U.S. History to 1877 - Essay Example

The European background After the fall of the Roman Empire, settlement and colonization of the Americas became the first significant move by Europeans. The European occupying powers acquired overseas territories into their possession without clear and obvious authority. The first European powers to establish settlement on the American mainland included Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, and England (Gary, et al 109). Of the five, England arrived relatively later than the rest, but ended up establishing large scale and enduring settlement in America.

The British became the most significant colonizers of the US. The British empires in the Americas grew to rival those of the Spanish in economic and military might. European settlement in the Americas resulted to great upheaval among the indigenous civilizations. There were cultural disruptions, military force and introduction of diseases. Apart from promotion of settlement and development, the European powers extensively used trade with the natives as a policy in their conquest of the Americas.

The colonial experience Under British supervision, the American colonies grew and flourished. The colonies practiced limited forms of self government. The vast size of the Atlantic Ocean ensured that the American colonists developed skills to govern themselves. . England regulated trade by forbidding colonies to trade with other European countries. They also maintained the right to levy taxes on the colonies. English colonialists tried to control American trade, but they could not entirely succeed to oversee the whole American coastline.

In the process, colonial merchants learned how to operate outside the British law to enhance their trade. Religiously, those who evaded persecution in England demanded freedom of worship according to their belief systems. The Quakers settled in Pennsylvania, Catholics in Maryland, and the puritans and pilgrim settled in present day Massachusetts (Gary, et al 318). The colonialists brought along religious diversity, which called for freedom of religion in the Americas. The revolutionary period The American Revolution period cover the era from 1763 to 1800.

The American Revolution represented the efforts of the thirteen colonies joining together to separate from the British Empire and rule. The era began after the treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian war in 1763 (Gary, et al 402). This ended the military threat fronted by the French in the British North American territories. The British began to exact more authority over the colonies through a set of direct taxes and additional laws. These moves became extremely unpopular in America since most colonies lacked representation in the British parliament.

These laws got viewed as illegitimate and a violation of the colonist’s rights. The American enlightenment gets attributed as an ideology behind the revolution. The enlightenment constituted ideas such as liberalism, republicanism and condemnation of corruption. The