Franklin to the top side of the fame and wealth ladder. Looking at his autobiography, Franklin always tried to outstand by educating himself from one level to another, working hard in difficult circumstances, and improving himself by identifying his weak areas. Franklin became one of the best writers by teaching himself to write from time to time and to read due to the father’s criticism of his lack of expression skills.
The second thing which brings out Franklin American character is his desire to take up responsibilities. Benjamin Franklin participated in laying the foundation of American democracy and only leading America in the signing of all the four documents which acted as a foundation of the republic. The participation served as true evidence of his liberal and democratic sense which made Franklin to be recognized and honored as the first American politician. The desire for national identity achieved through work that Franklin demonstrated helped in building the American culture of striving through working hard. Also, franklin got noticed as a great scientist inventor and an inspiration to the great writers of his generation which concludes to the American saying that a man can do anything because every dream is achievable through proper work ethic and endurance. America, at the time, was trying to build cultural freedom with their own independent beliefs, and the ideals that Benjamin passed over through his personality and achievements assisted in the accomplishment of the new anticipated America. Therefore, Franklin’s virtues and attributes were true identification of American society, and he had a true character of an American, which explains why he earned the title as “the first American.”
Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, in his “letters from an American Farmer, “describes the new American society as an ideal for all the citizens. Crevecoeur, in his letters, portrays America as a nation driven by equality and respect of human rights and intolerance of captive religion principles. The letters from an American farmer served as a significant influence to the society because it described what the citizens wanted to believe America had to be. Most people related to it because it narrated life from a farmer’s point of view. The citizens of America were new to the independent world, and they needed the motivation to believe like their nature and hope for a prosperous future, which is precisely what Crevecoeur letters did, they instilled self- confidence. Letters from an American farmer gave the people trust in their nation, self-identities and encouraged them to work hard with a better image of the country, which sets America away from other nations and makes it a perfect society. The letters give meaning to what it means to be an American and facilitate the liberation from the obligation of the Americans having to depend on other nations. In his text, Crevecoeur tried to make Americans realize the way to new ways of life, which did not need to be based on wealthy. Therefore, Crevecoeur wrote the letters intending to help Americans usher in the revolutionary period with confidence and advocate for equality among the citizens.
Jefferson, on the other hand, helped in drafting the Declaration of Independence document, which captured the ideals which perfectly defined the new America. Jefferson was the primary author of the text. Still, he got the help of writing the document from other congress committee members, which also included the “the first man of America” Benjamin Franklin. The main aim of the document was to declare independence from Britain and dissolve and political connection between free America and the Britain colony (Jayne 2015). The document proposed equality of all men as an ideal, which should define the new society the philosophers were trying to build out of America. Equality is still an issue gracing America even in today’s world, and that is why the proposal gained so much attention from the citizens. Jefferson and other founders of free America tried to teach America to live a free life away from any form of a captive while at the same time, the founders could not handle the issue of inter race existing in the government they were trying to form. Regardless, the document attempted to pioneer independence and freedom. Also, the text promised liberty of inherent rights from governance rights. The founders were trying to enlighten people of the natural given rights, which are sometimes violated by governmental policies and provide permission to protect rights such as “freedom to worship. Hence, Jefferson serves as a significant figure of the revolutionary period due to his participation in defining the new American society.
The new American society, despite it’s comprised of great people and freedom goals, also consisted of overlooked injustices. The enlightenment leaders created a democracy on slavery — the same people who participated in signing a Declaration document of independence owned slaves. The leaders demonstrated hypocrisy fighting the same predicament they were practicing. Also, not only did slaveholders sign a declaration document, but also a Bill of rights document was drafted by a person who owned slaves. The revolutionaries enslaved Africans while at the same, spreading the message of liberty and celebrating the individual and political freedom they had obtained from independence (Myrdal 2017). The government founders, therefore, constructed a new society under two ideas. The first idea was that the white race was the free American citizen and the master race. The other idea was that the black race was inferior and had no right to share the same government as the white race. A historian Edmund Morgan argues that racism was made an essential ingredient to America’s republican ideology. Hence the revolutionary political era was a period for a new special America society that attained freedom under slavery.
In conclusion, Franklin, Crevecoeur, and Jefferson are among the people considered as the first great men of America who helped to pioneer enlightenment ideals during America’s political revolutionary. Benjamin Franklin often gets identifies as the “the father of America” or “first America due to his representation a true American character. According to the people who entrusted the title to him, Franklin portrayed the authentic type of noble, true republican feeling of being an American. The first American aspect of Benjamin Franklin is the way he was able to rise from rags to a millionaire. The second thing which brings out Franklin American character is his desire to take up responsibilities. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, in his “letters from an American Farmer, “describes the new American society as an ideal for all the citizens. The new American society, despite its comprise of great people and freedom goals, also consisted overlooked injustices. The enlightenment leaders created a democracy on slavery.
References
Albertone, M. (2016). What is an American? St John de Crèvecoeur Between Agrarian Myth and National Identity. In National Identity and the Agrarian Republic (pp. 23-50). Routledge.
BIGELOW, J. F., & Franklin, B. (2015). Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Editorial MAXTOR.
Jayne, A. (2015). Jefferson’s Declaration of independence: origins, philosophy, and theology. University Press of Kentucky.
Masur, L. P. (2016). The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: with Related Documents. Macmillan Higher Education.
Myrdal, G. (2017). An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy, Volume 1. Routledge.
Vass, L. T. (2018). Seminar# 1 on the Preamble to the Natural Rights Constitution of the Liberty States of America: Re-Connecting the New Constitution to the Declaration of Independence.
Wafa, A. H., & Hana, B. (2018). American National Identity in Crevecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer Letter Three as a Case Study (Doctoral dissertation).