Historical Perspectives On The Colonial Revival In Progressive Era America

Between 1492-1776, although many people moved to the “New World”, North America lost population due to the amount of Indians dying from war and diseases and the inability of colonists to replace them. John Murrin states, “losers far outnumbered winners” in “ a tragedy of such huge proportions that no one’s imagination can easily encompass it all.” This thought of a decreasing population broadens one’s perspective of history from that of an excluded American tale full of positivity to that of a more unbiased, all-encompassing analysis. The Indians and slaves have recently been noted as a more crucial part of history than previously accredited with.

Charles Murray’s American Exceptionalism invokes ideas I had not considered before. The way he describes America in its early life is unrecognizable to me. Murray discusses the geographic setting, American ideology, the traits of the American people, and the operation of the American political system. Now, centuries later than the time he described, it is like America had gone on a rapidly fast down torrent. I agree with Murray’s ideas of the exceptional traits America exuded, however, the traits I observe now, and as Murray talks about later on in the book, have taken on a different meaning. It is almost as if the once amazing concepts have been reduced to nearly half their worth. I am in no way stating America is no longer exceptional, but

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.

The often told story of America’s founding begins the Founding fathers waged a revolution and created a unique place called the United States of America. This story may include the early Jamestown colony and puritan colonists, and at times deal with the depollution and dispossession of the America’s native inhabitants. However frequently the complex nature of America’s prerevolutionary era is left out. Daniel Richter offers a refreshing non-teleological revision by showing that the United States has a much deeper history. Richter presents America as a nation with multiple pasts that stretch back as far as the middle ages. These pasts, he argues, continue to be felt in the present. Richter’s history utilizes a vast array of primary sources and his cultural history spans more than seven centuries. Richter works to recover the histories of an intermingling sort of individuals from North America, Europe, and Africa. The struggle for control of land and resources of these individuals took place in a global context. This multilayer struggle gradually gave rise to a distinctive American culture. Richter argues that by dissecting and understanding this culture on its own—and not as a build-up to an inevitable revolution—reveals the origins of American history.

In 1630, John Winthrop dreamt that America was a “City on the Hill”, predestined for preeminence. In 1776, the American Colonies proclaimed independence with the affirmation that all men are equal, free, and blessed with the sacred rights to life, liberty, and happiness. These uniquely American ideals ideals characterized the young democracy in contrast to the oppressive monarchies of Europe. European citizens saw the correlation between America’s greatness and its democratic principles. The liberties that America furnished to all men, regardless of status, gave citizens pride in their nation and drew envy from constituents of tyrannical monarchies. The notions of equality and freedom, however, did not extend to all of America’s population;

During the years starting from the colonial period which was from 1492 to 1763 through the end of the civil war North experienced significant changes in many aspects of its society. One of these included advancements in transportation, technology and even the economic fields experienced significant changes. These changes would help to shape different areas of America is a variety of ways.

The progressive era is one of the most researched times in American history due to the multiple social and economic movements that took place. When historians argue about progressivism, they are not just debating about events of a century ago, they are struggling to interpret the basic meaning of American democracy. The progressive era is a widely debated topic among many historians. It is known as a time period that consisted of economic, political, social, and moral reforms. In summary the progressive era consisted of businessmen seeking to prevent increased government regulation by supporting weak federal laws, women wanting equal rights such as the right to vote, religious gatherings trying to prohibit alcohol consumption, and high society optimists attempting to help the poorer classes. The reformists were a free union covering all levels of government that upheld political, monetary, and social changes. In the book Interpretations of American History, authors Kathryn Kish Sklar and Daniel T. Rodgers discuss their interpretation of the progressive movement. Ms. Sklar’s article is named “The Historical Foundations of Women’s Power in the Creation of the American Welfare State 1880-1920.” Mr. Rodgers article is called “from Atlantic Crossings: Social Politics in a Progressive Age [1998].” Sklar and Rodgers discuss their different views of the progressive era and what they believe were the causes, consequences, and meanings of events during the 1880s throughout the 1920s.

Colonial America was the era when America was made up of different colonies; in this case there were thirteen. Colonial America lasted from 1587 to 1770, 183 years long. As said before, there were thirteen colonies: four New England colonies, four Middle colonies, and five Southern colonies. The New England colonies were New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, otherwise known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The four Middle colonies were New York, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Maryland made up the Southern colonies. These colonies were located in North America, along the Atlantic coast. Although these were the main colony groups, the very first colony was founded at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. People settled in the colonies in North America to have a better life, and to escape persecution from people with different beliefs. The next colony, founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims, was Plymouth, Massachusetts. Native Americans assisted the Pilgrims when they first arrived at Plymouth. Two of the Native Americans were Samoset and Squanto, an English-speaking Pawtuxet, who was kidnapped by Europeans, but was later freed. Another colony that was helped by Native Americans was Virginia, where tobacco was used as a cash crop that helped Virginia prosper. The colonies in Colonial America not only prospered from cash crops, but slaves as well. African Americans were brought in on trade ships

British America was mired with economic and religious conflicts starting from the Age of Exploration up to the colonial times. The corruption of the Anglican Church created a rift between the Protestants of England, Puritans and the extreme Separatists. The Protestant Reformation and Henry VIII’s divorce with the Catholic Church gave rise to even more chaos. As a result, religious sects such as the Quakers and the Puritans were granted charters to escape the restrictions in England. Competition between Great Britain, Spain and the Dutch spurred the English Monarchs to seek for opportunities overseas. England was eager to catch up and expand westward as it saw potential in the New World after the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Yet

The main reason so many immigrants fled from Europe was to free themselves from religious persecution. They were being forced to either believe a certain way or pay for a specific religion to be in their country, they were not allowed to believe or practice their beliefs openly without detriment of some sort. The New World was new and had endless possibility and opportunity to get away from such oppression and pursue a life free from prosecution. Granted there was also money to be made and competition with Spain and France to discover the New World which made it promising for the wealthy and aristocrats to invest

The hyper-specialization within the field of American history since the 1970s has been a great advantage to colonial American studies. As historians branched off into previously ignored sub-fields they also drastically narrowed the time periods which they examined. While some scholars argue the abandonment of “deep history” leads to deficiencies in the field, it is the absence of this narrow analysis which is most noticeably absent in the

In the early 1600s, the greatest empire of that time, the British empire, demonstrated one more time its immense level of power by conquering the New World. The Jamestown settlement, also known as the beginning of America, was occupied by a group of British conquerors willing to impose their traditions, culture, and language on the natives of Jamestown. Many historians, politicians, and influential people, as the Queen of England, have claimed that the first British settlement in America was founded by three principles that nowadays govern most of the countries in the world: democracy, equality, and diversity. While a vast number of people agree that America has been strengthened by embracing those three principles, many conservatives, as Patrick J. Buchanan, have disagreed with that idea. Patrick J. Buchanan, one of the most influential conservatives in the U.S. who has run for President three times, has mentioned in many of his publications how atrocious is for a country, especially for the United States, to embrace democracy, equality, and diversity. In “Deconstructing America,” Patrick J. Buchanan claims that the founding values of America have not only stopped it to prosper, but also have helped to destroy it and pull it apart. Patrick’s arguments of the destruction of America are actually very accurate and effective.

Thereby this project follows the idea put forward in Afred W. McCoys and Francisco A. Scaranos collection of essays Colonial Crucible: Empire in the Making if the Modern American State. While dealing with as diverse topics as environment, economy, public health, military and race, the book tries to explores in “what ways, if any, the U.S [...] was formed or even transformed from [the] experiences gained at its colonial periphery”1. In their article On the Tropic of Cancer: Transitions and Transformations in the U.S. Imperial State McCoy and Scaranos argue that influence does not only flow from the center towards the periphery but that instead the imperial periphery was important for changes occurring in the center. Pointing out that while the new colonial territories provide a testing field for new approaches, the gained experiences also “profoundly influenced American cultures and society between 1840 and 1930”2. Thereby triggering a debate about the different aspects of this influence and how they create and recreate

From 1607 to 1754, people’s views on governing themselves changed greatly. It began in 1607, with the settlement of Jamestown. They were a corporate colony, working for the Virginia Company, they were whole-heartedly British. The Great Awakening, the Enlightenment, and the Tradition of Neglect all introduced new ways for the American colonies to think of themselves as more independent. Although they still considered themselves part of the British Empire, by the end of this era they had discovered that they could make their own laws and constitutions that fit the way that their world worked as opposed to Great Britain.

United States, 2006: a nation with a history of a mere 230 years, yet it stands as one of the most powerful nations in the world. Yet many of us know little about the history and cultural changes that led to the birth of this nation. We only know the bits and pieces that are taught as we sit daydreaming in our fifth grade classroom. The Puritans, the Pilgrims, Christopher Columbus, the Mayflower, we know about these people and things, yet what aspects of their lives created the change in America? The answer to this question can be found by observing the changes in religion, women's role, and colonial law as it brought about the change in the Puritan's cultural values.