American Nationalism in the 18th Century
The origin of the United States can be traced back in 17th century when it comprised only thirteen states (Bonikowski, 2008). The Americans identified themselves with Britain until 18th century when a need to establish American identity arose. The sense of the American identity led to the emergence of several ideological movements marking the emergence of the American Nationalism in the 18th century: A PLAGIARIZED SAMPLE-ORDER YOUR PAPER NOW
The ideological movements that formed the foundation of American nationalism and later independence can be ascribed to Thomas Paine. Paine used the pamphlets of “Common Sense” and “The American Crisis” to sensitize Americans to rebel against the British government. Paine’s Common Sense ideology was written in a simple, persuasive and understandable prose that argued Americans to fight for egalitarian government. Many of the scholars including Gordon Wood attributes American independence to the common sense phrase that played big role on urging the common people to demand for their independence. The common sense ideology can be well explained using Ernest Gellner theory. Bearing in mind that Americans still identified themselves with Britain and therefore ethnicity was not evident yet (Bonikowski, 2008).
Apart from Common Sense ideology, The American Crisis was also crucial in enhancing the United States nationalism. In this pamphlet, Paine emotionally persuaded Americans to fight for their independence. In his inspiration message, Paine told Americans that they were living on the trying moments and there was no single American living happily. He advocated that the higher the Americans fought for their independence the more glory and triumphant they will enjoy. Miroslav Hroch perfectly applies for the “The American Crisis” ideology. The common goal of the America influenced Americans to join hands together in fighting the common enemy (Druckman, 2006): A PLAGIARIZED SAMPLE-ORDER YOUR PAPER NOW
References
Bonikowski, B. (2008). Research on American Nationalism: Review of the Literature. Princeton University .
Druckman, D. (2006). Nationalism, Patriotism, and Group Loyalty: A Social Psychological Perspective. Mershon International Studies Review, 8(3), 43-68.