American?

The following is credited to a Frenchman named Crèvecoeur in the late 18th century in his "Letters from an American Farmer". Thought you'd enjoy it.....

"Ubi panis ibi patria [where I earn my bread, that is my fatherland], is the motto of all emigrants. What then is the American, this new man? He is either a European or the descendant of an European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. (...) He is an American, who, leaving behind him all the ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced (…) Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world. Americans are the western pilgrims who are carrying along with them that great mass of arts, sciences, vigour, and industry which began long since in the East; they will finish the great circle."