Prologue [excerpts] The success of the American revolution was both confounding and astounding .... More incredible than the event was the motivation. Never before had an overarching cause of revolution been so steadfastly tied to individual liberty.... National identity was the facilitating cause that held together all other reasons and justifications for the pursuit of this liberty. Without a firm belief in who colonial Americans were as a nation, such a war would never have been fought, let alone won....