European politics from the fifteenth to mid-nineteenth century

American Political Development

America's political system evolved greatly from its original days as a continent inhabited by Native Americans. It witnessed incredible growth politically that worked to separate it from either a wilderness, a colony, or a new nation to become a political power that suffered some struggles and underwent many changes, but ultimately kept growing. America's political development in its early years can largely be attributed to the forces that led to its creation- the European powers that invested their resources into colonization. Most important was England, to whom the colonies owed their early allegiance and the organization of the colonies. The colonies developed, however, separate of England, and egalitarian ideas were prominent and after the Revolution, although the colonies owed much of their political development from England, they adopted ideas about freedom and equality to differentiate themselves from their former colonizer. The result was a new nation and America's political develop then became aimed towards how the new nation would grow and expand and to the extent of the power of the federal government. The culmination of these differences between the ideologies in America resulted in the Civil War, and increased pluralism after it. The system however was very much the same as was established in the early days of the Republic, but there were a lot more players in the system as America had grown considerably in the 100 years since its formation. The result was a much more complex political landscape which seems to be less pure in its function and formation in the early days after the Revolution. America thus evolved from nothing, to a very complex political democracy from the 1400s until 1900. The earliest days of the political system in America was that the continent was dominated by Native Americans. This would change as North America would come to be discovered by Europe. Thus, the politics of the United States began, in the very early days as a place being discovered by the European powers. Columbus discovered the continent in the 1492 and the Spanish began exploration attempts in the early 1500s. This brought drastic changes to the American continent that would shape the evolution of the American system, as America did not just pop up from nothing in 1776, but rather evolved through the process of years of forces acting on it. The arrival of Europeans brought about great change to the Native continent, and diseases lead to political collapse and advanced technology allowed for the Europeans to impose their will on America. This resulted in a shift towards Western European political notions. The Spanish were the first to impose this shift settling in Florida and setting up missions in the southwest and along the California coast in the 1500s. They began to impose their religious and political notions on the continent which were fervently Catholic and looked down upon the Native Americans and their lifestyle. These early days of American political development were marked by new changes to what would one day become the United Sates. These first changes to the American political landscape would take place in the early 17th century as the English began to arrive and settle the continent. The first successful English settlements were made in the early 1600s in what would be in the future states of Virginia and Massachusetts. This early political development was characterized by different factors, one being potential conflict between the Native Americans and colonists in which the American political trend of taking over from the Natives was established. Furthermore, an important development for America's politics was the fact that many of the colonists, such as those in Plymouth, settled in the New World for religious reasons. The Puritans were prosecuted in England, yet were able to go to settle freely without religious persecution in their own colony. Similarly, Pennsylvania because a refuge of religious freedom, and consequently many different people settled there. This set up America's place as a land of freedom, as in the 17th century religion was very important, however freedom of religion was practiced in America but not in England for instance. While the King had sway over the colonies, the King's religion was not enforced and this initial freedom would influence American political development and be a cornerstone of America for years to come. The many groups in what would become the United States got along peacefully which would become a characteristic of American political development. The escape to America allowed colonists from persecution and other bad conditions in their homeland contributed to the American political landscape. As America developed with this ideology, it also developed politically as colonies. These colonies were founded as a variety of different political entities from royal, to corporate, among others. These early colonies were founded under the King, but the ocean separating the King from his colonies which he gave the power helped to keep the American political landscape differentiated from parliament or the King. Charters which founded the colonies could and did change often, though loyalty was maintained to the king. Also, colonies had different forms of government. As the 17th century turned into the 18th, colonial governments became more developed and new colonies were formed until there were thirteen. These colonies were governed by a governor who was often not even living in the colonies but just a governor to get revenue, the governor did have power over legislative law. The governors also appointed judges and controlled the military. These colonies as English entities also functioned under the English framework and did have legislatures. This meant English notions were transferred to the American political system, however in America they were extended. The Council of America's colonial governments, for example, were patterned much like the House of Lords. Assemblies existed in the colonies with representatives that dealt with local issues much like the Parliament dealt with issues for British citizens. The colonies though were not political independent in regards to major international decisions that effected things as a whole, and thus while the early political development marked a reflection of the British model, it was still under British control. The biggest development in American politics took place later in the 18th century as the American Revolution drew near. Conflicts arose between the colonists and the British Government across the Atlantic who wanted more authority, and between legislatures and governors locally. The Americans considered themselves subject to the British government, but this would soon change as a series of legislative decisions by the British such as the Stamp Act led to great alarm among the colonists. The result was increased conflict with the British and inciting events like the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre that spurred the colonists to not only oppose the crown, but the revolt and form their own government. The colonies became states and threw out the British agents and wrote their own Constitutions. The Americans were very liberal and believers of John Locke's social contract, which gave them theoretical background to make the political statements that they made against the British rulers. The colonists adopted the notion to become a Republic and in the 1770s major strides were made in American political development thus to be different than the British, or rather to correct areas that they felt were oppressors under the British system. The Founding Fathers worked to create a Constitution and a Confederation of the colonies as a Republic, and therefore the groundwork was set for the American system of government. The aftermath of the Revolutionary War was ultimately American independence and a sense of freedom and equality that differentiated the young United States from Great Britain and other European nations. George Washington became the first President and a new Constitution was drafted and this was a major event in the political development America as there were contrasting viewpoints on what the states should become. While free was definitely accepted, the next notion was what kind of power the federal government should have over the states and how representation should be established within the legislature. The great compromise established a representative House, and a Senate in which all states were equal to protect small states and give fair representation to big states. This was a major event and the Convention established the United States system of government and how it would be to this day. America after independence then got to work securing itself as a new government. The Bill of Rights was written by Congress, and America went out to secure its independence as a world entity separate from Britain and Europe. The Supreme Court was established, the executive was put into place, and America began to view itself as a sovereign power in the world. The expansionist tendencies led to the Louisiana Purchase and War with Mexico as American politics took on the notion of Manifest Destiny. Immediately after independence Washington and the federalists established a federal notion of government, but this changed with the Jefferson's agrarian notion and Presidency. Democracy continued and partisan politics declined in the early 19th century, but this would change beginning with the 1820s. American politics took another turn with problems that would lead to the Civil War, as the North and the South each had their own interests. Tariffs to protect some Northern manufacturing interests greatly angered the South leading to attempts to nullify acts of the federal government, ultimately resulting in conflict between the powers of the states and the federal Union. The result of this conflict led to the Civil War and American political development became one in which decisions over slave and free-states were the most prominent. America became increasingly partisan and the Republican party emerged to compete along with Know Nothings and Democratic Party. Ultimately the South seceded resulting in a Confederacy that split from the Union as the debates over slavery reached an all-time involving all aspects of political life. The Civil War split America in two and then brought it back together again. But the new America was not the same as there were many contentious interests after the war, expansion, and immigration. America was now much more pluralistic and would face new problems into the future, including many dealing with foreign policy. The system as it grew also excluded more people, and new forces would come to influence American politics such as populism and immigrants, and America would become a much more pluralistic nation. It would however be federal, as the Civil War established America as a sovereign nation and not a confederacy of states, and America would enter the 20th century as primarily a two party liberal democracy. The American political system underwent major changes as it started as nothing, then became a land the be exploited by Europe, then because colonies of England, then adopted some English models but applied new ideas of liberal republicanism to a system that ended up becoming federal and pluralistic. Through all this change and evolution, however, the original notions of freedom existed and did not go away, but they perhaps even were extended further as many people wanted to go America because of the notions of freedom in its political system that it offered. The political system thus had a lot to offer, and had evolved from nothing into one of the most free and egalitarian in the world. But there bumps on the road as witnessed by the divisions of the Civil War as it was not always clear which way the democracy would go, or if the Union would remain as one, but in the end America persisted and would go into the 20th century as a highly complex political nation whose forces over the years continued to change and alter not only the political landscape, but the political system as well. The political system, however, consisted of the same components of the earliest days of the Constitutional Convention, cemented by the outcome of the Civil War.