Developing an American Identity

Learning Objective:
- Explain the continuities and changes in American culture from 1754 to 1800.
Philosophical Characterization of the American Character:
- In 1782, J. Hector St. John Crèvecoeur wrote in Letters from an American Farmer:
- "The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions."
Timeline and Evolution of National Identity:
- The development of a distinct, recognized American identity was a gradual process requiring at least a generation, if not longer, to fully take root and attain widespread acknowledgment.
- Americans did not wholly abandon their heritage; rather, they retained substantial aspects of their European ancestors' culture, habits, and traditions.
- The developing national identity rested on several distinct layers and influences:
- Built directly upon the foundational people, cultures, and established customs of the original 13 colonies.
- Catalyzed and intensified by the intellectual thought, radical philosophy, and lived experiences of the American Revolution.
- Broadened and modified by enduring regional differences between Northern, Middle, and Southern sections.
- Continuously diversified and enlarged by the arrival of new immigrant groups.

Core Position within National Identity:
- National identity formed around widespread veneration of the "founding fathers"—the cohort of leaders who declared independence from Britain, conducted the Revolutionary War, and designed an entirely new constitutional system of government.
- Admiration for these figures became a permanent fixture of American political culture and civic consciousness, persisting as a central touchstone into the modern era.
The Exemplary Influence of George Washington:
- George Washington's executive tenure and public actions established vital precedents for the nation.
- Washington's Farewell Address established fundamental guidance regarding foreign alliances and internal political unity, maintaining relevancy in American political discourse across centuries.
- Washington's adherence to a two-term tradition for the presidency established an enduring standard of republican restraint and executive term limitation.
Enduring National Debates:
- Modern citizens and legal scholars continue to debate the intended meaning, rhetoric, and principles of the founding fathers.
- This ongoing debate reflects the foundational role their ideas hold in understanding both the origins and the contemporary nature of the United States and its populace.

Societal Transformation Beyond Politics:
- The War for Independence altered not only the formal governance of the 13 states, but also triggered deep structural modifications across civil society.
- Timing and pacing of social developments:
- Immediate changes: Several structural shifts occurred immediately prior to the official conclusion of the Revolutionary War.
- Gradual evolution: Other cultural transformations unfolded slowly as revolutionary egalitarian ideals filtered into the everyday consciousness and attitudes of ordinary people.
Distinction from European Old World Models:
- The collective impact of these political, legal, and social reforms cultivated a distinct consciousness among the American public regarding how fundamentally different the United States was from Great Britain and continental Europe.

Eradication of Medieval Feudal Institutions:
- Newly drafted state constitutions and statutes systematically eliminated entrenched institutions inherited from medieval European feudalism.
- Prohibitions on titles of nobility:
- State legislatures were explicitly barred from granting hereditary titles of nobility to any individual.
- Abolition of primogeniture:
- Judicial courts were stripped of the legal power to recognize or enforce primogeniture (the feudal principle granting the first-born son an exclusive right to inherit his family's entire landed estate).
Dismantling of the Colonial Landed Aristocracy:
- What little traditional aristocracy existed in colonial America was substantially eroded during and after the war.
- Confiscation of Loyalist property:
- State governments seized expansive landed estates owned by prominent Loyalists who remained loyal to the British Crown.
- Redistribution of land:
- Confiscated Loyalist estates were systematically subdivided into smaller plots and sold to buyers, simultaneously raising critical public revenue for the war effort and distributing land ownership among a broader demographic.