The Revolution built institutions and codified the language and ideas that still define Americans’ image of themselves. Seen from 1763, nothing would have seemed as improbable as the American Revolution. And yet, in a little over a decade, those same colonists would declare their independence and break away from the British Empire. The British North American colonists had just helped to win a world war and most, like Rush, had never been more proud to be British. Upon seeing the king’s throne in the House of Lords, Rush said he “felt as if he walked on sacred ground” with “emotions that I cannot describe.” 1 Throughout the eighteenth century, colonists had developed significant emotional ties with both the British monarchy and the British constitution. In the 1760s, Benjamin Rush, a native of Philadelphia, recounted a visit to Parliament. The Consequences of the American Revolution
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