Beginning in the 1600s, one of the main concepts for England, France, and Spain at the time was mercantilism. These were the three most powerful and blooming countries at the time. Starting from the earliest years as the late 1500s, and continuing on, all three countries were soon to battle for claim of the new land. Only one country could triumph. Despite success, even the strongest can become the weakest. This was the search of riches and beneficial goods. These three countries all wanted to develop colonies which they could take the natural resources from and bring them back to their home country. The more wealth and resources your country had, the less your competitors and enemies would have. The scientific revolution as well as the Ottoman Empire also played a major role. The Scientific Revolution indulged Europeans to look at life through different aspects as well as experimenting, searching for answers (, being open minded). The rise of the Ottoman Empire meant that Muslims could dominate the Middle East, so they charged Christians major taxes for all of the goods that would come their way towards Europe. Christopher Columbus, an explorer, sought for a way to avoid the taxes and set forth by sailing west to get to Asia. Spain, England and France all looked for trade routes to Asia. Columbus suggested crossing the Atlantic believing he would hit Asia, not knowing that there would be a country in his way. Every country was at “war” claiming land and trying to colonize. A numbering amount of men died and neglected their expedition by living with other tribes and taking some for wives. Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513 discovered Florida and was later met by a southern Indian tribe that would cut Leon’s triumphant moment short. A second attempt to colonize in America was led unsuccessful by Panfilo de Norvaez in 1528. Many men were lost at sea and others were among the Indian people. The first Spanish expedition in 1539 to what would later be known as Florida was an invasion that would be soon attacked twice by natives. Herman de Soto and his group of men in 1542 were defeated along with the rest of the Spanish attempts. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was another explorer in 1540 that attempted to bring back any rare goods to Spain. The army traveled through the southwest and to the Great Plains, returning empty-handed.
In the 17th century, Europeans were eager to colonize in the newly discovered world. Europe was willing to invest time, resources and money into expanding their power. Powerful nations such as Spain, France and Britain settled there by this time and subtly encouraged Europe to do the same. Europe sent people overseas to two sections, The Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Chesapeake Colony. At the beginning, every aspect influenced their colonies success such as social, political, economic, and geographic.
The mid-1700s were undoubtedly the ultimate festival of the troubled. People around the world felt a sense of conflict as class systems developed in various countries. Beginning in the 1770s, the North American Revolution set the tone for a series of revolutions throughout the Atlantic. From France to Haiti, and from Central America to South America, people fought for a right to prosper.
“Is there a single trait of resemblance between those few towns and a great and growing people spread over a vast quarter of the globe, separated by a mighty ocean?” This question posed by Edmund Burke was in the hearts of nearly every colonist before the colonies gained their independence from Britain. The colonists’ heritage was largely British, as was their outlook on a great array of subjects; however, the position and prejudices they held concerning their independence were comprised entirely from American ingenuity. This identity crisis of these “British Americans” played an enormous role in the colonists’ battle for independence, and paved the road to revolution.
Britain, France, and Spain were busy establishing colonies in the Americas. They found materials for production as well as wealth (gold). Spain was more concerned with finding gold and wealth than materials for production and trade. This is because they believed in the idea that controlling the wealth of the economy would allow them to control the economy. Britain and France were building colonies to produce items they could sell or trade. Islands in the south were colonized to produce sugar; plantations in the 13 colonies were used to produce wood and tobacco.
According to Carl N. Degler, the entire Revolution should be viewed as a conservative change. In “A New Kind of Revolution,” Degler talked about how the new actions taken place by the English had help structure and shape the colonial government. Not only did the colonies lack the affection of their motherland, Britain, they were also taxed unfairly. On the other hand, “The Radicalism of the American Revolution,” by Gordon S. Wood talks about how the American Revolution was a radical movement. His thesis covered how the country was transitioning from monarchy to republic, and now, democracy. The framers wanted to create a free nation where no single person rule. As well as, the people of the nation having the ultimate say so.
In the mid 18th century many different powers in Europe were trying to spread their influence and gain global power. However, this was not without difficulty. There were many regional issues that these powers needed to overcome such as economic complications, struggles with native and conquered peoples, and competing with other European powers.
Let us travel back before the Revolutionary War, to the start of the French and Indian War. This is the only way to understand the future of the American Colonies, and ultimately the causes of the American Revolution. After the war, Britain had emerged as the world’s leading power, however, Britain’s national debt tripled. In order to relieve the heavy burden, the British decided to tax the American Colonies. This taxation caused massive rebellion by the Americans, and ultimately warfare. Professor Breen, a historian well familiar with the revolution, claims that the American colonists were motived by a new form of protest called boycotting. Breen explains that the revolution was a consumer revolution driven not just by elite landowners, but by all American colonists. Degler on the other hand states that the revolution was not a consumer revolution, and was mostly controlled by the elite aristocracy. In my own opinion, the American Revolution was a war that represented a country seeking freedom and liberty. Despite the use of boycotting, the colonies were also using other methods besides economics to break away from Britain. Taking Breen and Degler into consideration, the American Revolution was both an economic and political revolution.
The American Revolution was the very first contemporary revolution. A revolution is defined as an aggressive takeover of a government or a command in order to get a new, better system in place. The American Revolution was fought between America and Great Britain. In 1755, the Revolution took place because America wanted and needed a change; they wanted to be independent from Great Britain. America craved liberty and independence. The American Revolution was the first historic time that a group of people would fight for independence for the reason of gaining a set of moralities that were universal and would act as laws. The main reason why Americans wanted to be free of the rule of Great Britain was because of trade regulations, and taxes. The American Revolution ultimately started because of the issues that the British economy put in place.
Is every American citizen aware of the struggles and battles that were fought before getting to where we are today? The American Revolution being one of the most commonly overlooked revolutions by today’s global society. It was where America began to transform into what it is today. The American Revolution was more than a fight to gain independence, it was also a fight to establish a democracy in American society. As shown consecutively in the articles “An Account of a Stamp Act Riot”, “A Dialogue between Orator Puff and Peter Easy”, “Antislavery Petition of Massachusetts Free Blacks”, and “Correspondence between Abigail and John Adams”, the American Revolution is illustrated through the use of primary sources such as a variety of letters and
In chapter eleven, The Age of Democratic Revolutions: The North Atlantic World “Turn Upside Down”, Wells discusses the American and French Revolutions. Both of these revolutions shook the world and turn the world around. After the Enlightenment, there were many revolutions across Europe; however, the American and French Revolution had more power in them to change the world. Because of the books, pamphlets, and sermons, the idea of rationalism moved from philosophes to many of other people. With these new ideas, the people started to believe in change which led to stress and upheaval. In America, the revolution was not like other revolutions. There was no reigns of terror, no mass deportations, or forced labor camps. However, the American
In the early sixteenth century, European nations such as Portugal, Spain, and France became the most powerful and dominant countries in the world. Although not the most powerful, England like the other countries also followed this trend of exploring across the Atlantic Ocean. These nations believed that colonization of the Atlantic World would increase the territorial expansion, economic and political prosperity, trade and profit. With the same idea in mind the European nations that explored the Atlantic sought different routes. The Portuguese turned toward Africa, the Spanish explored Central and South America, and the English and French focused on the North Atlantic. Through colonization these countries successfully found their riches.
Economic greed, political control, and religious expansion are a few of the motives that drove the “Age of Exploration”. This was the period of time where European nations searched the globe to enrich their nations by any means necessary. Most nations like Spain, Portugal, and Britain were successful in these endeavors, but with their success came the exploitation of certain indigenous societies. The discovery of the New World and the exploration of Africa and India were the places of interest for these European nations. These interactions created a substantial impact economically, socially, and politically on these indigenous societies. Economically these societies were stripped of precious resources gaining
France was not the only European nations that had the idea to expand and gain wealth. Many European nations had the objective to be the most superior, dominant and powerful country of all. They were going to master the objective through a process known as colonization. The idea of Colonization became the key to open the lock to become a powerful nation. As stated in Colonialism: a Primary Source Analysis, “colonialism comes from the word colony. A colony is usually a group of peo...
Eventually, European states began to find interest in their neighbors, after they had been inspired by Marco Polo’s tales from supposed “China” to find a quick way to the East (India) to trade, sell, and export/import goods from/into their homes. As the Portuguese had monopolized the route around Africa, the Spanish looked to the west. They sent Christopher Columbus to see if they could go west to India, as they wanted to take part in trade and monopolize a route, just as Portugal had done with Africa. After the Spanish and Portuguese had begun to rake in the benefits of owning territorial lands in the New World, other nations were seemingly jealous to take part. England is a prime example of this. They wanted a new source of wealth and had already begun to steal it from the Spanish, Sir Francis Drake, and realized they could just do what the Spanish were doing. The French also took part in this expansion for riches as they had stationed an outpost in Quebec to seek its possible riches.
Important economic rationale for mercantilism was consolidation of the regional power centers of feudal era by establishing colonies outside of Europe