During the thousands of years before the arrival of European contact, the Native American people developed an inventive and creative culture. They had created a very well round colonization among the extensive land. The year 1492 the Spaniards allowed for Christopher Columbus's voyage of discovery began a series of developments. Columbus traveling in hopes of finding faster route to Asia for trade and riches. While he never truly ended up there, the new found land was viewed as an opportunity for new riches. The 15th and 16th century voyages of discovery brought the European, African, and the American countries into direct contact, producing an exchange of foods, animals, and diseases that is now known as the “Columbian Exchange.” During the …show more content…
The biggest and the most serious problem was the need for money to support the British Empire. Attempts through the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Acts to raise money rather than control trade met with growing resistance in the colonies. Tensions began to grow more after Parliament passed the Coercive Acts and the First Continental Congress decided to then take steps toward independence from England. Before the colonies gained independence, they had to fight a long and strenuous war. The British had many advantages in the war, having a large, well-trained army and navy and many Loyalists who supported them. With the excellent leadership by George Washington and tactical errors by British commanders contributed to the American victory. Several times the British nearly defeated the American Army. But victories in late 1776 and early 1777 restored patriot hopes, and victory in New York, which halted the England advance from Canada, this led the French to join forces with rebels. By the year 1778, the fighting had shifted to the South and in 1781, an American and French force defeated England at the battle of Yorktown in the war's last major