Winthrop's idea of a "city on a hill" is a vision of what he wanted America to be like. He wanted to guide the Puritans to act in such a way that people would look up to them, as they would a city on a hill. So, in his mind, it was more of a way of acting in order to gain prestige and awe. Crevecoeur's idea of "city on a hill" was a little bit different from Winthrop's idea. Crevecoeur wrote down what he saw when he was in America. He talked of the beautiful mountains, the ways of the people, and how America was not governed and ruled by one person who had control over all the people. Instead, the people of the colonies had say in the government by representation. He thought America to be superior to England, Europe, and Scotland in many ways, such as the ways on governing the land.
Winthrop's Christian settler that he describes is one that is disciplined and follows rigid rules of their religion. Most of what he says is based on religion, and religion was the guide to the ways that the people were supposed to act. Winthrop's "American" was self-disciplined, and pretty much, heartless it seems. They are only out to make themselves look good and to provide for themselves, they want others to look up to them. Crevecoeur, however, has a different vision of the "American" that he sees here in America. He sees people that are mingling together no matter what their ethnic background. On page 660, Crevecoeur says, "What then is the American, this new man? He is either a European, or the descendant of a European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country." Here he is saying that people from different countries are coming together and having children together, creating a new breed of people that are strictly found here in America. He states this once again on page 660 by saying, "Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world.
