Henry Steele Commager

            Henry Steele Commager's essay discusses how America was able to create a sense of nationalism while establishing itself as a nation. There was a huge difference between the way the new states in Europe were started and how America began. The states in Europe were not expected to take on their own sense of independence because they were being added to a country that had already rooted itself in the land. However, America did not have it that easy. They had no previous government, character, or history and were expected to create those things along with creating America as well. .
             How can it be possible to create a history when really there is nothing to base it off of? Well, Americans jumped on this task and created a very impressive record of events that can tell a story of what America is. They created a "yesterday" through paintings, literature, monuments, and songs to name a few. The bald eagle, Uncle Sam, and The Stars and Stripes became symbols of America that begged to have a sense of American nationalism to support them. The Revolution and the Civil War provided America with the most famous of heroes and war quotes. The land brought about a sense of unity because it belonged to everyone. New people were coming into the country and they needed to know the history of their new home, so it was constantly being repeated. The fact that America began with no history, in a world where history defined the strength of a nation, did not hinder the successful transition into a confident homeland.
             The Land Ordinance of 1785 described what Congress was going to do with the lands in the Western part of America. Each state would send a surveyor out west to divide the land into townships of six square miles. The ordinance gave specific details about how to measure the lines running north and south, and east and west. When the land was to be sold, it stated that it should be sold for no less than one dollar per acre.