DBQ 1999: To what extent had the colonists developed a sense of their identity and unity as Americans by the eve of the Revolution?

The hardships that the American colonists faced in the colonies from 1750 to 1776 resulted in them having a sense of identity and unity as Americans. Many other factors such as geography and culture played a big role too.

The French and Indian War and other conflicts proved to the world that America was a formable opponent. The French and Indian War was fought over the Ohio Valley; the British saw the French as a threat since the colonies were growing rapidly. When the colonies won in 1763, the French lost most of their land in the north. The Stamp Act, Navigation Acts, Townshend Act and the Intolerable acts were passed by their mother country, England. The colonists united together to fight and defend their liberty.

After the Boston Tea Party, England shutdown the Boston harbor until the money from the damages was compensated. As stated in Document G, Connecticut gave more than 600 bushels of grain, New Jersey gave Cash or articles of provision or other necessities we can furnish, North Carolina gave £2000, and South Carolina gave a shipload of rice. The colonies were working together as a whole to help another colony.

A lot of culture combined in America. Nobody could call themselves only one thing since they were probably decedents of two or more cultures. Hector St. John Crevecoeur defines an American in Document H, Letters from an American Farmer. He said that an American is a person who left their culture and came to America.

England couldnt enforce much in the colonies since they were very far away. The colonist knew that since England was so far away, they couldnt have a good government. They created their own government.

By the end of the American Revolution, the Americans had a sense of unity and identity of Americans because of many factors, including geography, culture andpolitical hardships.

We The People, Jaques Toqueville p120-198