The bustling, thriving country we now know as America was once nothing but
a vast expanse of land inhabited by small nomadic bands. These groups of indigenous
people were distinguished by their elaborate religious beliefs and advanced
organization. Some of the most remarkable civilizations were those of the
Incas, Mayas, and Aztecs in the South; and those of the Algonquin and Iroquois
tribes in the North. After experiencing an agricultural revolution, America's
population expanded and reaped the benefits as they began to create languages,
number systems, and highly developed calendars.
Not too long after the Bubonic Plague exterminated one-third of Europe's population,
monarchs expressed the desire to stimulate commercial growth and commenced
by funding for navigation. Columbus sailed the ocean in an attempt to unearth
a new route to India, but he accidentally discovered a new world in 1492.
Through warfare and disease, the Spaniards almost eliminated resident populations
as the natives were not immune to smallpox.
The transatlantic interaction between Europe, America, and Africa was both
advantageous and detrimental. New crops and livestock were exchanged, adding
diversity to the monotonous diets of the Europeans and Native Americans. Africans
were imported as early as 1502 and were used as slaves because they, like
the natives in America, were viewed as barbaric savages. The demand for slaves
was directly proportional to the requests for sugar cane. It can be said without
doubt that the removal of thousands of Africans from their homes was injurious
to African society.
Competition for control of America was augmented once it was seen as a land
of opportunity that could profit the mother country. The French, English,
and Dutch all made an effort to create settlements, but it was the English
who were able to found Jamestown, the first permanent settlement in America.
Unfortunately, Jamestown became a place of misery and death, and nothing worked
out initially as planned. Other attempts were made to colonize, and as the
settlements grew stronger, masses of people fled their native countries to
escape persecution. These civilizations came to be acknowledged as the Thirteen
Colonies.
After the English Civil War, the English government began to place heavy taxes
on their subjects in the American colonies. Through boycotts and protest,
the Americans sought to earn independence from what they viewed as a tyrannical
regime. Concluding that their cries of "no taxation without representation"
were futile in sparking any reforms from Britain, a committee of delegates
commissioned Thomas Jefferson to compose the Declaration of Independence.
The American Revolution was an experimental era for early America, as citizens
and leaders battled for the right to stand on their own two feet. The Articles
of Confederation proved the intricacy of establishing structure; the government
was weak and it gave too much power to the states. The Treaty of Paris signaled
the end of the fighting with Great Britain and it confirmed American independence.
The foundation was thus set for what would in a remarkably brief period of
time, become the most expansive democracy the world had ever seen.
All songs and essays are the intellectual property of their respective authors and are protected under United States copyright laws. The image on the inside label is credited to Mark Hess. The CD design is the Original Design of the Great Seal of the United States as reproduced from Our Documents, 100 Milestone Documents from the National Archives. History Raps & History Rocks is ™ Peter Mastrota 2001. A Music History of the American People is Copyright © South Studio Productions 2004. Site design is Copyright NuTech Web & Services © 2005. All Rights Reserved.
