George Percy's Influence On American Culture

Although “historians no longer use the word “discovery” to describe the European exploration, conquest and colonization of a hemisphere already home to millions of people”, it was one of the greatest and most important discoveries ever in our history that changed the lives of millions of people. (Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008), pg 1.) For some the “discovery”of America would mean an opportunity for a better life, for others the “discovery” brought misery and death.

"The Colonization of North America." In Modern History Sourcebook. April 1999- [cited 17 September 2002] Available from http://www.fordham.edu/halsall.mod/modsbook.html., http://curry.eduschool.virginia.edu.

William Penn, an English entrepreneur, had an unforeseen impact on the history of the United States of America. Penn had been already a champion for democracy, religious freedom, and anti-slavery movements. Through his good relations with both the common people of England and the Indians of Pennsylvania, Penn was able to secure an entire state for many years to come. So that people could escape persecution for their religious beliefs, have more freedom, and have a good relationship with the Indians.

The relationship between the English and the Native Americans in 1600 to 1700 is one of the most fluctuating and the most profound relationships in American history. On the one side of the picture, the harmony between Wampanoag and Puritans even inspires them to celebrate “first Thanksgiving”; while, by contrast, the conflicts between the Pequots and the English urge them to antagonize each other, and even wage a war. In addition, the mystery of why the European settlers, including English, become the dominant power in American world, instead of the indigenous people, or Indians, can be solved from the examination of the relationship. In a variety of ways, the relationship drastically alters how people think about and relate to the aborigines. Politically, the relationship changes to establish the supremacy of the English; the English intends to obtain the land and rules over it. Socially, the relationship changes to present the majority of the English settlers; the dominating population is mostly the English settlers. Economically, the relationship changes to obtain the benefit of the English settlers; they gain profit from the massive resource in America. Therefore, the relationship does, in fact, change to foreshadow the discordance of the two groups of people.

William Penn was born and raised in England, but he is well known for what he did in the Americas. First and foremost, William Penn was a religious nonconformist and writer: he wrote numerous religious books over his lifetime. Second, Penn is responsible for the “holy experiment”: the colony of Pennsylvania. He was a Quaker advocate, and as a proprietor had the opportunity to practice the Quaker Peace testimony.

No written history means much of Native American history is unknown, causing misconceptions and stereotypes about Native Americans to exist. Royal also discusses the name of this group that people label today as “Native Americans.” He questions, “ ‘America’ was a name formed in the wake of another Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci. It is difficult to see how being named after an Italian is less Eurocentric than being named after an East Native American” (Royal 46). The discussion about their name shows Europe’s influence on the Americas; it also shows that Native Americans yearn for their own identity without Europe’s input.

1) The book, 1491, by Charles C. Mann gives readers a deeper insight into the Americas before the age of Columbus, explaining the development and significance of the peoples who came before us. Moreover, Mann’s thesis is such; the civilizations and tribes that developed the Americas prior to the discovery by Europeans arrived much earlier than first presumed, were far greater in number, and were vastly more sophisticated than we had earlier believed. For instance, Mann writes, regarding the loss of Native American culture:

“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.

Presents information and ideas that are too often overlooked in our day-to-day thinking about what we have, and where those things came from. Issues rose such as the American Indians' contributions to the geopolitical influence of American silver and gold on the rest of the world. Questions from my youth are where did all of the Inca gold go to? Why is not Spain not a major world power? Why does it seem as though most foods are native to the Americas? These are questions that are avoided in popular history books, giving all of the stability of modern life to the credit of the civilized Europeans.

After traveling throughout Europe with George Fox, the founder of the Quaker belief, William Penn was finally granted land over in the new world by the King Charles II, the king of England at the time. The land was a way to settle the king’s debt with Penn’s father, however William Penn had requested the land for a different purpose- a place the Quakers could finally live and not be oppressed. Through his construction of Pennsylvania, Penn had an enormous influence on the future United States of America through his belief of religious freedom, being a humanitarian, and by creating an ethnic diversity in the middle colony. His Quaker religion had a major influence on Pennsylvania, since each Quaker let each person follow “the light” of Jesus in their own way. Also, Penn promoted the human welfare for each group that came into Pennsylvania, and tried to create a sufficient government that ran well enough to support each group. However when developing the population of Pennsylvania, Penn did something that was extremely uncommon at the time- he invited extremely ethnically diverse groups to live in harmony. It was hard to predict how critical William Penn’s ideas would

America’s history and foundation can be traced to many different groups of people. Some of these foundations lie in the beliefs brought to America by Europeans. The leaders of those first settlements included John Smith and William Bradford. Both of these men recorded the happenings in their works The General History of Virginia and Of Plymouth Foundations. The histories written by Smith and Bradford are similar in some aspects but differ in others.

The historical literature of First Nations and Peoples’, within North America, have shown inaccuracies and a lack of certain components. This being said, the contents of written history often reflect the points of view of those who have written it; the majority of the historical records composed appear to be homogenized, and

When people think about the meaning of American history, they tend to visualize it in a narrow context in which America formed and developed on its own. However, because the United States was involved in the oceanic revolution during the 15th and 16th centuries, its history intertwined itself with the histories of many other nations. Together, they were all involved in the formation of the New World. Therefore, Bender suggests that, “the story of North America and of the United States is part of that larger, more important history, not vice versa.” Bender emphasizes the idea of how the discovery of the ocean was the starting point of providing America with a basis of identity.

This analysis will take a look at the works of three early American writers and how each of their arguments were conceived to match their individual viewpoints. The three writings we will be taking a look at examine how each author in said writings develops an argument based on the text. We will also be examine how each author’s argument is a reflection on Early American culture. We will be reflecting on writings of Benjamin Franklin, Christopher Columbus, and The Native Narrative. Each have a unique perspective on the newly formed American culture and solid arguments to push these ideals.

The emergence of western history as an important field of scholarship started with Frederick Jackson Turner’s (1861-1932) famous essay “The Significance of the Frontier in American history.”[1] This thesis shaped both popular and scholarly views of the West for the next two generations. In his thesis, Turner argued that the West had to be taken seriously. He felt that up to his time there had not been enough research of what he in his essay call “the fundamental, dominating fact in the U.S. history”: the territorial expansion from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. The frontier past was, according to Turner, the best way to describe the distinctive American history and character.