Census and Struggles of First Settlers

The beginning of the colonial period brought nearly one million people from Europe and Africa to the first colonies. There were about 600,000 Europeans and nearly 300,000 Africans. What is so significant about the two numbers is the ratio of slaves to freemen. This is because all of the Africans were slaves, and nearly half of the Europeans were as well. This unreasonable ratio left freemen as the minority. At the end of the colonial period(1790) the first census was taken by the people of the United States. The total population amounted to nearly four million persons. Among that population was 3.1 million whites and 750,000 blacks. It must be made known that the native population was excluded.

Initially the populations of the first colonies had a difficult time establishing the colonies and improving the conditions. The first settlers had this issue because of three major reasons. First, the first settlers were very unprepared and had come to the colonies without the proper necessities. The settlers were not only exhausted from the trip but their supplies were dwindling. Second, The positioning and timing of the first colonies did not work in their favor. Not only did the settlers of jamestown land in a swamp that had salt contaminated fresh water but the area was also experiencing a drought. Lastly, Death rates from disease and malnutrition were staggering. Disease from several different causes made life for the first settlers difficult. It was argued by Edmund S. Morgan that not until 1700 did the birth rate in Virginia exceed the death toll.

immigration vs. migration

In the first chapter, people coming from Europe to the "New World" are defined as migrants rather then immigrants. Their voyage is classified as migration instead of immigration because; although people are coming from Europe to America, America's national frontier is yet to be established. Therefore, workers are not crossing borders, just migrating to new land. This is significant because an immigrants attitude is different from that of a migrant. It seems migrant workers have an advantage. An immigrant may have citizenship issues or problems adapting to the new system. The author chose to define people coming from Europe to the new world as migrants to better define the struggles experienced by the group.

The Beginning of the Pacific

It has always been a debate when it comes to the exact date of human arrival around the world. When it comes to the coastlines and islands of the pacific, data and information from the past has often been misinterpreted and the unknown history of the pacific is still being explored today. If continued progress is made regarding the history of Pacific it could possibly reveal unknown history about mankind.

Just how early seafaring actually began is still a question. However, what is interesting is the ability of humans to adapt to the environment and expand throughout the world at such a early stage of life. "This human ability to innovate during periods of heightened environmental stress is one of the hallmark characteristics of our specie..."

Our most current data supports a spread of cultures that adapted to the pacific shortly after the pleistocene period. Currently we use radiocarbon dating techniques to identify historical sites. Although radiocarbon dating is a technique developed over half a century ago it still seems to be are best resource for identifying just how old archaeological sites really are.

What is "America"?

The discovery of the Americas was hard for civilization to understand. Knowledge about the "new world" was mainly speculation or opinion. One could almost draw a parallel to modern day exploration into the universe. Many modern day explorers have spent time observing space and its vast uncertainty and still have no real legitimate understanding of it.

The reading sparked multiple ideas and thoughts about the classification of cultures that create the melting pot known as the americas. First, creating a definition of the "Americas" is difficult. I found that there is two ways of attempting to define "America". By culture or by geography. However, neither one gives a clear, or efficient, definition of America. Geography can be misleading; although Mexico neighbors the U.S. it can be classified culturally asfrom the U.S. and more similar to S. American countries. I prefer defining America by culture; a variety of culture mixed and scrambled into one that is separate yet together. Th separate at the "new world", or n. and s. america, has such diversity that its diversity is its only common ground.

The U.S. and Canada may make up the largest part of the Americas but they are also different and can almost be classified as separate from the rest. While other American Counties struggle with political and economic stability the U.S. and Canada have a different agenda. Understanding the Americas as a whole is difficult but feasible.

Indias unique independence

India like any other country was dominated by colonialism. They were under control and run by other countries with a upper hand in industrialization and development. What was unique about their Independence was their decision to become a democratic state and also the outcome religious struggles. India before gaining its independence consisted of Pakistan and Bangladesh. The reason for the split of the country was because of religious differences. The problem was that India consisted of both Hindu and Muslim followers. however, neither population was small, although Muslims had less followers in the area they were still a very large group. The two religious groups could not come to agreement and felt there needed to be separate countries in order to keep the peace. These struggles are so significant because a country was able to section off three separate area and still keep India a democratic state. The two religions belong to very different civilizations.

Communism and its possiblites

Communism is a tricky system, it has been proven that it needs an ideal nation to adopt the system in order to succeed. Communism is basically the idea that equality is everything and that if everyone does their own part there will be enough to go around. The communism experiment that took place and still continues to, is a search for a life that is better then capitalism. It hopes to obtain a "rely on your neighbor because he rely's on you" attitude. The first initial experiments with communism failed because of the nations lack of resources and power. Also a huge factor that made these communist countries unsuccessful was a corrupt leader or group of leaders. in my opinion, the leader of a nation is the most important part, especially in the case of communism. If a country is being lead in the wrong direction or even has any doubt in their leader it is a government that will surly fell. This is why communist nation have always had a such a struggle. Although their ethics attempt to spread the wealth their leaders and important official lack to execute. They may not take the wealth for themselves but the money used correctly. I feel that if communism was attempted with our country, their would be a very positive turnout. This is if everyone is willing to comply, the system depends on cooperation and this is usual why it faults.

Outcomes of global conflict

The world wars were important because they sparked change among several of the major powers. The war forced some countries to change by overpowering their enemies into submission and others changed because of what they had experienced,the powerful shock that would be known as modern warfare. Each country had an individual experience that would change their perspective on what should be done during the aftermath. Germany and Japan had very similar experiences, especially in the second war. Germany was to Europe what Japan was to Asia. Both in their own parts of the world an unsatisfied power that was hungry for land and domination. The Germans never got over the first war and again assumed the position of the aggressor sparking a second world. The Japanese desired to be a dominated culture and when threatened by Chinese nationalism they began to attempt to take over territories. The west, along with parts of Europe, would not let this happen. The west along with the allied forces would control the aggressive nations and influence them with western culture that would be infused in their history whether it was accepted or not. The west, on the other hand saw the massive destruction it cause and multiple mistakes it had made with its own people and other countries. The realization left the culture tentative and unsure of themselves. I feel that since the major wars our country has been unsure about solving exterior problems.