18th Century American Life America

18th Century American Life

America is a still a very young country. It has been only ten years since we got our independence from the British and hence this is a very transitory phase in the life of a young country. But there are signs that it will someday be a great nation. This is what I observe when I go to the port with my father everyday. Every day ships carrying large number of immigrants disembark at Miami port and the look of hope and happiness seen on their face tells me that America can really become a giant nation if all these immigrants bring their talent, hard work and hope to this country.

But there is still a long way to go. America having recently attained its freedom has a long way to go before it can stand on its feet as a nation. There are still many political and economic problems facing the country. We live in the south and we get to see all the social ills of America in their stark nakedness each day. The reason I can see these problems is because I did not grow up seeing this. We used to live in the North close to Maryland for the first ten years of my life. Then father decided to work as a vendor at Miami port and that's when we moved to the South. And what a shock it was at first! It was the first time ever that I learned the words like "plantation," "slaves," and "slave-based economy." But with the passage of time, I came to realize that what we found horrifying in the North was a normal everyday reality in the South and after years of being in chains, it appears that even the slaves do not object to their situation anymore. Unfortunate as it was, it is true and the only thing we can do is be kind to the slaves because obviously it is totally beyond us to grant them freedom. South is a huge slave-based economy where plantations are the bread and butter of the rich white families. These plantations are nurtured and nourished by the slaves and while it pains me to see them at work in harsh conditions, I admire their strength and their endurance. They are actually running the Southern economy. If they could see what a huge part they are playing in the economy of the South, they would be able to see their power. But it will take them a long time before they can do something about their unfortunate situation.

I must tell you that when we lived in Philadelphia, my father still worked at the port. Ships that landed at Philadelphia brought in immigrants each day but these were very different set of immigrants than the ones we find in Miami. If you think that in Miami, the immigrants are all black who are brought here in chains as slaves, you are wrong. These people are free people who have chosen to come to the U.S. On their own accord from neighboring Latin countries. Yes the slaves ships still arrive but they have a different route than the one used by ordinary ships and hence I am virtually unaware of their existence. I and dad work at the port to sell a lot of merchandise to poor immigrants at highly subsidized rates. This merchandise is normally made by women in their small cottage industries in country areas surrounding Miami. Some women make good seamstresses and hence can sew skirts, scarves and blouses in large quantities. Dad purchases these necessary items at bulk prices and then we sell them at the port. We understand that when immigrants come to the U.S., they need to some essential items including clothes and thus dad has been doing quite well with his small business.

Recently we have seen a sudden rise in the number of immigrants. I wondered what could be the reason because Miami did not use to the point of attraction for people from countries like Germany etc. But lately more and more people are coming in from Europe instead of Latin countries. It could be because of the seven years war that had ended somewhere in the middle of 1760s. Frankly I was too young to remember the war or how it started and ended. But my dad believes that it was because of that war that people are now coming to the U.S. In droves. I may not agree because it obviously was twenty years ago that the war ended. I personally feel this is because of America's independence from the British that is now sending more and more people this way. Secondly seven years war did more damage in Europe than it ever did in the U.S. where it had started two years prior to everywhere else.

The economy of Europe faced a major setback when the war started because it mostly involved European states and the entire bloc suffered because of violent military attacks with Russia and France. In the U.S., however the effects of the war were still felt far less than they were in Canada where Quebec was under siege for a long time before it was finally freed from French occupation in 1760. The British economy however suffered a great deal due to this war and the national debt for Britain increased manifold. What America faced in terms of the consequences of war was not anything immediate. It took some years before Scots and Irish began their journey to the U.S. after they saw debilitating economic conditions in their countries due to heavy British debt. My father thinks that Miami is now encountering the "delayed effects" of the war as it has seen an increase in its population. This may actually be true considering the fact that Spain occupied many of the Latin countries and with the war ending, its power over some of the colonies ended or at least became loose enough to allow locals to flee. This is when many of them came to the U.S. And most importantly to Miami, Maryland, Philadelphia etc.

Thus war has affected North America but mostly the eastern side, east of Mississippi river. The rest of the U.S. especially the very South and the very West have remained largely unaffected.