American History

American History

Introduction

Christopher Columbus's landfall in the Caribbean in October 1492, possibly on the island now known as San Salvador, marked the beginning of large-scale contact between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Columbus was born in the Italian republic of Genoa. His father was a wool weaver and merchant, although not a wealthy one. Columbus's formal education was limited, but he probably studied religion, geography, and arithmetic at the wool merchants' guild school. As an adult Columbus read widely and placed great faith in what he found in books.

The Genoese were known for their sailing ability, and Columbus went to sea at a young age. He sailed the Mediterranean for several years and settled in Portugal in the mid-1470s, where he lived for about a decade. While in Portugal he married Felipa Moniz in 1478 or 1479. They had one child, a son born in 1480 that they named Diego. The extent of Columbus's sea voyages in these years is unknown. He probably traveled to England and Ireland and perhaps to Iceland. He traveled as far south as the Portuguese fortress of Sao Jorge da Mina, on the Gold Coast of Africa, and was also familiar with Madeira and the Canary Islands. Columbus probably first tried to secure backing for a voyage into the unknown reaches of the Atlantic in 1485, when he approached King Joaõ II of Portugal. Little is known about this episode, but later traditions held that a committee appointed to look into the matter recommended against him (Zinn, 2003).

Absolutism and the Social Contract

In 1589, in France, the Bourbon Henry IV tried to achieve the concentration of powers; emerging victorious from the Fronde uprising that occurred between 1648 and 1653. Between 1643 and 1715, Louis XIV, known as the "Sun King", coined the phrase "I am the state", which symbolizes the aspiration of the absolutism of the time. He was a skillful diplomat, who organized the best seventeenth-century European army (Zinn, 2003).

This theory of the social contract, will be deepened by Rousseau (1712-1778), who describes the natural state as a paradise where all men are equal and enjoy a wealth of resources to ensure everyone's needs. This natural state is fully democratic, and that all men are equal, and there is no private property. It was only when nature became more rebellious causing climate change, when the goods became scarce. This led the struggle for possession of resources that are no longer plentiful and life became uncertain. Then the men felt the need to create a state that would provide increased security loss, making a social contract, where everyone agrees to submit to the will of the majority, who represent the general, will.

The American Revolution

The American Revolution (1775-1783) was a period of significant political changes caused by the insurrection of the inhabitants of the Thirteen Colonies of North America against the British in the late eighteenth century. Episode founder of the nation and the American birth of the United States, the revolution were manifested in violence against ...