The Stono Rebellion

Beginning in the 18th century, colonial frustrations with the British monarchy intensified. For many decades, the colonists had been left to govern themselves in a process referred to as salutary neglect; however, after Britain went to war against France in 1754 colonial management of affairs would be stripped away. This would be the first spark of many that would inspire the American Revolution. Though the United States would experience significant changes in their government, economic system and social conditions, influences from their mother country would always be apparent. Before 1660, England had governed the Chesapeake and New England colonies loosely, allowing the colonies to develop their own system of government which regulated affairs.

The land was extremely important to the people, and still is today. The more land you have, the more power and wealth. England gave the colonies a part of the land in the east region of North America. The west side belonged to the French. The colonies became greedy and wanted more land to expand and increase their wealth.

When the Spanish French and English landed in the Americas, with the goal of colonization, they ran into the natives, encountering communities inhabiting the Americas all of their life. The colonizers reacted to the Natives differently. The Spanish vowing to rule the natives, making them as much like a Spaniard especially in religion as possible. The English wanted to use the Natives, viewing them as their servants, and like the Spanish, wanted to convert the Natives to be more like the superior English. The French on the other hand, believed more in using the Natives as resources, but still reassured the natives that the French were better.

During the early to mid eighteen hundreds, Britain, and subsequently, the British Empire underwent a change of attitudes towards slavery. Beginning in the 1807 when Britain outlawed slavery, the development of indentured servitude occurred. Following this, African slaves who were freed, nevertheless, the grueling plantation work still needed people to till the fields and harvest the crops. Indentured servitude of Indians was an, as of yet, mostly untapped resource. The largely illiterate Indian populace, not knowing the agreements in which they were signing, were forced into similar roles and conditions as the recently freed Africans.

Throughout history there has always been the debate, is America a land of opportunity? It is well known that situations in the past have not always been handled very professionally. With a semi-weak government and the idea that only certain criteria meeting men will amount to anything gives off the impression that not all is off to a good start. It is said that time heals all wounds, but if you look thoroughly through a history textbook it is evident that this is not always the case. To look back at things in the past you can easily tell that times were exceptionally different and harder.

The history of African- Americans is the part of the history of America which focuses on the history of particular ethnic group in the United States of America. The term African- American was created and made popular in 1960s by Malcolm X, one of the leaders of African- American Movements in the United States of America. The history of the Negro nation has its beginning in the 17th century, when the first black people came to the American colonies as slaves.

It was interesting to learn that race was not an immediate issue in the colonies until the intense need for labor came into play. It’s amazing how the people who first came to America as Christians who were seeking freedom of religion and freedom from poverty were so quick to turn on members of another race to better their lifestyles. It seems strange that Whites felt differently about Native Americans in the beginning than they did African Americans. I guess the difference would be that when Europeans first settled here they needed help learning the lay of the land and realized that cooperation with the Natives allowed for better success in their adventures. This allowed them to rationalize the idea that Natives were practically White and

The colonial planter’s view on the inequality towards British rule on the colonists were hypocritical due to colonial views on foreign control, rights of an Englishmen, and treatment of slaves. The colonial English disliked the increased foreign rule onto the colony. London was increasing control over the colonies militarily, politically, and economically ever since the recent wars in the region. The failure of rallying an army and supplies needed to fight the French resulted in Britain taking away local government. Colonial plantation owners were furious over the new Royal order over them.

The development of America brought the introduction to new ideas, experiences and different cultures coming together. Both non-European and European groups of people traveled and settled into this new world to find new land to conquer or find salvation. Many of these groups faced hardships coming into this new world, as they soon learned their differences would define them. The British would be deemed superior to their religion, ethics, and skin color would dominate the perception of the “true” American. The Irish and African Americans were two groups that came to America in hopes for better opportunities and a life they could build without hardship.

One thing people seem to forget is slavery has been in existence since the times of ancient Greece, Rome, Africa and Byzantium but Britain changed the way the world perceived slavery. Although, the British didn't have a master plan for slavery, or any idea of this new-found land becoming United States of America, the idea of slavery throughout the world started with Columbus trip to "Hispaniola". Which he thought was Japan but ended up being what is now knows as Dominican Republic and Heidi. Columbus main goal on his exploration was to find goods and spread Christianity but ended up bringing six captive native men because he believed they "should be good and intelligent servants" (Clark, 8). Thus, harboring the Europeans very first slaves.

Tension began to rise, as George III became the king of Great Britain in 1760. At first, he was an appreciated king, but because of his political views and whom he appointed as his ministers he quickly lost his fame. His first appointed minister George Greenville would impose several taxes on the colonist that would cause them to cry taxation without representation. The king also imposed the Proclamation of 1763, which regulated colonist expansion to the newly won territories in the west. And finally, after the calming before the storm, the tension broke with the Last Imperial Crisis.

Throughout the development of the colonies in America, slave trade grew to be a significant source of labor in primarily southern plantations within the late seventeenth to eighteenth centuries. During the era, with slaves being condemned to be considered socially inferior by law, and the increase in demand of goods such as rice and indigo, the slave labor force became a notable source for southern plantations in the eighteenth century. Slaves and people of color had always been considered to be socially inferior even before the colonies existed. With a sense of paternalism in Great Britain, people have always believed that those considered slaves,or servants rather, were second class citizens, and these people needed to be suppressed for their own best interests.

Colonies and Their Mother Country Although the conflict between Great Britain and her North American colonies rooted from economic, political and social reasons, economic played the strongest role followed by political and to a lesser extent social reasons. There wasn’t just one problem that lead to the rebellion of the colonists; many factors contributed like the acts imposed by Great Britain. The colonies were used to support their mother country economically, providing goods and a market. After the French and Indian War, Britain began enforcing mercantilism on the colonies.