War Imagine Living in 18th Century America.

¶ … War

Imagine living in 18th Century America. What would a person encounter during that time period? Would the diverse social and political backgrounds impact a person positively or negatively during this era? Can a person prepare for what may occur with the upcoming Seven Years War? How would the outcomes of this war affect America in general? One will study these issues in depth from the perspective of an individual existing in the past.

During the 18th Century, I experienced a number of things that are worth mentioning. I went to the south at one time and noticed that slavery is an issue. Many of these individuals are poor, and a select few became land owners despite becoming exposed to various diseases. When I saw this I was devastated and wanted to help each person but I could not. However, these people after fifty years of service were promised their own land after completing their time in slavery but this was not always the case (HistoryKing, 2011). Over time, slavery diminished and "the south gradually became a society consisting of elite rich planters, family farms and a mass of enslaved Africans" (HistoryKing, 2011).

When I went to the north, this is what I encountered. Farmers were considered yemoman, and they owned 70% of their land and did everything possible to help society run as smooth as possible (HistoryKing, 2011). On many occasions, they passed down these farms to their children; consequently, "others petitioned the government for new land grants and ended up migrating to the interiors to form new communities" (HistoryKing, 2011). These are hardworking people who are trying to earn a living and make a difference in the community they serve. All of them are valuable because of providing food for those in their cities' or towns in order to help others survive (HistoryKing, 2011).

The Mid-Atlantic States were unique in their own way when I travelled to see the ocean in Virginia and to visit New York. Philadelphia consisted of have at least "12 religious denominations which included Quakers, Anglicans, Swedish, Roman Catholics and German Lutherans" (HistoryKing, 2011). In fact, many of these people worked for the state as representatives who were quite religious in their faith and spoke of it often. I did not see a lot of farms in this particular location of the United States because of how populated they are over here. Regardless, I noticed that there was a mix of a number of groups that were held together through politics and religion as well as trade (HistoryKing, 2011).

Many political trends were taking place during this time in history. For example, the Great Awakening was taking place in the "13 English colonies" (Bailyn, 2002). The politics consists of egalitarianism, especially more so than Britain. I noticed that we were attempting to break away from England on many occasions, but they kept taxing us in order for us to stay under their control. Life was hard for us then, politically because we were a nation that was learning and growing (Bailyn, 2002). During this time, religion became central to life itself because people, but it was difficult to "transplant the parish system to control religious life on the frontier" (Bailyn, 2002). As a result of this Great Awakening, many people were religious but were not active in the church setting (Bailyn, 202).

Slavery was an ongoing issue when I was travelling around the various states in America. This was a means of having labor in the southern colonies. No one really knows how many people were transported here, but I suspect a lot because of how often this was used. As the years progressed, many people learned that this was an ongoing issue and chose to rebel. When people went to the government for help, especially George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, eventually the issue became obsolete, but this took years to get rid, and when it did life was not the same again for the people in the south (Bailyn, 2002).

In regard to political parties, no provision was established (Bailyn, 2002). "Washington was opposed to factionalism that parties represented. They began to form even before Washington left office" (Bailyn, 2002). The first debate was between Hamilton and Jefferson. I continued to see this trend grow and it was amazing to see the progress that was made over the years, so that people could have a voice with their government that was slowly getting established (Bailyn, 2002).

Because of all the different backgrounds and views, the Seven Years War erupted in America. Here are the causes of how it all happened. I noticed that "powers protected their interests by building a series of fortified trading posts throughout the maritime regions and boundaries in the new colonies were disputed" (University of Southern Mississippi, 2011). Through commercial competition, much violence occurred. I later learned that the French seized what were rightfully those that were English in regards to their trading post in Madras, India. Furthermore, Caribbean pirates chose to attack Spanish vessels; consequently, the French as well as the English were fighting over the sugar islands. This made the Seven Years War occur (University of Southern Mississippi, 2011).

After the Seven Years War, I was affected as well as America. In regards to myself, life was not the same again. Everywhere I went, people were disgusted with what our country had endured and believed that it was not fully unavoidable because of Britain wanting to dominate trade in the future. Everyone did not want Britain doing anything for us because they have tried to control us before and now we are on the brink of another war with the French and Indians. I do not want to see this happen anytime soon because I have seen too many of innocent friends and family die.

I was too upset by what I saw from the results of the Seven Years War. In fact, this "paved the way for the establishment of the British Empire of the 19th Century" (University of Southern Mississippi, 2011). Because of this war, life was oppressed all the more because I was not able to live life to the fullest by having a job like I wanted to, but then to have someone have so much power over us that does not care what we think, feel or behave on a regular basis (University of Southern Mississippi, 2011).