There are differing opinions on whether the change of how people called themselves happened abruptly or as a small buffering out of the terms. The more supported idea is that since Amerigo Vespucci was thought to have actually discovered America before Christopher Columbus the Americas should be named after him. Around 1775 is when colonists stopped referring to themselves as “colonists”, “Englishmen” or by their colony of origin and called themselves Americans. Although it is believed to be a diffusion of the terms since there were still some strong loyalists. Others argue that since King George III instituted the proclamation of 1763 this loyal attitude began to waver. This became known as the American War of Independence.

Before this, a unified term was not really used until relatively after the civil war, people were usually referred to as “the people in the united states are. . ”afterward they were addressed as “the united states is ” before the civil war people didn’t really see the need of using a unified term to acknowledge each other but when they went against the British they might not have addressed themselves as Americans in the manner of speech that we use today but they certainly didn’t consider themselves as a part of the British. Another event that pushed then Englishmen to become their own people occurred when parliament passed the stamp act that was designed to raise money for the standing British army but under the statement “NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION” the colonist spoke to the way they had been oppressed and left without a say. After this, people began to silently accept the British rule until parliament passed yet another tax called the tea act, planned to save the East India trading company and letting it gain a monopoly on the American tea trade the tax was then viewed as another act of taxation despotism. In retrospect, when the stamp act was implemented the colonists didn’t take any drastic measures to make their point but this time they decided that more serious actions should be taken to show that they will not be taken advantage of. it was then decided that the Boston Tea Party would take place, tea valued at some 18. 000 euros was dumped into the Boston harbor which then enraged who then passed the coercive acts also known as the intolerable acts in 1774 then setting off a spark so that the colonists would call to order the first continental congress.

So, in reality, Americans stopped referring themselves to as Englishmen for the sole purpose of rebelling. In conclusion, I believe that there were many events that led up to the diminishing of the term Englishmen when it came to the colonists and made them become free Americans who did not have to live under the rule of a tyrant, because the true meaning of freedom is being a part of writing and implementing the laws by which you live by