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Essay Question : to what extent had the colonists developed a sense of their

identity and unity as Americans by the eve of the Revolution?

Presented By:

Karleigh Palmeter

Nick Salazar

Tina Huang

Gabriel Dorame

Thesis Statement The colonists developed a very high sense of their

identity and unity as Americans through their development organizations to resist British tyranny, their support of one another in times of economic crisis, and their combined hatred of England’s oppressive rule over the colonies.

First Body Paragraph: Political Albany Plan- Benjamin Franklin proposed and the delegates approved

the Albany Plan, which Parliament would set up“ One general government”. The Albany Plan came out for colonists’ defense against the Indians. The Albany Plan finally failed but it proved colonists had desire to be united.

Document A- the sketch which appeared in Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754, illustrated the need for intercolonial unity, which was aimed for the adoption of the Albany Plan. It informed the colonists that they must be joined together, or they would die under the tyranny of the Parliament.

Boycotts (1768)- The merchants of Philadelphia and New Jersey agreed to boycotted British goods subject to the Townshend Duties. The result of this was more favor of American domestic goods and the fell favor of English luxuries. The acting of boycotts united colonists together and they started to view themselves as Americans, not as the conquests of British.

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Committee of Correspondence (1772)- Samuel Adams as the leading political figure, proposed the creation of Committee of Correspondence to publicize the grievances against England throughout the colony. Many other colonies soon followed Massachusetts and it later grew up a network of political organizations that kept the spirit of dissent alive before the Revolution. The creation of Committee of Correspondence tied colonies because of their fury toward the British.

Common Sense (1776)- printed by Thomas Paine turned the anger of colonies toward the system of Parliament, it also argued that the colonies must break up completely from the British. Common Sense had such great impact on colonists, the colonists already built the identity of themselves as Americans. The important influence of Common Sense soon led the decision of independence.

2nd Body Paragraph: Economical

Document G- (connected to the tea act) shows the donations for the relief of Boston after the Boston tea party, when fifty men, in an act to boycott tea, dumped the tea into the harbor and the British enacted the intolerable acts which closed the port to Boston stopping everything from coming in. This shows that the colonies acted in support when they saw one of their own in trouble and in need of help. They were able to strengthen their ties together by coming to support one another.

Intolerable Acts (1774)- affected the unity of the colonists because it led to the support of the colonies when the port of Boston was closed.

The Stamp Act Congress (1765)- in reaction to the stamp act, the stamp act congress that consisted of delegates from nine colonies worked to together to petition the king and parliament that the colonies could only be taxed through their own provincial assemblies. The stamp act congress was in an act of unity of the colonies to protect the rights they felt they deserved by still being subordinate to the British crown.

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 The Sons of Liberty (founded 1766)- terrorized stamp agents and burned stamps. Developed their sense of identity by realizing the injustice of the stamp and tea acts and taking the law into their hands.

The Massachusetts Assembly (1765)- Developed the identity of the colonies because they circulated a letter to all the colonial governments urging them to stand against every tax imposed by parliament, such as sugar act, tea act, stamp act, and Townshend duties. This developed their identity because they started to realize what parliament really was about and didn't want to follow their laws or have any part of it.  

Stamp Act, Tea Act, Townshend Duties, Sugar act, Intolerable Acts: led to the development of the sense of identity and unity because the colonies came to realize the economic struggle these acts had on them and the need for their separation from parliament.

3rd Body Paragraph- Ideological

Document H- talks about how people who come to America adopt a new way a life and therefore shouldn’t be subjugated by their mother countries.

Document E- talks about how the colonists decided to take up arms against the British in order to pursue their freedom, because they would rather “die freemen, than live like slaves.”

Boston Tea Party (1773)- Colonists dressed up as Mohawk Indians and dumped tea cargo in a Boston harbor. The cause for this was the Tea Act, that imposed what was supposed to be a tariff for the East India Company, but instead was brought upon colonist merchants.

Boston Massacre (1770)- This was when several British officials shot and killed five unarmed colonists. As a result we see that the colonists are enraged at the British and their oppressiveness.

First Continental Congress (1774)- This was a meeting where colonists discussed their grievances about the policies of the British. This evidence can be used to show that the colonists disliked British laws so much that they had a convention is which they discussed how to make changes.

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Idiot Paragraph The colonists were never united, but were disunited between each

other due their self-beliefs.

Even though they frequently resisted English authority, the colonists always saw themselves as English loyalists who felt they had a stronger relationship with England.

Some colonists would rather be “ruled by one tyrant three thousand miles away” than “three thousand tyrants not a mile away” [Doc. D].

Loyalists believed it was their primary purpose to be “images of the British Constitution” [Doc. B] in America.

America was statistically divided with 1/3 being loyalists, 1/3 who supported the revolution, and 1/3 who were indifferent about it.

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