American History and Darkness

1, the history of the United States is composed of a number of eras, the United States was originally a British colony, after independence gradually emerged, becoming a world with greater influence in the world today.

2. Pre-colonial era

Before the Europeans came here, Native Americans lived in this vast land. Legend has it that their ancestors crossed the Bering Strait through Siberia to North America about 10,000 years ago and survived here, they did not have their own writing, but had a rich oral literature. Historical statistics vary widely from the population of the Indigenous people, and in 1492 (Columbus's first visit to North America) estimates that the total number of Indigenous people in North America was about 20 to 50 million. As European colonists deepened, indigenous peoples were massacred, and indigenous peoples' health and territory were seriously threatened. As a result of the arrival of Europeans, within 150 years, the indigenous population plummeted by 95%; their villages were destroyed and the land originally used for animal husbandry or cultivation was destroyed.

3. Colonial era (1492-1763)

In places where no one had come before, we wanted to transplant a nation. ”

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, britain began to colonize North America. The original North American immigrants were mainly landless peasants, hard-working workers, and puritans who were religiously persecuted. In 1620, they took the Mayflower to North America and formulated the Mayflower Convention on board. Ashore at Plymouth on 21 November, the Puritans signed a contract with 41 free adult men to abide by the Mayflower Convention. The content is to organize citizens' groups; to draw up regulations, etc. Laying the foundations of self-government.

During the colonial era, with the protracted war with the natives of North America, the severe labor shortage produced unfree labor such as slavery and indentured enslavement, and the British government's laissez-faire policy allowed the distinctive American spirit and culture to develop its distinctiveness. The slave trade flourished in the United States. From 1607 to 1733, British colonists established thirteen colonies on the east coast of North America (the Atlantic coast). Because the British immigrated to North America in pursuit of freedom and wealth, such as the persecuted Puritans and poor peasants. 2. Local governments enjoy the right to autonomy. The colonists had the opportunity and right to participate in politics more extensively than the British, and to develop a sense and capacity for self-government, so they believed that in the social contract, the government was composed of people who needed protection and support from the people.

4. In the middle of the eighteenth century, the economy, culture and politics of the colonies were relatively mature, and the colonial parliament still supported King George III, but they pursued the same status as the British Parliament and did not want to become a second-class citizen of Britain, but at this time, the Seven Years' War between Britain and France ended, and the British government, eager to consolidate territory and balance finances, changed its long-standing laissez-faire policy and advocated high-pressure means to increase taxes, which caused dissatisfaction among the North American colonists. Colonists chanted the "No Tax Without Representation" declaration, and after experiencing events such as the Boston Massacre and the Intolerable Act, they opened the prelude to the American Revolutionary War in April 1775 at Lexington and Concord. The British colonies on the east coast stretching from New England to Georgia became the first thirteen states of the United States.

In July 1619, the Virginia Legislature, the world's earliest representative body, was held in Jamestown, Virginia.

In 1619, the first African slaves were shipped by Dutch merchant ships to the colony of Virginia.

In November 1620, a group of Persecuted Puritans from England arrived at the port of Plymouth on the Mayflower, signed the Mayflower Convention, and decided to administer according to the wishes of the majority and establish a government of civil rule.

In 1636, Harvard University, the first institution of higher education in British North America, was founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony of Cambridge.

In 1756-1763, the Anglo-French North American War (known in Europe as the Seven Years' War) broke out, and the Indigenous peoples allied with France to attack the British colonies.

In February 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed, marking the end of the war. France ceded large parts of its North American colonies to Britain and Spain.

In 1763, George III forbade North American colonists to expand westward, increasing military spending to avoid conflict with the Natives. But at this time, the population and land prices in North America were soaring, and farmers, merchants, etc. wanted to actively expand westward. The strongest opponents were George Washington and Franklin.

From 1764 to 1765, the British Parliament passed a number of clauses to tax North America and establish customs in order to pay off the debts of the Seven Years' War; the Stamp Duty Act of 1765 was even more excessive, and even newspapers levied taxes. Colonial leaders issued a "no representation, no tax" declaration, declaring that taxes would not be paid without colonial representatives in the British Parliament. Since then, the tug-of-war between the North American colonists and the British has not limited economic interests, and the situation has been sublimated to a political problem - the definition of the power of the government.

In 1767, the British Parliament ignored the demands of the North American colonists and passed the "Don Sundall Act" to subsidize the British land tax reduction by the North American colonists, the colonial merchants in Boston and New York boycotted British goods, the British sent troops to Boston, and finally the Boston Massacre occurred. The incident caused anti-British sentiment, and the British side withdrew most of the taxes and only retained the tea tax. The British retained the tea tax to help the British East India Company dump tea cheaply.

On March 5, 1770, the citizens of Boston clashed with the British garrison, which opened fire on North American civilians, resulting in the Boston Massacre.

On December 16, 1773, the Boston Tea Pouring Incident.

On September 5, 1774, representatives of colonists from all over the world held the first "Continental Congress" in Philadelphia, and the colonists decided to terminate trade with Britain, not to accept the "DonShende Act", and called on European colonists to strengthen their armed forces and prepare for war.

On April 19, 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord became the first armed conflict of the North American War of Independence.

The Second Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia in May 1775, with George Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army

In 1776, the book Common Sense was published. Thomas Payne, the author, argues in this pamphlet that the colonies must be independent, first of all because Britain exploits colonial interests; second, North America is not Great Britain, and there are French, Germans, etc. in the Americas who seek freedom and wealth in this new world. The book was very popular in North America and had a great impact.

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, declaring that the new country was independent and completely separated from Britain, with the aim of realizing the ideals of the Enlightenment in order to "survive, seek freedom, and seek happiness".