How the Development of the United States Came to Be: From the Columbian Exchange to the American Revolution
Throughout history there has been much diversity, complexity, and sophisticated nature from pre-Columbian to Colonial North America. These events that occurred had helped transform what America is today. From the Columbian exchange to colonial encounters to revolution, which forms a type of identity – an American identity. How did these events impact the world? How did the encounters between Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans change the world’s natural, cultural and geopolitical landscape? The encounters between Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans changed the world’s natural, cultural, and geopolitical landscape through different interactions and conflicts between different groups of individuals, English culture, religion, and economy, identity, and Americanness.
First, there was the encounter and interactions between the Europeans and Native Americans. The history of America begins with the first Americans, in which many indigenous people, including Native Americans passed down their stories through periods of time in accounts that tell of their creation, origins, culture, and beliefs. Many Native groups lived in communities and hunted together. There was much diversity in The New World, with Native Americans living in different parts of the Americas. Some Native groups migrated while others had developed a permanent settlement. The culture and history of the Natives seemed to have developed greatly peacefully, although it changed with the arrival of the Europeans. European exploration began with the Norse, who sought to establish colonies, in which the failed during Native struggle. Portugal and Spain relied on the exploration of trade. Spanish sailors established the Caravel and became masters. Christopher Columbus, who was a skilled-born sailor wanted to find a direct route from Europe to Asia and wanted fame and fortune by convincing Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain. There were four voyages Columbus mad, which were in 1492-1493, 1493-1496, 1498-1500, and 1502-1504. He still believed he land in the East Indies. Columbus’s arrival had impacted the Americas in which the exchange of plant, animal, and bacterial life occurred. This change is called the Columbian exchange and had impacted the world. The exchange of animals, plants, diseases, and technology changed the ways of life of Europeans and Native Americans negatively and positively.
Second was the interactions and conflict between the Spaniards and the indigenous people. It began with the discovery of New Spain in 1517. Although, countless murders were committed against the natives and some were killed by members of the voyage. These members of the voyage who were Spaniards planned to settle the area by committing heinous killings and stealing from the natives. Bartolomé de Las Casas endured the horror of many atrocities. Bartolome de Las Casas explains, “It is no exaggeration to say that one could make a whole book – and a book that would stagger not only contemporaries but future generations also – out of the atrocities, barbarities, murders, clearances, ravages, and other foul injustices perpetrated by members of these two expeditions, and particularly by those that went to Guatemala, the leader of the other expedition coming to an abrupt and sticky end.” Casas described European cruelties in a detailed manner. He notes that the Spaniards had forsaken their humanity, whilst bestowing such malevolence upon the natives. Casas could hardly believe what he was witnessing as he was writing of the dehumanization of the natives. When coming to the New World, Europeans arrived carrying many diseases that devastated Native populations. With the arrival of the Europeans there had been a bridge of two worlds that altered the very history and nothing will ever be the same.
There have been many colliding cultures, one of which is English culture, religion, and economy. Since England had been distressed by the Protestant Reformation, Elizabeth 1 assumed the crown of England in 1558 and managed England’s trade and exploration. Followers of English colonization stated that colonization would praise God, England, and Protestantism. The discovery of Jamestown began in 1607 when Englishmen sailed to present-day Virginia in search of settlement. The English built Jamestown, the first colony of the United States. Eventually, the English were confronted by a group of natives, the Powhatan, led by Powhatan. At first the colonists were unable to find lucrative supplies, but tobacco saved them and changed everything. Colonies in New England had been established from 1620 and migrants wanted to seek economic benefits and religious purposes in the colonies. Although, there were individuals that moved to New England were Puritan, Puritans subjugated the demographic of New England in terms of politics and religion. Puritans believed that God formed a sole pact with them and also agreed with Calvinists – followers of John Calvin. Later in British North America, identity would soon present itself among many individuals. In the seventeenth century, the formation of Britain’s North American colonies increased. British colonists suffered great casualties in hostile climates, harsh natives, and royal deception. Thus, English culture, religion, and economy shaped the world.
During the eighteenth century, American culture developed and began to form among colonists. Immigrants, Native Americans, and enslaved Africans created a gradually diverse population in the colonies. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, developments in manufacturing, transportation, and availability of credit augmented the opportunity for colonists to purchase goods known as the “consumer revolution.” There were connections between the colonies and Britain that included trade, but Parliament passed many taxes that frustrated the colonists. Even though they saw themselves as British citizens, colonists were entitled to natural rights. They believed they had a distinctive belonging from Britain’s policy. The colonies created their own political foundations. It is known that Samuel Adams described the colonies as a “separate body” from Great Britain. In the 1740’s two bodies of thought the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening challenged older ideas, spread through and impacted the colonies from philosophers such as, John Locke. “In his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke argued that the mind was a tabula rasa (or blank slate) and that individuals were formed primarily by their environment. Locke explains in The Social Contract that all people are equal and born with “inalienable” natural rights. These rights are God-given and cannot be taken away. These natural rights are what Locke states are “life, liberty, and property.” The rise of the revolution also transformed America’s history. Events such as the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party led to the revolution. With the issuing of the Declaration of Independence, the American colonies officially declare independence on July 4, 1776. The battle for independence was tremendous and there were severe casualties and different battle strategies among the Americans and the British. The Americans won independence in 1781, but fighting still continued until 1783. Many individuals contributed to the revolution from commoners who protested the taxes to men of different color fighting in the war to the support of women. With its effect, the Declaration of Independence inspired future movements to come.
In conclusion, the events of the pre- Columbian era to the colonial area of America transformed history. The events stated impacted the natural, cultural and geopolitical landscape with encounters of different groups, English culture, religion, and economy, identity, and Americanness. The diversity of our record is shaped with many people from different ethnic backgrounds, different cultures, and beliefs. From the Columbian exchange to the American revolution, these events that occurred such as the many revolutions to the many political ideologies that created future movements in different centuries and stemmed the growth of our nation to what it is today. It helped define Americanness an established an identity – an identity of what it means to be American.
Bibliography
- Ambuske, James, et al., Michael Hattem, Joseph Locke, and Ben Wright. “The American Revolution.” Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2019.
- Casas, Bartolome de Las, “Casas: A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies.” London: Penguin, 1992. Columbia University Libraries Virtual Reading Room, 2002.
