As residents of Europe came over in wooden ships, the contact between Europeans and Native Americans became increasingly strong. Not only did this relationship that fostered from the two vastly different ethnicities bring about much social and political change, but the Columbian Exchange derived from this communication. Mutual understandings between Europeans and Native Americans defined the early years of interaction and trade as each group sought to make sense of the other. Over time, Europeans and Native Americans adopted some useful aspects of each other’s culture.[1] As the new colonies became existent, the urge to resist colonial power became more and more prevalent. This will soon become a search for independence.
As Alan Brinkley states in his book The Unfinished Nation, most people in both England and America believed that the British colonies were outposts of the British world. However, as the colonies grew and became more prosperous, they also became more English. Politically, the relationship between the American colonies and their British rulers had become so strained that the empire was infuriated. By the spring of 1775, the first shots were fired and America became on the verge of independence. The American Revolution’s democratic and republican ideals inspired new experiments with different forms of government.[2] The ideals that inspired the revolutionary cause reflected new beliefs about politics, religion, and society that had been developing over the course of the 18th century. The colonist’s belief in the form of republican ideals based upon on the natural rights of the people found expression in Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence. The ideas in these documents resonated throughout American history, shaping Americans’ understanding of the ideals on which the nation was based throughout American history, shaping Americans’ understanding of the ideals on which the nation was based.[3] During and after the American Revolution, an increased awareness of inequalities in society motivated some individuals and groups to call for the abolition of slavery and greater political democracy in the new state and national governments.
Culturally, the United States began to develop a modern democracy and celebrated a new national culture, while Americans sought to define the nation’s democratic ideals and change their society and institutions to match them.[4] A new culture emerged that combined American elements, European influences, and regional cultural sensibilities. The Gilded Age produced new cultural and intellectual movements, public reform efforts, and political debates over economic and social policies. Social commentators advocated theories later described as Social Darwinism to justify the success of those at the top of the socioeconomic structure as both appropriate and inevitable. Innovations in communications and technology contributed to the growth of mass culture, while significant changes occurred in internal and international migration patterns. Migration gave rise to new forms of art and literature that expressed ethnic and regional identities, such the Harlem Renaissance movement.
In summation, the development of the United States came at the cost of many suffrages and loss. From the first initial step onto this “New Land,” the colonists became troubled with simply finding agriculture life. Our communication skills with the Native Americans helped that cause and fed the 106 men who actually survived the journey over here. The most significant attribute that this country has learned over time is the fact of communication and how vital it is to the social and cultural movement, and how that contributed to our development.
[1] (Brinkley 2014 Ch. 1)
[2] (Brinkley 2014 Ch. 4)
[3] (Brinkley 2014 Ch. 4)
[4] (Brinkley 2014 Ch. 5)
