Friday, November 18, 2011

Final: The Impacting Changes in the 13 Colonies

       The 13 colonies( located in the East coast of the U.S today) were once overruled by England, meaning that England had colonized the land during in which colonizers only had in mind The System of Empire of England. With in the, colonies established after colonization, a sudden change impacted on the colonies beginning a new world for the colonist. Between the settlement at Jamestown in 1607 and the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the most important change that occurred in the colonies was the Emergence of a society quite different from that in England. Changes in religion, economics, politics, and social structure illustrate this Americanization of transplanted Europeans.

         By 1763, although some colonies still maintained established churches, other colonies had accomplished a virtual revolution for religious toleration and separation of church and state. The Magna Carta influenced "that the English Church shall be free" creating for example Maryland to have religious freedom. Several individuals decided to move to Maryland just to practice their religions and it brought more colonist to Maryland.  Religion in the colonies changed the diversity of colonist migrating, decreasing some and increasing others. Slaves could not practice any religion in the colonies because they were not to have those right and many more. Religion in the colonies caused for some individuals to be racist against the Native Americans and Slaves because the English church believed that Natives did not have any souls, making them worth nothing. Religion made several colonist to believe in a hell or a Heaven telling them if they do not attend church then they are going to hell. Religion in the 13 colonies changed the perspectives of how people should view the world, the leaders of the colonies and how they should be judge according to church officials even though, some people ignored religion and stuck to working.

         In a similar economic revolution, the colonies outgrew the mercantilist relationship with the mother country and developed an expanding capitalist system of their own. After the French-Indian War the British were left with a huge debt to pay for the cost of the war. Great Britain, decided to pass the Stamp Act in March 22, 1765 " For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, ...a stamp is required" using the taxes of the Stamp Act to pay for the money borrowed from Great Britain. Most colonist and people living in the colonies angered because they hardly had enough money for their-selves and now they had to pay extra money for a stamp.Furthermore, this change brought the colonies rebellious views and the separation of England and the colonies to divide in 2 sides, leading towards confusion about England's care for the colonies.The Bostonians disliked Great Britain and did not buy any of their goods; leading to several protest and even wars against Britain for the independence of the colonies.

        Building on English foundations of political liberty, the colonist extended the concepts of liberty ans self-government far beyond those envisioned in the mother country. An occurrence of rebellion and liberty was the Boston Massacre( March 5, 1770)  in which Bostonians from the colonies were coldly murdered by English soldiers in which the captain asked " Why don't you fire?" commanding the attack towards unarmed protesters. The protesters were protesting to the soldiers angrily telling them that they took their jobs. The soldiers got away with the murdering of the protesters. In conclusion, the protestors wanted to bee free of the solders empowerment/jobs to economically be wealthy. Furthermore, Great Britain decision to send  troops to the colonies to calm down the rebellious situation only cause a new step of rebellion. However, the colonies noticed the way Great Britain treated them just using them as money collectors and decided to become independent of them by fighting against each other in a war.
     
        In contrast, to the well-defined and hereditary classes of England, the colonies developed a fluid class structure which enabled the industrious individuals to rise in the social ladder. From the first colonization of Columbus which mixes the social classes of Native American and Spaniards to the Headright System of Virginia (which states to give land to any colonist and the religious movement) brought more people to the colonies and created the diverse of people living in the 13 colonies. Slavery brought from Africa to the colonies caused racism and the association with the English creating new mixed races in the colonies. However, the upper class Great Britain in the colonies was in control of every decisioned and laws passed in the colonies which made colonist living in the colonies feel like they have nothing compare to England and blood thirsty for money and the idea of "economic success". In other words The social ladder in the colonies was a competition in which concluded who had more money and power over people,  lowering the hopes of the lower class. However, the social and diverse classes joined forces to win the independence all wanted by every social group to be free from Great Britain and their lousy Acts.

         The 13 colonies religion influenced the colonist and even Great Britain, of what to believe and what not to believe in. The Stamp Acts and all the Acts passed by Great Britain changed the believes of the colonists  by getting them furious and starting rebellious  actions against the British for the decreased  of their economic budgets. From the beginning of the colonies establishment, the British had control over the colonies, but now that the colonies were already established; the colonies decided to be free from the British changing the new atmosphere of the 13 colonies ,obtaining their freedom ,and freshly restarting a new home for the free.

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