Early American History, Outline Example

In the land we today call the United States of America, once 2.9 million native people lived. Native Americans were considered “uncivilized tribes” by Western explorers and were treated accordingly. The Indian tribes of America were the only inhabitants of the continent before the 15^th Century. During the course I learned how the society of the “new land” developed and how the developments led to freedom through the Civil War.

With the settlement of New England, often used as a collective name for the colonization of the continent saw several communities started by French and English people. The communities adapted a puritan approach towards life and strict religious principles.

The colonial wars with the native Indians started in 1622, with the massacre of Virginia. Some of the major Indian tribes in New England were Pequot and Paucatuc. This was followed by several smaller incidents, colonial wars and finally the division of the North and South, ending in the Civil War between states in 1856-1865.

The society of Early America in the 18^th Century was based on different classes: the elite, the middle class, the working class and the slaves. While the Church of England was the official church of the colonies, some communities formed communities based on other protestant religions. The main states of British North America in 1775 were Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Newport, Rhode Island and Charleston.

The division and later conflict between the North and South was based on economy, attitude towards slave trade and industrialization. While Southern states had a total of 9 million population, 3.5 million of the people were slaves, working on large plantations. The North took a different route and started building railways, developed industries and grew richer. When the Northern States called for the abolition of slavery, – for obvious reasons – Southern states objected and the Civil War started, ending with the triumph of the North.