America's Rise - A Tale of Innovation, Zeal and Exploitation

There are no simple stories in human history.  We do ourselves a disservice when we tell only the noble part of our story.  If we are to learn from history, then we must understand both the impressive efforts of our ancestors as well as their mistakes.

 America’s rise from a fledgling colony of religious zealots and opportunists to the most powerful empire in the history of the world is both inspirational and tragic.  It is not unique in this regard.  The evolution of humankind is awe-inspiring.  The fact that we have managed to create a relatively cooperative civilization out of what could have been an unceasing quagmire of tribal warfare and chaos is a testament to our common humanity.  But the death and suffering along the way are somber footnotes to our progress.  

 

In this time of increasing partisanship in our country and sharp divisions over the way we tell our own story, it is important for us to be able to acknowledge both our astonishing achievements as well as understand that those achievements were partially enabled and certainly accelerated by the original sins of this country – displacement of native peoples and African slavery.

 

The political evolution of the USA from a colony of the British Empire to the first incarnation of a republic with freedom from hereditary aristocracy is a spectacular feat of which every American can be proud.   The industriousness of the people who came to this land, and the entrepreneurial spirit of innovation that emerged are stunning.  The integration of refugees and risk-takers from lands across the globe powered a growing economy that ultimately outstripped every other nation.

 

Visitors to the United States wrote repeatedly of the incredible energy and ambition of Americans.  The open landscape and relatively fluid economic and political culture unleashed human potential energy that had been stymied and anaesthetized in the solidified social and economic fabric of Europe.  

 

There is no doubt that the political ingenuity of our founding fathers contributed greatly to the creative energy that characterized American life.  But there was another factor that added gasoline to the fire of American endeavor:  land!

 

As late as 1890, 80% of the land in Great Britain was owned by 7000 noble families.  Land ownership was by far the most significant form of wealth.  There was no ‘new’ land to be had, and most farmers were tenant farmers on land owned by the aristocracy or landed gentry.  Even the members of those groups were somewhat frustrated as primogeniture dictated that younger men in wealthy families were unable to acquire their own property.

 

The dream of owning land, or for those of more substantial means, of speculating in land, was the biggest motivation to come to the new world.  Land was an obsession for the colonists.  Even our most esteemed founding fathers (George Washington and Ben Franklin for example) were half-crazed with the thought of acquiring massive property holdings.  This had always been the measure of wealth in English society, and the fact that it could be attained without hereditary credentials made it the most seductive drug one could ever imagine.

 

But of course, this land wasn’t actually new or truly available.  It was used by indigenous peoples, who were initially gracious enough to share it with the colonists.  The sharing arrangement wasn’t what the colonists had in mind, and soon enough the long history of either killing or displacing native Americans began in earnest.

 

The acquisition through conquest of more land than was contained in all of Great Britain, France and Germany was the engine of the colony’s growth in several ways.  First, the land was sold and revenues were collected either by speculators or the government.  These revenues funded much of the eventual investments in transportation, industry and the military.  Second, the land was cultivated and generated tremendous agricultural wealth that could both support a growing population and be exported for additional revenues.  Third, the land attracted new colonists in exponentially growing numbers that propelled the gross national product to ever more dizzying heights.

 

To this juggernaut of land cultivation and population growth must be added the almost incalculable mountain of labor provided by African slaves and their descendants.   In 1790 slaves made up almost 20% of the US population.  Their labor launched the greatest single revenue producer of the first 50 years of the republic – cotton.  On the eve of the civil war, the US produced 75% of the world’s cotton and it was 60% of our export revenues.  Additionally, it fueled and accelerated much of our northern manufacturing growth in textiles.

 

So yes, the USA has benefitted from a very industrious, energetic population of colonists and immigrants unleashed by a form of government and social structure that gave freedom to individual creativity and effort.  The incredible growth of agricultural, industry, technology and small businesses is testament to the ambition and determination of our people.  But let us also concede that this incredible growth and success was in very significant ways catalyzed by the abundance of land and labor that were shamelessly exploited from the outset of our grand experiment.

 

Our sins are no worse than the other empires that grew explosively throughout history.  The British and French were indirectly performing the same feats of empire-building with the same shameless exploitation in their colonies throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries.  The point of recognizing this is not to wallow in self-hatred or guilt, but rather to acquire a bit of national humility and self-awareness.  If we are to continue to form a more perfect union, then we must not spin fables about our history.  We must carefully analyze the good and the bad, and learn from them.