Ap Us History Dbq Essay

Words: 900
Pages: 4

There is much debate over whether or not the colonists had developed a sense of their identity and unity as Americans by the eve of the Revolution. ADD HOOK. During the early 1600’s, hundreds of Englishmen were granted charters to go explore the New World, and claim land for England. Even though these men would be living 3,000 miles away, they still considered themselves subjects of the English empire. As years passed by, due to the expense of the French and Indian War, the British began to impose taxes upon the colonists, which in return the Continental Congress began to question British authority. Although many colonists wanted to break away from Britain, there were just as many colonists who wanted to stay loyal to their homeland. By the eve of the revolution, the colonists had failed to unite on issues …show more content…
At this time period, they were divided into 13 colonies, each governed by its own leaders. In order to persuade the colonies to become united, Benjamin Franklin composed a political cartoon which illustrates a snake chopped up into eight pieces, each labeled with a name of a colony and the statement “Join, or Die” (Document A) embedded underneath. This was supposed to get all of the colonies to bond together to form one cohesive unit against the French and Natives, but failed. With 13 different colonies, each having their own leaders and ideas, they were going to need more persuasion than a political cartoon. On the opposite side of the spectrum, colonists began to wonder “why [was] the sudden Transition made, from Obedience to Rebellion, but to gratify the Pride, Ambition & Resentment, of a few abandoned Demagogues, who were lost to all Sense of Shame & of Humanity?” (Document F). This seems to suggest that there were a few ringleaders who led the colonists to not agree with those who wanted to stick to the status quo.ADD MORE