English Settlers
During the seventeenth century, English was not permanently established in America. However, in the next century, they improved themselves and totally outpaced their opponents. The English invigorated the emigration, settled dozens of colonies, and established them by sending flocks of immigrants so that they could populate the land (Tomlins, 2001). There was a dramatic increase in the population of England during the sixteenth century, and for all those people who were feeling deprived in Britain and were facing poverty, the colonies seemed to become a welcoming place for them.
Advocates of colonization, especially those who were supporting colonization in North America, hoped to make a profit either by bringing raw resources to the colonies or by providing English goods to a new market.
A different group of English immigrants traveled to the rocky soil and cold climate of England due to their religious beliefs and religious motives. Most of the people who crossed the Atlantic were traveling with their children and families. People who were living in the colonies of Maryland and Virginia were working on their tobacco fields to make them more profitable, while the people who were residing in the colonies of New England started building towns and churches. Most historians write that major differences in the colonies of New England and the Chesapeake Bay were the major reasons that separated the north and south of the United States.
The troubles in England started in the 1640s when the civil war came into being, in which supporters of the Church of England and King Charles I stood against the parliament and the supporters of the parliament. But in 1649, the parliament, in an unexpected move, executed King Charles (Tomlins, 2001). As a result of which turmoil started and made these regions develop with divergent cultures.
Colonial Way Of Life
Life at the start of the colonial life was more difficult. The early you arrived in the world of colonial life, it was much harder for you to start an easy life. During the 1600s, immigrants who started their lives in the colonies were actually starting a new life (Benson & O’Reilly,2009).
They were starting their life only with the things they had brought while they migrated. All the other stuff that they needed to spend their life was not an easy way to earn. If you ever read history or know any person who lived in colonial times, you would come to know that the majority of the people were farmers. Back in colonial times, most people had a high risk to expose with different fatal diseases. At the time, among the colonial people, only a few were the ones who had possession of land, while the majority of the people were working either on the lands of greedy landlords or they were paying a huge amount of rent to the people who owned the land. In today’s world, people think that it is difficult to do farming, but back in colonial life, farming was a job that seemed to be an honorable job, and people
who were doing farming were looked at with great respect. Farmers in colonial life either owned a small plot or they were working on a huge land for farming; they were making enough food for their families, and in addition, they were also making extra money by selling extra amounts of grains to other people through which they could buy other stuff needed for living. 90% of the people during colonial times were farmers. For farming, they mostly relied on their own labor. During colonial times, slavery became legalized, so any farmer who had a slave or two was considered very rich.
The Constitution
In July 1776, a declaration of independence was made under which the American colonies that became independent had to make their own government and their own standards. In 1777, the Articles of Confederation understated that there was no judicial branch, executive or central government.
But in 1787, it seemed that the country needed to have a central and strong government that could properly run the country. Because at that time, they didn’t have any money in the banks, there was no treasury department, and there was no one who could control the finances of the country. The country was going towards bankruptcy. They don’t had an operational army and were open on all fronts for the attack, In may 1787, the constitutional convention of the US gathered in Philadelphia (Edling, 2003). Delegates from all the states met there and elected George Washington to chair the convention. In this convention, they decided to look deeply at the Articles of Confederation to revise them and to make them stronger.
As the convention ended, a plan was introduced which is also known as the Virginia plan which said that there are three branches of government and there will a system of check and balance that will prevent any branch from abuse of power against the other. These plans came into debate, and it lasted for many weeks. Many states were against this plan, and many were in favor as this plan was giving representation to the states in the parliament as per their population (Edling, 2003). The debate against and for the Bills of Rights continued and became a hot topic until September 1789, when a bill was submitted with a list of twelve amendments for ratification, out of which, other than the first two, the remaining twelve became the Bill of Rights.
War Of 1812
The first decade of the 1800’s brings so much instability in the world. All the European countries were fighting each other under the umbrella and coalition of Great Britain and France. The US was not involved in this war, as the US wanted to remain neutral during this period, but it was impossible for the US to remain neutral for a decade.
In the starting years, i.e., from 1803 to 1806, Americans remained neutral and did not become allies with anyone, but after Britain’s seizure of American citizens who were born in the United Kingdom into the British navy, the US suffered impressiveness. An American president, Thomas Jefferson, sent a delegate to negotiate the terms on the halt of American sailors from impressiveness, but the Britishers didn’t show any concession.
Relations of the United States with the British were becoming weak day by day. US Navy captured a UK navy ship as revenge for the impressed men of the British-born American sailors fired it up (Dumbrell, 2006). As a result, British Minister to the United States, Thomas Foster, met with the American president, Madison and told him that due to the recent event, the British were not going to offer any compensation and were not going to end the war with the Americans.
As a result of which, Madison decided to start a war against Britain. On 17th June, Congress passed a bill giving permission to start the war against Britain, which Madison signed the very next day. This war lasted for 3 years.
Work Cited
Dumbrell, John. A special relationship: Anglo-American relations from the Cold War to Iraq. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
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