How Did Africans and Europeans Arrive in America - Assignment Example

History essay question How did Africans and Europeans arrive in the Americas? The search for land, gold and other valuables brought the first European explorers into the Americas (Houghton Mifflin Company, 96). The 15th and the 16th centuries were very tumultuous years for most of the European nations, since the land and other natural resources had started to decline markedly, hence the need to seek for other sources of such natural resources, as well as territories to expand to. Consequently, the Kings and rulers of these European countries, most notably Spain, would commission explorers to go on voyages in search for new territories where they could get valuable minerals, expand the links for trade and establish new territories for expansion. Therefore, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, both of the Spain, commissioned Christopher Columbus to sail west of the Atlantic sea in search of Asia, a journey that eventually saw Columbus land in the Americas, where he believed to be Asia, thus naming the first natives in the Americas, the Indians (Houghton Mifflin Company, 97). The discovery by Columbus was followed by an influx of other European explorers from different European nations, and subsequently European settlers who needed their own lands came and started settling in the Americas, eventually bringing the European settlement in the Americas. On the other hand, the Africans arrived to the Americans as a result of the transatlantic slave trade that took place between Europe, African and the Americas, consequently becoming known as the triangular trade (Hugh, 27). The Europeans sailed to Africa, most especially to West Africa and parts of the North and East Africa, where they bought slaves or directly captured them, then shipped them back to the new world (Americas), where the slaves could be sold in exchange for other consumable products such as food. The slaves were used for labor to cultivate different types of crops such as potatoes, beans, peanuts, and corn. These farm products would then be shipped back to Europe, where the need for food was increasingly growing, due to the increased population growth and the subsequent scarcity of essential production resources such as land. Thus, through exploration for links to trade, land for territorial expansion and sources of valuable minerals, the Europeans came to the Americas. On the other hand, through the transatlantic slave trade, more and more Africans were brought to the Americas, where they settled as slaves, and later formed the African-American group, after slavery was abolished (Hugh, 41). 2. How significant were both The Enlightenment and The Great Awakening in the American colonies? The Great Awakening and Enlightenment in Colonial America made a lasting impact on these colonies. This is because; the enlightenment was an age that brought about the era of reason, which in turn developed great interest in education, literature and science (History Rocket, n.p.). Through education and science, the age of Enlightenment sought to challenge both the religion and the divine rights which had previously been the basis of social-cultural beliefs both in the American colonies and also back in Europe. Consequently, through challenging divine rights and religion, an alternative form of reasoning developed, which then held that there can be social democracy and the right of the people to decide on the form of political leadership that should rule over them. This was opposed to the traditional thought process created by the divine rights and religion, which held that rulers and monarchs were divinely ordained to rule over the people, and thus could not be challenged. Thus, the Enlightenment henceforth brought a change of mindset that promoted education and change in political thought and structure in the American colonies (History Rocket, n.p.). On the other hand, the Great Reawakening was a period of the spread of religion in the whole of the American colonies, where following The Enlightenment, religion was applied to define different aspects of human relationships. This way, preachers and evangelists took the Word down from North American colonies to the South, preaching on the need for respect and dignity for all men, including slaves, as part God’s creation (History Rocket, n.p.). Consequently, they condemned the slave trade and slavery that had seen many Africans treated like animals instead of humans. Thus, The Reawakening was an important era in the history of the American colonies, since it charted the way for the consideration of the evils of slavery and slave trade, eventually resulting in its banning (History Rocket, n.p.). it can therefore be concluded that The Enlightenment and The Reawakening were crucial for the transformation of the American colonies. 3. What were the origins of Slavery in the American colonies? The origin of slavery in American colonies was the need for labor by the European settlers for their plantations in the Caribbean and other European settlements that had already established large-scale farming (Wood, 22). The European settlers had realized that if they had to exploit the full potential of their new settlements, they had to cultivate crops and rear animals in large scale, so that they could have good trade with the European traders who were transporting such products back home and make good profits. However, the need to cultivate large plantations was hindered by the need for more labor, and thus labor had to be sought from back Europe, but it proved to be very expensive for the settler farmers. This then meant that alternative cheap sources of labor for the European settlers had to be sought. However, slavery in the transatlantic slave trade was initiated by the Spanish and the Portuguese travelers and explorers, while the British had not initially intended to posses and use Africans as chattel slaves, until the demand for labor in the American colonies proved overwhelming. Therefore, it is the need for the search of alternative sources of labor for the settler farmers that made the transatlantic slave trade very popular, since slaves could be imported and bought by the settler farmers at lower costs, after which they provided hard labor services for free (Wood, 36). Thus, slaves in the American colonies were imported from the Caribbean and not directly from Africa, since such slaves were already brought to the Caribbean as a result of the transatlantic slave trade. Further, slavery was extended to the Native Americans, although the slavery for the natives was insignificant in scale compared to the slavery for the Africans, owing to the fact that slavery for the Africans was hereditary (Wood, 21). 4. What caused the American Revolution? The conduct of the British settlers in the 13 American colonies was mainly the cause for the American Revolution. The British authority became intrusive of the 13 colonies in America, through the search for more money to finance the French and Indian War of 1754 – 1763 (Pavao, n.p.). Therefore, the British Authority increased the taxes charged on the settlers in the 13 colonies without the consent of the settlers. This is because, the British parliament had taken upon itself the powers to legislate on matters pertaining to the 13 American colonies, owing to the fact that the highest percentage of the white settlers in the American colonies were British, thus they shared the same ideals and political leadership of the British monarch. The legislations made by the British parliament back in England had a significant influence on the 13 colonies in America, but the major problem was that the laws were enacted to benefit the British, at the expense of the 13 colonies (Pavao, n.p.). Thus, finding that the legislations that were made out of the 13 American colonies affected them negatively, the settlers became reluctant to allow the laws to rule over them, since they did not seek to benefit them, but rather the British back in England. The other major problem is that the British settlers in the American colonies were not given an opportunity in the British parliament to select some of their own, who could represent their interests in the British parliament (Pavao, n.p.). The effect is that the British settlers felt left out, while at the same time feeling oppressed by the British political system, which only recognized them as colonies but with no political influence on how they should be run. It is following this feeling of being aggrieved that the British settlers in the thirteen American colonies resulted to revolting against the laws that were enacted by the British parliament, thus opening the road to the American Revolution. 5. How did the American Colonists defeat the British Empire? The victory of the American Colonists over the British Empire was as a result of several combined factors. To start with, the American Colonists defeated the British Empire due to the vast rugged terrain of the colonies’ countryside that the British army was not able to conquer, owing to the fact that they were not well acquitted with the terrain as did the colonists (Digital History, n.p.). Therefore, the American colonists were able to effectively apply guerrilla warfare tactic against the British army on the countryside rugged terrain, thus leaving the British army either defeated or frustrated. In this respect, the American colonists were not only able to fight the British soldiers, but were also able to target and launch attacks on the loyalists, who in turn got even more afraid of supporting the British army. The other factor that contributed to the American colonists defeating the British Empire is the fact that the British army did not make good use of the loyalists in the American Revolution war, rather opting to sideline them and dedicating them to the less important roles of guards (Digital History, n.p.). This was a major disadvantage on the side of the British Empire, owing to the fact that the loyalists had a better understanding of the American colonies’ terrains than did the British army. Instead of capitalizing on this understanding of the terrain to allow the loyalists lead in the ways to the attack, the British army underestimated the importance of the loyalists in the war, terming them untrained and incapable of fighting a war of such an important magnitude to the British Empire (Digital History, n.p.). The overwhelming support of the revolution was another cause of the colonists’ victory over the British Empire, since the ratio of the patriots to that of the loyalists was too wide. In addition, the British Empire was also faced with other wars with Spain, France and Netherlands in different colonial territories, which meant that the British Army would not be fully concentrated on the American Revolution war (Digital History, n.p.). Consequently, the constant disturbance from these three powers over colonial territories controlled by British caused the British Empire to lose control of the revolution, giving the colonist a chance to win. 6. Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? The Articles of Confederation were meant to establish a system of government that would replace the British government control over the American colonies following the British Empire defeat in the American Revolution war. However, one of the inherent weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, which made the articles fail, was the fact that they were pitched on the system of confederacy that gave the states autonomous control (Brackemyre, n.p.). The full dedication of independence, freedom and sovereignty to the states then meant that the each state was poised to run its territory in its own style, meaning that there lacked coordination in the governance of the territories, resulting in the collapse of the Articles of Confederation. Therefore, the failure to establish a strong national government system that would coordinate the colonies resulted in the lack of centralized leadership, as well as lack of economic organization and effective legislation system that would work for all the colonies in uniformity (Brackemyre, n.p.). Therefore, it is this lack of a coordinated system that eventually caused the collapse of the Articles of Confederation. However, the economic hardships faced by the American colonies soon after the American Revolution also caused the failure of the Articles of Confederation, owing to the fact that the colonies were unable to pay their own debts, yet they did not have a centralized economic system that would work towards redeeming al the territories (Brackemyre, n.p.). Therefore, each state was over-engrossed with its economic turbulence, thus limiting the fulfillment of the provisions and commitment required for each state in the Articles of Confederation. The lack of a singular form of currency for all the colonies also meant that the Articles of Confederation had an inherent weakness, since the inter-colonies trade became a major difficulty due to non-transferability of the different currency forms from each state, resulting in the collapse of trade among the states (Brackemyre, n.p.). All these factors combined to see the Articles of Confederation fail in its purpose and intention to keep the confederacies united. Works Cited Brackemyre, Ted. “America’s First Failure at Government: The Articles of Confederation.” The US History Scene, Jul 17th, 2012. Web. March 2, 2015. Accessed: < http://www.ushistoryscene.com/uncategorized/articlesofconfederation/> Digital History. “How were the colonies able to win independence?”, 2014. Web. March 2, 2015. Accessed: History Rocket. “The Great Awakening and Enlightenment in Colonial America”, 2012. Web. March 2, 2015. Accessed: http://www.historyrocket.com/American-History/The-Great-Awakening-And-Enlightenment-In-Colonial-America.html Hugh, Thomas. The Slave Trade: The History of the Atlantic Slave Trade 1440–1870. London: Picador, 1997. Print. Houghton Mifflin Company. “Summary: Europeans Arrive in the Americas.” United States History, n.d. pp. 96–101. Print. Pavao, Janelle. Causes of the American Revolution “Revolutionary-War.net, 2014. Web. March 2, 2015. Accessed: http://www.revolutionary-war.net/causes-of-the-american-revolution.html Wood, Betty. Slavery in Colonial America, 1696-1776. Lanham, Md. [u.a.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. Print. Read More