An American Nationality Awakens
             In the book, Out of Our Past, by Carl N. Degler, Degler states that by the eve of the American Revolution a "distinctly American" nationality had emerged, driving a wedge between Britain and her American Colonies. Since the two were so many miles away from each other, over time they began to grow apart, especially in terms of economic and social mobility, ethnic and religious diversity, and political philosophy and practice. However, neither of them noticed just how different they were becoming, or how greatly it would affect them.
             By the Mid eighteenth century, the economic and social mobility of the North American colonies differed greatly from that of Britain. Since in the colonies a person's social status was not determined by birth, but by wealth and property, colonists were eager to make money and to own a piece of land, and with the abundant land in the New World, it was not hard for the colonists to climb the social ladder. In fact it was determined by Jackson Turner Main, that only thirty percent of those living in the colonies, this included slaves and indentured servants, did not own property. With the mercantile system, an economic system in which the colonies produced raw materials, sold them to England, where they were manufactured, and England sold the manufactured goods back to the colonies, Great Britain was able to maintain a favorable balance of trade. This mercantilist system guaranteed that there would be more exports than imports, within the empire and therefore the empire's economy would thrive. With this favorable balance of trade between the Colonies and Britain, a wealthy merchant class began to emerge in the towns of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Newport, and Charleston. Business and trade forced the colonies to improve their means of communication, and contact with other colonies, resulting in a heightened sense of colonial unity. Wealthy Southern plante...