"Although the thirteen American colonies were founded at different times by people with different motives with different forms of colonial charters and political organization, by the Revolution the thirteen colonies had become remarkably similar." Assess the validity of this view.
I. As time was coming to the start of the American Revolution, the thirteen American colonies that had at first started out with differences in all aspects appeared to be astonishingly similar in several cultural ways. Mainly refugees from European countries who were fleeing their government's oppressive and discriminative ways established these colonies. In addition, another main portion of these colonists were people trying to overcome their lives of poverty. When the colonies were first founded, each colony's government was managed independently without a unifying base. By the brink of the Revolution, all the thirteen American colonies seemed to have very similar lifestyles and goals. .
II. Colonial diversity was apparent. Several contributing factors drew attention to colonial disunity. The most prominent factors included differences in their economies and social structures.
a. Arthur Schlesinger.
i. Schlesinger described the considerable disunity among the colonies. Each colony pursued its own ends.
b. Economy and Government.
i. The slave economy of the South and the growing industrial manufacturing economy of the North ensured a divergence in government. .
c. Social Class.
i. All the Southern colonies seemed to have a social class structure. Social hierarchy is a very common aspect of society. The colonists, many from different nationalities, had divisions with aristocrats and government officials in the highest class. Next came lesser professional men with land owning farmers below them, who made up majority of the population. The lower classes constituted of hired workers, indentured servants, and lastly the black slaves.
