Colonial Roots and the Evolving American Identity
This essay examines the origins and transformation of American identity from the colonial era through the present day. Beginning with the pre-Revolutionary period, when colonists still considered themselves British subjects, the paper traces how figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson helped forge a distinct national identity grounded in independence and freedom. The essay then analyzes how that identity has shifted over time, arguing that entangling foreign alliances, the expansion of centralized government, and post-9/11 security measures have eroded the founding ideals of autonomy and liberty. Drawing on Crèvecoeur's Letters from an American Farmer, the paper also contrasts the frontier struggle of the 1700s with modern material abundance and cultural confusion.
- The Formation of American Identity in the Colonial Era: How Revolution-era figures forged American national identity
- How Independence Has Changed Since the Founding: Foreign entanglements and democracy-spreading erode founding autonomy
- Freedom, Frontier Life, and the Modern Condition: Frontier hardship contrasted with modern abundance and confusion
- Founding Ideals Under Pressure: Constitutional Rights and Security: Post-9/11 security trade-offs threaten constitutional freedoms
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What makes this paper effective
- Uses concrete historical examples — the Boston Tea Party, the Declaration of Independence, Franklin's autobiography — to anchor abstract claims about national identity.
- Draws a clear before-and-after structure, contrasting the colonial-era ideals of independence and freedom with their perceived erosion in the modern United States.
- Incorporates a primary source quotation from Letters from an American Farmer to ground the discussion of frontier hardship in an authentic colonial voice.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates thematic comparative analysis: it identifies two defining values of early American identity (independence and freedom), then systematically measures how each has evolved — or diminished — by comparing historical context with contemporary conditions such as foreign alliances, NSA surveillance, and TSA security procedures.
Structure breakdown
The essay opens with an overview of colonial-era identity formation, crediting specific historical figures and events. Two body sections each address one of the identified value shifts (independence, then freedom and frontier life). A final section considers what remains intact from the founding era, centering on constitutional rights and the post-9/11 security trade-off. The essay closes with a rhetorical question that leaves the central tension unresolved, inviting the reader to reflect.
The Formation of American Identity in the Colonial Era
The American identity during the 1700s was still very much in development. Prior to the American Revolution in the latter half of the century, the colonists for the most part considered themselves subjects of England and the British Crown. They had a king, they had local governments in their territories with members who represented the Crown, but their identity as citizens of an autonomous, independent nation was not nearly as fully formed as it is today.
The American identity really came into being thanks to the writings of individuals like Benjamin Franklin, whose autobiography laid the blueprint for the American Dream and demonstrated that hard work and self-reliance could lead one to the "promised land" of happiness in America. Likewise, the oppression that many colonial leaders felt under the British — and their resentment of having to pay taxes to the Crown — contributed to the development of a distinct American identity. The Boston Tea Party essentially served as the line-in-the-sand moment: those who chose to identify as Americans joined the resistance, while those who chose to identify as British subjects joined the Redcoats.
Leaders like George Washington and philosophers like Thomas Paine provided guidance for Americans during the Revolutionary War, and Thomas Jefferson laid out the colonists' grievances against the King in the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
How Independence Has Changed Since the Founding
Two ways in which the American identity has changed since the founding era are: (a) the idea of being independent, and (b) the idea of being free. Today, the United States is entangled in seemingly endless foreign wars and maintains long-standing alliances with countries that may not always act in Americans' best interest. The nation's independence is not what it once was, and the American identity is now focused less on domestic prosperity than on the projection of democracy around the world. The founding ideal of a self-sufficient republic standing apart from Old World entanglements has given way to a more interventionist posture that many citizens find difficult to reconcile with the original vision of the Founding Fathers.
References
Avalon Project. (n.d.). Letters from an American Farmer: Letter XII. Retrieved from http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/letter_12.asp
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