Our US government leaders shared the same vision for generations to expand from 1789 to 1848. They shared the same vision to improve transportation and focus on success in the Industrial Revolution. Our success is due to the intergenerational agreement shared by our leaders from the 1760s to the 1960s. Their ancestors began moving to the American Colonies in the 1600s.
Our Founding Fathers were successful at their chosen occupations as farmers, inventors, publishers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, ministers and craftsmen. They were each literate, accomplished and elected to their colonial governments. Many had served in Colonial Militias and helped win the French and Indian war from 1754 to 1763. They were chosen by their fellow legislators to represent their colonies as delegates to the Continental Congress. They found themselves at a crossroads when their British Parliament decided that the British Colonies should pay the 133 million pound war debt and began to impose taxes on the colonies. When the colonies object, the Parliament sent British soldiers to force compliance.
The Founders read the Enlightenment Philosophers and wanted to incorporate their thinking to replace force with incentives, because they understood Human Nature. The Founders believed in Divine Guidance and God-given rights. They had benefited from owning land and understood that incentives and freedom were required to continue and advance prosperity. They knew that British coercion would end badly.
The Founders tried to negotiate with Parliament from 1763 to 1774 to no avail. The first Continental Congress began in 1774 when all 13 Colonies elected representatives to vote for independence from Britain. The colonists rebelled and the American Revolution began in 1775 as British soldiers and the Colonial Militia clashed at Lexington and Concorde. The Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and selected George Washington to lead the Continental Army. In 1777, the Articles of Confederation were written The Revolutionary War took 6 years, from 1775 to 1781. In 1781, the British surrendered and the Articles of Confederation were adopted to manage the 13 colonies. The Treaty of Paris recognizing colonial independence was signed in 1783. The Constitutional Convention began in 1787 and the Constitution was ratified by the colonies in 1788 and adopted in 1789.
The groups of leaders who were selected by their colonial legislatures to represent them expanded to include needed expertise as the US moved from the drafting of the Articles of Confederation to the drafting of the US Constitution. This included experts like merchants who could address the production and movement of commodities. George Washington served as the president of the Constitutional Convention. George Washington was elected and served from 1789 to 1797. The Founders use of colonial legislators to select delegates ensured that they were appointing the best delegates available for each task.
The US economy at its founding
in 1789 was agricultural and needed to improve the movement of commodities.
Wagonways were built in 1720 to move goods using wooden rails and more roads, bridges and ports were needed. Canals had been built and more were needed. Leaders with expertise in these areas were active in this pursuit. Proposals were researched, debated, decided and implemented at a rapid pace. US territory doubled again with the Louisiana Purchase by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803. In the1820s, railroads were being developed in England and the US and were used to transport goods and passengers. Settlers were still heading West in covered wagons, but it was clear that railroads would replace the covered wagon. The founders always knew that expansion to the Pacific would discourage foreign aggression and improve trade with oceans. President Andrew Jackson 1829-1937 pushed expansion and his friend President James Polk 1845-1849 with the admission of Texas in 1845 and finished the job with the Mexican War. The job after that was to expand the US population West to the Pacific Ocean. This was accomplished in 1865 with the Transcontinental railroad.
We had intergenerational agreement among our leaders for 90 years from 1775 to 1865. The military and economic goals for expansion had prevailed. We saw millions of Europeans come to the US over the years who wanted to join in and help. Farmer came from Europe along with Lumberjacks from Scandinavia and Laborers from Ireland to construct Dams, Bridges and Roads. French Trappers continued to harvest animal fir. Families built their own homes and helped each other to build Barns. Tariffs encouraged furniture building. We attracted skilled people to function in all practical occupations. They were happy to leave Monarchy behind and own land to build family wealth.
We did have a few issues to address and this included the question of Slavery. African Kingdoms were at war and dealt with the captives from these wars by enslaving them. They sold these slaves to European merchants, who transported them by ship to America and resold them to Plantation Owners at auction. Our Founders were slave owners and this was controversial in 1776. The Declaration of Independence declared that “all men are created equal”. The Southern Colonies would not have joined the Founders unless slavery remained legal. Slavery was an evil that would have to be dealt with later. The US Constitution did not outlaw slavery.
The Abolitionist Movement
arrived in 1783. Slaves were included in the US Census from 1790 to 1860.
The Southern States became wealthy with cotton plantations that used slaves. In 1787, the Constitutional Convention voted to count each slave as 3/5th in the Census used to apportion Congressional Districts. The value of each slave was recorded on tax records. Slaves were a source of disposable wealth and could be sold by slave owners when they needed cash. By the 1830s, the Northern States were pushing again to abolish Slavery and the Southern States opposed it. This came to a head in 1860 as Western Territories were headed for Statehood. President Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860 and the Southern States seceded to form the Confederate States of America. In 1861, Confederate solders fired on Fort Sumter and the Civil War began. In 1863 Lincoln freed the slaves. The Civil War raged on for 4 years and ended in 1865.
Despite the fact that President Andrew Jackson had offered American Indians the option to assimilate and keep their farms, most decided to keep their tribal beliefs and culture. Those who did not want to assimilate were moved West. In 1865, the US Cavalry focused on protecting settlers in the West. The last big battles included Little Big Horn in 1876 and the Red River War that ended in 1875. About 2 million American Indians ro 25% live on Reservations in the US.
In 90 years from 1775 to 1865 the US had achieved its goals with intergenerational agreement.
The US had entered the industrial revolution in the1820s using steam power to run locomotives and factory equipment. The Telegraph was invented in 1837 and allowed immediate communication. Sewer systems were built in 1850. The Transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 and allowed faster, safer travel across the US. The telephone was invented in 1876 and allowed immediate voice transmission replacing the Telegraph. The Phonograph was invented in 1877. Coal burning furnaces were available in 1885. Water purification systems were built in 1890 to clean waste water. The Radio was invented in 1901. The Airplane was invented in 1903. Chlorene was used to purify drinking water in 1908. The Refrigerator was invented in 1913 allowing food to be preserved. Air travel began in 1914. Electricity was available for 25% of homes in 1925. Ford introduced the Model-T automobile in 1925 for $375 allowing families to buy them. Penicillin was discovered in 1928. Indoor plumbing became available in 1930. Oil furnaces for home heating were available in 1930. The Window air conditioner was invented in 1931.
Over the next 100 years from 1830 to 1930, the US standard of living improved due to the inventions that were pursued after 1830.
US Life expectancy more than doubled
over 240 years from 1780 to 2020.
Year Life Exp Pop
1780 36 2.5m
1860 39 31.4m
1900 48 76.3m
1930 58 123.2m
1940 62 132.2m
1950 67 158.8m
1970 70 203.4m
1980 73 226.5m
2020 78 329.5m
The increase in life expectancy was due to water and sewer treatment in the 1920s. penicillin-based antibiotics in the1940s and medical advances made since 1860 and increases in Herd Immunity. The microscope was invented in 1590 and bacteria was identified in 1676, but physicians didn’t begin to use it until 1860. Internal medicine became popular in the late 1800s. The electron microscope was invented in 1931 and viruses were identified.
Our parents, grandparents and great grandparents witnessed the development of these inventions implemented over the past 120 years from the1860s through the 1980s.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea
Party Leader
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