When do Americans become AMERICANS?

A question I like to trot out when my tenth grade US History class is nearing the study of the Revolutionary War era: when do the Americans, or rather, the British North American colonials, become AMERICANS…or Americans…or “Americans”…or whatever script formulation you can think of to note a sense of national identity distinct from the Empire? There’s an argument suggesting that those in the colonies sought redress of grievances in the 1760s and 70s by virtue of their rights as British subjects. It’s a pretty good argument too. You could even argue that independence came as a desire to more genuinely express their English ideals and, of course, unalienable rights as free Englishmen. I did a quick thing on Insta the other day on just this subject and got some good convo going.

Just to get my students’ minds working overtime - I like to propose the following: Americans didn’t embrace a distinctive national identity until sometime around the War of 1812, when they “created” national heroes like Andrew Jackson, a national past, and even an awesome national song (Oh! Say can you see…?). The BIG issue here is determining how much of this reflects a real or imagined history. There’s a book I like to reference by Michael Hattem called Past and Prologue that engages many of these ideas, particularly the invention of traditions reaching back to the Revolutionary Era and before…when Americans became American national citizens, perhaps even before there was such a thing. I recommend checking the book out HERE.

Typically, these are the sorts of things high school history students don’t often consider, which is why I like to throw them curveballs…just to get the wheels turning and help them understand that there is not one way to think about all of this. I mean, we are dealing with a people here who, by the time of the Revolutionary Era, had been living under a system of salutary neglect on the periphery of the Empire for a very long time. So surely that had developed some sense of autonomy. How much that autonomy contributed to a national identity is another story - and a fun one to ponder. I am getting ready to do a cool series on the Revolutionary Era and especially the lead up too it (noting that we must read history forward without the benefit of present knowledge) on Insta - so if you do not follow me already, please do and feel free to weigh in on the conversation.

With compliments,

Keith