Materialism in America Before 1865

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Material factors were more important in shaping the United States in the years before 1865. For example, if I just came off of a boat after a long trip from England in 1492, my first primal instinct would be to find the basic essentials. Those essentials are: food, water and shelter, which are in the lowest echelon of Maslow’s hierarchy of physiological needs (pyramid), but for the purposes of this paper and discussion, those things are definitively materialistic.[i] If I would have been put on Columbus’s maiden voyage, besides land discovery, a main incentive for the trip was to search for otherworldly riches (goods as fine as what was found in Asia) that Europe was lacking. Recovering from the plague and the formation of united, powerful governments (not in a philosophical or political sense of government, but having more to do with the monetary need to support a powerful government and militia) also have ties to materialism.[ii] Travel and the improvement of the quality of one’s life are materialistic methods of coping with a plague. Upon arriving on this new land, after a short while I would have noticed distinctly new vegetations that grew here, like potatoes, pineapples, and vanilla which could be imported back to England as a sign of riches that could enhance the England’s economy while furnishing more voyages to unique and untamed land of riches.[iii] Another documented example of such persuasion was when Columbus reported amazing riches and generosity and the docility of the current inhabitants.[iv] Powerful and united governments are built behind the support of the collective people, and that support is based on the belief that the government (at a time of leadership made famous by George Washington) will protect the people from all threats private and domestic and that protection comes from a militia that is supported by weapons and trust
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