Colonial Unity DBQ

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Many colonists held a stronger loyalty to their American Colonies than to England by the eve of the Revolution. The battles and trials that they endured gave them an identity and a unity, they had survived through many hardships and any group that does that had some sort of bond. The unique combining of cultures, geography, and the many political ordeals that American colonists had endured provided them with a sense of identity and unity. There was a combining of culture in America that was unique and this mixing that occurred throughout the colonies made it so that the majority could not identify, fully, with the term "Englishmen" but identified themselves as Americans. In Europe most would call themselves French, Dutch, Irish, ect., but in the colonies there were so many people immigrating from not only England, but most other European countries and in America they were marrying and reproducing in a way that did not happen as often in Europe so they identified with the term "American" because they no longer could identify with only one European country. The descendents of an Irish woman and a French man born in America could not identify solely with the term Irish or French, and they were not born in Europe so the term European could not apply to them, but the word American described these unique people perfectly. The American was a mixture of many cultures and could identify with living in America and being a part of large web of different backgrounds. Hector St. John Crèvecoer explained this concept of an American in his "Letters from an American Farmer," composed in the 1770's. Here he explains that the descendent of many different cultures... ... middle of paper ... ...nd Lexington. Proof of this new found unity comes in Richard Henry Lee's letter to Arthur Lee in 1774, where he states "all North America is now most firmly united and as firmly resolved to defend their liberties…" As Americans they came together and fought for what they believed in and continued to do what was necessary to get their freedom and independence. Americans developed a sense of identity and unity through many factors such as: the variety and mixture of cultures in America, geography, and the political and economic hardships they endured. This is why by the eve of the Revolution, between 1750 and 1776, they had a strong sense of both identity and unity as Americans.

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