Summary Of Alan Taylor's Ameri-Can Colonies

“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.

While the Chesapeake and New England colonies were similarly the earliest successful English colonies in North America, the colonies developed quite independently of each other. When looking at the differences and similarities in the development of these colonies, it seems as though the differences far outweigh the similarities. These colonies varied in regards to their religious beliefs, their societal organization, culture, economy, and relationships with local American Indians. The differences and similarities between the colonies can be further understood by analyzing the individual colonies’ geography, economy, religious beliefs, and cultural practices.

The immigrants that settled the colonies of Chesapeake Bay and New England came to the New World for two different reasons. These differences were noticeable in social structure, economic outlook, and religious background. As the colonies were organized the differences were becoming more and more obvious and affected the way the communities prospered. These differences are evident from both written documents from the colonists and the historical knowledge of this particular period in time.

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.

After receiving his PhD from Harvard in 1953, American historian, author, and academic specialist, Bernard Bailyn, continues to transform ideas of early American history with his award winning books. As we know, the foundation of today’s American Society leads back to the transfer of people from the Britain to the New World, in the early 1600s. In his book, Bernard Bailyn, author of The Peopling of British North America, An Introduction, gathers demographic, social, and economic history research to form four propositions relating to the migration. While identifying central themes of our history, he attempts to present an overview for American knowledge relating to the causes of migration to the new world and consequences of society created

A french aristocrat, J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, defines America Colonial American Society in his essays known as “Letters from an American Farmer.” He depicts Colonial America as the Best because it has incorporated all societies within its culture though immigrants. Crevecoeur wants people from all aspects of life and from every corner of the globe to understand the Greatness of Colonial American Society. He introduces his main topics through Rhetorical Questions then concludes with repetitive diction to create the overall flow of his essay.

The contraception of the term ‘American exceptionalism’ is widely disputed, but the one thing that remains constant is the aura of innate superiority that has been attached to it. In understanding the significance of this term, it is necessary to delve even further into the past than the time of its first use – to the initial settlement of the eastern seaboard of America. Sporadic waves of settlers arrived in America in the early 17th century (mostly from Britain) through to the 1770’s, by which time Britain had thirteen individual colonies consisting of approximately two and a half million settlers along the Atlantic coastline. During this time, Spanish settlers had also occupied Florida and the Southwest. It was this period of

When the first American settlement on Roanoke Island was established in 1585 it’s primary force, Sir Walter Raleigh, had no idea that this “New World” would evolve into one of the most powerful voices in the modern world. But before it developed it would have to shaped by it’s founders from the Western world. Two of the largest voices in America’s early development are John Smith, who with a group of English merchants, hoped to get rich in this new land, and William Bradford, a puritan farmer who was one of the most influential men involved with the Mayflower compact. In their two pieces they both convey America as a place to escape but

History has forever talked about the Great Colonization of North America, from the 3G’s(God, Glory, Gold) of the Spanish, the fur trading of the French, to the English Celebrating the first Thanksgiving. But lets catch to the chase, the real question is, which of these three European Powers successfully colonized in America. To answer that question we must first learn what makes a colony successfully, it must conqueror new land and expand its territory. It’s people who live in the colonies must be able to survive the hardships and repopulate, while they must also maintain its wealth. But most importantly a colony must learn to live independently from their original homeland, and political government control.

"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.

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.

After reading “A Discourse of Western planting,” by Richard Hakluyt, several things are brought to attention regarding the European perception of North America’s potential. In Hakluyt’s argument of over 20 reasons of why England should make colonizing North America a priority, it becomes evident that one of England’s main contributing factors is to gain a foot hold above rival countries, mainly Spain. However, though England’s reasons for pushing colonization are not directly equivalent to the rest of Europe’s motivation, it does provide insight into what public opinions were on colonization.

The European colonization of the Americas was a time of excitement and prosper and those involved left many interesting stories to be told. In each story, there is struggle and heroism over prized land, cheap labor and political control. In order for these historic stories to live on and teach us not only how far we’ve come but how much has not changed, authors need to capture the reader’s minds. I believe authors Jordan Goodman and Joseph Boyden accomplished this. They both opened my mind into a period of time that I found intriguing but also disheartening.

Throughout every elementary History class, educators explain the colonization of America in a crudely oversimplified, unrealistic way. Teachers often emphasize that the English simply overtook claimed land, rather than stating “the whites came to this land for a fresh start and to escape the tyranny of their masters, just as the freeman had fled theirs. But the ideals [that] they held up for themselves, they denied for

Anglicization of the Britain’s American colonies was a big event for the course of not only American or British history, but world history. The colonists adopting many British ways and becoming very patriotic towards the “mother country” had a large effect on the events that unfolded in the late 18th century. While it is true that the American colonists were incredibly British during the beginning to the mid-18th century, the colonies had been around long enough to develop their own culture and way of doing things. The series of events and acts that were imposed on the colonists post French and Indian War got the ball rolling on what came to be known as the American Revolution. The colonists were so fed up with the way in which the British were tightening their hold on the colonies to the point where they were driven to rebellion. The combination of British and underlying American ideals in the pre-revolution era were a necessarily pre-requisite and important component of what would become the American Revolution.