Patrick Henry's declaration in the First Congress of 1774 was that “The
distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New
Englanders, are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American.” 
(Recorded, if memory serves, in a letter or diary entry by John Adams.)

But I also vaguely recall a journal article, perhaps by Hofstader but
certainly by someone of his generation, tracking the widespread
self-referential use of the term 'American' to the 1750s - coinciding as I
recall with the experience of the (variously named) French and Indian War,
Seven Year's War, or Great War for Empire......


Dr. Jon Kukla, Executive Vice-President
Red Hill - The Patrick Henry National Memorial
1250 Red Hill Road
Brookneal, Virginia 24528
www.redhill.org