Conclusion: Reflections

Abstract

In the United States, the focus on an American cultural identity can be traced back to the American Revolution or the War of Independence from the British rule. In many of the extant documents and debates on the Revolution and the formation of the Union, there were hardly any references to racialized ethnic groups, who would later be identified as racial minorities. The white population, at that time, mostly claimed a Protestant identity that developed from the Great Awakening of the 1740s and traced its origins to the British Isles and primarily to England. The founding fathers and the framers of the American Constitution were British. As I have pointed out in Chapter 2, the founders were open to the idea of homogeneity among American citizens. Fearing that racial and cultural differences—stemming from the presence of First Nations, blacks, and later Chinese and other racialized groups—would interrupt and undermine their commitment to a homogenous America, the founders had to find ways to suppress racial and cultural diversity. Hence, in their minds, the dehumanization of First Nations, blacks, Chinese, and other racialized groups were unmistakably warranted. Eventually, the 1790 Naturalization Act would be one of the greatest resources for the confirmation of an American identity as white by allowing only white men to be citizens of the United States of America.