...today’s world is the social and economic inequalities leading up to the American Revolution. The cause of the Revolution was due to many of the grievances that colonists had for the British. Knowing this fact, we can better understand how this is useful and relevant in understanding the economic inequalities in Egypt which led to the Revolution in 2011. The American Revolution was fought because of numerous unresolved conflicts that the colonists had with the British. Even after the war, there were problems still lingering. Some of these issues included freedom of expression, voting rights and political participation, and the Inflation of goods. Many of these disagreements resulted in rioting and protests, as well as boycotting of goods and such. Let’s start with freedom of expression. Speech was limited in Britain, but if referring to the boundary outside of Parliament, then there was no legal protection for freedom of speech. Moreover, an individual could be beheaded for criticizing the king and the government. Even before the Revolution, voting rights and the political participation was very limited when electing government officials. There were property qualifications in order to vote in America. For example, “nearly every adult male could meet the voting qualification of fifty acres of land”. This meant that only the rich or middle class had any say in politics during this time. After the Revolution, the states became more lenient in the voting rights by allowing all men...
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...happened throughout that aided in the upbringing of the American economy we know today. We know some events of American history, for example, the finding of Native Americans already on America, slavery throughout history, wars, and inventions were all factors of shaping the economy for us. Before there was such a thing as the “New World,” there were millions of people living in America. The indigenous people of America had been there for thousands of years before the Europeans had arrived. Money was not an issue for these groups of people. They relied on the land and trade between the different tribes. The economy consisted of hunting, gathering and a complex agriculture system. They did not have the need for the money like the outside European world did. They relied on each other and the tribes around them. Different tribes were able to specialize in certain areas and then they could trade what they needed. While they did not have the sophisticated economy like the Europeans had, they were doing much better than after the Europeans arrived and started to try to change their way of life. Thomas Morton stated “, that the natives of the land lived so poorly in so rich a Country.” 1 There were so many things that the Native Americans did that Morton could not believe they did because all the travelers saw was vast land that could be sorted through. The Natives knew how to utilize the land and did not need 1. Eric Foner, Voices of Freedom (New York, W. W. Norton & Company...
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...their lives in different ways. Eric Foner states that the Second Great Awakening added a religious basis to the celebration of one’s self-improvement, self-reliance, and self-determination. The Revivals broadened beyond existing churches. The powerpoint mentions some new religions that came about were Mormons, Shakers, Millerites (Adventists), and Churches of Christ. Many revival meetings were held, as well as camp meetings. Foner states that this Great Awakening established the predominance of the Baptist and Methodist churches. According to Foner, Christianity became more central to the American Culture. He also mentions that it spread to all regions of the country and made American Christianity a mass operation. Our powerpoint states that it was a “Spiritual Reform From Within”. It also claims that it consisted of social reforms, as well as redefined the ideal of equality. During camp meetings, Foner mentions how revivalist preachers dropped the belief that man is a sinful creature with a predetermined fate, advocating instead the concept of human free will. He also states that during these gatherings, people of...
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...The primary causes of the American Revolution were social in nature because the unjust treatment of the colonists provoked more intellectual thought about individual liberties. Events that induced such thought and were the publication of Common Sense by Thomas Paine, the signing of Declaration of Independence, and the Battle of Saratoga. Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, Common Sense gave hope to the American colonists. The signing of the declaration of independence reinforced the natural rights of the colonists. The American victory of the Battle of Saratoga persuaded the colonists that it was possible for them to over prevail over the British Empire. During 1765, about the time of the intolerable Tea Act, declaring independence had not even crossed the colonists’ minds; their main concern was fair treatment from the British Empire. After several attempts to reconcile with the king, and continual acts of oppression against the 13 colonies, Americans had had enough and separation from Britain was inevitable. Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, Common Sense, persuaded the colonists to keep faith in the revolution. When this pamphlet was written in 1776 the colonies were struggling to overcome the oppression of British superpower. “Common Sense inspired a wide-ranging debate about whether American freedom would be more secure inside or outside the British Empire.” This pamphlet heavily emphasized that the colonists were fully capable of not only declaring independence but maintaining it also. The...
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...The Progressive era was a revolution because it changed the most important aspects in our society and they still mantain nowadays. It was dominated by middle class women, who had the initiative in fight for their rights such as the right to vote. The "General Federation of Womens Clubs" and the "National Association of Colored women" were created. It also shaped the modern American presidency and it created a State House Reform and one of the first progressive president Theodore Roosevelt heleped to regulate the economy. In the progressive era women began to develop themselves in society, the gender roles were changing. Women were working and becoming proffesionals. However, the most significant step at that time was womens suffrage. In...
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...Women’s Roles During the Industrial Revolution During the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Industrial revolution transformed Western Europe and the United States introducing origins of machinery in the cotton textile industries. However during this time, non-industrial wage labor increased, more children were being forced to work, urban cities grew, and the commercial agriculture from farms transformed into a labor market. Although, it was not only these economic developments being impacted that made the time of the Industrial Revolution significant; changes in family life also occurred, particularly speaking the decline of family size and increase of life expectancy. Therefore, there was a greater role for women in the labor force, allowing them to compete in contemporary politics and reform activities. Dependent on beginning of the transatlantic movement of British immigrants and their technology, the Industrial Revolution in the United States moved forward allowing the textile industry to expand. Long after the American Revolution showed signs of advantage in the marketplace, a flood of British exports took over, replicating inventions from English manufacturers. One of the first inventions reconstructed would be the first permanent cotton spinning mill and an Arkwright water frame restored by Samuel Slater under sponsorship of former merchants William Almy and Moses Brown. With the leadership of Slater, Almy and Brown they expanded a firm in machine...
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...addition, the federal government vigorously promoted industrial development which stimulated the American economy to change dramatically from the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era. However, the progress of the industrialization affected every aspect of the American society in either positive or negative way. As the nation moved to the west, the United States was transformed by vast changes in technology and a large amount of natural resources which stimulated new industries. Particularly, steel came to be used in the expanding new railroads which contributed in linking the nation and created a national wide market. By the 1890s, there were five transcontinental railroads transported the raw material from the West to the Eastern markets and carried manufactured goods to the West (Foner 596). Though, the government was not able to deal problems formed by the industrial revolution. Both parties came under control of powerful political managers with close ties to business interests. Republicans intensely supported a high tariff to protect America industry. During the 1870s, Republicans established a financial system based on reducing federal spending, which helped to repay much of the national debt. On the other hand, Democrats criticized the high tariff and resisted demands from debt-ridden agricultural regions for an increase in the money supply. In the book “Give me Liberty!” Foner states that: “In 1879, for the first time since the war, the United States returned to the gold...
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...History of the Indian Frontier Wars In today’s world, Americans aren’t known to “take over” Indians land. Why so? It has been done in the early revolution dating back to the year of 1622. Before 1622, North America was mainly claimed by the Indian folk. However, the settlers that ventured into North America believed that the Indians had no right claiming the land, and soon took over, as time progressed. As the years went on, disagreements amongst the English men and Indians grew. In the year of 1622, Indian’s lives changed forever and became an important role in Indian history. Hearts and souls of the Indian people were poured into the Indian Frontier Wars, believing their way of living would be given back to them. Little did they know, they would be stripped of their land and forced to move elsewhere. Before 1622, Indians welcomed the settlers who ventured their way to North America. Although the English men weren’t interested in intertwining with the Indians, eastern Indians were welcoming and felt as though the luxuries of the settlers would benefit their lifestyle. According to Eric Fosner’s Give Me Liberty!: An American History,” Woven cloth, metal kettles, iron axes, fishhooks, hoes, and guns were quickly integrated in Indian life.” (56) As the 17th century went along, more and more settlers invaded Indians land in North America, which soon became a problem. Settlers believed that North American land wasn’t officially claimed by the Indians because of the lacking...
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...Rosemarie Zagarri Revolutionary Backlash transforms the field of women's history and the standard political narrative that still has an effect on United States history. Many define the Revolution as a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system. Women in the 1700’s define American Revolution as the profound change in political status and rights of women. Overall, Zagarri being a female has a better understanding of the struggle in gaining women’s rights. White males marginalized those who could not vote, mainly women however all was not lost. Women had already commenced to participate in charitable movements, non-profitable societies, and convivial reform organizations. Through these organizations, women found another way to practice politics. Many women took advantage of these opportunities and actively engaged in American political culture through the early Federal period, but a conservative...
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...Tatyana Dotson Part II: Report on the Condition of the South (1865) 5. According to Schurz, the overall goal of Reconstruction is to reconstruct southern society and bring it back into American Society as a whole. He also mentions that it is also about the relationship between the constitution and the general public. 6. Schurz says the transition between the freedman and the south is so difficult to achieve because the south feels that the Union was so harsh and vengeful to them, and now they are changing their way of life so drastically. He touches on this by saying “in the midst of this critical period of transition, the power which originated the revolution is expected to turn over its whole future development to another power which from the beginning was hostile to it and has never yet entered into its spirit”. This just shows how it was already problematic. Added to this, the now freedman have to fend and protect themselves in an already angry and racist environment. Schurz explains this by saying “…leaving the class in whose favor it was made completely without power to protect itself and to take an influential part in that development.” 7. Southern soldiers also faced many problems when they came back home. Schurz states that “They found, many of them, their homesteads destroyed, their farms devastated, their families in distress”. The soldiers came back to an entire new world that was unfamiliar and stressful, which cause the embarrassment....
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...AnRachel Breuer An American History of Freedom Throughout history, the word “freedom” has taken on many definitions. After all, freedom is a relative concept in general. There is no one set definition, as the word itself changes over time and is based off the society in which the word is being applied. As Eric Foner points out, “The Story of American freedom is not simply a saga of a fixed set of rights to which one group after another has gained access, but a tale of debates, disagreements and struggles, with lots of bumps and wrong turns along the way.” Throughout our history, America has been through several wars and problems, each causing a change in its definition of freedom; helping form the free country that it is today. Freedom has always been a topic in the American way of life. This does not mean however, that freedom has meant the same thing to all Americans at all points in time. In fact, over time, the focus of freedom has changed dramatically over time. During the American Revolution, soon-to-be Americans fought in the name of liberty and independence. Britain had always had a view of freedom as the submission to authority. When Americans arrived on the land, they realized this was no longer appropriate. Thomas Jefferson maid this clear as liberty was included as one of the “unalienable rights” in the Declaration of Independence. (http://www.dannyscl.net/academic/). The problem, however, is that the Declaration of Independence asserted that “all men are created...
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...British, brought about by years of war, taxes and occupation. The discontent boiled over into riot on the evening of 5 March 1770, when Captain Thomas Preston and his seven guards arrived to relieve a Sentinel of his harassers amidst taunts of “you bloody backs, you lobster scoundrels, fire if you dare!” from an ever-swelling crowd of eighty. One of Preston’s men responded to being struck with a weapon by firing into the crowd. The ensuing chaos left five colonists dead, six more injured and the city inflamed. Whilst it is almost certain that Preston didn’t order his men to fire, he would have faded into the mists of history, had his innocence not been later challenged during the American Revolution. Patriots idolised and misconstrued the incident; John Adams claims it laid “the foundation of American independence” from their British tyrants. Their flawed imageries of the so-called ‘Boston Massacre’ reverberated across the Thirteen Colonies, and it’s the idealism they propagated more so than the incident itself which stirred colonists to revolting against the Crown. The odds had never in Preston’s favour that faithful night, indeed it was a mixture of the provocative taunts from the ever-swelling crowd and the darkness that befell the pre-electric Boston streets that make faithful recollections difficult to obtain. However unfortunate the consequences of the incident, it is nearly certain that Preston hadn’t issue the command to fire. Whilst undisputed are the facts that the guards’...
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...so does it shape families and communities. The white people who had experienced civilization centuries earlier were able to expel forcefully the natives and begin massively controlling the land all the way from the coast to the inland. The presence of good harbors and ports contributed to the influx of foreigners while the good productive land and adequate rainfall provided an incentive to stay. This essay will examine how the early settlers and subsequent generations utilized this resource in individual capacity to the community across various aspects of life, that is, economic, social and political uses. However, some methods are not clear cut and may overlap across certain fields. For the economic and political sectors. Economic The American land was...
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...The Boston Tea Party, Declaration of Independence, and Katsushika Hokusai’s art, The Great Wave, were three of the greatest outcomes during the time period when the United States was just being found. The significance of the Boston Tea Party, The Declaration of Independence, and The Great Wave and their impact on society today will be discussed in this course paper. The Boston Tea Party is often referred to by John Adams as “The destruction of the Tea in Boston” (Boston Tea Party Facts, American Revolution). The Bosten Tea Party was a political protests by the Sons of Liberty in Boston on December 16, 1773. This act served as a protest against taxation. The colonists believed that they were being unfairly taxed by the British to...
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...He only ever refers to them as Indians, and only to state that “the Indians had taken to the warpath (Billings, 1970, pp. 434-435). Other works in the field, such as the textbook “Give Me Liberty! An American History” by Eric Foner completely disagree with the causes of the rebellion posited by Billings. Billings claims that Governor Berkeley did not become “more arbitrary and oppressive”, rather that he had “lost control over the colony’s affairs”, whereas the textbook presents Berkeley in his years before the rebellion as a tyrant (Billings, 1970, p....
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