Common Themes In US History

I've learned a lot this semester about history, and in this post I'm going to attempt to summarize some common themes in US history.

Exploration and Discovery

One of the most common themes in US history is the theme of exploration. Our country was founded because of the European's thirst to know more. Our country expanded and added new states to the union because of exploration. We continued to explore, to push limits, to know what was not known, to push the boundaries. In this case, curiosity didn't kill the cat.

Diverse Opinions

The US for a long time has been home to a wide range of diverse opinions and practices. Since our founding, these opinions have sparked new laws, riots, and wars. Slavery, one of the most diverse out of these, deeply divided our nation, caused the Civil War, and still has repercussions today. Many different people had lots of opinions about the founding of our nation. 

Loyalty to our Country

We've had a history of being loyal to our country. From the many different wars that we've had to the tons of political debates, all have been in what we thought the best interest of our country was.

Democracy and Freedom

Our nation was founded on a system of democracy and freedom. Ever since the Declaration of Independence, we've had a system of democracy in our government and had a Bill of Rights to protect our freedoms.

Five Of The Causes Of The Civil War

1. North wanted to end slavery, South wanted to keep it.
2. Abraham Lincoln was elected, which was not who the South wanted elected.
3. Tensions rose, and multiple skirmishes/battles occurred.
4. Missouri Compromise worked until we wanted California admitted to the Union.
5. The North wanted to take away the South's main economic staple by taking away slavery, which was the thing that the Southern economy was built on.

Both of those posts that were due.

5 things that led to the civil war
1. State's rights and slavery
2. The precedent set by nullification that led to secessionism
3.  Slavery's role as an inseparable part of the South's economy
4. Influence from England on the Southern market
5. The election of Abraham Lincoln leading to a feeling that the south was being betrayed

It is said that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it and America has had a history of repetition. The biggest themes to have come from the period between 1607 and 1861 are expansion, enslavement, and hypocrisy. The first European settlers to come to America and successfully set up shop came here with the intention of expanding their homeland's range of power. The multiple groups of people now settled fought each other for control of the most land while also fighting the natives who had already been living there. Ultimately, the drive to rule all of North America continued until America controlled all of the land it currently does (with the exception of Hawaii and Alaska). We had been using forced labor to fuel this endeavor. First it was failed attempts to force the natives to work for us and indentured servitude by those wishing to come here. Later, it would be the crushing institution of slavery using Africans. This is also where the hypocrisy plays in. Many settlers moved to America to escape tyrannical rule either under a ruler or religion or whatever else. We then preceded to become oppressive puritans who split off into new states to escape those tyrants. Our land of freedom did this multiple times over, creating new states to escape form the old, previously free ones. To fuel our freedom, we forced people across the world to work for us, to build or new world and expand into lands we had no reason to assume was ours except that out god willed it.

5 Things That Caused The Civil War

• 1831 | Nat Turner's Rebellion.
• 1846 - 1850 | The Wilmot Provison.
• 1854 - 1861 | Bleeding Kansas.
• 1859 | John Brown's Raid.
• 1860 | Abraham Lincoln's Election.

Reoccurring Themes

From the year 1607 to the year 1861 there were several different themes that reoccurred in our nations's history. Slavery and exploration are two of the main themes in out history. During this time period Slavery was going on throughout the world and had just got introduced to America at the time. I also learned that Africans were not the first spaces in America, but it was the Native Americans. Slavery also led to some huge events in our nations history. For example it was a huge factor of the Civil War due to the fact that the South relied on them for agriculture but the North did not. And during this war some of the slaves fought for the North to help win their freedom. Another big event was Nat Turner's rebellion. Nat Turner's rebellion was where slaves rebelled against their owners. At least 55 slaves were killed. The revolt was not effective and was easy to stop. It made the slave owners worry because they saw what the slaves could do. Another theme during this time period is exploration. One of the most famous expeditions was the Lewis and Clark expedition. Once the United States bought the Louisiana Purchase Lewis and Clark were given the task of exploring it. At this time the Louisiana Purchase doubled our country's size. Not only did they explore the land but they explored ways to run and maintain this country. And during this time people in the United States explored different types of crops to see what will grow and be profitable.

Main Themes of American History

The main themes of American history from 1607 to 1861 are conflict and exploration and expansion. The first of the main themes is exploration and expansion. This theme is prominent throughout all American history. The theme of exploration and expansion is shown best shown with Manifest Destiny and how American people want a place to call their own. With the expansion of land comes conflict, such as fighting other countries or natives to the land. Along with expansion, conflict makes up a large part of American history. It started when colonists came from Great Britain to colonize the new world. The original colonists had conflicts with the Native Americans. After the colonists settled down they wanted to be free so they had conflicts with Great Britain, and so on. Conflict and exploration and expansion are a large part of all American history including recent history. Recent American history has also been rife with conflict, mainly in the Middle East. In conclusion, the main themes of American history can be applied to all American history.

Important themes in American history

This term I have learned a lot on American history, from signing the Declaration of Independence to the beginning of the Civil War. I've seen how the American culture has changed in over 250 years. I think a highly important theme in the American history was slavery. I learned about how it was a major role in the south, and that slavery used to be thought of as as way of life. It was the way things had to be in order to thrive with an agricultural society. This is why it was defended so avidly by the confederate states. I learned that it was tied in with the wealth of the south. It was at such large amounts of influence that the southern states would be almost worthless without slavery. Without it the south's economy and wealth would fall drastically. Even with the fact that only one percent of whites owned large amounts of slaves. I also learned that they were transported across the Atlantic in the most obscene ways just so that more money could be made. Slaves had no rights and no say in anything that effected the way they lived. Not only were slaves used to toil in the fields, but the were also used to gain influence in politics. Thanks to the two-thirds compromise the south gained thousands more votes to be used in the election against the more populated northern states. In the end, I think that the most important theme was slavery and the impact it had on our culture.

Things that caused the Civil War

-States rights v. Federal rights
-Slavery
-Missouri Compromise
-Opposing viewpoints of pro-slavery and anti-slavery people
-Election of Abraham Lincoln

Main themes of America up to 1861

There are many, many themes of the United States of American up until the year 1861. But in my mind there are two dominant themes that describe and relate to America. The first of the two, is exploration, literal (expanding borders and annexing new states) and figuratively (finding and discovering better and newer ways to run the country). America's beginnings originated from people exploring and discovery, and exploring is even present in the early 1800s, when western territories are found. Discovering better ways to run our government have always been present in America, even today. Technological advances are another example of discovery and exploration, In American society. I also feel like in this period (1607 - 1861) America was in a phase of finding itself, of how to treat its citizens (or slaves in this time), how to make its government function, and how to handle crises (secession and some of civil war).
Confliction is my second dominant theme. This seems to be one of the most hateful periods in American history., and half the people didn't even realize it. An almost literal genocide of African slaves is going on, and no one, up until the mid 1800s, does anything about it.

Dominant Themes of American History

I think exploration and colonization are the most dominant themes in American history between 1607 and 1861. Throughout this semester, much of the topics seem to have been related to exploration or colonization. It started with Europeans exploring west.   John Smith and others explored the east coast when explorers first reached America. They created the Jamestown colony in 1607. More and more colonies were settled after this. The amount of colonies grew bigger and bigger. Soon, they began to grow less dependent on Great Britain. The colonies revolted and became independent from Great Britain. While the themes of exploration and colonization became less relevant as history continued, it never completely disappeared.even after the United States developed into a country, People started to expand west. Exploration was still required to explore the unfamiliar land. President Thomas jefferson gave the job of exploring the land recently bought from France in the Louisiana Purchase to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Their exploration lasted two years. After their exploration the U.S. Population slowly expanded west. They colonized the new western lands. After around 1850s, exploration seems to end (not entirely). Colonization doesn't entirely end though. New towns were being built regularly. Although it is not quite colonization, it is the same idea of making a new community. To me, these themes are the most dominant through this time in American history because they never cease to exist. They might not be a major theme at some points, but they never completely go away.

American History Themes

I am not extremely keen on picking out major themes in nonfiction, but if I had to say anything, it would be all about morals. This is not exclusive to American history though. With that said, the reason I believe that is because, as an example, the Civil War, a conflict that had one of the highest death tolls in American History, was started mainly due to the divide on a moral grounds. The answer to the question, "Is slavery wrong?" is what divided this country and eventually led to secession, and in turn, led to the Civil War. Also, to go back to the birth of this country, The United States of America, it was spawned out of an arguably moral principle. The natural rights of man were explicitly mentioned in the United States Constitution. The rights "given by god" is what the foundation of this country is. Another theme that is also prevalent in other events throughout history is land. Land is what every leader wants to control; the more land you control, the more powerful you are. The Americas was the last large mass of land that had yet to be conquered, and if a conflict did not have to do with morals, it had to do with land. Someone might say that conflicts are started by money. After all money is the root of all evil, but if you have land, you have wealth and vice versa. Those two themes, morals and land, are what I believe to be the most major themes of American history.

5 Causes of the Civil War

- Slavery
- States' Rights
- North & South Rivalry
- Secession
- The Election of Abraham Lincoln

Civil War Causes

1. The Dred Scott Case
2. Slavery
3. Fugitive Slave Act
4. Abraham Lincoln's Election
5. The Battle of Fort Sumter

5 causes of the Civil War

Slavery
States' rights
Secession
Abraham Lincoln
Differences between North and South societies

Dominant Theme in History

    In American history from 1607 to 1850, there are many events that shaped the country that we live in today. Slavery, war, conquest, and even more historic themes all changed how America developed and shaped. Although these themes are the main focus of early American history, I do not believe that any of them are the most important. The most important theme of early American history is compromise. Many events in early American history are compromises made between two or more sides or nations. Some compromises can be direct, or written, agreed upon, etc., and some compromises are indirect, for example the results of a finished war.

    One example of a direct compromise situation is the “rivalry,” or contrasting beliefs and practices of the north and south in America. The north and south repeatedly reached compromises in order to quench the thirst of hate and war. Over the course of many years in America, the north and south had many disagreements on certain matters. One of the largest matters that the north and south disagreed upon was slavery. For the most part, people in northern states hated slavery, and people in southern states embraced slavery. A countermeasure in lowering in tensions between the north and south was the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The most effective statement in this written and recorded compromise was that for each slave state added to the U.S., a non-slave state, or free state also had to be added. Although this compromise did its job in keeping Americans together, it did not last very long.

Dominant themes

    Out of every thing we have learned from the 1600s to the 1800s the most important themes that we is slavery and the civil war. Slavery made a huge impact on America's economy but also tore out country apart. It was also one of the most brutal events that has ever happened on American soil. Americans treated slaves like property, beat them, and mistreated them. This caused major disagreement in the America which lead to the Missouri compromise that said for every slave state, there would be a free state. Slavery was the Souths main source of income so it was major part of economy because the south was mostly agriculture. The north had much less slaves and wasn't a major source of income for them because they mostly had industry. This caused the south to strongly disagree with the abolishment of slavery and eventually succeed from the North and start the civil war. Slavery was a major reason for the civil war starting. The north was at an advantage in the war because they had more industry, this more weapons and they had many more soldiers than the south did. The civil war was won by the north and caused slavery to end. This great for the slaves but because all they ever knew and ever did work as a slave, so most didn't know what to do and some even stayed and worked for their former owner.

Causes of Civil War

Expansion
Slavery
Secession
election of Abe Lincoln for president
Moving away from farming into industry

Causes of the Civil War

5 Causes of the Civil War:

1. Economic policies and practices
2. Cultural differences
3. the extent and reach of the Federal government
4. Slavery
5. expansion of the U.S.

5 issues/events/actions that contributed to the civil war

Slavery
State's rights
Abraham Lincoln becoming president
The Missouri compromise
Abolitionist movement

Themes and Reasons

Slavery- Slavery was established almost everywhere and led to the Civil War.

Abolitionist Movement- people started striving higher law from the Constitution

The Missouri Compromise- this was when slavery started to spread into territories no one had claimed so people against slavery rushed into the new territories to claim it.

Nat Turner's Rebellion- started a rebellion that killed around sixty white men that led to him and fifty-five others to be tried and executed.

Lincoln's Election - the south hated him because of his stance on slavery

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There are countless numbers of themes exhibited in American History from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth century. One of the largest and most known is would be slavery. Slavery was used to strengthen early America. It was the main source of income, however not everyone agreed with this idea of slavery. These disagreements led to a huge compromise. It is now known as the Missouri Compromise. This required that for every slave state there had to be a free state. This worked great until the U.S. ran out of land to make separate and equal states. This led to the free and slave states fighting over Kansas. This disagreement among slavery would lead to another important theme in American history, war. The Civil war began after President Abraham Lincoln came into office. Lincoln was known and hated (by the south) for his views on slavery. This cause a huge disagreement. The Civil War essentially split the States, but they soon united again. Finally, Manifest Destiny was a movement among the American people that involved Americans moving and claiming new land. It was said that it was God's plan for them to take new lands. The reason this is significant, is because that it gained the land that makes up half of the U.S today.

War.

A dominant theme in American history is war. As a young country people would try to bully the American people and try to invade. So in that fact American people were very used to fighting and were always ready for war, wanted or not. Starting with the Revolutionary war and ending the time period we covered with the Civil War. Americans have been proved to fight for their independence, against revolts, second attacks, and even a split on the country. All these ended with war. The only way that was acceptable to end the disputes. While trying many other ideas and treaties to hold off, all would end up in the wages of war. Starting with the first war, The Revolutionary War, we fought for our independence and freedom from the monarchy of Great Britain. Ultimately defeating the British with help from the French Nation' and great tactics from many generals. Many people abandoned the British army for the American because they knew they had better lives. The next war was the war of 1812. The war was from the British trying to take back the land from us that we had fought and bled for. Ultimately again ending with the British defeat. The final war was the Civil War. This was was between the south and the north of the United States. The North winning because of all the troups, factories, and resources at their disposals. The south could not compete and ending up finally quitting and the United States was back in order.

Dominant Themes in History

Blake Morris
12-06-16
Dominant Themes in History

In my opinion one of the most dominant themes in history was slavery. Slavery is something that made our would what it is today. Slavey ranged all over the world and was no small matter. Slavery was hard fought. It was was fought for and against. Slavery was purely the mistreatment of human beings with different skin color. Slavery was a loaned after any years of slavery and fighting slavery is a huge part of our history because as a nation we let slavery go on for a very long time. Slavery as a whole was even a huge part of life. Especially in the south. People with no or not many slaves were considered poor or powerless. So with slaves being treated as material, they were also means for being popular or 'strong'. Save owners with bigger plantations had anywhere from 900 to 1000 slaves. Owners with smaller plantations had anywhere from 5 to 25 slaves. Slavery, as you may know, really affected the African American people. Even African Americans were freed by law they didn't know what to do. Here they were in a new land with no direction. With slavery being around for so long, often it went through generations. Which means after former slaves were freed they were clueless due to not ever knowing anything different than slavery. This was even seen during slavery when slaves would escape and come back due to being poor and not knowing what to do. Sosa you can see slavery has been around for a long time. In my opinion it set the tone for what America turned out to be today. America has changed in many ways for the better.

5 events that contributed to the causes of the civil war.

-The Missouri Comprise
-The election of 1860
-The movement of abolitionists
-Nat Turner's Rebellion
-Slavery

5 causes of Civil War & Dominant Themes.

1. Slavery- slavery existed everywhere and played a large role in the Civil War occurring.
2. Dred Scott decision- this decision ended up overturning the Missouri compromise and denied the African Americans citizenship
3. Missouri Compromise- unclaimed owners the slave owners and also people against slavery saw as an opportunity
4. Growth of the abolitionist movement
5. Nat Turner's Rebellion- rebellion that killed close to 60 white men and led to the execution of many more


One of the most common and dominant themes in America from the early seventeenth century to later in the nineteenth century is slavery. Up to this point in history slavery has always had a noticeable impact. Many white families were able to survive and have enough food for their family because of slaves. Slaves, who were generally African American, provided for the families of their slaveowners. Another theme that was very dominant in America in this time period is abolitionism. Abolitionism basically means a movement to end slavery. Many agreed with abolitionism, but many disagreed with it. Of course, slaveowners were definitely not too fond of it as slavery is how they made a living. Many just wanted to end segregation and racial discrimination, but as they realized it was a process to end slavery. Another dominant theme during this time period is States' Rights. This refers to the struggle of power between the federal government and the states. When laws were made most of the time not all of the states agreed with them. This struggle for power primarily to emancipate slavery in individual states caused trouble. The government believed it should be able to decide whether slavery should be allowed in the states and the states believed they should be able to decide. The last theme that I believe presented dominance is the politicians of this period. Thomas Jefferson was responsible for the Louisiana purchase. James Madison who was known as the father of the constitution. And, last Abraham Lincoln who was president when slavery was abolished.

Causes of Civil War

5 things the led to Civil war.

Slavery - for landowners in the south the more slaves you had the more wealth you had. Slaves were not cheap they were expensive and were used as property for these huge plantation owners.

Missouri Compromise - one thing that probably held the Civil War off for a few years,the Compromise told that for every free state there had to be a slave sate md vice versa.

Lincoln's Election - when Lincoln came into office the south hated this because he wanted to abolish slavery.

State Rights vs Federal Rights - the south wanted more state rights because they thought the central government can't regulate problems specific to them. They resented the federal government for this reason.

Sucede - the Civil War would have never been if not for the splitting of the country. The two sides of the country split over many reasons. Still, this drove both sides over.

Both

 Two dominant themes in American history from 1607-1861 are Manifest Destiny, Slavery. There are others but these had the biggest impact on how our country turned out today. Without these things our country would not be like it is today. Manifest Destiny is where the American settlers moved a d claimed new land. The Americans said that it was gods plan for them to take all of this land. The U.S. gained over half the country with this movement making it a huge deal. When the U.S. got all this land it led to even more disagreements with the north and the south so they passed a law that said you have to have a free state for every slave state. Slavery is terrible thing that the south greatly impacted the souths side daily lives. Slavery is a huge reason why the south and north don't really like each other. Slavery is also a main reason that the civil war was started. Most people who were against slavery lived in the north and the south was mostly for slavery due to the fact that it helped them so much. If the south did not have slavery they would become poor. This a also a reason the south loved slavery so much.
These two dominant themes in American history ,Manifest destiny and Slavery, have had the biggest impact on the American people because they change this country was worked.

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1.The underground railway
2.Slavery
3.Bleeding Kansas
4.Missouri Compromise
5. Nullification Crisis

Dominant Themes in Our History

I would say one of the most dominant themes in history from 1607-1861 is slavery. Slavery has brought diversity into America. When slavery was more prominent, it was how the southern economy did not crash. It is how white men grew and sold crops to support their families. Slavery is known as the cause of the civil war. Another dominant theme, is Bleeding Kansas. Bleeding Kansas began before the civil war in America. It foreshadows what is to come for America. You had senators and congressmen fighting. Southern and Northern senators and congressmen didn't agree on many different things. It was just the beginning of a major war. Abolitionism was feared by citizens living in the south. They feared that abolitionism would come to dominate national politics. Some abolitionists became so upset with the Whigs that they created their own anti-slave party. The Dred Scott decision said that blacks could not be citizens of the United States. The south did not like this, because they would not have as many votes. Slaveowners could influence their own slaves votes.p causing their party to win. As slavery was coming to an end, enslaved men headed north on the underground railway to escape slavery. Some were successful and others were not. Slaveowners would look through a paper and see slaves that had been found. In the paper was very vague descriptions of these slaves that had been found. If a slaveowner was missing a slave, he could easily say any one of these found slaves were his. There were many other major themes in our history but these are the five I chose

Dominant themes in American History

There are many major themes that happened in American history. All these themes made America what it is today. It started out when the new land was found, but that is too far back to start out with. When slaves were brought over to help with crops, America had began to expand and more people had began to live here. This is what started the change everything. It was a major theme because it marked the beginning of knowing that things will be different for awhile. The American Revolution was another major theme because there were many wars during this time period and a lot of fighting over control of land. There was finally an end to all the disputing and led to discussing a new set of rules for America. The creating of a new government led to making the new rules and documents for America. These are things such as the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Another major theme is now starting to have presidents to control the country and make sure there is someone there to make all the decisions needed to be made. All of this led to different groups beginning to form going against one another, which were the people for slavery and the people against slavery. Soon, the biggest part of history came into effect when Abraham Lincoln ran for the presidential office. He had many new ideas that went along with slavery and other ideas to help America. All of these led to the huge changes that were to be made and that was the Civil War. This is the biggest theme of all because it was what helped America become something that everyone wanted to be a part of.

5 causes of the Civil War

5 issues/events/actions that contributed to causes of the Civil War

• Slavery- this was a huge part of this time period. Slavery existed everywhere and led to arguments to cause the Civil War.
• Abolitionist Movement- people started striving higher law from the Constitution guaranteed for fugitives could be from any state.
• The Missouri Compromise- this was when slavery started to spread into territories no one had claimed so people against slavery rushed into the new territories to claim it.
• Nat Turner's Rebellion- started a rebellion that killed around sixty white men that led to him and fifty-five others to be tried and executed.
• English settlers in Virginia buying 20 Africans from a Dutch ship.

Manifest Destiny

At the start, America was a small country made up of only 13 small colonies. Over time, it became apparent that America would need to grow. Population was increasing. More people were immigrating to the US, seeing its potential. America needed to expand, and quickly. So, a new idea was created. Manifest Destiny was the idea that American expansion was not only necessary, but morally justified and inevitable. This idea stated that it was right and morally justified for Americans to expand by nearly any means necessary. The rising popularity of this belief led to several important events that would impact the American nation for many years to come.

The first was the Indian Removal Act. As already stated, America needed to expand, but there was one major problem - a group of people - keeping them from doing so. The Native Americans, who had arrived at the Americas first, had been pushed west many times by the ever expanding American population many times before. But, this group of people was still standing in the way of American expansion, so the Indian Removal Act was published. The Indian Removal Act forced all of the Native American tribes to move west of the Mississippi. Some tribes went peacefully. But others didn't, refusing to give up their lands. As a result, they were forced to go west, on a journey that is now known as the Trail of Tears. Over a quarter of the Native Americans that made this journey did not reach their destination alive.

Themes

There are a good bit of dominant themes in American History from 1607 to 1861. I think slavery is a huge theme because it is still talked about today and still brought up. Slavery was a huge problem in history but it also helped us become a better country. Slavery showed us that it was not okay to treat people like animals. Slavery also caused the Civil War which was not good. The north wanted to do away with slavery, but the south wanted to keep slavery so, when Abraham Lincoln was elected as president the south succeeded from the union which led to the Civil War. The second theme I think is important in American History was electing Thomas Jefferson as President. When Thomas Jefferson was n office he managed to drop America's debt almost in half. Which is incredible for someone to do that. He cut down on presidential employees and pressured congress to abolish the direct tax of 1798 to help save money. He also doubled the size of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase. His presidency contributed to the United States of America instead of tearing it down. He cut the debt in half and doubled the size of the United States without adding to the debt. This was an amazing accomplishment for himself and the U.S.

Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny is the idea of Americas expanding over the land. Only the land that was expanded on was not empty. Indians were there long before the people that are here today. The Indians were forced to leave their land. I do not know how his could even be considered as fair because their only option was to leave. The idea of manifest destiny was a doctrine explaining that the expansion of the U.S. was inevitable and justified. Now this is very debatable because of what happened to the Indians. Another idea of Manifest Destiny is the exploration and conquering of the expanding culture of the United States. The United States expanding caused traditions to no longer be around for some cultures or even destroyed. Although some will purely say that tradition and culture were just expanded. Which ever you think is true still causes conflict. The point that Indians were forced away from their homes still is brought up. The Indians had no choice but to move or they would be killed.These thoughts are included in the Manifest Destiny theme.

Causes of the Civil War

five issues that contributed to the civil war

• slavery
• "Bleeding Kansas"- a sectional crisis turns into a national crisis
• Abolitionism
• The Dred Scott Decision
• The Underground Railway

Causes of the Civil War and Dominant Themes In American History

1.Missouri Compromise
2. The abolitionists movement
3.Nullification crisis
4. Election of Abraham Lincoln ( anti-slavery)
5. Economic and social differences between the North and the South



There are countless numbers of themes in American History from 1607 to 1861. Two of those would be Manifest Destiny and slavery. I chose these because of the significant role they played in forming the America we know today. The Manifest Destiny was a movement among the American people that involved Americans moving and claiming new land. It was said that it was God's plan for them to take new lands. The reason this is significant, is that this gained the land that makes up half of the U.S today. This gain of land also led to the disagreements over free states and slave states, that would lead to the Civil War. Slavery was the backbone of early America. It was a main source of income. Not everyone agreed on slavery though. These disagreements led to the Missouri Compromise. This compromise required that in order for there to be a slave state there had to be a free state to counterbalance it. This worked okay until the U.S. ran out of land to make separate and equal states. This led to the free and slave states fighting over Kansas. This disagreement among slavery would lead to another important theme in American history, the Civil War. As you can see a lot of these themes are related. Each event in American history from 1607 to 1861 caused a snowball effect and led to the big outcome, America as we know it today.

Manifest Destiny

Blake Morris
11-30-16
Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny was purely the idea of the Americas expanding over the land. As you can assume the land before the fact was not just empty. Before the people of today's time there were Indians. More often than not Indians were forced away or ran off. This was in now way fair for the Indians but in many situations they had not other option but to leave. The idea of manifest destiny was a doctrine explaining that the expansion of the U.S. Was inevitable and justified. This is very arguable when you bring the Indians into the idea. One other idea of the exploration and conquering was that expanding of the culture of the United States. With the United States expanding many can argue that traditions were done away with or destructed. Some will purely say that tradition and ways of life were just expanded. Which ever you may believe the same problem occurs. The fact that Indians were pushed away defenseless still comes up. Indians had no other choice but to turn and run. These are all intertwined with manifest destiny.

Civil War Causes

Blake Morris
11-30-16
Causes of the Civil War

1. Economic and social differences between the North and the South
2. States versus federal rights
3. The fight between Slave and Non-Slave State Proponents
4. Growth of the Abolition Movement
5. The election of Abraham Lincoln

Dominant Themes in American History

There are many dominant themes in American History from 1607 to 1861, but I am only going to talk about the two that I refer to as the biggest. Slavery was a huge problem in American history but it also helped America become a country. Without slavery Americans would have never been able build the economy as it did. Slavery was also the main cause of the Civil War which of course wasn't good. The south wanted to keep slaves and the north wanted to abolish slaver, so when Abraham Lincoln was elected president the south succeeded from the union which eventually led to the Civil War. The second biggest theme in American History I think was electing Thomas Jefferson as President. While Thomas Jefferson was president he managed to cut Americas debt nearly in half. This was an incredible accomplishment. He didn't do this by just sitting in office and not spending any money. He cut down on presidential employees and pressured congress to abolish the direct tax of 1798. Not only did he nearly cut the debt he half he also doubled the size of the United States, with the Louisiana Puchase, without adding to the debt. His presidency contributed greatly to the United States of America by cutting the national debt in half and doubling the size of America. Thomas Jefferson did the most with his time as president and contributed greatly to the history of America.

Civil War causes

1. Underground Railroad
2. Slavery
3. Election of Abraham Lincoln
4. The abolitionist movement
5. Secession

5 Causes of the Civil War

1. The election of Abraham Lincoln
2. The Missouri Compromise
3. Compromise of 1850
4. Nat Turners Rebellion
5.  Declaration of Independence was signed and declared all men are created equal.

Civil War

* Missouri Compromise
*John Brown's raid
*Nat Turner's Rebellion
*Dred Scott vs. Sanford
*Abraham Lincoln's election

Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny was a belief in early American history that westward expansion was either a constitutional or God-given right to Americans. Manifest Destiny is made up of three principles, or “claims’: first, the values of Americans were enough to justify aggressive westward expansion, as Americans were destined to have leadership on the land; second, the land covered by the westward expansion was destined to have an agricultural and political revolution led by the American people; third, people believed that the Constitution and God’s word was proof that the aggressive westward expansion was destiny, so the idea of it being immoral was quickly dismissed.

    With the illusion of aggressive westward expansion being the American destiny, the movement gained a lot of power, and it caused one of the worst events in American history, Native-American removal. Native-American removal is the act the relocating Native Americans to other lands (or kicking them off of the land). This removal was not peaceful or kind in the least. In some places, Americans would force Native-Americans to surrender with superior weaponry on their own land, so that the Native-Americans would have to endure a very long, harsh journey to other lands, where some did not even live to see. As these Native-Americans are taught to live in a certain area (example being fisherman on a coast), they did not know how to live in another unknown area with a different climate, animals, and plants. This caused many of the Native-Americans who were “relocated” to die anyway, even if the journey to new land was survived.

Dominant themes I saw in American history

Today I will talk about what I see are the dominant themes in American History from 1607-1861. The first thing I will point out that I see as a dominant them is slavery. Slavery is a big issue that had a huge impact on American history. It was one of the main causes of the civil war. There was the underground railroad which helped slaves escape, but people in the south were not happy about that. They wanted their slaves back, but since there was not slavery in some states where they escape to and there was nothing they could do. A lot of times Slave owners and patrols would catch slaves and bring them back and treat them even worse for trying to escape. When Lincoln became president, the south was not happy and they succeeded from the union. This is (as I said before) one of the great causes to the American civil war. The second theme I see is Manifest destiny. Manifest destiny had a lot of parts to it. For instance, it included the taking over of the Native American soil and driving them away. It also included the gold rush. That started with a man named James W. Marshal who was working for John Setter found gold on his land in California. The word spread quickly and people from all over came down to California seeking fortune and wealth. Most failed but it inspired railroads and communities to be built. There was a high competition for land and this made living very expensive for some newcomers to California. This are the theme that I saw mainly in American History.

Reasons that triggered the Civil War.

-          The South Succeeding from the Union

-          The election of Abraham Lincoln

-          The Abolitionists movement

-          John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry

-          Missouri Compromise

-          Nat Turner’s Rebellion