Baugh and Cable point out that there is evidence that at the time of the American Revolution and notably in the years shortly following it, Americans were starting to become conscious of their language and have the belief that it might be destined to have a future as magnificent as that which they confidently expected for the country itself. The English language on this continent apparently developed certain differences in the 150 years since the founding of Jamestown and Plymouth. According to Thomas Jefferson, Americans were more tolerant of innovations in speech than British people, and these might eventually justify calling the language of America by a name other than English. The consciousness of an American variety of English with its
