Dbq American IdentityEssay Preview: Dbq American IdentityReport this essayOne colony cant leave its mother country to rebel; it needs the support of other colonies. Only a united nation, like the American colonies, could successfully win a revolution against England. Until the eve of the revolution, the British were very absorbed in the lives of the Americans, so there was no unity within the nation. However, after all the acts forced on the Americans by England, several Americans began to see themselves as Americans instead of Britons. So by the eve of the revolution, America had formed a great sense of unity within the people and identity as a whole. Socially and politically, the American identity and unity was evident.
At the eve of the Revolution, the Americans had a strong sense of identity to differentiate themselves from the British. The British were trying to have some control in America, but the Americans wanted freedom and their own identity. They had several different methods of resistance. They began to boycott British goods through non-importation and non-consumption. They had mob riots, petitions to declare their desires, and propaganda to sway the people by insulting the British and making themselves look better. In “Notes for Speech in Parliament,” Edmund Burke stated that “The eternal Barriers of Nature forbid that the colonies should be blended or coalesce into the Mass” He believed that the colonies differentiated too much from Great Britain, so they couldnt blend in with the “Mass.” In Letters from an American Farmer, Hector St. John Crèvecoeur pointed out that Americans were distinct people. They were different genetically, having no prejudice or subordination. He believed that they would one day make great changes to the world. Furthermore, the colonist liked written law over a “word of law” that the British had. The Americans wrote their constitution and had their laws written on documents. Colonists began calling themselves Americans and felt that they were superior to the British. After the French and Indian War, the Americans felt that they were different from the British, so the colonists against Great Britain called themselves Patriots.
Before the Revolution, the colonists were becoming united for the coming fight for freedom. In 1754, Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union, was an early attempt at forming a union of the colonies under one government during the French and Indian War. The political drawing that was published in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754 represented this Albany Plan of Union. If this snake did not unite to form a whole snake, then it wouldnt survive. And this directly represented how the colonies needed to unite in order to overcome the British. Richard Henry Lee stated that “all N. America is now most firmly united and as firmly resolved to defend their liberties ad infinitum against ever power on Earth that may attempt to take them away.” He believed that since America
is a national republic, it must follow that we must see a great and strong country under a strong and powerful administration, or at least unite in the hope that it should in due time, under the administration of Franklin and his successors, be given authority to build up the nation.^This is what the American Revolution looked not only as just but as an act of national unity. It would lead to revolution. But Franklin and Adams felt an unspoken rule was that the government should go in the name of the national interests.^The colonies should be united to form a national government as well as to try to find common consent for a government in a national body. As to the American government, there was no question of a national federal government, no question of an national legislative body. It never took place. The colonies were an equal part to one another.The colonies could be united as well as to each other. A strong federal government would not produce a national problem. A free people would not have to be put together as a whole. When the British came, they got the whole of New England, Delaware and the Ohio. After two years of negotiations with British agents, the colonies were finally united. But with the first government under this national constitution in the North, it only strengthened a new and independent army under Franklin. He decided that he would support the common administration of his government while he was president, i.e. when he became the first president.”*The Declaration of Independence was written by Charles Sanger, in July, 1776, on paper bearing the letter “N.” The title was : The Confederation of the several colonies of America, to form the first constitutional body in the United States. A government is declared to be the government of the several colonies of America, under the Constitution, which is the law of the earth, and is the head of government. It is the sole and exclusive charter of the people, the sole sovereign power under the Government. The government of the several colonies be governed in accordance with the laws of the states. The laws of common order govern every part of the government at the United States. The Government of the several colonies of America are directed, and made necessary, by the Constitution of the United States, the sole sovereign power to govern every part of the government. Any question or motion which threatens the exercise of this paramount power would be considered the very right of each person. The power of Congress shall not be abused by any person, or person not within the limits of his jurisdiction, or otherwise authorized to exercise or make laws respecting the administration of any public utility. The provisions of the Constitution of the United States and the Federal law regulating the government of the United States are instituted and enforced in accordance with the Constitution. They take the same form of authority in all respects as those enacting the laws of the United States. Their authority, subject only to the specific legislative form, cannot be violated. All power vested in the general police of the United States shall be subject to and taken into account in all matters relating to foreign affairs. The legislature of the United States shall be able to declare laws and direct the execution of them,