Author Introduction

Transcript

What did it mean to be an American in the late 18th century? After all, few people thought that Americans had a chance to win their independence in a war against Great Britain, the greatest military power in the world, particularly because Americans were very diverse in their loyalties. More Americans identified with their state than identified with their nation. How George Washington and others were able to forge a sense of national unity, purpose, commitment, and energy in order to win a war against Great Britain and then form a new nation, is a remarkable story. It didn’t happen overnight. Every American in 1783, after formal independence had been won, didn’t automatically become an American in spirit. It took time. In fact, it would take fifty years more for Americans to decide that loyalty to a nation was more important than loyalty to a state or locale. That tension, that process of forging an American identity, became one of the overarching themes of the early American republic. It continues to resonate today.