Colonial History

1225 Words5 Pages
In today’s classrooms, history is explained using America as the center. As Americans we are taught that the uniqueness our history connects us to a sense of superiority among all other nations in the world. Since the time when America was first discovered, we have been incorrectly informed on the events that occurred during that historical period. Americans view the discovery or their land as all about becoming a free, independent nation, they believe our Revolution and Civil War were unique from any others in history, we view ourselves as a nation and not an empire, and we believe we were the foundation of industrialism and liberalism. All of these historical beliefs are inaccurate. In order to get a true sense of the history of ones own…show more content…
U.S. colonies were being controlled by the British Empire and forced to pay taxes to the king. The colonies were upset that they were forced to pay these taxes, but had no voice on the government. In reality, there would’ve been no revolution had there been no French involvement. America had been left to govern itself from 1715 until 1740, called the period of “Benign neglect.” They wanted to establish their own system of government and not be controlled by an abroad nation. America had taken note on how two great historical powers, Carthage and Rome, tore each other to pieces instead of joining forces. They used this theory to play France against Britain. France was angry after the Seven Years War, where they were made ultimate losers while the British were the winners. The French wanted to gain revenge over for British, so once the Americans defeated the British at Saratoga, the French joined the American alliance. France was now able to defeat the British and the Americans got their freedom with some French assistance. At the end of the war with the Treaty of Paris, America not truly free and France gained nothing, which eventually led to France’s own revolution. Great Britain chose to change the way they ran their empire by switching form having many colonies to focusing on the benefits of free trade. The French Revolution sparked a 2 party system…show more content…
Although this is true, much of the larger story is lost when you view the Civil War from that perspective. Many other countries throughout the world were also experiencing problems with slavery, but it was only Haiti and the U.S. that resolved this issue by fighting. Most other countries were able to reach legislative agreements. The Civil War was also much more than just a battle; it was a nation making process. Division of states led to national borders being defined. It was also around this time that European Enlightenment ideas such as liberalism began to form the foundation of America. Bender also points out that had the South won in their attempt to form their own nation, even the term “Civil War” would not exist. He also shows that America was one of the last nations to finally abolish slavery, and was very behind in the European idea advancements. However, the Civil War sparked the U.S. industrialization to the dominance we see today. The South still continues to grow cotton, but make much less money because of the policy of free trade and major competitors in
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