Tracing the American Identity - The Evolution Thereof

The American Identity could be considered and oxymoron in and of itself. From the very inception of explorers to the "New Land" to American culture today, Americans still don't have a firm grasp of whom they really are. In any event, I will attempt to trace the evolution of the American identity using time honored literary figures such as
Columbus, de Vaca, Smith, Rowlandson, and others.
Sent on a conquest to find new trade routes, Christopher Columbus, pummeled into a land, America that signaled the birthing of a new culture. In Columbus' Journal he describes the Native Americans response, "They signified their admiration and reverence of the strangers by touching them, kissing their hands and feet, and making signs of wonder. They imagined them come from heaven, and signified as much to them. …