The Collective Identity Of The American Colonies - 1782 Words

The Declaration of Independence is one of the cornerstone documents of America. The Declaration’s legacy, both within the United States of America and beyond its borders has easily become recognizable as the first political manifesto of a collective body successfully opposing British rule. The unifying document, laced with imagery of one people has become memorialized as a recognition of society united under a new government declaring themselves as the rightful rulers to their own sovereignty. But how did this collective identity come to be? This essay hopes to explore how the collective identity of the American colonies exemplified in the Declaration as â€Å"we† came to fruition. As I will explore, the notion of we came out of years of†¦show more content†¦Nevertheless, the legislature stayed in place causing tension between the colonists and the British government. Additionally, as Gordon S. Wood argues, by the eighteenth century the colonists had begun a cultural enlightenment. More enlightened than that of their Western counterparts, American colonists were quick to call out the despotism of European monarchs as they reflected upon their own legal rights, especially when looking towards the legal restrictions placed upon them. Still spatially separated, the colonists began to envision themselves as uniquely separate from the British. Keenly aware of their surroundings, colonists demanded civility and representation which had not been supported by the British, exemplified through the burdensome trading legislature. By the mid eighteenth century the differences in cultures became unavoidable as colonial and crown interests strayed from one another. British interests still resided in economic ventures whereas colonialists wanted enlightened representation causing them to feel as if they were different from the British. Separately, each colony began to feel the pangs of alienation but it must be noted the colonies themselves were not politically unified because they had no reason to do so. This would change during the 1760s as colonies began to unite against Great Britain during the American Rebellion as colonists felt their rightsShow MoreRelatedThe American Revolution : A Significant Part Of American History1399 Words   |  6 Pages The American Revolution is a very significant part of American History. It is more than just a course for credit. After all, it is the reason behind the birth of this great nation. The American Revolution took place between 1765 and 1783 during which the colonists in the thirteen American colonies rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy, overthrew the authority of Great Britain and founded the the United States of America. By 1763 the crisis had begun to develop. 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