How Did The Thirteen Colonies Develop

In the 1770's, the 'United States of America' was only the thirteen colonies, and they were still under the protection of Great Britain. They recieved many rights and enjoyed trade from Britain, at little cost to them. However, when Britain started taxing them to pay off their war debt, they decided it wasn't fair. Thus, some of the colonists made it their goal to become independent from Britain, and instead run their own government. Not all of the colonists agreed with this, though. While they weren't a fan of the taxes, they still wanted to be apart of Britain, for reasons previously mentioned. A hundred years later, the thirteen colonies were free from Britain and were named the United States of America. So many things changed within one

hundred years, from 1776 to 1870, such as the growth of America, the wars and laws passed that shaped the states, and the fact that African Americans were gaining more and more rights everyday.
The growth and development of the United States involved both a growth in size and in population.

In 1776, it consisted of thirteen colonies that lined the east coast. By the 1850's, the US spanned from the east coast to the west coast. They bought land in Arizona and New Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, which allowed them to create transcontinental raiload tracks. As mentioned before, the US also grew in population. In the late 1700's, about half of the people living in the colonies were from Africa, and the other half were from European countries. Immigrants were drawn to the middle colonies, and slaves (or servants) were gaining popularity in the southern colonies. As slavery grew in popularity, the amount of African Americans imported to the colonies went through the roof. The growth in the size of America, as well as the colassal amount of African Americans being sent over for slavery, meant a rise in

population.
However, when it came to voting, African Americans weren't even counted as a whole individuals.

The fact that slaves were so abundant in the South meant that southern states would have more representation in legislature. So, in order to even out the playing field, they reduced each slave down to three-fifths of a person. They were treated so inhumanely, and were definitely not considered citizens at that point. Barely any African American had the right to vote, and the few that did were in the North where slavery was eventually frowned upon. For the South though, their economy relied heavily on agriculture, and therefore they could not easily give up slavery even if they wanted to. By the end of the reconstruction era, African Americans had been granted citizenship and voting rights. Although, in the south, they had limited voting rights. Slavery evolved, and systems like sharecropping and tenant farming became popular. This way, they were able to provide for themselves because they were able to keep a portion of the crop. However, they ended up in a lot of debt due to the fact that their landlords had them paying a lot of the costs. Because of this, they would always owe money to their landlord, and the landlord would always owe money to the supplier. Although African Americans were still treated terribly by many white southerners, the rise in acceptance for them represents a major turning point in the United

States.
Throughout these one hundred years, many events and new ideas surfaced (or resurfaced) that shaped the United States into the country that it is today. One that happened early on was the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This document declared the colonist's independence from Britain. From here, the colonies needed a way to run their own country. They created the Constitution. The constitution included many values from the Enlightenment period, especially ones of philosophers such as Locke and Voltaire. They had ideas of democracy, natural rights, and the powers of the government. With powers of the government in mind, they created a system known as 'checks and balances', in which each branch of the government could check the others and make sure the power was balanced. Later on, the south's economy relied almost entirely on agriculture, which meant more slaves. The slaves were spending far too much time on producing cotton, and so in 1793, the cotton gin was invented. The invention of this machine sped up the process of ridding the cotton of seeds, and in turn made cotton the South's dominant crop. On the topic of slavery, many people in the North began an anti-slavery movement. Books, newspapers, public speakers, all helped to spread abolitionist's ideas. This caused much tension between the North and the South, and the two sides ended up battling it out. However, the North had far more advantages than the South. The North was industrialized, they had more access to railroads, and they had a larger population. While the South lacked many of the North's advantages, one thing they had that the North did not have was a strong moral. However, the North did end up winning the war, and the South was left in ruins. Many of the slaves had been freed and given citizenship as well as voting rights eventually. They would spend the next decade rebuilding the Union, and this was known as the Reconstruction era.
Looking back, the United States of America certainly came a long way. They started out as just thirteen colonies on the east coast that were under the control of Britain, and ended up as the United States with their own government, own laws, and own rights. African Americans, who would have never been considered citizens of America before, now held important jobs in society and even had the right to vote. The growth of America, the innovations that shaped it, and the acceptance of blacks, all happened within the time frame of one hundred years.