1999 DBQ: Colonial Pre-Revolutionary Unity

On the eve of the revolution, Americans were not completely united. As always, there were the dissenters, in this case the Tories, and many people just didn't want to get involved. Even so, there were evidently enough people that the Americans could win the war (with the help of the French, of course). Before the war, practical people like Ben Franklin saw that the American people needed to come together as one in order to …

…and made evident the birth of a new king of government: for the people, by the people. The Americans had developed a much better sense of unity in the years leading up to the Revolution. They saw themselves as Englishmen, and wanted to be treated as such. Armies were simply protection from slavery, and the King was unreasonable. So, they only truly recognized their identity after the Revolution, when it was a whole new life.