Bao Tran

Hist 1700
ePorpolio

How does the American civilization course contribute to your general education?

Before I took History 1700, I had take some historys class. I had to learn a lot about
history world, and I got some knowledge about American history. When I took this class
I had to learn what happening in American history from beginning to nowaday.

When I took this class, I learn more assignment I never know before. It was help me a
lot. It made me come to class everytime, even I was late. When I need to do assignment
I need to research more information about assignment. when I looking and reading that
information. I dont know why its knowledge in my head.

I thought why my professor give us a lot hard assignments. But right now I think he give
me more way to learn. Thats assignment I got in this class, it help me easy in
education. I think if I wont pass this class I wont regret when I took this class.

Changes and evolutions in the American civilization.

There have been a series of phases and changes that America has gone through since
the 1600s. America has always been inhabited by a large group of many tribes called
Native Americans; they had a way of life and were very prosperous before people from
different parts of Europe first discovered her. Some would say the changes have been
for the better, others would argue just the opposite. Lets take a look at a few of the big
defining moments from the most significant eras since the 1600s. We will cover a span
of 400 years. Has America really evolved into the great free nation that it is often said to
have?

America experienced what many today call the Colonial Time Period during the 1600
and 1700s. It was a time of great migration to America. Most were seeking a better life;
they were seeking freedom from religious persecution, land and or wealth. Many came
from different parts of Europe, most notably England, Holland, Spain, and France. With
such an influx of people from different backgrounds there were of course many trials
that were faced.

The people who left their countries of birth remained subjects to their home monarchs,
hence the word colony. Local governments were formed here in America under the rule
of their mother country. England was the first nation to settle colonies on the east
coast and we have them to thank for much of our current norms, one example being our
language. These colonists who came over did not see themselves as emigrants,
however they considered themselves settlers. They did not see the natural inhabitants
of the land, Native Americans, as being civilized and therefore the treatment of the
natives was poor.

Slavery was first introduced in America in 1619 with the first arrivals from Africa. At first
the Africans were treated like indentured servants. Indentured servants were those who
were not able to purchase their travel to the new world; they traded and were able to
receive passage in exchange for a designated amount of years of service upon their
arrival. After the years of service were provided they were granted freedom and land.
This changed with the legalization of slavery in 1641; Africans were now slaves and
were treated horribly. There was the establishment of the Royal African Company to
transport slaves from Africa to America, the slaves were given the name black gold.
Due to the free labor that was gained through slavery, Americans were able to
participate in trade and incomes grew. Native Americans were also captured and turned
into slaves. Colonists went from people seeking freedom from oppression to being the
oppressors. Many gained large fortunes through crops that were cultivated by mostly
slave labor.

There was also the epidemic of sickness that affected the colonists and the natives. As
well as violence that occurred between the two groups of people longing to call America
home. With the large amounts of new people coming to America there were
sicknesses that were introduced to the natives that they had not encountered before
causing numerous deaths. Coupled with the violence that erupted between the natives
and colonists both groups populations were negatively impacted. However the natives
did not have a way to replace their dead and over the hundreds of years whole tribes
have been wiped out. The colonists simply kept more colonists coming and their
numbers grew instead of dwindled.

All of these events lead up the American Revolutionary War, which took place from
1775-1783. This war was also known as the American War for Independence. At the
end of the war America had won its freedom from the British Crown and formed its own
government and nation. No longer could the British Crown excise taxes on the citizens
of America, no longer could they impost their laws and enforcement of said laws, along
with many other things this war finally gave the colonists the freedoms that they had fled
their countries in search of. It should also be noted that African slaves, Indians and
women also fought along side American soldiers for freedom, even though they were
not guaranteed the same or any freedoms with the new nation.
 Now that America was its own country, it needed to find a way. The new country had
its share of challenges; some took many years to overcome. Some still exist today.
While there was a lot of political turmoil and processes that needed to be refined there
were also other things that brought their own challenges.

There were the explorations of the rest of the continent. Lewis and Clark are infamous
for their explorations westward, their maps and detailed reports that aided in the
expansion westward. Included in this expansions were lands that were acquired through
purchase, The Louisiana Purchase being one of the most widely known. There was also
the purchase of Alaska from Russia.

There were also other ways that land was acquired, war. There was the Mexican-
American War in 1848. This war leads to the addition of much of the nowadays-
Southwestern states. This time in American history was a great time for exploration and
expansion. Such a small nation was fighting and gaining more and more dominance.
However there was more that this nation would have to overcome to become the United
States that we now know.

In 1861 there was the American Civil War. This war was fought between the North and
the South. More commonly the opponents were known as the Union in the north and the
Confederate in the south. This war was one of the bloodiest and deadliest in history and
lasted for 4 years. This war was responsible for the beginning to the end of slavery.
Though it made a lot of headway and there were many gains, there is still so much to be
done.

The 1900s were responsible for so many gains in America and around the world, so
much occurred that caused long lasting effects. The industrial revolution is perhaps one
of the most significant. People started moving away from farms and into cities. Work
switched from farms to industry. So many inventions and new ways of life called for
some changes that had an everlasting effect on our society today. The traditional family,
where everyone worked the land and everyone helped to care for each other from birth
to death was slowly being done away with. Technology and advances that started at the
beginning of the century completely transformed the way of life and by the end of the
1900s life as we knew it had completely transformed.

There were wars that occurred that were significant to America, however also very
significant to the world. There was World War I and World War II. Wars that saw the
economy of America grow and flourish. While Americas involvement was not as
significant as many other nations in the world, it had involvement. The involvement for
America in both wars came towards the end and helped to bring about somewhat
peaceful ends. These involvements helped to boost America to be known as one of the
worlds super powers. America was able to provide much need to other countries as
they powered on through wars and eventually much military force.

We had the Great Depression that was brought about by the roar of the twenties. That
significant boom in economic status for so many helped to feed greed for money and
power that eventually lead the country into a great depression. We saw national crisis
as the stock markets crashed and banks closed their doors, some for good.

The new deal that was brought about to bring America out of her depression and into a
new world. The new deal was able to provide us with so much national structure that we
still use to this day. It was a vast group of social programs put into place to boost
America to its pre depression days.

The civil rights movements of the 50s and 60s brought America to its final chapter in
slavery and finally blacks were able to gain freedoms that were too long denied them.
With this movement came the feminist movements that also brought more freedoms to
females and brought them out of the house and more permanently into the workplace.

Overall the 1900s in America saw the greatest changes. We went from living on farms
and working the plow, to living in the cities. We went from having mom at home with the
kids and dad provided most of the labor, to both parents joining the workforce and the
kids too. We saw the great advancements in education that allowed for better jobs and
boosts in economic statuses. Leading us into the 21st century where it is still too soon
to tell what more may come.

In conclusion the advances that have taken place in America, while have lead us to
where we are I am not so sure that it was the best route. We see more and more social
issues arise from children who are not able to benefit from a fulltime parent and are
force to grow up way before their time. Advances in technology have brought us so
much immediate gratification that work ethic and hard work are becoming more and
more rare. The rewards of a good day of hard work are not what it used to be. It is hard
to say that for certain we have advanced to a better place, because had we not there is
no way to know for sure where we would be. However as far as freedom goes, while
there is no longer slavery we still have social issues that keep freedom from everyone.
While slavery has changed its face, it is still alive and well in the form of government
and corrupt corporations that control much of our economy. While we have made many
positive advances, I would dare say that we still have a very long way to go.