The creation of a free country  

The United States is a country that went through a lot of critical changes, political, economically and socially in order to be one of the most powerful and influential countries around the world. The first time a colony was created in in the United States was in 1607, and it was called Jamestown. This country has been the dream land where people look for a better future due to the many opportunities that it offers to the citizens. When the English people arrived here, they wanted a better economy and more opportunities. In 1619 the Jamestown colony brought the first slaves to America. When that happened, that was the beginning of slavery in America. The slaves used to work on farms, which was one of the essential factors that helped the country’s economy grow, since they basically worked for free. When the slaves and the Americans started to be treated equally, many social, cultural and political changes happened in America. Also, the American revolution played a significant role in creating what is today the United States due the impact that it had on society and the way of living.  

Additionally, this country has been involved in some wars that have recognized us as one of the world powers. For example, the country participated in the first and second world wars. Moreover, we have had internal wars such as the civil war. Furthermore, the United States lived in a democratic government. This democratic government started as an experiment in 1776, this type of government was characterized because the citizens had the right to vote for their representatives.   

The enslaved people were the workers in the tobacco fields, forced to work, and their masters abused them. They were treated like property, and they did not have human rights. For example, they were not allowed to know their age because if they did not know their age, they believed they were just property. The textbook of Eric Foner’s “Give me Liberty an American History” says, “A Virginia law of 1662 provided that in the case of a child one of whose parents was free and one slave, the status of the offspring followed of the mother. (This provision not only reversed the European practice of defining a child’s status through the father but also made the sexual abuse of slave women profitable for slaveholders, since any children that resulted remained the owner’s property.)”. (Foner 102.) This law made it easier for the masters to abuse the slave women because they did not have any rights. If a child was born from that abuse, the master did not recognize the child because they were just property and were abused as equal to the other enslaved people even though they were half white and half black. They were the ones that suffered the most because they were stuck in the middle of two different races. Nevertheless, even with all the injustice in America then, this was an important fact that helped the country’s economy grow. America was one of the biggest producers of Tabacco.   

The United States has been into some notorious wars in the textbook states that “The United States fought the Civil War to bring about a new birth of freedom, World War II for the Four Freedoms, and the Cold War to defend the Free World.”. (Foner XX) These are some of the wars were the United States participated. They also fought in the First World War. “The United States later declared war on German ally Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917. (Office of the Historian) this is how the United States got into world war I. this war came with some consequences, such as the women’s campaign for the right to vote. For example, “Before the war, the women’s campaign for the right to vote fell on deaf ears. Afterward, even President Wilson urged Congress to pass the 19th amendment, which succeeded in 1920”. (Farmer) here we can see how women started the get more rights because of the war. Also, another example could be “Women, most of whom never worked outside the home, were in high demand to work at all types of factories and businesses. Nearly a million women were employed in jobs previously held by men”. (Farmer) This was the first consequence that made the women want to be treated as equal to men because if they could work as equals, they could not have the same rights. 

Moreover, that is why they wanted to be more independent. Also, another war that could be mentioned as one of the most notorious wars was the civil war. This war originated because of disagreements between the north and the south. Some of the disagreements were slavery and the election of Abraham Lincoln. However, this war had a significant consequence: the freedom of the enslaved people. After the war, the enslaved people started to be treated as equal to white men, and this was a notorious change in the country because the enslaved people started to get political rights. Some of them started to be elected as representatives in congress. Joseph Rainey was the first African American Representative in December 1870.   

The American revolution was one of the most significant steps the United States took to being established as an independent country. The Americans got free from the English crown, which was the governors of America at that time. The cause of that was taxation acts. The Americans started to feel that the English were not needed, and conflicts, such as the Boston massacre, started to occur. The book says, “On March 5, 1770, a fight between a snowball-throwing crowd of Bostonians and British troops escalated into an armed confrontation that left five Bostonians dead” (Foner 190). This massacre was when the English killed five working-class men, and it started the American revolution. The revolution was the step that gave the Americans independence that made them accessible and independent.  

The democratic government protects human rights, and citizens have the right to vote for their representatives in history. It states, “The Constitution of the United States of America, adopted in 1788, provides the world’s first formal blueprint for a modern democracy”. (History of the World) this was when the democratic government started, but this is not the one we use today because it has changed with time. For example, “The 1830s and 1840s have been called the Age of Jackson, or the period of Jacksonian Democracy”. (Foner 365) in this era, Andrew Jackson felt that the constitution had to be changed, and he was the first democratic president of the United States.  

Overall, the United States has gone through many changes and processes that have helped shape what it is today. All the wars, the slavery movements, and governments have helped create a free and independent country. Moreover, it has made it possible for its citizens could live a better life making it the number one country in the world that receives immigrants. 

Work cited  

Foner, Eric. “[Eric Foner] Give me Liberty! An American History(z-Lib.org). Pdf.” Google Drive, Google, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KYkmARPxLjdFY3Dd0yPwzY_WZdjmAs8M/view. 

“U.S. Entry into World War I, 1917.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/wwi#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20later%20declared,Hungary%20on%20December%207%2C%201917.&text=Germany’s%20resumption%20of%20submarine%20attacks,States%20into%20World%20War%20I. 

Farmer, Bob, and Bob Farmer #molongui-disabled-link. “10 Ways World War I Changed America.” Farmers’ Almanac – Plan Your Day. Grow Your Life., 28 Jan. 2021, https://www.farmersalmanac.com/10-ways-world-war-i-changed-america-22983. 

“HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY.” History of Democracy, http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=mzs.