The Rise of an ‘American’ Identity

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Throughout the 17^th and 18^th centuries the American colonists, who were mostly of Anglo-Saxon extraction, gradually abandoned their ‘English’ identity and adopted a new uniquely American identity. This change in identity was not only the result of historical, environmental, social, and geographical factors it was a self-conscious project in the minds of many of those who abandoned England to live their lives in the New World, this factor, more than any other, contributed to the general population in America, viewing themselves as a people distinct from those who inhabited England.

The Puritans were religious fanatics who considered England to be a place of depravity and vice. According to the beliefs of the Puritans, the English people were promiscuous and debauched false Christians whose beliefs and customs and bordered on paganism (Zakai 228). They felt that to preserve their ‘True Christian’ faith and manner of life, they had to abandon the wicked and sinful society of England (Conforti 27).

The Puritans felt that the descent of Divine wrath upon the corrupt and iniquitous land was imminent, they had the idea they could form a new spiritually elevated Christian society in what they imagined were the pristine un-peopled ‘wild lands’ of the New World (Zakai 140).

The Puritan’ view of America was cast in a religious light, they saw America as a second “promised land” and viewed their move to the New World as a religious migration, similar to the story of the exodus of the ancient Hebrews from Egypt and their settlement in the lands of Canaan as told in the Bible (Zakai 66).

The Puritans saw themselves as the new ‘Chosen Nation’ of God and thought that it was God’s will that they leave their corrupt homelands behind, sever their ties to the corrupt English society and forge a new ‘Truly Christian’ society in America (Conforti 48).

The Puritans were not the only ones seeking to start afresh and pure society in America, in the late 17^th century, mass immigration of English Quakers to America occurred with the blessings of the King of England who wished an end to the religious conflict between the Quakers and the Anglican religious authorities. Led by William Penn they formed utopian communities in present-day Pennsylvania and Delaware (Conlin, 52).

While the rejectionist beliefs of religious partisans were the main reason for the rise of a unique American identity, there were several other factors at work as well; the English society was heavily afflicted with the class system. In English society, social standing was strongly connected to ancestral ownership of land. The landless peasants of ignoble birth had few opportunities to improve their lot in life; in the New World, poor White people had more opportunities to employ their talents and labor to better their lot in life, become rich and gain a better social position (Murrin 78). Gradually in America, the importance of a person’s lineage was considerably reduced and the wealth and property of a person had become the most important factor in their social standing.

Another factor that separated Americans from the English was the political system of the American colonies. The government of England had strong central management. Each American colony, on the other hand, was autonomous, and its citizens had more say over how their government was run. It is no wonder then, that many of the citizens of the American colonies reacted with outrage at the English government’s efforts to exert central control over the colonies in the late 18^th century (Murrin 196).

A fourth important reason for the erosion of the ‘English’ identity was the presence of a large number of people in the society who were not from an English background at all. These included the Irish Americans, the slaves brought over from Africa, the Native Americans, the Spanish, the French, and the Dutch who all had a large presence in one area of the colonies or another (Henretta, Brody, and Dumenil 109). The result of interaction with all these different nationalities resulted in an erosion of the ‘English’ identity in the populace of the colonies and the forging of a new uniquely ‘American’ identity.

At the dawn of the American Revolution, a large percentage of the population was loyal to the British government. According to the founding father John Adams, only a third of the population actively desired freedom from Britain (Sparshott, 3). This goes to show that people do not easily change their national identities. The rise of new cultures and national identities only comes about gradually.

Works Cited

Conforti, Joseph A. Imagining New England: Explorations of Regional Identity from the Pilgrims to the Mid-Twentieth Century. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press, 2001.

Conlin, Joseph R. The American Past: A Survey of American History. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2008.

Henretta, James A., Brody, David, and Dumenil, Lynn America’s History: Volume 1: To 1877. 6th Edition. Vol. I. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.

Murrin, John M. et. al. Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People, Compact. 5th Edition. Vol. I. Boston, MA: CENGAGE Learning, 2007.

Sparshott, Christopher J. M. The Popular Politics of Loyalism During the American Revolution, 1774-1790. Ph.D. Dissertation. Evanston, Il: Northwestern University, 2007.

Zakai, Avihu Exile and Kingdom: History and Apocalypse in the Puritan Migration to America. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

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The Rise of an ‘American’ Identity

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