As a nation as a whole, it took numerous years for a sense of unity to form within the United States as a whole. Strange is it not, that battles, martyrs, blood, and even assassination should so condense a nationality. With that said, is it war and violence that defines American history, did the past actions of America’s great ancestors actually bring Americans together as a whole; many would argue it did and that it also helped to sort out the constitution.
The year is 1763 and a new proclamation from the motherland of England is sweeping all around the young colonies of America. Within this proclamation, rules stated that the colonies were not to pass an invisible line drawn by the British. The British claimed it was for the colonies own good, for England realized that there was no way that the colonies would be safe from Indian attacks. However, many colonists did not see it this way and they argued that it was not fair. Many years went on and tension was rising rapidly within the colonies. One of the causes for this happened on the cold night in 1770, when crowds of defenseless people within Boston died from gunshot wounds; this had many within Boston shouting foul. The main cause of this increased tension was that England was imposing internal taxes such as the stamp act, as well as other taxes such the sugar act and Townsend acts. Such taxes angered the wealthy within the colonies and the masses were not much happier, leading to talk that maybe something needed to happen. Within Boston something did happen, the Boston Tea Party, where numerous people dressed up as Indians and dumped tea within the harbor. The message was one that would be hard to mistaken, the colonies made it clear to the king that they no longer considered themselves English. The king responded with shutting the port of Boston down and making sure group meetings did not happen, in hope to quite the talk of rebellion down. However it failed for the masses had already been heavily influenced by the wealthy to rebel against the British, that can be seen within the give me liberty or give me death speech. The final straw was broken within the battle of Lexington, where the first blood of the Revolutionary war dropped. The states as a whole came together and agreed to sign a document stating that they had their independence from Britain and that they were no longer part of England.
For the first year of the revolutionary war, the people of the colonies lost every battle, not winning even one. The army fighting on the American side within that year saw the numbers of fighting soldiers drop from 20,000 soldiers to a measly 2,000 soldiers. George Washington knew that he needed to do something quickly or else the war would be lost. So he did the unthinkable on the night of December 25th, 1776, he crossed the Delaware River in the dead of the night and attacked the English army. This tactic won the American armies there first battle, as well as reignite the fire within the hearts of the soldiers. Although the British considered George Washington as a terrorist, his unorthodox approach to that battle actually may have coaxed the spirits of rebels within America. For after that battle America won more and more battles and with each victory increased the volume of soldiers. Finally, after many years of fighting the battle ended after a major victory in Yorktown. The treaty of Paris and Britain came in to effect and with that, Britain rather hinted that they would be back and that they wished America good luck. For they figured that America had no money, and no way to tax itself that it would quickly fail. Sadly for the most part they were right, the states were in a state of freefall, this point within American history is where Americans were least united. With no way to govern this new nation, the wealthy were quick to realize something needed to be done and quickly. On September 17th, 1787, the constitution came into effect within the nation. This new document forever would change what America did and believed. However, this document also managed for the first time within American history to regroup and unit Americans for the first time since the Revolutionary war.
Everything continued and with this new constitution, it seemed things were starting to calm down. However, in 1799, after the election of Thomas Jefferson, an act that came into effect the night before Jefferson was to take office caused a total political bloodshed. This event was the Midnight Judges, where many judges were hired, thus increasing the size of total government, as well as keeping the total power of government to the previous group in office, before that of Thomas Jefferson. This “peaceful” change of power as said by Marshall was unconstitutional. However, it led to changes within the review system. However, one of the most controversial events in American history is the buying of the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson went against congress and the constitution went he told Monroe to purchase the land from Napoleon for 15,000 dollars. This lead too many people considering Jefferson to be a bad person for doing such a thing, but congress made it right by finding a way to pay for it all by selling land.
Britain came back in 1812 for a second try to take back America. The war was a bloody war and if it was not for France, the States may have actually lost the war. However, with that victory of that war came a new since of pride and patriotism. That bloody war, for the first time in a long time actually brought Americans in all the states together, the nation was for a short time a whole. America stayed in a sort of peacefully time after that war until about 1820. Then crises started to take over within the states, in 1819 the first of many economical depressions started to take place. The economy all throughout antebellum period was quite unstable. Causes for this unstableness ranges however to name a few, there was the bank wars in 1835, the failures of banks and economy. However, with each depression the nation seemed to become more and more independent.
The Missouri compromise intertwines with history that will take place later on. For the Missouri compromise was a debate about slavery states and if Missouri should or should not be a slave state. This lead too many debates within the nation and in the end the compromise made any state below an invisible line able to be a slave state and all the states above were not, thus the starting point of a splitting between south and north. For the territories, that were yet to be owned, or yet to be made into states, the states wanted to make sure no one touched them. So the Monroe Doctrine was passed that told everyone not American to stay out of this land, for this land was reserved for America. In exchange, America would not bother other countries.
With the new land locked into place, many Americans under the Manifest Dynasty went to fight for new land. This lead to the removal of the Indians, even against the wishes of congress, as well as the killing of many Indians, such as in the trail of tears, this lead to disagreement in the American people. However, there was also a war not often talked about, and that is the Aroostook war, where there was a dispute between Canada and Maine’s boarder. However, the wealthy were quick to jump in and solve the problem before there was much bloodshed; the solution was the Webster-Ashburton treaty. Mexico posed a problem for the United States; however, in the two-year war that took place with them, a battle was never lost on the American side. In the end, half of Mexico was American land, for the price of 15,000,000 dollars; called the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This war was very popular with the people of America, thus bringing them together once again, however it also divided the government. For many Whigs questioned Polk’s motives for the war. There was also a renewed debate over slavery between the North Whigs and the growing number of abolitionists against all of the south and a majority of democrats.
Leading up to 1860, historians argue greatly why the Civil war took place, however it is not hard to see that a great divide between south and north had formed. In all aspects, from political, to economy, to social issues, everything between both sides had changed. Government was quickly falling apart leading up to the war, from the destruction of the Whig party, to the pure destruction of government when four people ran for president in 1860. Next the economy of the north and south greatly differed, the south was a one sided economy and was suffering as such, while the north was a well round industrialized place. Then social was different at well, for the social way of life was outdated in the south while it was quickly transforming in the north. Many historians would argue that the cause was slavery, however whatever the reason, the civil war made a divide between the two sides. As the war went on many people died, gave blood, and even assassinated. This gore and destruction pitted friends and family against each other and ended up being one of the bloodiest wars known to most American. However, it did something that no other war before it could do; it actually brought the Americans together as a whole and kept it as a whole. Unlike in the past were it temporally became a whole, this time up to the present it stayed a whole. It also reshaped the constitution, as each battle and bloodshed before it had done.
War and battle within America in fact did bring people together as a nation; the constitution in each
war and battle received a editing that made it reach a near perfect formula. A bunch of independence came
together after that last war and finally actually became united, and not just looked at as a separate state. To
sum it up war and terror within the United States was wrong in many levels; however, it made the nation one,
and not many, thanks to the editing of the constitution.
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