US History - The 13 Colonies

Everyone living in America is an immigrant, descended from immigrants, or from an immigrant family going back at least 12,000 years. Even Indigenous Peoples arrived from another hemisphere before that time.

The lands that became the United States of America and Canada were first inhabited by Indigenous Peoples descended from far in the past - Native North Americans. They all arrived from the northernmost reaches of Asia anywhere from 6,000 to 12,000 years or more previous to their First Contact with European explorers (references: Smithsonian Institution, IBM, and National Geographic Human Migration Project; The Ohio State University Department of Anthropology; massive projects in Californian Colleges and Universities; the combined works of Franz Boas, other). These early peoples had migrated to the Western Hemisphere in search of more adequate food supplies as populations increased and depleted resources.

These early immigrants became the Indigenous Peoples of North America - Native North Americans - including the forthcoming nation of America/USA and they were stewards of the earth and its resources in these regions. American Bison herds were thousands strong and salmon were gigantically larger than today - as long as a tall man's arm on average.

The people used every part of each animal that sacrificed its life for them as food, clothing, lodging coverings, bow strings, arrowheads (bone), fuels (fats), color dyes, and more. Nothing was wasted. In the early 1600s, people from Spain, France, Sweden, Holland, and England arrived in this New World (to them it was new) and began staking out claims to lands that the Native Americans already inhabited. I do not know why they thought it was fair so to do.

Northern Europeans and Spaniards arrived first, but In the 1490s Christopher Columbus searched for a route to India and the Silk Road and landed in the New World. While his explorations may have been worthwhile, researchers point to his presence as an introduction to genocide for Native Americans (links below).

Among the European nations that invaded rather than settled what is now America, England came to the forefront beginning with the lower class Saints (remarketed as Pilgrims by 1840 retail ad campaigns) at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Finally , we had the development of 13 major colonies along the Atlantic Seaboard through1775, a period of some 155 years (see picture to the right). The history, sociology, and anthopology of the individual Colonies is contained in the link titled Colonial Amerca - 1620 to 1775. England had other New World colonies, in what is now Canada and in the West Indies, but The 13 Colonies were viewed separately when they began to rumble thoughts of breaking with England. It was once said, "The sun never sets on the British Empire." This is because England eventually had colonies across the globe. However, the sun did set on the Empire in America when the Colonies broke away.

See on the map of 1775 how my state of Ohio was once part of the Province of Quebec and belonged to the French. My maternal grandfather was French and Mohawk. A Mohawk ancestor translated during the French and Indian War at the Battle of Fort Pitt. He apparently worked for the French or was neutral between French and British. His descendants lived and migrated throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Interestingly, Mohawk Nation may be linked to Zulu Nation, both using a single word for "cousin" (OSU linguistics databases, 1996) as well as some DNA, and sharing similar attire, especially headdresses. Discover is ongoing.

IN THE name of God, Amen.

We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc., having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.

In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the 11 of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domine 1620.

-- William Bradford & others, November 11, 1620.

Many reasons existed as a rationale for the people of the 13 Colonies of England in the New World to wish to break away from the British empire and govern themselves. Theorists and historians are still discussing these reasons and adding additional reasons to the list at this time and PhD candidates are still writing their Doctoral Theses on the layers of meaning and interactions among the reasons.

The short version of the reasons that the Colonies revolted are basically issues of taxes and religion:

• England issued the Stamp Tax against the colonists, requiring them to pay a tax for all printed documents.
• Next, England enacted the Townshend Acts, requiring colonists to pay taxes on glass, lead, paper, paint and tea. Colonists boycotted and some taxes were lifted.
• British soldiers and people of Boston who were protesting taxes began to fight and several Bostonians were killed in this, The Boston Massacre. Then England enacted another tea tax and The Sons of Liberty activist group in Boston hijacked a British tea ship and dumped its cargo into the sea at Boston Harbor. This is known as the Boston Tea Party in 1773.
• England immediately issued the Intolerable Acts, authorizing British officials to take all means necessary to control the Colonies. The Colonists formed the Continental Congress and began to revolt.
• Another reason for the revolt is that the Colonists did not want The Church of England to be their required church, thus freedom of religion was another issue.

The next Hub in this series will discuss the Revolutionary War.