It’s the fall of 1783, and your whole town is ringing with excitement. The American colonists have won the war against Britain!
The faraway British king and Parliament no longer have power over this land, which means you no longer live in “the colonies.” You now live in an independent nation, the United States of America. Your father slaps your uncle on the back. He says something he’s been saying a lot lately: “We’re Americans now!”
The American Revolution had a big effect. It influenced the French Revolution, the rise of nationalism in Europe, and independence movements around the world. Citizens of the young United States felt proud. Many ideas that came up in the 1800s made that national pride even stronger. By 1845, many Americans believed in “manifest destiny.” That was the idea that it was the fate of the United States to expand and control all the land to the west – all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
