A concise history of America
Name
Institution

The diverse nature of the American society today serves as a direct indication of a long history of social, economic and political struggle. The society as it is today possesses some uniqueness in the manner in which different groups have managed to live together in respect for values that define each of them. The formation of this society can only be understood by going through a long journey of understanding the process of its formation. This journey is provided in the book “America: a concise history”.
Chapter 1 of the book provides a deeper insight into the European society before their movement into America and the lives of the American natives before the colonialists arrived. The most notable thing is the difference that existed between the two societies in terms of economic and technological stature (Henretta, 2012). The Europeans were well advanced and ahead in resource utilization. This chapter clearly places the renaissance period at the core of the explorations that Europe undertook across the world. It is after this period that colonialist ideology was born. …show more content…
The most dominant colonial powers were the Spaniards, England, French and the Dutch. The most interesting part in this chapter is in the manner in which the colonies adopted their economic activities. While some such as England and Dutch adopted their European structures, French adopted the economic actives of the natives but in large-scale (Henretta, 2012). Also worth noting is the fact that the first forms of slavery and servant’s systems did not involve Africans. Poor Englishmen escaped into North America as indentured servants. “They were given passage from their countries in return for four to five years of