American History for Dummies

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In the beginning were thirteen colonies. One day they declared their independence and fought together what is known as the Revolutionary War. They were lucky to win the war against all odds. This is how the 13 colonies became 13 independent states and formed a Union known as the United States of America. But soon enough their luck run out, and their newly acquired paradise was lost.

You know the story of the frog who wanted to become as big as a bull. The demon of grandeur and power defeated the angel of happiness in anonymity. The Constitution was introduced by the hawks who wished to create “a more perfect union,” that is to say a more centralized and more powerful one. A new war of words erupted between those who were in favor of the Constitution (the Federalists) and those who rejected it (the Anti-Federalists). The Federalists won that war. The seed was planted for the Manifest Destiny that was going to transform America into the world power that she has become.

In a sense, America has defied the story of the frog who wanted to become as big as a bull. She has become that bull. England was no longer there to oppose the expansion of the colonies westward. The conquest of the West was fierce and unstoppable. California became a state in 1850 (63 years after the constitutional convention that wrote the Constitution). As the pro-slavery states were outnumbered and felt out of place in the Union, they decided to leave. They believed that they had the right to do so as free and sovereign states. But the newly…