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Was Colonial Culture Uniquely American?

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Was Colonial Culture Uniquely American?
"Was Colonial Culture Uniquely American?"<br><br>"There were never, since the creation of the world, two cases exactly parallel."<br><br>Lord Chesterfield, in a letter to his son, February 22nd, 1748.<br><br>Colonial culture was uniquely American simply because of the unique factors associated with the development of the colonies. Never before had the conditions that tempered the colonists been seen. <br><br>The unique blend of diverse environmental factors and peoples caused the development of a variety of cultures that were mostly English, part European, and altogether original.<br><br>The unique conditions, both cultural and environmental, of each colony produced a unique culture for that colony. And while each colony had it 's share of groups, the mix of people and their cultures in each colony was not evenly distributed. In some colonies there was a high mix of people, while in others one group dominated. These regional differences caused the colonies not to develop one unique culture, but instead a group of distinctive cultures, each unique, and each regional.<br><br>The regional differences and cultures among the colonies can be divided into four basic groups. <br><br>These groups each dominated a different region, but they weren 't the only group in their respective region. There were the Puritans of New England, the Quakers of the middle colonies, the Anglicans of the southern colonies, and the Scots-Irish of the Appalachian backcountry (Madaras & Sorelle, 1995).<br><br>The culture of New England was one unique to New England. The northern colonies of New England were dominated by the Puritans, and settled primarily for religious reasons. The environment of New England consisted of rocky soil, dense forests, and large numbers of fish (Sarcelle, 1965). The culture that developed in New England was appropriate to such conditions.<br><br>The soil, being rocky, had to be worked constantly and patiently (Sarcelle, 1965). Patience and persistence were trademarks


Bibliography: br><li>Higginbotham, D. (1996) . American Revolution.<br><a href="http://www.uwm.edu/People/jpipes/amrevwar.html">http://www.uwm.edu/People/jpipes/amrevwar.html</a><br><li>No Author given. (1996) . Colonial Williamsburg Home Page. <br><a href="http://www.history.org">http://www.history.org</a><br><li>Sarcelle, M. (1965) . Seeds of liberty, The genesis of the American mind. Seattle<br><li>Welling, G.M. (1996) . From Revolution to Reconstuction and what happened afterwards.<br><a href="http://grid.let.rug.nl/~welling/usa/revolution.html">http://grid.let.rug.nl/~welling/usa/revolution.html</a><br><li>Brinkley, A. (1995) . American History: A survey Vol. 1. CITYHERE: McGraw-Hill, Inc.<br><li>Fischer, D.A. (1995) . Taking sides: Clashing views on controversial issues in American history Vol. 1. CITYHERE: Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc.
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