Utopian Nation

People will always be people. Whether Puritans, Europeans, Native Americans, or modern readers, there is a certain quality to human nature that extends throughout centuries regardless of circumstances. The Puritans attributed it to the fallenness of human nature; some might insist this humanness is a product of society. Regardless, I find the mixture of improvements and degradations that went on in early America fascinating and often sad. The Puritans left to create a new type of utopia in this “New World,” apart from the corruption, the restriction, and the rigid formality of their homeland. America began on a principle of optimism that in some ways still carries to today. J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur expressed the glorified vision of America in his letters from an American farmer: “The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions.” This is a weighty statement, to assume that man can recreate the nature that has been evident for thousands of years.

Upon reading various works, from Mary Rowlandson’s journal to Pontiac’s speech, I found numerous holes in this utopian America. It seems that the very problems the Pilgrims and Puritans left in Europe followed them to the New World. Believing they were the elect, the Puritans came to claim a new Jerusalem. They left behind systems of thought and tradition but still brought seeds of prejudice and a fear of the “other.” I find it interesting that these new Americans were essentially the “other” in the eyes of their native countries. They longed for something new, as Crevecoeur expressed. However, changing locations did not change some of the more deeply rooted issues of humanity. The tension between the Native Americans and English settlers is painful to read about and to remember as part of our nation’s history. Neither side of the conflict was necessarily wrought with evil intentions but rather with opposing motives. Even a confused and desperate Mary Rowlandson recognizes elements of humanity in the Native Americans despite her fear and views of their actions as the Devil's handiwork. It’s remarkable to think that within 150 years in this new utopia, war had already broken out, murders had been committed, prejudice established--all by people equally human, equally intelligent, equally capable of love and hate. This “city on a hill” that the Puritans envisioned was still populated with people and thus ever rife with both accomplishments and with suffering.

In the midst of misunderstanding and some of the darker sides of human nature, it was refreshing to read more positive perspectives from men such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. These men seemed to take into account cultural distinctions between the colonists and the Native Americans, rather than attributing differences as signs of lower intelligence or savagery. It seems that America is ever struggling between the ideal and the reality. Our government is founded upon ideas of equality and the sanctity of human life. Less than a hundred years later, however, American men were fighting and killing one another on American soil. America tolerated slavery and the slaughter of Native Americans. Yet at the same time, America stood against tyranny and provided new economic opportunities, social mobility, and greater freedom. America is ever chasing her “city on a hill” image, ever attempting to be the utopian nation imagined of old. There is an ever-present tension between the vision and the reality of carrying out the vision. The nation seems both supported and hindered by this humanness that is inescapable, capable of great sacrifice and great atrocity. These readings surrounding the birth of America highlighted for me the extreme human potential both for good and for evil, for selflessness and for selfishness.