The Rising of American Identity

The essay “The Rising of American Identity” does a good job of tracing the development of American ideals and identity back to the early days of the colonies. The author makes a strong case for the idea that the American identity began to develop as the colonies grew and diverged from British ideals. The essay also does a good job of highlighting the key moments in the development of the American identity, such as the Boston Tea Party and the Declaration of Independence. However, I felt that the essay could have gone into more depth on the reasons why the colonists were willing to break their allegiance with Britain. The author provides a few examples of colonial suppressions, such as the Stamp Act and the Intolerable Acts, but I would have liked to see