FREE ESSAY ON AMERICAN IDENTITY

AMERICAN IDENTITY

The American Identity
It can strongly be argued, as it has for many years, whether or not an American identity
ever occurred between 1776 and 1861. The answer to this question really depends on your
definition of what an identity consists of. An identity is the sameness in all that
constitutes the objective reality of a thing; oneness. The thirteen colonies tried hard
to find a sense of themselves as a nation even before they had a nation. Nationality
became an American invention (notes). To find an identity the thirteen colonies created a
flag, symbols of nationality (bald eagle, pluribus Unum), and they established national
heroes (George Washington). Next they began to shape a national character. They asked
themselves what it is to be an American (notes). An American should have no ethnic roots,
and they gave this country a moral definition in order to build an identity. They had
three objectives as well. The people wanted freedom and justice for all, they made the
understanding that we are one nation under God and they wanted to help distinguish
America from Europe. Like nature America was young, vigorous and strong compared to
civilization in Europe. These colonists were desperately trying to create their own
identity, which would separate them from England and any other country. They were
dedicated to live their lives of Christian brotherhood while being guided by the divine
providence. They were dedicated to the expansion of human rights. From these thoughts and
their common quest for freedom the thirteen colonies formed their identity. As years went
on and the nation united politically, their views and ideas changed. The north and south
separated and one national identity did not exist. Using slavery, sectionalism and it is
quite clear that the nation's first common goals of unity and peace were lost.
There were strong signs that the nation could very well divide. They did not have a
strong central government because many people believed in states' rights. Sectionalism
started to form and it divided the country into regions with diverse and conflicting
beliefs. Sectionalism is the exaggerated devotion to the interests of a region. The
sections that existed were the northeast, the south and the west. The main reason they
began to separate was quarrels over tariffs, the idea of a central banking system and the
issue of slavery. The north felt slavery contradicted the idea of liberty. The north also
had mixed feelings about expansionism. Each section consisted of very different people.
Westerners in the 1800's had a romantic image. However, most were thought to be like
barbarians because they had no type of civilization. An example of a westerner is
Huckleberry Finn. He ran around having little formal schooling, and he was considered a
heathen. Westerners moved to the west for their desire for land. They could be
characterized as greedy, dirty and not educated. Some of their occupations were
commercial farmers, traders and fisherman. Northerners were traditionally manufacturers.
The textile industry began to flourish here. The stereotypical Yankees were known for
their greed. They were very religious and well educated. The north produced some of the
best literary figures. Northeast people had a "Puritan temper". They had strict morals;
they were devoted to their principles and were set on organizing and improving. The
southerners were more similar to the westerners then the north. They were the farmers.
They had "southern values" and were not open to change, unlike the north. They were very
big on slavery and had different ideas about government, religion and economy than the
north. As slavery grew in the south and in the west, the north grew cold to the idea of
slavery and sectionalism became a big problem. In the 1850's Lincoln won the election (he
was against slavery) and South Carolina succeeded from the union. Ten other states
followed and the Civil War was not far behind. Identity of this one nation was lost with
sectionalism. The south wanted to become their own union. The dreams that the original
thirteen colonies hoped for were lost and so was any identity established.
Slavery was a huge problem for the states. Southern plantations were swamped with black
slaves. The south believed in slavery, contrary to northern beliefs. The north felt
slavery was a contradiction to the saying "All men are created equal" because they were
still holding men in bondage. The north opposed the further extension of slavery. The
North created a powerful impulse toward social reform-emancipation of the slaves as well
as temperance. The south felt that any opposition to slavery would make them slaves. They
thought racial defense of slavery justified it. Slavery came down to a moral issue. The
north consisted of many abolitionists. Abolitionism grew due to charismatic leaders
(Wendell Phillips etc..). Also because slavery was outlawed in England abolitionists were
urging everyone to end sinful practices. This when the evangelical revolution began in
the north. Most abolitionists were young women that were married to rich men. They felt
like they were doing good with their time. Abolitionists only took up 25%of the northern
population, so they were the minority. Abolitionist used propaganda, gag rules (1846-1854
no issues of slavery allowed in congress), the Compromise of 1850 (California would be a
free state, but the free slave law was passed to catch runaway slaves) and the Dred Scott
decision to fight against slavery. Abolitionist did not want blacks to become regular
citizens. They did not believe they deserved the same rights as white men, but they
believed they should not be owned and tortured by any other man. Slavery split families
and degraded the African culture. Slaves lived to serve their masters and that went
against their constitution. The South believed slaves were an asset. Farmers produced
masses of crops because of all the field hands they had. However, the Northeast did
indirectly depend on slave labor (the textile industry). As the West grew so did slavery.
Slavery was spreading west and inching it's way north. With this type of separation there
can be no identity. The north was paranoid that the south was conspiring to overthrow the
north and use slavery everywhere. The south had the idea of secession. They thought,
"there was a higher law than the constitution" (Sward). The south and the north
ostracized each other. At this point the north had it's own identity. The north was rich,
powerful, going through a religious revival. The south had it's own identity as well. The
south wanted to break from the union. They were the poor farmers (large plantations were
prosperous), old-fashioned, parsimonious and greedy. The idea of coming together to form
one nation was gone. Freedom was a common goal for all. Now that they have it they forgot
why they were there. Identity was lost in the need for power and money. The south will
continue to resist modernization due to slavery. It only gets worse as upcoming elections
emerge.
Major political events destroyed the idea of an American identity as well. Even before
George Washington there was an early opposition to political parties. A political party
is a group of people organized around principles who want political power in order to put
these principles into power. They felt this way because most English theorists opposed
them. In England they had two political parties: Whigs and Tories (terrorists and
thieves). In the beginning Americans didn't want separate parties because they were
supposed to be united and they did not want separate groups. George Washington felt
political parties were evil and needed to be crushed (notes). James Madison described
them as evil, but natural. He wanted a system of checks and balances so not one party had
complete control. In 1789 Washington became the first president. He was very
conservative. Hamilton was not. He split and began to develop his own views. He wanted a
strong central government, power to elitists, national credit and banking, and good ties
with England. Thomas Jefferson wanted more states' rights and more democracy. Washington
formed the Federalists and Jefferson formed the Republicans. Hey both became parties
without realizing it. They even went as far as to accuse others of being in political
parties. Republicans feared Federalists would take complete control of power. The
beginning of political parties contradicted the American idea of belonging to one group.
It seemed, as everyone wanted something different in his or her government. The unity of
the union weakened as politics took issue. There were two types of governments, the
aristocratic government and the democratic government. Aristocracy is a hierarchical,
elitist, traditional idea. A democracy is mobile, equalitarian and future oriented.
America had its first recession in 1819 and the aristocratic government did not help.
People realized they must elect a common man. This separated the rich from the poor. One
political issue that the south opposed was the Missouri Compromise. Many settlers in
Missouri were from the south. When it warranted an admission to the Union as a state it
was expected to become a slave state, however did not become one. The Kansas-Nebraska act
changed this. The bill was reported in 1854 and contained the provision that the question
of slavery should be left to the decision of the territorial settlers themselves. This
angered the North because with southerners expanded quicker than the northerners, slavery
was sure to spread. These acts aided in destroying the "American identity" that was never
fully established. A major political event that separated the Union was when Abraham
Lincoln won the presidential election. He was from the north and he opposed slavery. This
caused South Carolina to secede from the Union. Seven other states left the Union, formed
a new government, and took over federal property; eight slaveholding states dangerously
walked a tightrope between Union and secession; the Buchanan administration, after
surrendering the loss of most federal posts, held firm at Forts Sumter; proposals to
resolve the crisis and provide a means for the peaceable reconstruction of the country
started, but never happened. This is the early beginning of the Civil War.
When the English settlers first came to the new land they had ideas of establishing their
own lives in their own country. It would be based on freedom, understanding, and unity.
They wanted to establish an "American identity". As their voracity and greed for money
and land took over, they forgot how to listen to others and compromise in order to come
together as one identity. The North and the South grew apart and became very different
from each other. The Northeast captured its own identity because it represented
modernization and the future. The West tried to form an identity by trying to keep up
with the Northern movement. The South openly resisted modernization due to slavery. It
probably could be argued that the United States formed an identity between 1776 and 1861.
With these statements presented above it seems to prove the decline of any unity and
common identity for the United States as a whole.