The America as we know it today traces its roots to the influence of European settlers in the 16th-18th centuries. Throughout the years, America developed a unique system of governance and revolutionary socio-economic transformation never seen anywhere else before. The New World progressed first from a marginal colonially-suppressed society, through an independent agrarian economy and eventually to a highly complex technological-industrial society. During these times of evolution, America was compelled to develop correspondingly complex systems of governance and institutions to match its growth. Politically, the country embraced democratic ideals that set forth a representative government in which each person had a voice in the matters of the state. In the economic front, growth and development in such sectors as agriculture and industrialization brought about widespread commercial dominance that continues to resonate beyond the borders of the country till now. Economic and political development in the country at the time brought about an influx of new ideas among Americans that fostered the creation of a community with a unique sense of American identity. Over time, from the colonial period and Revolutionary America in the 1770s through the creation of a Young Republic to the expansion, political reforms, and turmoil of the 1860s, significant socio-economic and political changes occurred throughout the country.
While a lot of social changes occurred in America between the 1770s and 1860s, a significant some played crucial roles in the social transformation of the country that helped create the unique American identity and ‘the Americanness’ we see today. One such important social factor was the mingling of the races. In the 17th and 18th Century America, the United States was a society made up of a picturesquely mottled population of numerous foreign groups and diverse ethnic backgrounds. Notable racial groupings included blacks mainly from the African Slave Trade, the Germans, Scot-Irish, Anglo-Saxons, and Brits. As these groups of immigrants socialized and intermarried, they created a unique social foundation of a new inter-racial people for a different multicultural American national identity. Another climatic, social change occurred through the impacts of colonization and ‘Europeanization’ that brought about social stratification and created barriers to mobility, especially for slaves and underprivileged whites such as the poor and jailbirds. The conflicts of revolution and battles of independence resulted in a social plague of war that created a class of poor Americans, mainly widows and orphans and who became independent on others for survival. There was also The Great Awakening that left several lasting social effects. This mass movement broke down the 17th and 18th Century American regional and denominational boundaries and helped create a sense of nationhood and that of a country united by a shared history in America.
The settling of European was one of the several pioneering factors that contributed to the development of the American economy in the 17th-18th Century. At the time agriculture emerged as the leading industry with the fertile middle colonies producing large quantities of tobacco and grain. The importation of surplus commodities brought about a bustling commerce both coastwise and overseas leading to a general improvement in standards of living in the country and the emergent of a clique of businesspersons called Merchants. The economic activities of merchants opened up interior America for trade, and soon roads and ship-building and sailing for wealth generation took hold. At the turn of the 18th century, lumbering picked pace which was followed by the appearance of specialized sawmills and lumber mills. The adoption of the US Constitution in 1787 was another crucial element. As an economic Charter, the 1787 Constitution and in effect to this day, established that America as a whole was a ‘unified’ common market which shall have no tariffs, taxes, or restrictions on interstate commerce. It facilitated the creation of a favorable environment for economic growth notable of which was the adoption of money and regulation of its value. In the century that followed new inventions and increased capital investments led to the development of new industries and more space for economic growth. For instance, as transportation improved in the country, new markets continuously opened. Inventions such as the steamboat (and engine) and the railroads not only had significant economic effects, but also opened up vast stretches of unexplored territory and attracted a good deal of both domestic and foreign private investment. Such developments also established the base for the country's industrialization whose impacts culminated in the 18th Century Industrial Revolution.
The above socio-economic changes happened side by side and to a greater extent were driven and determined by the changes in the political arena. Critical political events that happened through this period included the American Revolution, The Rise of the sons of liberty and the Wars of Independence. There was also the creation of the Articles of Confederation and widespread country-wide political participation. The establishment of the new Socio-political order in America also served as a symbol of a post-revolutionary state bounded with a peculiar sense of domestic glory and nationhood. New ideologies emerged, as a result, such as the anticommunist movements and feelings of American pride that continue to pervade the American Society to date.
In the years between the 1770s and 1860s, the socio-economic, as well as political events that occurred throughout the country, laid a foundation of the need that the country needed to protect itself from outside incursions. These changes resulted in the creation of a socio-economic system in the country called the ‘American System’ of economies. These systems were designed to keep American goods within the country’s market structure. The success story of the system facilitated several other socioeconomic changes in the country, resulting in the famous Market Revolution. Together with the political revolutions of the 1770s, the United States Market Revolution laid the foundation for the industrial and technological innovations that occurred in the subsequent years and whose effects and endless transformation aided in the creation of the America as we know it and the American Identity and Nationalism of today.
Bibliography
OpenStax College History. "U.S History." OpenStax OpenStax College History. Last modified March 3, 2016. .
The American Yawp. "The American Revolution." Last modified 2016. www.americanyawp.com/text/05-the-american-revolution/.
The US Department of State. "Chapter Three: Outline of the U.S. Economy." About the USA. Accessed March 9, 2016. http://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/oecon/chap3.htm.
U.S History.com. "Historical Eras." United States American History. Last modified 2016. http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/eras.html.
