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  • Essay / The Expansion of Freedom and Opportunity in America

    Throughout America's history, the qualities and freedoms of life have changed dramatically. Beginning with the struggling colony of Jamestown and leading to the United States of America, a new nation ruled by its people and based on the radical ideals developed by the philosophers of the Enlightenment. A brief journey of this freedom will be presented in the following paragraphs. In May 1607, three small ships, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery, landed at what was later named Jamestown. The Virginia Company founded this colony and these first ships brought 104 men and young settlers. The people of Jamestown struggled to survive. Although the Indians welcomed them at first, they soon became hostile. Famine and disease spread throughout Jamestown. The settlers were so malnourished that they could barely stand. The lack of food and clean water left the settlers with only 38 survivors in the first year. Jamestown began as a place of hierarchy. They were sent there to establish a colony, hoping to find gold and other precious metals. However, they did not find the wealth as they had hoped and the mortality rate was very high, but settlers continued to arrive, looking for a new start. In 1620, Plymouth Colony was founded. The pilgrims who came to find religious freedom settled it. The Pilgrims wanted to separate from the Church of England, and this was the main reason they came to America. There was also a hierarchy, but everyone had the same goal of religious freedom. In the 1610s, tobacco became the settlers' cash crop. Tobacco required large areas of land, but there were few workers to work it. In 1618, in an attempt to resolve this problem, the Headright system...... middle of paper...... med. The northern colonies were becoming a place where runaway slaves came to seek freedom, and abolitionist groups worked to free them. Tensions between the north and south would soon spark a civil war that would result in the deaths of thousands. The civil war nearly broke the country apart, but ultimately unified it. Slaves would become free, although it took many years before they were granted equal rights, and to this day, racial problems remain. The white man, however, had experienced a great improvement in his rights, which would usher in an era of possibilities. The road to freedom has seen many changes in America, and after years of abusive power inside and outside the colonies, it is hard to think that the United States has a history of only a few hundred years. 'years. This trip was hard sought and still continues to unfold.