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The birth of the oldest Democracy in the Modern World The Star Spangled Banner

July 5, 2021 at 9:34 am by Editorial
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Anupama Nair

Many of us know that India and Pakistan became independent from British rule in 1947. However, how many know that America also won independence from Great Britain’s North American colonies on the 4th of July 245 years ago i.e., in 1776. The sovereign United States of America was founded with the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Surprised to hear this news, but as the Indian subcontinent, North America was also ruled by imperialistic powers and the American Independence inspired many countries to fight for their own independence.

Before I start talking about American Independence I need to tell you it was on the way to India, the American continent was discovered. Till the 16th-century

 people knew only three continents – Europe, Asia and Africa. Before, 1553 there was trade done between Asia and Europe, and Silk Route existed via Constantinople. The Arabs took goods from the East and sold it to the Europeans. Dacca Muslin, Indian Spices and silk were used by the Royal families of Europe. However, the capture of Constantinople by Turks in 1453 destroyed the trade route. The result of this event was imperialism and most of America, Asia, New Zealand and Australia came under the rule of European countries. When the trade route was blocked, the European royal families, who were addicted to Dacca Muslin, spices and silk were forced to find an alternate trade route. Many sailors set on a long journey through the Atlantic to come to India then known as the “golden bird”.

Christopher Columbus, an Italian began his journey and he landed in a place which he thought was India till his death. He even called the natives Indians (now known as Red Indians). He is believed to have landed on October 12, 1492. It is now celebrated as a national holiday in the US. It was later discovered the New Land was not India, but a new continent christened “America”. Did Christopher Columbus really discover America before other Europeans? Modern researchers believe the contrary. It is believed that a group of Icelandic Norse explorers led by their leader Leif Erikson probably beat Columbus by around 5 centuries. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Erikson was the first explorer to discover America. Throughout the years, historians believe that people from Asia, Africa, and even Ice Age Europe may have reached America before him. There’s even a famous legend that talks about a “band of Irish monks” that made it to America in the 6th century.

I became curious about how America looks like just before Columbus set foot on the land? While some myths suggest that the land was thinly populated by nomadic tribes living on the land, but studies over the past few decades have shown that many early Americans lived in complex, and highly organized societies. Perhaps this is why America itself wasn’t named after Columbus and instead after another explorer from Florence, named Amerigo Vespucci. It was Vespucci who put forth the idea that Columbus landed on a different continent that was completely different from Asia.

The moot point is that America had been home to indigenous people for a millennia before either Columbus or Vespucci had ever been born — with even other groups of Europeans before Columbus. The question is did, Christopher Columbus discovers America or the Vikings? What we need to understand is, the Americas would soon look very different after Columbus arrived.

After the arrival of Columbus, Colonial America began to exist. “Colonial America (1492-1763) was a vast land settled by Spanish, Dutch, French and English immigrants who established colonies in the newly discovered land”. Most of the people living in Colonial America lived and worked on a farm. Later, there would be large plantations where the owners became wealthy growing cash crops.

European nations came to the New Lands to increase their wealth and broaden their influence over world affairs. The Spanish were among the first Europeans to explore the New World and the first to settle in the land which is now the United States. By 1650, however, England had established a leading presence on the Atlantic coast. The first colony in America was founded at Jamestown (Virginia), in 1607. Many of the people who settled in the New World had originally escaped there to avoid religious persecution. In Britain, there was a movement called the “puritan Movement”, which was against royalty. After the death of the leader Oliver Cromwell, the Puritan Movement was suppressed. The Puritans were sent to prison. Many Puritans, under the leadership of Father Jonathan, left for the New Land. They came to be called “The Pilgrims”, and founded the city of Plymouth (Massachusetts), in 1620. The locals were treated as slaves by the Colonists. By the early 1700s, many enslaved Africans also were added to the colonial population. By 1770, more than two million people lived and worked in Great Britain's 13 North American colonies. Did you know the original name of New York till 17th Century was New Amsterdam when it was ruled by the Dutch?

I will give you more such information in the next part

(to be continued…)

 

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