America's Economic Boom (module 6)

According to the textbook Out of Many, the United States hasn’t always been the epitome of booming economic success. There was a time when we were an undeveloped country. There were other countries that were far more powerful than us. The year was 1800 and those commanding nations were Britain and France. In 1800, the United States was mostly farm land used for agriculture. Ninety-four percent of Americans lived in very small communities and four out of five families farmed the land. (pg. 242)

At this point in time, the main objective of farming was to provide for their own families. The idea of selling was not even an option at this time. Britain and France both had no great need for American raw materials and heavily taxed American ships. It seemed that the United States might never be an integral part of trading with these commanding countries.
The economic boom, as it’s called, began around the time of the French Revolution. Because these two countries were at war they depended on the United States to do their exporting for them, this was known as reexports. America got the advantage because they were neutral in the warfare. “Reexports amounted to half of the profits in the booming shipping trade.” (pg. 243) America also profited from a long string of European wars which allowed them to be a vital part of the China trade.

This period, called the National Period, was a very important time in our history. The United States was once a country dominated by others. These events in international trading were the foundations of what would become of our great nation.

Columbus - Hero or Villain?

Growing up, I knew what I think every child knows about Christopher Columbus, “in the year 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” He had three ships, the Nina, Pinta, and of course the Santa Maria. He found land and ate with the Indians and Pilgrims…we had plays every Thanksgiving about it. So of course, with this being my knowledge of the subject, I was appalled to read what actually happened when Columbus stumbled upon this new found land.

From the reading of chapter one in A People’s History of the United States, the author tells of the truth in Columbus’ expedition. He tells of the extraordinary violence towards the Indian people. Columbus’ men practically killed Indians for sport. Reading about the violence was very disturbing to me. “Infants were killed to “save” them from the Spaniards.” (pg. 7) This absolutely sickens me to think that they had to kill their own innocent children because they didn’t want them to know the pain and suffering caused by the Spaniards. This is just one example of the horrifying acts taking place during this time. Hundreds of thousands of Indians died, not only from the hand of the enemy, but from mass suicides and being overworked.

I understand that what Columbus did, in discovering America, was an honorable thing and quite historic. I only wish there wasn’t so much blood shed. Although, everything happens for a reason. What kind of world would we be living in if the events that occurred had not? Who’s to say it would have been any better or worse. All I know is that somewhere throughout history, the truth has been masked. Children grow up thinking Christopher Columbus was a noble and important man in history (hey, we get a day of from school because of him!) without knowing just what he was capable of. I can’t necessarily coin Columbus hero or villain, he did what he believed he had to do at that time. History is full of violence and we can’t control what or how any of it happened. We just have to accept it and understand it. For we all are history in the making, and none of us are perfect.

introduction

Hello! My name is Monica and I am 28 years old. I live in Oakley with my husband and 2 children. My daughter is 3 and my new son is 8 weeks. I am going back to school after many years to become a teacher. I plan on transferring to Cal State East Bay to get my degree. I look forward to good semester, good luck to everyone!