[100 challenge] DanJi’s reading note_61

The Four Powers That Move America
The genuine US reading to understand the complex international situation!
Author Kim Bong-Joong
Publishing Wisdom House
Published on March 15, 2019.

We will talk about America's frontier and the West. In other words, it will be a story about the frontier in the spiritual sense and the West in the topographical sense that made America the most American. It is difficult to introduce this topic to a limited space because it is not an exaggeration to say that American history is the history of Western development. Nevertheless, this topic must be addressed first in order to understand the identity and uniqueness of the United States country. If the West had an absolute influence on American mythology, it would be necessary to reexamine the past and present of the West to find its validity and historical significance.
The British government and the Eastern colonial elite were in trouble with the frontier's ambition to advance west. The British government encouraged advancement into the frontier in the early days of the settlement of North American colonies. However, from the British government's perspective, the continued frontier development as the colonies were established was a burden. This is due to the limited military support for friction with the Indians. The British government was particularly troubled with this frontier issue when the French and Indian War between France and the Indians ended in 1763.
Eventually, with the announcement of the Royal Proclamation in 1763, residents could not move west of the Appalachia Mountains. However, there was no way for the Westerners to accept it. Some had already crossed the line before the decree was issued. Immigrants who had approached the border to find and settle new land in the West were afraid of the British ban so that they would give up their advance to the West.
The American Revolution started in 1763 when the wars with France and Indians were won. The British government, which had a loose colonial policy during that time, began to pressure the American colonies as part of filling up their depleted finances during the war. The colonists, who were nominally British colonies but established their democratic systems at the level of almost autonomous states, expressed strong dissatisfaction. The British coercive colonial policy began to be resisted, centering on Boston, and the Western Frontiers also revolted similarly.
The United States Constitution marks the beginning of an independent American republic and serves as a yardstick for future American civilization. In enacting the constitution, the Northwest region, which has still been a fantasy land for most Americans, had a significant influence. The frontier, which had advanced there, hoped to subjugate Spain, which actually controlled the region, rather than the US government, which could not protect them only after establishing a strong federal government and enacting the constitution. Thus, General James Wilkinson even conspired to enter Kentucky as Spanish territory. The fact that the United States Constitution was enacted considering the cluttered atmosphere of the frontier, including the northwest, and the shaking of the Americans who entered it, illustrates how much of a variable frontier acted from the beginning of American civilization.
The Northwest Territories Act's enactment was a milestone in the history of pioneering the American West. The Western United States has now begun to serve as a significant lever not only for state autonomy but also for the political balance of the federal government as part of its territory rather than a headache plagued by chaos and disorder. There was no reason to remain colonial within the sphere of influence of the large eastern states nor to contemplate the threat of the Indians. The Western states were weak in power in the House of Representatives, elected by population proportion according to the federal constitution. Still, because there was a Senate in which equal numbers were elected regardless of population proportion, the Western states could confidently demand and defend their rights and interests. The threat of the Indians was significantly reduced as the Western Territory was recognized as a solid American territory by applying the Northwest Territories Act. Of course, around 1790, despite the fierce resistance of the Indians centering on Ohio's western frontier, the Indians were now unable to withstand the pressure of white people responding to the resistance with a large federal regular army. The West was now stabilizing by the expulsion of the Indians from the federal regular army.