The Declaration Of Independence Was A Turning Point For America's Sense Of Identity

The Declaration of Independence was a turning point for America's sense of identity,however the French and Indian War was even more instrumental to the formation of America's Identity. The war led to the first attempt at an organized government, it started to unify the colonies and contributed to the rowing feeling that self-government was necessary. The growing tension with the Native Americans and the foreign French led the British to call colonial representatives for a meeting in Albany, New York, which would later be called the Albany Congress. Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union, which called for one centralized government. This differed from the Declaration for two reasons, The British were in charge of the meetings so the act was quickly nullified and all the colonies were not present for the Albany Congress. Another difference was the issues
that were discussed, the French during the time of the Declaration was an ally of the colonies, while during the Albany Congress they were the main issue. The Native Americans also weren't an issue during the Declaration as a result of European expansion pushing them farther and farther West. Although the Albany Plan of Union the seeds which made up the ideas that were later seen in the Articles of Confederation and Constitution were planted. The idea of a strong central power became one of the ideas that made the American Identity truly unique. Though the colonies agreed on political terms they were no closer culturally.
Hesitant at first the colonist took part in the French and Indian War.
When they finally got involved they were inter-mixed with settlers from other colonies from the different walks of life, which helped to dissolve the cultural boundaries between the colonist. This was a clear difference from the Declaration of Independence as only educated men took part in the writing and signing of the document, this resulted from a unified upper class, but disjointed middle and lower classes. Unity became an important value of the American Identity and for the colonist there was no better thing to unite against than the common enemy of the French and the Native Americans. The unity of the colonies was important the Declaration and the French and Indian War as the “victories” in both circumstances would not have been able to take place without the unity of the colonist. The American Identity would be undoubtedly different had it not been for the French and Indian War developing the sense of unity. The colonist had fought on the side of the British, but they were far than pleased with their ally, almost
suspicious.
Before the French and Indian War colonist had experienced almost a century and a half of Salutary Neglect, but when the British Parliament passed the Proclamation of 1673, the Stamp Act, the Quatering Act, and the Intolerable Acts just to name a few many of the colonist felt that Parlaiment was conspiring against the colonies and that they could create a new and better government