Read the passage from "Letter by a Swiss-German Immigrant to Pennsylvania (August 23, 1769)." Dearest Father, Brother, and Siste
r and Brother-in-law, I have told you quite fully about the trip, and I will tell you what will not surprise you—that we have a free country. Of the sundry craftsmen, one may do whatever one wants. Nor does the land require payment of tithes [taxes to support a local landlord, typical in Europe]. . . . The land is very big from Canada to the east of us to Carolina in the south and to the Spanish border in the west. . . . One can settle wherever one wants without asking anyone when he buys or leases something. . . . What does the author have in mind when he calls America a "free country"?
In "Letter by a Swiss-German Immigrant to Pennsylvania" America is the symbol for a free country. By this adjective "free" the author wants to explain how is America a place for living. Free means that everyone is welcome to come. The author creates a picture of America, where you can settle without asking everyone, where there is a wide landscape, spacious land "from Canada to the east of us to Carolina in the south and to the Spanish border in the west".
One of the most important detail is there is no payment for taxes to land, but in Europe, you must pay. Free country for author means there are no obligations for living there. He thinks that America is promised land.
