American Identity & Unity by the Eve of the Revolution

Over the years leading up to the American Revolution, colonists had developed a strong sense of unity with each other. In previous chapters, it was stressed that the three regions of colonies were very different in their purposes: the North was colonized mainly for religious purposes; the Middle became the most diverse in people, with trade and economy paramount in their lives; and the South tended to be more aristocratic (specifically Virginia and South Carolina), also relying on plantations and farms.

Now all three regions were faced with the same problems, acts, and taxes the British government had chained on to them. There was the Proclamation of 1763, banning the colonists from traveling across the Appalacian Mountains for fear of another conflict with Native Americans. There was the Stamp Act, which forced colonists to pay a tax whenever they published a public document. Colonists felt that the British were terribly oppressive in their laws, and these laws didn't pertain to just one region; colonial America as a whole was effected.

Referring to Kelly's earlier post, the colonists faced common problems, which brought them closer together. All were oppressed by the British crown, and all wanted freedom from a government that was on the other side of the Atlantic. None of the colonists liked the Sugar or Stamp Acts, and felt they were progressive with governing themselves. However, the most daunting of the acts placed on the colonies was the Quartering Act in 1765. The British Parliament now declared that British troops were to be housed in American forts and public houses; if the soldier's numbers were too great, they were allowed to stay in other buildings, while its inhabitants had to provide the soldiers with food and bedding. Basically, the act was meant to intimidate colonists; soldiers were now staying in their towns, watching everything in order to keep the colonists in line. These outrageous acts were just the beginning of a long list (Mutiny Act, Intolerable Acts...) and led up to the colonists decision to fight back.