Compare And Contrast The Shape Of The United States Between 1492 And 1877

The shape of north America and the United States between 1492 and 1877 could have only been formed through the themes of empire, slavery, capitalism, and democracy. In this paper, I will demonstrate that empire was the most important out of these themes. Empire is the most important theme because with empire there wouldn’t have been a need or any means of having the other themes and empire literally shaped the United States. Empire was the base of numerous events including the total European invasion of the early Native American civilizations, England colonizing the Americas, the American revolution, early 19th century western expansion. Empire is also important because it isn’t just a thing of the past it still impacts the United States

to this day this can still be seen in the war in middle east.
Empire had the most important role in developing the history in the United States during this time because without empire there would be no need or way of using the other themes and empire shaped the United States. Without empire, you wouldn’t have need for our other themes because a small civilization is self-sustainable. Every civilization starts with an idea of seeking power and growth, without it Britain would have never gained control in the Americas, therefore, not having any need to bring over citizens from Britain to start colonies or create the plantation in the Atlantic islands and later the southern colonies for the practice of slavery to be adopted by the United States. The colonies would have never developed their own democratic systems or had any need for capitalism because they would continuously be under British control leaving them only to serve for the monarchy and not strive for high status. This can be seen in the story of George Robert Twelves Hewes and how during his life before the revolution he was a common man and without the revolution nothing would have changed that. Because the United states were not satisfied with only having a piece of the continent its leaders had their own ideas of empire and decided to also expand. This goes to show that empire literally shaped the United States through history. The United States could have capitalism, democracy, and slavery all in the original colonies but their need for expansion and quest for power molded the United States into something greater than thirteen colonies. Empire during all this was the only necessary factor to form America because the United States could have expanded with any successful form of political and financial system but without the idea of expanding and conquering the west the United States would have remained stagnant as a nation.
No empire starts strong, you must build power to take power from other lands, our theme of empire is this hunger to grow as an international power and this idea has initiated numerous quests for land and resources over history.

For the United States, it must start with the European invasion of Native American tribes in the 16th century. The United States may have not been directly involved with the invasion but this string of events opened the door to the United states becoming a country. If the European countries wouldn’t have all had their various empire related reasons to travel to the Americas the United States wouldn’t have developed in a way even close to the way it did during this time-period. These invasions are also directly linked England was in America to beginning with because they were keeping up with other expanding European nations and expanding themselves. Which lead to colonized the north-east and creating the setting for the colonials to revolt. The American Revolution regardless of its rebellious nature was a quest for real colonial power. They wanted to not physically expand in land but expand their self-governing powers and rid themselves of their absentee landlord of leaders in the British monarchy. After, years of developing as a nation the United States decided that they would follow suit with previous international powers before them and expand. They wouldn’t need to travel far to gain this land so they took it upon themselves to expand west. These events have two things in common, that they directly developed the United States independent of the need of our other themes and have the need for expansion in common leading us back to our historical theme of empire and its shaping of the United

States.
While, our theme of empire is essential in history, it is not limited in its important in the present. The conflict in the middle east is a prime representative of how our theme of empire is still seen today. There are no evil villains trying to blow up the world and end humanity everyone wants power. The United States for instance, during the 20th century has attempted to expand not its land but its resources the conflict in the middle east has demonstrated our want for more oil, therefore, expanding its military and economic capabilities. Another, example of empire although a strong negative one is the North Koreans and their constant hunger for power and threats of taking South Korea. They have threatened the world with nuclear attacks and destruction of oppositions of their expansion.
In conclusion, empire has been essential to the United States of America even before the nations birth. The theme of empire has molded the United States for centuries and has proved to be the most important part of history in the United States development.