The War for American Independence - Essay Example

 Before the fall of New York, it would have been possible to reach an agreement between the British and the American sides. Following this battle, the two sides were too militarily entrenched to reach an agreement. The rhetoric had become too heated and too many lives were lost. What the British failed to understand throughout the conflict was that the colonists wanted respect and more autonomy. They wanted to have more power over their own lives. This was a reasonable and natural request. By denying it, the British forced the Americans into drastic action. Even after the War started, colonists petitioned the King to change their minds and simply grant more power to the colonial legislatures.

     It is important to remember that Americans were divided over the war, with a large contingent of Loyalists living among the Revolutionary colonists. The British could have made more overtures which would have split Americans even more and perhaps led to peace rather than American Independence. If the British had not been so obstinate, peace might have prevailed.

2. In 1860, the institution of slavery was firmly entrenched in the United States; by 1865, it was dead. How did this happen? How did Union policy toward slavery and enslaved people change throughout the war? Why did it change?

 In the 1860s, America fought a brutal Civil War between North and South. The South espoused slavery, the North opposed it. This war pitted brother against brother and sister against sister. In the beginning, the North did not care whether the South practiced slavery or not, it simply did not want slavery in the new Western states or the North. The war began soon after Abraham Lincoln was elected. The South felt he didn't respect them or the states' rights. They knew that he opposed slavery and would not permit it to be introduced into the new states that were hoping to join the United States of America. A conflict soon began, with the South seceding. The backbone of the Southern economy was based on cotton and cotton required slaves. Many in the South felt that the North wanted to economically cripple them.

     At first, Lincoln did not want to push the slavery issue and did not especially care if this “peculiar institution” continued to exist in the South. But as the war proceeded, Lincoln had an epiphany. He realized slavery was wrong; he also realized that if he issued a declaration freeing all the slaves, some might rise in the South, disrupting the Confederacy. This he did; it eventually led to the Union's victory in the Civil War. This conflict has shaped American history ever since.

3. Weigh the relative importance of the Industrial and Market revolutions in changing the American economy. In what ways was the economy different in 1860 from what it had been in 1800? How would you explain those differences?

The American economy has changed dramatically over the last two hundred years. But most people would be hard-pressed to argue that the changes between 1800 and 1860 were not some of the most significant. This was a period of rapid industrialization. New technologies such as the steam engine allowed for work to be done in a much easier manner than ever before. Factories began to sprout up producing all manner of manufactured goods. The country shifted away from a farming and agricultural economy, characterized by the development of Virginian tobacco fields, and towards a much more diverse and substantial economy.

     These changes came about in part because of technology but also in part because of the first age of globalization. Various nations began to trade more easily with one another in this period and to learn lessons from each other. Comparative advantage allowed countries to obtain products that they might not have otherwise obtained. America began to tap into its massive natural wealth for the first time. As the decades passed and the steam engine became more developed, soon enough the railroad would be introduced. These iron highways would change America forever. They would allow the fast transport of people and goods and dramatically improve the American economy. Eventually, the industrial revolution, led by the railroads, would link America from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. The United States would never look back.