From Anglo-American Martial and Social Culture to a Distinct American Martial and Social Culture

From Anglo-American Martial and Social Culture to a Distinct American Martial and Social Culture is a historical thesis which documents the origins and perspectives of English settlers in North America from 1607 until American independence recognized in the 1783 Treaty of Paris. Over the course of these 176 years, the mindset of those living on the American frontier was analyzed through the martial and social culture that developed. Some examples of Anglo-American adaptations to living on the American frontier were legislative assemblies and a continent-spanning local militia. Questions ranging from why the English settlers chose to live in the Americas to how they overcame sectional differences to form the United States of America were questions that this thesis attempted to answer. The conclusion from analyzing primary and secondary sources shows the initial development of an Anglo-American culture which over the course of more than a century diverges into a unique American identity, distinct from British subjects and agents of empire. Whereas British citizens in the Americas started out as staunch defenders and agents of the global British Empire, this thesis documents the transformation of British citizens in North America from a British cultural identity to a distinct American cultural identity.