Colonial Crucible

During the late 1800's and early 1900's, America was working toward becoming an imperialistic nation. With such a change, government policies must evolve in order to adapt to its country's needs. However, there is a point in which new government policies can be detrimental to those involved. While America's government's changing role was certainly necessary in expanding the country, there were numerous instances in which the government became too imperialistically rapacious.

Throughout the history of the United States, America had a desire to expand its boundaries. The United States acquired most of it's land during the nineteenth and early twentieth century with a brief break during the Civil War and Reconstruction. However, the way America went about graining new lands drastically changed from non-aggressive means in the beginning to extremely aggressive means towards the end. This essay will depict the extent to how late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century United States expansionism was a continuation

Colonial life in America was a time of many victories and failings. It was a learning experience for the people of the time. In a A People’s History of the United States and A Patriot’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn and Larry Schweikart tell contrasting stories of the issues of colonial life.

Throughout history society has to go through many changes that not only affect many of the people but also the areas around the transformation. The main point of Fredrick Jackson Turner’s thesis is what the real essence of America is, and how we’re all influenced by the many changes we have to go through. He believes that American history should not be focused on the extension of European enterprise. The society will have to realize that America will have to be emancipated because of the fact that we had a country with an unlimited amount of boundaries and have to come to realization that we have many closed-spaced limits. The views in the seminal essay share his thoughts on the idea of how the frontier shaped

With the late 19th century came a great change in the ideas of expansionism in the United States, but also a continuation of its ideals. The idea of imperialism, where the United States would extend its power around the globe, stood in contrast with the original Manifest Destiny ideal of the 1840s and 1850s when America was expanding west from ‘sea to shining sea.’ However, the inherent social and cultural sentiments were still present in the late 19th century expansionism, though the economic and political purposes had changed.

This paper will go on to describe the direct impact of the Great War on all African American migration, military service, and political protest. These three things would have combined to make the years of the Great War a major impact on African American history. When war first erupted in Europe in August of 1914, most Americans - African Americans included - did not see a reason for the United States to get involved, many viewing the bloodshed as petty in the activities of their everyday lives. This belief of neutrality amongst the people would only grow stronger as stalemates ensued, and death rates climbed higher. As the war raged on, the Black press would aim its papers to side with the French, because of their continued commitment for racial equality, as well as, their employment of African soldiers in their military. When the United States entered the war, it would have a great impact on many African Americans, particularly the many men, women, and children who embarked on the Great Migration - the largest movement of people in American history.

Prior to the 1800s, US expansion had been accepted by the government in the thirteen colonies. Despite the government's favor for territorial expansion, the controversy was spread throughout the 13 colonies on the idea of expansion. An American who influenced expansion in America, John O’ Sullivan, conjectured that territorial expansion was destined and it was god’s given right to expand America coast to coast, or in this case into westward territories. This thought was defined as Manifest Destiny and aided the fuel of western settlement, Native American Removal and war with Mexico. Many Americans did, however, oppose expansion and war causing, but their inputs didn’t change the idea of expansion. During the period of 1800-1855, America’s idea to expand territory succeeded in events such as the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and the Indian Removal Act. These events certainly satisfied proponents of expansion and influenced America's westward expansion. Despite these achievements, opponents of expansions opposed because of events like the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American war. America’s shape today is indeed based on these beliefs of expanding America.

“The Indian presence precipitated the formation of an American identity” (Axtell 992). Ostracized by numerous citizens of the United States today, this quote epitomizes Axtell’s beliefs of the Indians contributing to our society. Unfortunately, Native Americans’ roles in history are often categorized as insignificant or trivial, when in actuality the Indians contributed greatly to Colonial America, in ways the ordinary person would have never deliberated. James Axtell discusses these ways, as well as what Colonial America may have looked like without the Indians’ presence. Throughout his article, his thesis stands clear by his persistence of alteration the Native Americans had on our nation. James Axtell’s bias delightfully enhances his thesis, he provides a copious amount of evidence establishing how Native Americans contributed critically to the Colonial culture, and he considers America as exceptional – largely due to the Native Americans.

The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords detailed the dynamic history of African-American media in the United States. Newspapers created community amongst Black Americans by connecting stories of Black life across the country, and allowed Black people the freedom to express themselves politically and socially through their own words, as opposed to White people telling them how they should feel. The story of the Black press as newspaper print faded before the end of the century, but Black press as a cultural phenomenon continues today in the dawn of social media. This film adds onto the class discussions of African-Americans’ unification through Black culture, and its contradiction to White American culture throughout history.

Two European nations stumbled upon and colonized the Americas in the 16th-17th century. England sent out many groups to the East coast of North America in order to get their hands on two particular provinces. These two provinces were labeled as the New England and the Chesapeake. Although both nations would unite as one in the 1700’s, they were profoundly different and both provinces possessed qualities unlike the other from dawn. Also, the Chesapeake and New England founding fathers didn’t share the same intentions when they arrived at the New Old, which lead to many distinctions between the political, economic and social aspect of the two colonies.

The United States acquired vast territories between the time of the Revolution and the Civil War, paying a price economically, socially, and politically. This unit examines the forces that drove such rapid expansion, the settlers moving into these regions, and the impact on the Native Americans already there.

At the turn of the 19th century, the US was in a position to become the superpower it is today, after winning the Spanish American War, a new US viewpoint came to mind, the one of an imperialist. The driving forces of US imperialism in the late 1800s to early 1900s were to have new markets for goods to be sold, military expansion through new bases around the globe, and a need to uplift foreign cultures to American “standards”.

(1) History. The student understands the causes and effects of European colonization in the United States. The student is expected to:

The purpose of this class is to study the changes and development of the United States from the "pre contact" period to 1877. We talk about the different characteristics that have evolved and the transformations the United States has made between these time periods. Throughout the first part of this summer session, we have learned about events that have occurred by visual and literary sources. Some of these sources that we have viewed were, "The Pristine Myth", "Virgin Soil Epidemics", "The Unkindest Cut", and "Bones of Contention". Along with these texts, there were chapters from our textbook, "Give Me Liberty!", and various films that have helped in the teaching of this time period.

The 1920’s were a time of change for African Americans. They were beginning to retain a sense of pride in their background and culture, were becoming more independent socially and economically, and were becoming more militant. Part of this was because of the Great Migration, in which a proliferation of African Americans moved from the Southern states to the Northern states, and the excessive levels of racism and prejudice they faced during the process. African Americans were really starting to make their voices and identities prevalent, especially through movements like the Harlem Renaissance and Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). This mentality of independence and militance that African Americans adopted which is represented through the actions of Ossian Sweet is what makes up the 1920s cultural construct of the “New Negro” which allowed me to understand the realness and effectiveness of cultural constructs.