Colonies’ View of Europe
Many of the inhabitants of the colonies had come to the Americas in order to escape persecution, for their religious or extreme political views. As a result, there was a higher concentration of radical thinkers in the Americas than there were in Europe.
Many of the colonists had been born in the Americas and had never visited Europe. As a result, they considered themselves Americans, and not Europeans. Increasingly their loyalty was to the colony, and not to the distant mother country.
Colonies began to tire of the restrictions placed on them by their mother countries. These restrictions favored their parent nations, but made life more difficult for the colonies. Some of these restrictions did not allow them to trade with any nations, making it more difficult for them to sell their goods.
Increasingly these colonies viewed themselves as independent states, separate from their mother country.