We The People
Declaring our independence from the British Crown was only the beginning of our development of becoming a successful, and independent and free nation. It marked the need to create a sound national government under a new constitution that would be strong enough to rule the nation. Between the American Revolution and the Civil war, many changes took place in American society: The development of the market economy in the North and South, the population growth that resulted from the new economy and the movement westward to acquire land and wealth, marked important changes in the early progress of our nation. Though we were proven successful in establishing ourselves as a nation, it was often a brutal process involving much blood shed, and followed in the footsteps of our earlier history of taking what we wanted, by force. In the early 1800's we encroached on the land that belonged to the Indians and took their land through a process we called Indian removal. In the mid-1800's, we encroached on the land to the West that belonged to the Mexicans. However, by 1848 we had conquered the continental United States and the groundwork of our nation was set. The first step in forming our nation was the adoption of the
constitution in 1787, which was in many ways a work of creative genius. With its adoption, all states were now one national government and our republic was formed. Though the constitution is a very general statement, it allows us to continually develop our nation through political and social negotiations. We can grow in to it as our country grows. Consequently, the purchase of the Louisiana Territory lead to the United States negotiating with the Indians, through treaties, to leave their land and move westward so the Americans could take over their lands and settle them. Between 1800-1830, we signed a series of treaties with the Indians for land. They were promised land if they helped the U.S. in acquiring other territories. What this entailed was Indians fighting against other Indians. The government saw the Indians as obstacles and their removal was necessary to open up the land to agriculture, to commerce, to the development of the modern capitalist economy. By 1948 we had conquered what is known today as the Continental U.S.A. and the foundation of our nation had been built. We responded to the demands of an ever-growing society even though it was often a brutal process with the United States government taking whatever they wanted with no regard to the humanity that was destroyed in the process. With the growing pressures over slavery in the North and the South, we were once again headed to war. Up to the 1800's, nearly all manufacturing was performed by master artisans who owned their own workshops and hired a few journeymen and apprentices. Around 1815, the nature of manufacturing work changed. As production speeded up, many masters stopped performing manual work and spent their time dealing with customers and suppliers and keeping records. The number of journeymen also increased and they often worked in workshops separate from the store. Increasingly, less-skilled workers, sewing together pieces of shoes, assembling ready-made clothing from pieces cut in uniform sizes, was farmed out to women who worked in their homes. Thousands of semiskilled women became members of a permanent working class. Thus, most Northern farms had become business operations. This was the beginning of the industrial revolution. America was establishing itself as a financial and industrial center. In the South however, they were still tied to the slave system, which meant a slave driven economy. They found out they could make more money in cotton with the invention of the cotton gin in the early 1800's. The cotton boom created a brisk market in slaves. While economically they wer
Some common words found in the essay are:
North South, Louisiana Territory, American Dream, North People, Jackson Indians, Rocky Mountains, Continental USA, British Crown, Mexican War, Louisiana Purchase, society based, north south, slave system, railroad system, question slavery slavery, conquered continental, indian removal, encroached land, private landowners, national government, question slavery,
Approximate Word count = 1759
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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