Walt Whitman's Impact On America

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Recommended: Discuss american identities

In this classes, we learned about all various aspects of what people from our past thought an American was. The idea of what I thought an American was has changed completely. I thought that an American was someone who was born in the United States or someone who had fought for our country or even our freedom, in some respects. Now, I know that an American can be something different depending on the person you are talking to or their beliefs. We viewed the differences of what an American was from Walt Whitman, Thomas Paine, and de Crevecoeur. What was an American to Walt Whitman? “I CELEBRATE myself, and what I assume you shall assume, for every atom belonging to me, as good belongs to you. (Whitman)” To Whitman an American was Democratic. Whitman celebrates both the man and the woman and he believes that we are all equal. Whitman also believes that we are all partial of something. SO, to Whitman an …show more content…

To Thomas Paine an American was someone who was Revolutionary. Thomas Paine wanted to see a change in how the “English” were acting. “Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but necessary evil in its worst state an intolerable one…. (Paine).” Paine feels like we will be in the same situation with the government if we don’t become revolutionized. As far as Paine sees it, an American is someone who is willing to make a change in the government. What was an American to de Crevecoeur? “What then is the American, this new man? He is either an European, or the descendant of an European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. (Crevecoeur)” To Crevecoeur the new man was someone who did everything different as what they did in the past. The new man was someone who was willing to change for the better of his country, state or himself. The new man is also willing to add to what we have already accomplished in America. To Crevecoeur, an American is the “new

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