Americans ways of war and their constant transformations, from their alienated from their mother country into Englishmen. Dr. Grenier discussed the first way of war in the coming up of colonial America through the Creek War of 1813. In his introduction, Dr. Grenier examines the unique way America approached…
This book is inspired by just such a cross-cultural encounter as that between Kamal the border raider and the Colonel’s son of the Guides. In the first chapter the author recounts a conversation that he, a biologist studying bird evolution, had in New Guinea in 1972 with Yali, a local politician preparing his people for self-government, which culminated in the searching question ‘Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo [goods] and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own’ [p. 14]. ‘Yali’s question’ plays a central role in Professor Diamond’s enquiry into ‘a short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years’, leading him into a wide-ranging discussion of the history of human evolution and diversity through a study of migration, socio-economic and cultural adaptation to environmental conditions, and technological diffusion. The result is an exciting and absorbing account of human history since the Pleistocene age, which culminates in a sketch of a future scientific basis for studying the history of humans that will command the same intellectual respect as current scientific studies of the history of other natural phenomena such as dinosaurs, nebulas and glaciers.…
If not, tension always arises, creating a recipe for conflict and war. In New England, when the English settlers came, tensions emerged among the settling communities as well as the Native American communities. Land was a key factor in the tensions, driven by increasing English settlers and inter-tribal politics; the Pequot people carried the burden of what Philbrick terms as “European-style genocide”. The devastating brutality of the resultant conflict led all sides to seek accommodation and end the conflict. In both books, the themes, ideas and the driving forces that dictate the course of actions are similar, only that they happen at different centuries (Philbrick…
The French-Indian War was a major turning point in relations between the Americans and the British. American colonists were generations removed from their British ancestry, and it showed on the battlefield. The Brits and Americans had different tactics and ideals during the war. These differences created bitterness between the Americans and British economically, theologically, and socially following the war due to the fact that the British controlled the colonies and could therefore tax them/tell them what to do. If two countries hate each other, and one of the countries has control of the other one, problems are bound to arise, as they did between America and Britain following the French-Indian War. These problems would eventually lead to the American Revolution.…
The rivalry between the French and the English in obtaining Indian allies as well as defining boarders between the two colonies.…
Reading those chapters had revealed many unknown truths about American history. However, I was most moved by the ideas of David Walker, a free black man who lived in Boston. Takaki wondered how he learned how to write and read. The writer wrote, “Somehow, Walker learned to read and write; he studied history and pondered why blacks in America were in such a wretched condition”( Page 98). Walker promoted the idea that the whites were the true barbarians due to the practices of slavery. In addition, Walker realized that blacks in north were also struggling because they were relegated to menial labor and they were looked at as intellectually…
By the eve of the Revolution, the colonists had developed a strong sense of unity as Americans. Many events leading up to the American Revolution had been responsible for a small part of uniting the coloists together as Americans. One of the first visible steps was the French and Indian War (0). Especially after the embarassing failure of Braddock's battle, Britain's strong and invincible image was shattered in the eyes of the colonists. The war also bolstered colonial self-esteem, and united the American peoples when they discovered that they were all Americans who spoke the same language and shared common customs. This began to break down the barriers between the colonies (118).…
The French and Indian War, the North American counterpart to the 7 Years War, was a massive and costly event. The British government sent troops to defend the interests of the colonists. The repercussions of the war were quite significant and long lasting and the escalation that resulted led all the way to the Revolutionary War. The French and Indian War had great effect on the politics, economics, and ideology of the American colonies.…
Overall, the long era of imperial warfare beginning in 1689 negatively affected the North American colonies. It is explained on Page 88 how governments made compromises and formed alliances with Native Americans— only to result in more conflict as priorities of both sides shifted.…
Peter Silver, author of Our Savage Neighbors, is an associate professor of history at Rutgers University. The first chapter, An Unsettled Country, pretty well tells his purpose in writing the book. He shows “how fear and horror…can remake whole societies and their political landscapes”. (xviii) His focus is on the middle colonies, particularly Pennsylvania, from the beginning of the Seven Years War through the end of the Revolutionary War.…
In “The Most Dangerous Game”, the main setting is an island called Ship-Trap that is also consumed by evil. The similarities in both of these stories in a setting perspective, is that the island and the forest are both full of evil. The story of “Young Goodman Brown” is set in Massachusetts in the 1700’s during the time of the Salem witch trials, while “The Most Dangerous Game” is set in the 1920’s. Although the time periods of both of these stories are different, the themes of the settings in both are evil. Both of these settings represent evil because of where they are located. A dark forest creates a scary and uneasy mood, while a secluded island where you can hear gunshots also creates a scary and uneasy…
Indians and Whites have always had a fragile relationship that could ignite into a war within days. One point in history where we see this take place is during the Yamasee war. The Yamasee war is a product of a broken relationship. Historians such as William Ramsey have examined the Yamasee War and hypothesized why the Indians went to war against South Carolina. Ramsey’s book, The Yamasee War, pinpoints various conflicts that may have started the war. These conflicts piled on top of each other and lead the Indians to their breaking point. The war was overall ignited by the flame of a broken relationship.…
Plagued with the ever-present plight of war, the United States has endured many forms of this widespread and deadly affliction over the course of its relatively young life. Unceasingly analyzed in hopes of perhaps understanding the underlying and sometimes hidden causes, such wars have captivated the minds of scholars since the moment the nation's fathers tore independence from the stubborn clutch of England. Consider the great Civil War, a war that tested the United States' reputation of increasing power, of unification, of steadfastness. Often simplified and romanticized when being presented to young children, the causes of the Civil War are much more muddled and shady than any middle school teacher can make them out to be. While it is undeniable that the Mexican War accelerated the arrival of it, the Civil War was ineffable. Propelled by factors such as the Supreme Court's controversial Dred Scott decision, the popularity of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and the emergence of the Republican party, based on the fundamental opposition to slavery, the eventual explosion of tensions between the North and the South was unavoidable.…
Conflicts and violence in society are nothing new to the human race. Whether it's between the “haves” and the “have nots,” the government versus it's citizens, or citizens verses each other, constant conflict seems to be an aspect of civilization that humanity cannot live without. The most detrimental of conflicts that influenced the Revolution were factors of economic strife, the brewing conflict between colonists and the British rulers, as well as the discord between the colonists themselves. Although there are different theories as to how or why the initial conflicts started, there is no denying that America has a bloody history and a common usage of violence as an end to its means. A constant factor throughout history is the bloodshed…
Cave, Alfred A. The French and Indian War. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2004. Web. 12 February 2010.…