development of America Consciousness

The Development of National Consciousness of America
The united states of America is a young country with a history of about 200 years. It is said to be a melting pot for its complex social formation.Particular history and diversified population make its national consciousness unique and extraordinary.The most significant attribution of American nation is their awakening national identity and national culture recognition consciousness,which has gone through four successive periods and now it is entering a new era.
The foundation of its national identity could trace back to its colonial days. Immigrants of early period from different districts shared varied cultures, values and religions, which were localized and they didn’t regard them as a whole. At that ti me, the national consciousness were divided and sectionalised. There was not any dependent and unified consciousness. As most of them came from European continent, the immigrants named the places after that of Britain intactly;they established their government in British style;they used Common Law as their law. Emotionally,they regarded themselves as “American Briton” and British cultural ran deep in American continent.
The awareness of national consciousness of America was firstly promoted by the integration of immigrants from Europe in the Seven Years' War against an alliance consisting of France,Austria,Russia,Sweden and Saxony.In that war,George Washington sworn allegiance to his motherland-the United Kingdom with the illusion that George III would give people in the colony the same rights with British person. Besides,Thomas Jefferson,the third president of Unites States,was a plantation owner as the descendent of Briton.He kept fighting for the equal right of the colonized.However,when the external pressure eliminated,English colonists set more restraints on the colony. As a result, immigrants’ recognition of British culture declined and they formed their own union. The union wasn’t based upon the same nationality,but on the universal principle:the pursuit of freedom and independence,which had drove them to leave their hometown for this savage continent and combined with each other to fight against the British colonial rulers.
With the further control and rape of England, the combination of colonial people
strengthened.They held a meeting to oppose stamp tax,sugar duty and so on. At this meeting, a general sense of American nation was established.These new ideas gave rise to a new upsurge of national feeling.
Then,at the First Continental Congress in 1774, the former independent 13 colonies actually formed United Colonies of North America.They announced that people in colony had the right of existence,freedom and wealth. They also declared to put the British goods under a boycott and call a halt to the export to England. Patrick Henry,one of the founding fathers of America,said vehemently,“The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more .I’m not a Virginian, but a American.” showing the rapid enhancement of national consciousness.
In the masterpiece Common Sense,the writer Thomas Paine believed that there was no reason for the Colonies to stay dependent on England and sooner or later independence from England must come.In this book,he called on the people to arm themselves to fight for freedom.Shortly after the book was published,the War of Independence broke out.The war was inevitable for colonies to rebuild a new country under this condition.However,even under this circumstance,there still was no mainstream of national consciousness.During the war,Paine wrote another highly influential pamphlets call The Crisis in a hope to encourage the patriotic cause.Paine was an extraordinary example of people with national consciousness at that time and the consciousness must be popular among the common people.
"Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."This clause in the United States Declaration of Independence,unanimously declared that America was an independent country broke away from England.In addition,the paper began with "self-evident truth"about humanity's "unalienable rights"-rights that included life,liberty,and the pursuit of happiness,which must have had a considerable influence on the formation of American consciousness .
Still and all,the concept of American nation was not accepted by all the
people,most of them regarded their state as their nation.At that time,America was a confederate country,every state was relatively independent.There was no centre of religion,culture and economy of a country. People always thought in the interest of their own state,which provoked endless conflicts,even armed conflicts between states.Especially in the battle for land in the west,their conflicts came to a climax.Even the up-class of society didn't share the concept of the whole nation,which had affected the legislation of America.The law generally placed emphasis on the status of each state.In a word,the so-called national consciousness were based on each state during this period.
So when did real national consciousness come into being?It is believed that American nation was finally formed after 1865 and it should attribute to the American Civil War.Before the war,due to the different economic system,the discrepancies between the South and the North became more and more obvious,especially cultures of these two parts.States of north part treated them as an independent country sharing the same characteristics.They inclined to cling together as a group and excluded Southern people.They just paid close attention to their own interest. Education and culture in the South was relatively laggard.Plantation owners were just the consumers of British aristocratic culture. However, Southern states preferred an united country to help develop their industry and provide national market. People of North were hot-headed,lazy and luxurious ,while Southern people were cool-headed,diligent and moderate.As time went on,the sharp clashes broke out.The American Civil War in fact was result of the irreconcilable conflicts between the two distinct cultures.
Owing to the American Civil War,slavery in the United States was legally abolished,and the economic system of South was destroyed. Consequently,the social, political, economic and racial issues of the war decisively shaped the reconstruction era that lasted to 1877, and brought changes that helped make the country a united superpower.Southern and Northern states had blended as an unity.Taking in this sense, president Wilson said:"The war has created an unprecedented thing in America-a sense of nation.Federation has not only survived,but revived."That is to say,only after the the American Civil War,the national consciousness of America has practically established.
With the rapid development of agriculture,industry and trade,economic
connections among states strengthened.Accordingly,communication among cultures had been increasingly frequent.People on this continent realized the richly endowed earth would bring them prosperous future.All of them were quite optimistic and believed that they could make their life better by industrious work.They were full of hopes and dreams.We can conclude that it was when their sense of national pride had been established.
America is an unique country in the world,so is its nationalism.It doesn't have the common factors such as ancestor,religion,tradition and so on.It is the aspiration for freedom that make them together.Another sharp social issue of America is contradiction among different races.However,they define a nation on politics.That is ,they make the definition of national identity originated from the defence of some basic political principles,which include equality, freedom,individualism and unalienable rights,which have been implanted deeply in the minds of the American people.The authority comes from the consent of the ruled.American are political men,and the same belief is the concrete of this loose national structure.
Nowadays,American nation is a diversified country with people from different backgrounds.Assimilation Policy and the Melting Pot Policy have boosted the revive of their national consciousness.America has grown up to a superpower worldwide,which in reverse stimulated their confidence and superiority as national of America.The national consciousness has unprecedentedly surged.
In conclusion,the formation of race consciousness of America could be divided into five periods.From the colonial period to its independence,their consciousness were mainly based on the British culture;independence declined the dependence on Britain and strengthened their belonging sense to their own state;after the War of 1812,the Southern people had the consciousness of America,while the Northern people regarded themselves as a stand-alone nation;it was when the Northern states were under reconstruction that American national consciousness had been established eventually;the last period is the new development of the national consciousness in the modern world,which has been diversified and recovered.。