The Struggle for Independence in a New World Essay

Was American success in achieving independence due more to General Washington’s strategic skill or to British blunders?

After the civil war, United States took a turn that led them to solidify as the world power. From the late 1800s, as the US began to collect power through Cuba, Hawaii, and the Philippines, debate arose among historians about American imperialism and its behavior. Historians such as William A. Williams, Arthur Schlesinger, and Stephen Kinzer provides their own vision and how America ought to be through ideas centered around economics, power, and racial superiority.

            The Declaration of Independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress expresses the thirteen American colonies desire to disjoin from Great Britain. Chapter 4 of “After the Fact,” entitled Declaring Independence, presents factual viewpoints of historians as well as thorough examinations aroused from the possible confusions of the renowned document.

Bread Givers tells the story of Sara Smolinsky, whose life is almost the same as Anzia Yezierska, who is the author. Through Sara we see the collapse of a family because of religion and old world ways. Sara tries so hard to get away from her past but in the end it shows that your family will always be there, for good or bad.

     By losing this father figure she was left to fend for herself and was virtually helpless.

Imagine everything that is said is heard in a British accent. It sounds funny now, but that's how it could have been if the colonists had never declared their independence from England. That isn't what happened though. Grievances were made, events came to pass, and the Declaration of Independence was written. Taking a look at the documents from that time, as well as treatment of other colonies by the British one can see that the colonists were completely justified in declaring their independence from England.

The British colonies of north America declared their independence primarily for political reasons to what extent do you agree with this statement?

The Declaration of Independence, completed and signed in July of 1776, marked the official separation between the 13 colonies and Great Britain. An armed struggle between the colonies and Britain had begun just over a year before, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The formal declaration of independence established the new American revolutionary government and officially declared war against Great Britain. The primary purpose of the declaration was to assist the Second Continental Congress in obtaining aid from foreign countries. The document also clearly outlines the history of abuses the colonists had suffered under British rule since the end of the French

     In Anzia Yezierska’s novel entitled Bread Givers, there is an apparent conflict between Reb Smolinsky, a devout Orthodox rabbi of the Old World, and his daughter Sara who yearns to associate and belong to the New World. Throughout the story, one learns about the hardships of living in poverty, the unjust treatment of women, and the growth of a very strong willed and determined young woman—Sara Smolinsky.

In the autobiography, “Out of the Shadow”, author Rose Cohen, a Russian-Jewish immigrant, explains the social and economic conditions during the late 1800s and early 1900s for Jews immigrating into the United States. Cohen explains how many Jews fled Eastern Europe and Russia during this time due to the ruling of the tsar, fear of religious persecution, and economic restrictions. Because these restrictions were becoming the norm for Jewish people in their county, Rose’s father, a tailor, began to embark on a journey to the United States of America, in hopes of beginning a new life for himself and his family. Even though her father is captured at the border of Russia and returned home, he managed to get to America. Once in

Anzia Yezierska’s personal immigrant narrative began in Russian Poland. She was born around 1885, and immigrated to America with her family when she was 15 years old. Yezierska’s family were Jews who escaped from the anti-Semitic government that was in control of Russia at that time. They settled in New York’s Lower East Side, along with millions of East European Jews who fled to the United States ("Anzia" 28:332).

“Is there a single trait of resemblance between those few towns and a great and growing people spread over a vast quarter of the globe, separated by a mighty ocean?” This question posed by Edmund Burke was in the hearts of nearly every colonist before the colonies gained their independence from Britain. The colonists’ heritage was largely British, as was their outlook on a great array of subjects; however, the position and prejudices they held concerning their independence were comprised entirely from American ingenuity. This identity crisis of these “British Americans” played an enormous role in the colonists’ battle for independence, and paved the road to revolution.

This eventually led to her committing suicide in an attempt to give her daughter the strength that she lacked. Secondly, these women, especially the latter wives and the concubines, lose a lack of identity. For example, when these women marry, they are referred to as which wife they are. Even the wives refer to each other as first wife, second wife, etc.

Children of the New World: Acting out “The role of Algerian women in their own society has rarely been what it has seemed” (Heggoy 1). Prior to the Algerian war, women in Algerian society were under patriarchal rule and, under such rule, were expected to meet certain expectations. Among other rules and regulations, Algerian women were prohibited from being outside their home unaccompanied and were required to keep themselves heavily “veiled” at all times. They were not to question the authority of the Algerian men, especially the ones in their family. Despite these limitations, Algerian women found a place in the revolution. Although it sometimes meant defying their status quo as women in Algerian society, women used the resources and

1) I chose the Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand because of it has great significance. New Zealand declared its independency from the United Kingdom on the 28th of October 1835 in Waitangi. It was James Busby, with the help of missionary Henry Williams and William Colenso, who then prepared a statement to give the northern Maori chiefs to sign after there were rumours that the United States or France were thinking of claiming New Zealand as their own. The statement’s purpose was to recognise the independency and sovereignty of the New Zealand Maori tribes. The sketch statement that was signed was written in Maori, but another English translation was prepared as well.