American History: A Survey

“It is not surprising that there have been historians throughout almost all of recorded time.”

This phrase, which is part of the text’s opening paragraph, sums up Brinkley’s goal to help history students think in a complex, interdisciplinary way. Humanity has always known that the actions of its predecessors can inform contemporary thought, and recording and studying the past has always been important to human civilizations.

“Europeans were almost entirely unaware of the existence of the Americas before the fifteenth century.”

Early European explorers such as Leif Erickson likely reached the American continent well before the 15th century. However, the voyage of Christopher Columbus and the influence of his particular exploratory ambitions inspired colonial fervor in a way that made the New World a household topic.

“As Jamestown struggled to survive, the London Company (now renamed the Virginia Company) was already dreaming of bigger things.”

American colonialism succeeded in light of serious economic issues within the British Empire. The early colonies survived through a combination of the relative desperation of the colonists themselves and the economic investment of both the British government and wealthy British citizens, who saw vast economic opportunities in the new colonies.