Tasks in the History of America - Essay Example

?Part ONE: Colonial America: Describe the founding and characteristics each of the four colonial cultures: Chesapeake (Virginia), Deep South (South Carolina), New England (Massachusetts) and Middle (New York, Pennsylvania). Tell me how each of these four cultures developed in the late 1600’s and 1700’s. In what ways did the changes in the period 1713-1763 represent a Revolution before the Revolution? The Chesapeake colonial culture was founded in the early 1600s after a charter was granted by King James I. The early colony was mostly men, and initially struggled with illness and disease amongst the residents because of poor diets (Brinkley, 32). However, in 1609 there was some reorganization in the area and the London Company became the Virginia Company. This year also heralded the arrival of Lord De La Warr as the first governor, and the subsequent establishment of strong work ethics (Brinkley, 33). 1612 saw a man named John Rolfe begin to grow tobacco in Virginia, something which turned out to be very profitable for the area and began the expansion of the colony. Additionally, 1619 saw the area gain the first slaves from Africa, as well as the growth in population from women and children, which allowed the culture to begin to thrive. The Virginia colony was also important for providing a model for U.S. government which we still use today, with 1650 seeing the meetings of elected representatives splitting into two chambers as seen in congress today. The later part of the 17th century saw Bacon’s Rebellion, which was essentially a revolt against the governor of Virginia by Nathanial Bacon. The main reason for the uprising was that the people of the Virginia colony were upset that the governor was ignoring pleas for a stronger military presence in the area (Brinkley, 35). Although seeing some minor success, Bacon died before progress was made with the revolution, but this did sow some seeds for a Revolution before the Revolution. The Carolinas were founded in 1663 when some land from Virginia was given to eight proprietors with the aim to promote freedom of Christianity. Charleston was founded on the back of immigration from England beginning in 1670, which was funded by Lord Shaftesbury. However, the colony never really united, with the areas having a strong north/south divide in the area. South Carolina had strong links with the overpopulated Barbados, which had already begun to embrace slavery. The links with the Caribbean and the interest in the economics of slavery in this region are crucial to understanding the build-up to the Revolution. The colony in New England (Massachusetts) began to grow in the early 17th century with the arrival of pilgrims (who were separatists from the Anglican church) left Holland and boarded the Mayflower to settle in Virginia. However, the boat did not arrive in the Hudson River as planned but ended up in Cape Cod, where they landed outside the London Company’s territory. They found some land that had been cleared due to some Native Americans dying of disease and the local residents helped them to found their own colony. William Bradford was elected governor and sought legal permission to found the colony. More people began to arrive who did not agree with the religious tenets of the area but came because of fertile land (Brinkley, 45). In 1664 Charles II gave his brother James territory between Connecticut and the Delaware river, some of which had already been claimed by the Dutch (Brinkley, 28). One of the major settlements in the area was New Amsterdam, but this soon surrendered and became New York. There were tensions in the area between the Dutch who were considered “patrons” and the wealthy English settlers. Pennsylvania was founded because dissenting English religious group founded by George Fox wanted to find a place for religion and a distinctive social order. Quakers, back in England, had suffered persecution and looked to America to provide a tolerant new land to live in. Pennsylvania had good relations with the Native Americans and always paid them for their land, but by 1690 people living in the colony were upset by the power held by the proprietor. This led to rising tensions which could again be seen as a Revolution before the Revolution. Part TWO: Revolutionary America: What factors and events turned British Americans into just plain ‘Americans’ between 1763 and 1776? How did Americans win independence against the might of the British Empire? In what ways was the American Revolution both The American Revolution was a war waged between those living in the thirteen colonies in the early history of America and Great Britain. Evidently, the Revolution ended with an American victory and Great Britain recognizing the independence of the newly formed United States, which was due to a variety of different events between 1763 and 1776. Firstly, the British government had decided it had a right to tax U.S. colonies for their military defence, which had become more expensive during the build-up to the revolution (Brinkley, 78). Those living in the colonies had also founded a Continental Congress which provided them some political stability which allowed them to begin progress towards independence. These events led to the Boston Tea Party, which was a planned boycott (and destruction of) British Tea which occurred in 1773. The British government responded to this by ending the legal ability of Massachusetts to self-govern and putting it under the control of General Thomas Gage. In 1775, Gage found out that weapons were being stockpiled in the area and sent British troops over to destroy these weapons with the aim of preventing an uprising (Brinkley, 87). The Congress was eventually declared a traitor by the British government as a result of these rising tensions, and Congress declared themselves a new independent sovereign nation. The Dutch and the French secretly provided supplies to the new United States due to previous tensions with Great Britain, which is part of the reason why the American Revolution succeeded against the military strength of the British Empire (Brinkley, 88). June 1776 saw Americans in control in every state of the newly declared nation, but the British navy had managed to capture New York and make it their main base, causing complications for the new country. This led to a stand-off, particularly because the countryside was dominated by rebels and the British navy could only capture coastal towns on the East coast (Brinkley, 101). The British tried to invade the U.S. from the north in 1777 but the British army were captured at the battle of Saratoga. 1778 saw the French enter the war openly (instead of just secretly providing supplies) and later Spain and the Dutch joined in. This caused problems for the British army, and eventually the 1783 Treaty of Paris saw the official end of the war and the declaration that the United States was a fully independent sovereign nation (Brinkely, 105). Read More