7/30/2019 Hah. Sample Essay Thingie
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compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of
every hazard, with unabating
firmness and perseverance, employ for the preservation of our
liberties; being with one mind
resolved to die freemen, rather than live [like] slaves."
(Document E). This was an important
first step of legal action because it was a unified step toward
the calling of arms that came
during the American Revolution.
Earlier in America, people began to realize that Americans were
different from other people.Most Americans were not only related to
people of one country, but also were related to many
of Europeans. "He is either a European, or the descendant of a
European, hence that strange
mixture of blood which you will find in no other country. I
could point out to you a family whose
grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose son
married a French woman"
(Document H). This was an American, someone who was of mixed
descent. The colonists could
relate to one another and support one another because they had a
common American
background. So many Americans, although not all, became unified
and began to realize that
they no longer wanted to be ruled by the British from afar, but
by those who were also
Americans.
All Americans were not unified by the time of the American
Revolution because there
were still loyalists to be found among the colonists. Although
many colonists had identified
themselves as Americans by the time of the America Revolution,
there were still some who
were loyal to the British crown. People loyal to the crown, or
Tories, had their own opinions
about America. Mather Byles wrote, "They call me a brainless
Tory; but tell me, my young
friend, which is better, to be ruled by one tyrant three
thousand miles away, or by three
thousand tyrants not a mile away." (Document D). Mathers
believes that the problems found
while under the British rule would only get worse while under
the rule of fellow Americans.
Some colonists believed that it would be the wrong to break away
from the stability of the
British government. "We [saw] a Set of Men . . . under the
Auspices of the English Government;
& protected by it . . . for a long Series of Years . . .
rising, by easy Gradations, to such a State of
Prosperity & Happiness as was almost enviable, but we [saw]
them also run mad with too muchHappiness, & burst into an open
Rebellion against that Parent, who protected them against the
Ravages of their Enemies" (Document F). These loyalists wanted
to remain safe under the rule
of the British. The different opinions about freedom from the
British caused American unity to
be disjointed and difficult at times.
Americans also considered themselves a new man which
distinguished them from other people
in the world; "What then is the American, this new man? He is an
American, who leaving
behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new
ones from the new mode of
life he has embraced." (Document H). The Americans were able to
become united by calling
themselves one name, American. The new culture in America caused
the divide between
colonists and the British to grow. Americans believed that
Britain was not able to governingthem any longer. "Is there a
single Trait of Resemblance between those few Towns, and a
great
and growing people spread over a vast quarter of the globe,
separated from us by a mighty
Ocean? The eternal Barriers of Nature forbid that the colonies
should be blended or coalesce
into the Mass . . . of this Kingdom." (Document B). The "new
man" gained unity, but also felt
very detached from the British.
The people of America, although not fully unified, did find
their identity. They discovered that
all the colonists were Americans living in North America; "Here
individuals of all nations are
