Revolution in the United States of America
Impact of Colonization
European’s exploration made it possible for them to colonize America. Their colonization transformed the American people’s slavery and land aspect, ranging from trade to personal property and welfare. Overall, the colonization impacted the U.S. in three broad ways – slavery, Indian lifestyle, and the environment
Slavery
The Europeans’ invasion in America demanded significant labor to cultivate the cash crops brought by the colonists, notably tobacco and sugar. The Europeans depended on the Africans to grow the cash crops, and after 1600, the shipping of African slaves through the Atlantic amplified. The transformation of relying on slaves was integrated into the English colonists slowly. At home, these individuals lacked any slaves and used servants to perform all the labor. Nonetheless, in the 17th century, each Englishman in America relied on slaves to carry out the labor, with colonies such as the Chesapeake Bay being the most pronounced. Before the beginning of 1625, over 300,000 Africans had been moved to America, where they were met with hellish conditions. They harvested and processed tobacco in all their lifetimes. The English Colonists made this the norm in the U.S. society, and later on brought the civil war due to different beliefs regarding slavery (USHistory.org, n.d.).
Indian Lifestyle
The Indian way of life was changed in many aspects by the Europeans. Foremost, the Europeans greatly demanded the Americans to become Christians. The first group of Europeans to bring Christianity were the Spanish. The group first changed the religious belief of the people who were based in Florida. They arrived at this state via Puerto Ricco and Cuba. Through the Vatican decree, the Spaniards made the native individuals be Catholics (Schultze, 2005). The other group that considerably converted the Indians was the French missions. They (the Jesuit Order) successfully established missions in Iroquois, which made it possible for them to shift to the Great Lake areas by 1675
Simultaneously, the goods of the Europeans too changed the Indians’ lifestyle. In the 16th century, the Europeans had introduced several goods in America like glass beads, metal utensils, and copper kettles. The Indians integrated these goods into their cultures as they started to use them. They stopped using clay cookware and started to depend on metal cooking utensils. In addition, the textiles brought by the Europeans made the native inhabitants denounce their traditional clothing, which was primarily made from animal skin. The natives’ arsenal was improved through the help of European cultures. They refashioned the imported brassware into arrow points, used axes that they formerly used to chop wood as weapons, and began using muskets (Schultze, 2005).
Environment
The desire of Indians for European arsenals facilitated the overhunting of beaver. Resultantly, beavers were extinct in several areas like New York and New England. Their loss caused the absence of beaver ponds that served as water sources for moose and deer and habitats for fish. On top of this, the Europeans came with pigs and permitted them to devour the vegetation in the wildlands and forests. It led to a deficiency of food for the deer and other indigenous animals, and ultimately, the animals reduced, which the Indians hunted (Carlos & Lewis, 1993). The most significant impact the European colonization made in America is the introduction of diseases. Because the native people had no immunity to the diseases, it resulted in their massive deaths in regions that the Europeans settled. For instance, approximately 75% of the native people in New England succumbed between 1616-1618 (Schultze, 2005).
Constitutional Crises between 1989-1865
A constitutional crisis is a governmental issue whereby the existing constitution is seemingly incapable of resolving as according to political science (Bestor, 1964). Since the U.S. gained its independence, its governance has been characterized by constitutional crises. The crises between 1989-1865 were mostly attributed to the struggle between state power and national power. The new constitution of the U.S. was approved in 1979 through ratifying convections; however, it was significantly amended due to constitutional crises. The present paper will mention several crises in their chronological order.
The first constitutional crises happened the same year (1789) that the new constitution was passed. During this period, the Democratic-Republicans – also referred to as antifederalists – were against the war debt sanctioned by the federal government. The war debt was a federal aid. From the existing constitution, the rights of the state and the federal government had not been clearly defined. Certain states opposed the war debt; nevertheless, the federal government continued with the war debt process. This made the Bill of Rights be added to the constitution, termed the First Ten Amendments. Through the Tenth Amendment, the distribution of powers was well defined, with those not highlighted in the constitution or its acts being reserved for the states. Overall, these amendments brought forth the concepts of the limited national government, state rights, and the duality in authority amongst the two government systems (USHistory.org, n.d).
The second constitutional crisis was initiated in 1798 when the Aliant and Sedition Acts were enforced. These acts aimed at silencing the Democratic-Republicans for their opposition to the undeclared war with France. The legislatures affiliated to the Democratic-Republicans in Virginia and Kentucky nullified the two acts through the power conferred to them in the Tenth Commandment. Here existed a constitutional crisis as the constitution had not declared that a state could nullify a federal act, although the constitution gave it the powers to do as it wished in case it failed to delegate the powers to the federal government. Due to this crisis, the doctrine of nullification was formed. This doctrine highlighted that the state can declare a law enacted by the federal government to be unconstitutional and therefore suspend it within its boundaries (Allen, 1970).
In 1816, a Second Bank was rechartered in the U.S. This action caused the emergence of controversies regarding the Congress’ powers; however, the Supreme Court resolved the issue. The court stated that the constitution does not directly allow Congress to set up a national bank; nonetheless, the doctrine of implied powers allows the national government to do so (Allen, 1970).
The most significant constitutional crises happened in 1860, which brought by the Civil war. Slavery amplified the concerns of the government system in terms of state- and nation-centered concepts. The states at the South argued that the United States of America was a league of sovereign states; therefore, the states can secede from the Union. However, the northern states believed that the Union is indestructible, and no state could secede from the Union. These two conflicting ideas were present as the constitution did not define the Union.
The inevitability of the Civil War
In 1860, South Carolina announced its intent to be separated from the Union. The secession of this state facilitated the other six states from the South to secede from the Union. The following year, the seven southern states formed the Confederate States of America and subsequently formed their constitution. This secession led to the Civil war. The secession was inevitable because the southern and northern states had too many differences; therefore, the Civil war was inevitable. The differences were mainly of ideological, economic, and political aspects.
Ideological differences between the two regions were the main determinant in making the civil war to be inevitable. Southerners believed that slavery was right, while the northerners were not concerned with the moral dimension of slavery – that is, they never declared it was right nor wrong. Although there was a nuance difference, the difference was reinforced through the actions of the abolitionists. The southerners viewed these acts of abolitionists as provocative and, resultantly, made them redefine the slavery ideology. They started to defend slavery by stressing that it is an ultimate good as it does not exploit the unit of labor as demonstrated in the capitalistic system underway in the North. They supported their notion by declaring that slaves receive shelter, food, old age security, and health care. The Northerners defended their capitalistic ideology; thus expanding the differences. The incident on the Harpers Ferry exacerbated the issues. These actions by the abolitionists fronted by John Brown were all that the Southerners wanted in order to believe that the northern communities needed to destroy them. Thus, the Southerners saw the need to revenge (USHistory.org, n.d.).
Economic differences cemented the inevitability of the Civil war. In the 18th century, the Northern states dramatically went through industrialization and subsequently had a superior economy. On the other hand, the southern states’ economy was deteriorating. Many barriers to the growth of cotton had risen; therefore, raising doubts about its viability. Nevertheless, their economy started to have an upward growth in 1793 with the invention of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin. These inventions made cotton’s production profitable and revived the SouthSouth’s economy, which in turn led to an increase in the importation of slaves. The southerners depended on the saves for the success of their economy; therefore, they vowed to defend it militarily if need be. According to McPherson (1997), the South’s idea to secede was a “counterrevolution” aimed at preserving their economic system, and they feared that Lincoln’s election to the helm would destroy it. Therefore, the secession and civil war were inevitable as the South perceived the North as a threat to their quality life.
The conflict was apparent between the South and the North because of the existence of political differences. Numerous political activities happened two decades before the onset of the Civil war that reinforced its inevitability. The American Congress in 1954 passed the Kansas Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromised that had existed for over thirty years. In addition, the Dred Scott decision by the Supreme court backed the Kansas Nebraska Act by declaring that the Missouri Compromise is unconstitutional. The other aspect that the southerners saw as a “Northern Conspiracy” (McPherson, 1997) to destroy their quality life is the implementation of the Wilmot proviso Bill (which proposed to eradicate slavery in the acquired Mexican’s territory) and the election of Lincoln.
References
USHistory.org. (n.d.). American history [ushistory.org]. U.S. History. https://www.ushistory.org/us/
Schultze, Q. J. (2005). Christianity and the mass media in America: Toward a democratic accommodation. MSU Press.
Carlos, A. M., & Lewis, F. D. (1993). Indians, the beaver, and the Bay: The economics of depletion in the lands of the Hudson’s Bay Company, 1700–1763. The Journal of Economic History, 53(3), 465-494.
Bestor, A. (1964). The American Civil War as a Constitutional Crisis. The American Historical Review, 69(2), 327-352. https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/69/2/327/344083
Allen, R. L. (1970). Black awakening in capitalist America: An analytic history. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
McPherson, J. M. (1997). Drawn with the sword: Reflections on the American Civil War. Oxford University Press.