So, I was able to get one of my friends to write he take on what was going on in 1607-1754. Here it is! (Be warned, it is a little lengthy)
Early on, there were two class structures. One, the American way, was based off land and how much of it you had. The other way was the European way (no surprise there) which was based off blood ties. The whole reason this worked was because of how the 13 colonies set up their economies. The North prided itself on the lumber and shipping industries, which was to be expected because of all the fancy-schmancy ports and forests they had up there. The middle colonies were based around trading and commerce, which is partly because they were stuck in the middle (gee, I wonder how they got their name?) of everything that happened around America. In the south, societies were based around farming. To be honest, they had so much farmland, everyone would be surprised if they didn’t go into agriculture. The European class system was lavish to say the least. You name it, they had it. Big parties with expensive ballgowns and even more expensive food, mansions with 27 bedrooms and golden bathtubs, fancy family rankings that almost never changed no matter wherever you went, and, to top it off, manners. These people knew their ettiquette. They took special lessons and actually knew which fork to use for salad or beef or whatever. Apparently to these rich folk, education was a big deal. Parents either got their kids tutors or they went to special private schools with uniforms and croquet. They didn’t learn standard subjects like algebra or chemistry though. They learned about the arts, philosophy, and culture. (Where do I sign up?) This was very different from the American style, which was practically dead in the water. (The Atlantic, to be specific) Warfare was widespread, and the population was fluctuating as these wars kept on going. Land was tight, mainly because people had spread themselves out across said land. They were only able to communicate this terrible information through newspapers and slightly-drunk conversations in taverns around the colonies. Transportation was limited, as the only possible way to get around was through the many rivers that crisscrossed the area, but they were hard to get through and even harder to navigate. The crops they grew drained the soil, and once the dirt couldn’t hold on any longer, they packed up their things and went somewhere else, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Slavery was also a weed that had taken root in America, and nobody was going to pull it up without some consequences. Because of this, money and the economy was slowly going down the drain. It was only a matter of time before someone flushed the toilet that was 17th century America. Okay, back to the actual topic at hand. The Great Awakening came around in 1730, and lasted until about 1740. I prefer to refer to this great event as “Ten Years of Religious Confusion”. You’ll see why soon. Anyway, during this time, there was a major shift in religion. Apparently during this period, religion was so widespread that even dogs could see God. They referred to this as “Dead Dogs” (Don’t ask me why, though. I really have no idea, and I don’t recommend Googling it). John Edwards wasn’t a big fan of the religious shift, as he decided that it embraced “sinners in the hand of an angry god”. Not a very nice guy, huh? Let’s move on. During this time, George Whitefield, an American Anglican cleric, becomes America’s first celebrity, goes on a cross-colony tour to meet his adoring fans and to spread the Great Awakening to each and every one of them. Many were not pleased, however. There was a whole debate on keeping the old lights of America alive, and the new ones taking root. This debate may seem serious, but in actuality, nobody cared. This was just one of the many factors sparking the American Revolution, and the philosophy of enlightenment was just fanning the flames. Putting that on the back burner, we move on to discuss Benjamin Franklin, a political and social revalent. He was one of the few during that time period who fully embodied the idea of the American Dream. Franklin was born in Boston in 1706, and died in 1790. He started out as a simple printer, working day and night, and later invented bifocals and the library. (I owe a lot to this guy, so history should appreciate him). He was the guy that proved electricity existed by going out in the middle of a storm with a kite and a key (Kentucky Fried Franklin, anybody?). He wrote a serial titled Poor Richard’s Almanack, and wrote it for over 25 years. It contained poems, weather reports, a calendar, and astronomical charts, but it was famous for the proverbs and aphorisms that came with it. He later wrote an autobiography, mainly describing his ideas on deism. It basically consisted of “when scripture contradicts science, go with science.” Deisms also believe that the world is a clock. God created the world and left it alone for humans to deal with themselves. He was also notoriously famous for trying to rid himself of sin and failing. We move on to the French and British settlements in America. The French, apparently, simply wanted to trade furs and peacefully settle with the natives, not destroy everything that stands in their way like the British did. The French settlement was also much smaller, containing only 55,000 men versus the British 1,100,000. These settlements also brought America closer to the war due to the long history of skirmishes beforehand. The Treaty of Utrecht, a treaty that had been in place since 1713, was slowly falling apart and the British were avoiding the laws that they had placed on America to keep it loyal, something later coined “salutary neglect”. Many colonists and soldiers were attempting to place land treaties in order to keep the quickly- disappearing peace. The violence, however, spilled over and splashed into the Ohio River Valley, more specifically, Fort Duquense. Another fort, this one aptly named Fort Necessity, was built when the French came back demanding some credit for the colonization and exploration of America. This entire thing launched what we know as the French and Indian War. Now we finally get into the wars (Yay for blood and violence). The Seven Years War also took place during this time, and the world escalated into global warfare. Surprisingly enough, Germany was the one doing the majority of the fighting. Tensions were rising between the American leaders, George Washington and James “Bulldock” Braddock. This also caused the Albany Congress, an idea launched by Ben Franklin, and the famous “snake cartoon” was designed. The first design of this was actually based on the French and Indian war. The colonies weren’t exactly doing well during all of this. Wars were raging all over the place, and they just wanted their land to farm. The British were okay with this, because they just wanted peace. This was settled in 1763 when the Royal Proclamation of 1763 was established. It created the dividing line between the colonies and everything west of them. Unfortunately for the peace-loving British, it backfired. It ended up becoming one of the starting points of the American Revolution. Tensions flared after this. An important part of the pre-war era was Pontiac’s Rebellion, in which settlers went to the (off-limits) new land, and ended up getting in skirmishes with the natives. Britain was challenging authority. The next problem came two years later with the Quartering Act of 1765. It forced soldiers into people’s homes without permission. This was because soldiers had less money in times of peace, and England didn’t want them (they believed in the whole “out of sight, out of mind” philosophy). England didn’t tell the colonists that, though. The colonists were told that the soldiers were a “stabilizing” force and were there to “protect” them (This lie obviously didn’t work). However bad the soldier problem was, however, England was facing a bigger problem: debt. Seven million dollars had been spent on fighting the colonies alone (the tax ratio was about 23:1). England was suffering, and what better idea to get some money than to tax the colonists? The first taxes to the US were the American Duties Act and the Sugar Act. These are pretty self-explanatory. Admiralty courts came next, basically stating that there was to be no trial for criminals, and that they were guilty until proven innocent. England only followed these rules because they were mostly settled on navy boats at the time, and it would be pretty hard to hold trial on a boat. After that, the Stamp Act was created. It required stamps on basically all paper products (legal documents, newspapers, playing cards) and was another way for Britain to suck money out of the colonies. It was a visual reminder of how tax was really, really annoying. Americans reacted very strongly to this. They decided on a creed: no taxation without representation. At the time, there were two types of representation, virtual or direct. Either the colonies did their laws themselves, or someone represented all of the colonies. To be honest though, the colonies didn’t really want representation. They wanted independence. Colonists formed the Stamp Act Congress in 1765, made up of 27 delegates from 9 of the 13 colonies. They drew up grievances and non-importation agreements. The Congress was ignored. Because of this, the Sons of Liberty, either a patriot group or a terrorist group, was formed. Their main form of “torture” was tarring and feathering their victims. The Stamp Act was repealed, but then the Declaratory Act was passed. In other words, the colonists had removed one tax to get hit with another. We’ll take a quick break to talk about the Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre, which, I’m sure you’ve heard of, happened on March 5th, 1770. At the time, there were more soldiers than ever in Boston. They had placed a curfew, and had shot an 11-year-old boy for not following it. 60 townspeople provoked the British soldiers over the death, and someone opened fire. Everyone ended up shooting at each other. 11 people were either killed or wounded. The reason for the speculation is because the only records that history has of the Massacre have either been twisted to fit a specific story or just plain wrong. What we do know, however, is that the leader of the mob at the time, Crispus Attucks, was shot and killed, leading to even more chaos. Committees of correspondence were formed in order to deal with the incoming threat of war. Inter-colonial committees were also formed in Virginia in 1733. The colonies enforced imports harshly, and didn’t allow British tea to reach land. Except for Boston. Boston paid taxes on tea and allowed it into their ports. The reason for this is because the governor of Boston, Thomas Hutchinson, loved England and supported it. He was hated by everyone else in Boston. The Boston Tea Party came next on the timeline, (I’m sure you’ve dealt with that before) and made war inevitable. England finally snapped and passed the Intolerable Acts in 1774. England started passing laws left and right to the colonies. The biggest part of this though was that Britain shut down the Boston port until the cost of the tea lost in the Tea Party was paid for. The port was one of the major ways the colonies made money. Town meetings were restricted, and British soldiers who committed crimes were tried back in good ol’ Mother England. The Quartering Act had been reinstated, and soldiers invaded homes constantly. In neighboring Canada, however, the French were keeping customs like no trial by jury and no representative assembly. This made the colonists pretty mad, and thought a revolution was in order. Not just for themselves, but for Canada and other small nations. The first continental congress was established in September of 1774 and lasted until October that same year. Made up of 55 delegates from 12 colonies (Georgia wasn’t included), these people were determined to receive independence from Britain even if it killed them. John Adams drew up the Declaration of Rights and sent it to King George, but it was sadly rejected. The next time they met, they wrote up the Olive Branch Petition. This worked, and by the time the letter returned the the colonies, Lexington and Concord launched the war, known commonly as the “shot heard round the world”.
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