American History

The history of the United States is a lengthy and very modern one. The Untied States has faced hundreds of issues and problems. These have scaled from things as simple as neighbor to neighbor all the way to state and international issues. The government put in place was unique. It had the ability to hold a firm grip of the nation yet still be of the people. Only a few and specific events have shaped America as a nation.

The territory on which America exists was inhabited centuries before it was declared a nation. There were many Indian tribes that lived very prosperously in America before the Europeans had come over. The lifestyles of the tribes were very nomadic and very simple underneath, but in truth they were very complex societies that had a strong influence of religion in their everyday lives. The Native Americans lacked the technological advances that the Europeans had, but they had something more basic and richer in their lives and communities that would take Europeans hundreds of years to understand and incorporate into their societies. The ideas were of power and influence. In Indian cultures women were allowed to hold positions of power just like men. They also had a very embracing society when it came to ones who could support they way other did. An example would be if a person was poor and had a debilitating disease. Where as in Europe the person would have been ostracized, in the Native Americans culture the person would have been embraced and look upon as a person whom the people around him should help. These beliefs are very important to society because they are that much closer to a utopia. The natives were very conservative using little resources with much car since their gods said they were one with nature. This left America with an abundance of resources that were running thin in Europe. Prosperity would last until the British would arrive.

Traditionally the first man to be credited with the discovery of the Americas is no other than Christopher Columbus himself. In truth the only reason he is given credit is because he made a public ordeal when he found it and no one knew about Leif Ericson. Leif Ericson was of Norwegian royalty. He lived in the time of Vikings and was very interested in the “findings” of a trader who claimed to have sailed of course and saw land to the west. Erickson traveled to the west three times. He traveled to North America in 1000 AD and returned a year later in 1001. He visited three different locations, which may have varied from as far north as Newfoundland or as far south as Cape Cod (Linn Article). Christopher Columbus was the famed European for discovering America. When his three ships the Pinta, NiÐ"±a, and Santa Maria all made land fall they believed they were in India. Little id they expect they would find a new world waiting to be harvested and explored. Eventually Columbus would interact with the Indians and discover the vast majority of wealth and riches that this land had. He would return to Europe and inform all the people that this continent existed. The rush of nations to gain colonies and resources began.

The first recorded settlement established by English in America was Roanoke. In 1585 Sir Walter Raleigh sponsored the town’s creation. It was located in Virginia which was very fertile land with lots of Indians territory surrounding it. The main issue at hand was the greed of the settlers. They became too greedy for the new fertile land and decided to be insubordinate and disobedient with the native’s wishes and attempted to take their land from them. The Main issue with this was that the Natives knew that land and natural environment much better than the British. In the end the Natives would win against the aggressive British as self defense to preserve their land and more importantly their lives. During this battle the town of Roanoke fell to the natives. The rising of Jamestown soon came after. Jamestown was the first permanent settlement that actually survived. This is from their cooperation with the natives that lived around them. Instead of trying to take the land from them by force and continually threatening them, the people of Jamestown made the Powhaton Confederacy. This was a treaty that established the boundaries each side had and what they would be allowed to do so that they wouldn’t offend each other and start major issues between them. This Lifestyle let the British live and eventually gain more power in North America leading to the growth of areas around the coast.

The reason that the Europeans had been coming to America was for the three famous “G’s” during the time. They were God, Gold, and Glory. The land of America was new and fresh and very fertile. This was something that the European nations had lacked for centuries. The new land had many riches waiting to be harvested. Some other things found in North America were new to the British and so they could buy it from the natives for very cheap and then sell the imported goods for a much larger profit. To name a few of the goods, there was coco, tobacco, more cotton, and furs. This was not all of the reasons of why Europeans came to America. Another very large and influential reason was for the freedom. When a ruler had to rule from over 3000 miles away it would be very difficult to control the people. Hence people who wanted religious freedom also came to America. Here the religious followers could practice their religion without and oppression or need to hide away. They could show god they care and not fear.

The colonies grew very calmly and violently in others, but overall life was almost surreal. Over a 150 year period the British colonies had gone from Jamestown to almost controlling the entire east coast of where America is today. Some cases were like Manhattan where for a relatively “cheap” price we bought the land from the Indians. Some other times the British had to force them to retreat. Overall the Land had become the 13 colonies Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia were the colonies that the colonist inhabited. People who lived in them were mostly poor, but the thoughts inspired by Benjamin Franklin like: “Time is money”; “God helps them that helps themselves”; “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise” (Cayton Ch.3 Sec. 2); helped make colonial life a little more inspirational and give hope to the ones who needed it most. The reason why the Colonies were so great was because the social ranking of a person was able to change in America. No one had to stay poor, they could work hard and eventually make a fortune to be rich, and the only