Kyle Lewis

Professor Glenn Petersen

ANT 3036
21 December, 2020
Final Essays Essay #1

2. Land theft, enslavement of labor, and strong dependence on the strength of immigrants

have been historically notable aspects in the United States considering the wealth and power of

the country. The takeover by Europeans of the land that was originally inhabited by Native

Americans and resembled their culture led to the transformation of North America into cities and

plantations, while the enslaved Africans they (Europeans) brought were used as the prime

laborers for plantations, and the emergence of jobs and a flourishing economy and societies of

North America contributed significantly from the increasing arrival of immigrants.

North America was at first occupied by a demographic of people that actually discovered

it many years ago, in prehistoric times, and made a living in it. Many years later when European

explorers ventured outside of Europe to expand, they came to North America (which was then

already inhabited), formed colonies and implanted systems of plantation and farming for their

home country. According to World Regional Geography: Global Patterns, Local Lives,

Recent evidence suggests that humans first came to North America from northeastern

Asia at least 25,000 years ago and perhaps earlier, most arriving during an ice age…

[occupying the land for] Over thousands of years… North America was completely

transformed by the sweeping occupation of the continent by Europeans… Assisted by

enslaved Africans, colonists and settlers from northern Europe built villages, towns, port

cities, and plantations along the eastern coast over the next two centuries. (Pulsipher,

Lydia Mihelic, Pulsipher, Alex, Johansson, Ola 178-179)

North America shifted from a culture of hunting-gathering and agriculture with shelters, to a

labor-based economic system with plantations, farming, and towns. This also resulted in death of
most of the Native American population (diseases, warfare) and the rest ended up on

reservations. The Europeans also brought enslaved Africans with them to establish this then-new

culture.

When the Europeans brought African slaves with them to North America and settled,

they had them perform labor. African slaves worked om plantations mostly in the South, under

unhealthy conditions, and were without rights and property.

… By the late 1600s, large plantations in the colonies of Virginia, the Carolinas, and

Georgia were cultivating crops such as tobacco, rice, and cotton, which became valuable

exports. To secure a large, stable labor force, Europeans brought enslaved Africans into

North America beginning in 1619. Within 50 years, enslaved Africans were the dominant

labor force on some of the larger Southern plantations… By the start of the U.S. Civil

War in 1861, enslaved people made up about one-third of the population in the Southern

states and were often a majority in the plantation regions. Working and living conditions

on these plantations were often brutal and hazardous… Enslaved people were usually

denied formal education and gatherings of any kind were often banned. (Pulsipher, Lydia

Mihelic, Pulsipher, Alex, Johansson, Ola 179)

This labor force contributed to a flourishing labor-based economic system in the south at the

expense of the lives of mostly Africans until the occurrence of the Civil War, which resulted in

the abolishment of slavery. The South depended on this system and with the phasing out of

plantations, it lagged economically and socially in development.

Immigrants from Europe came to North America for jobs and better lives. With an

evolving culture and cities, people are needed for jobs to produce resources to upkeep the growth

of the nation.
 … [The] mid-Atlantic region benefited from more fertile soils, a slightly warmer climate,

multiple deep water harbors, and better access to the resources of the interior. In the early

nineteenth century, both agriculture and manufacturing grew and diversified, drawing

immigrants from much of northwestern Europe… Steel became the basis for

mechanization… Most other areas produced food and raw materials for the core’s

markets and depended on the core’s factories for manufactured goods. (Pulsipher, Lydia

Mihelic, Pulsipher, Alex, Johansson, Ola 182-183).

Economy and living in the industrialized cities prospered and grew more advanced. The

population was increasing, and all this paved the way to how North America is today.

The U.S. emerged overtime with its historically established wealth and dominance in the

world due to its history of land theft, enslaved labor, and reliance on immigrants. The Europeans

took over the land which its indigenous people already lived on, shifting from hunting-gathering

to a culture of plantation labor with cities while destroying most of the natives, enslaved Africans

were brought with them to work on plantations dangerously and without rights which led to the

South being behind the North over conflicting interests eventually, and immigrants came to

America to take jobs so that resources could be produced to bolster economy and society. All

this is how the United States was established.