"My principles for my government …are fixed," Declarations of Independence between Fathers and Sons in the Age of Revolution

Unlike their colonial counterparts who had a vested interested in keeping their sons close to home as a source of labor for the family farm or as an otherwise participant in the family business, fathers in the Revolutionary era emphasized their sons' individual achievement and development over communal interests. Jaquess argues that the spirit of independence, the  spirit of ’76 if you will, gave rise to the spirit of individualism, which was  passed from father to son as a natural product of their experience in the Revolution and their engagement in the new American Republic.