Your logic would be considered sound by many professors. But I can't disagree more. War is a major factor on culture, IMHO.
"If you look at the 100 years war in Europe , nothing fundamentally changed. England was still England, France was still France."
England, through use of the longbow, skewering so many well armored French knights, gained a sense of self worth and began to value the common man. The concept of the right to bear arms was entirely the result of war. This is actually a great example of the opposite point. The 100 Year War, combined with all the other wars that England fought, ended the Feudal System in England. Wars involving gunpowder merely sped up the process the longbow had begun. England became a world leader, in part, because it was ahead of all the other European nations, culturally. And the Brits had a manifest destiny to be Europe's greatest empire, thanks to the battles the longbow was used in.
The importance of a strong navy began to slowly dawn upon them. The importance of unity was definitely thrust upon them, their lords seeing the need to empower their king with enough resources to keep a more competitive army out in the field.
"With the American Revolution nothing fundamentally changed. England's colonial strength was diminished but England didn't change. America still spoke English, still embraced a Western style culture and still considered England out cousins."
America's creativity was unleashed. The patent system generated 90% of the world's inventions. And, if we had remained a colony, England may have used military might to prolong slavery. The Brits tended to aid the Confederacy prior to Lincoln's Emancipation Proclomation, which might never have been made. Cheap labor tends to stunt innovation.
"The multitude of petty wars between the nations of Europe for 1000 years did not fundamentally change the society."
If Catholicism had won out in the wars of Europe, Christianity would have become more corrupt than ever. Religious monopoly is the root of corrupt governments. I would say the cultural differnces between Mexico and the US are stark.
And when you look at the culture shock of a place that turns Islamic, the transformation is abominable.
Well, that is as far as I've gotten so far. FReegards....
I'll credit the points that you made with a caveat.
If feudalism faded in England because of the long bow why did it fade in France and Germany.
Feudalism could exist only in an agrarian society. Europe moving from agrarian to metropolitian and the rise of the trade guilds , along with significant international trade began the steady decline of the feif system.
Also, I am strongly in favor of the melting pot. America has always had an advantage in being a race of mutts. Similar to the canine race mixed breeds tend to be more robust, healthier and less quirky.