The American Revolution and the unity of the American people
Tom Hill
Before the American War of Independence, there was decidedly little interaction between each colony. Unsurprisingly, each colony had its own community, customs and culture but this proved to be a major impediment in inter- colonial integration. Furthermore, there were tensions in the country which had immigration of Scots, Irish, Dutch, French, Germans, Swiss, and many imported Africans. ‘The immigrations of the eighteenth century were a motley compound of the white and the black, the free, the semi-free and the enslaved. ‘ 113 With exception to New England which was ‘strikingly harmonious’, there were obvious and real conflicts in America before the Revolution; many of those living in the thirteen colonies had no allegiance to George III or the British government, and therefore resented British rule. It is often assumed that after the Revolution, the American people were united together in their hatred of Britain and became ‘one people’. My intention in this essay is to prove this belief, whilst having some basis in fact, is dramatically over-stated. Even after the revolution, many Americans still felt their allegiances lied with their state and there was a strong ‘localization of patriotism’. 114 This was largely due the fact that each state retained its freedom, sovereignty and independence which meant central government was insignificant for many Americans. Indeed, when William Houston wrote to the governor of Georgia in 1785 saying he ‘viewed with a suspicious eye the conduct . . . towards our country on the subject of western expansion’; by ‘our country’ he was referring to Georgia. An extension of this was that most Americans considered their state to be ‘home’ rather than the United States; for example, in 1785 when a agent of a land company wanted to do a deal with Virginia, a delegate from Virginia replied that it was
‘manifestly improper... [to impinge on the] rights... of a foreign state’; 115 by ‘foreign state’ he was referring to the other American states rather than a different country. Furthermore, there was often hostility towards different states and stereotypes became rife; these were popularized through the works of Robert Montgomery Bird, James Cooper and Davy Crockett which openly mocked the ‘Yankee countrymen’ for being a swindler and an opportunist. Furthermore, the South hated the Bostonian expansionist policies westwards and there was a ‘general disliking, not to say antipathy...against New England’. 116 Many people in New England were also scathing of the southerners for their ‘habit’ of eye gouging in fights and as late as 1790, one Virginian complained that ‘in Philadelphia it is imagined that one quarter of Virginians have lost their eyes by gouging’. These stereotypes did little to unify the nation. After the Revolution, many Loyalists who did not approve of the new regime left the United States; this can be exemplified by 40,000 loyalists moved to Canada 117 in 1783 and in total about 60% of loyalists left the country. This meant that regardless of debates over how central a role government should have in the country, the vast majority of people living in America did wanted a United States and many had been involved in some way in the fight for it. After the war, women were given more ‘rights’; beforehand, women had no rights except to raise families; after the war, and the work of women like Molly Pitcher, they gained the power to be able to divorce their husbands if they chose to. Furthermore, the laws on daughters inheriting property were made more favourable. This concession helped to make many women feel more positive about their place in the United States
115 Divided Sovereignty; H. Hale Bellot 116 Journal; Josiah Quincy 117 http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/98-187- x/4151286-eng.htm
113 America at 1750 A Social Portrait; Richard Hofstader 114 Divided Sovereignty; H. Hale Bellot
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