Southwestern Louisiana Institute - Lacadien Yearbook (Lafayette, LA)

Page 15 text:

The principal fire- arm used during the revolution was the musket, a shoulder gun weighing about 10 pounds. It wasn ' t very accurate, and it had a terrific ability to recoil. It may have knocked down more of its owners than the soldiers at which it was aimed. After 1776 a long war was fought in order that the United States of America would be recognized as a free country, sep- arate from England and her power. The day in the life of a soldier was not a very glamorous story. The American ' roops were not trained in war strategies, and they lacked the disci- pline of the British troops. When French and Spanish troops came to the aid of the Americans, the tide seemed to turn and the Americans were the victors. After this decided victory, the demo- cratic republic forged forward in an effort to strengthen their union and later to gain material wealth and power. n

Page 14 text:

SH.MNl. TIIK DEC ' LVKATION OK IS DKrENUKNC K. THE BECKONING OF A NEW NA TION E Pluribus Unum was proposed as the motto of the United States in 1776 by John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin FrankHn. It took six years to agree on the motto. In the early 1600 ' s the North American shore was invaded by a host of European peoples as well as enslaved Africans. These immigrants displaced the Indians along the seaboard. Throughout the years the settlers established small communities along the east- ern coast of the North American shore. By 1773 the people, still faithful to English customs and institu- tions, were starting to regard themselves as a distinct people. The British, feeling that the Americans were straying from their authority, tried to tighten controls but this only led to a split between the Mother Country and the TTiirteen Colonies. Thus in 1776 the Americans proclaimed their independence.

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MANIFEST DESTINY The new nation developed and as the settlers moved westward, the country prospered. The farms yielded greater harvests and new factories were ever cropping up. Railroads, roads and canals were the main means of getting from one place to another. The governmental system ran smoothly and met the need of the changing times. Manifest Destiny was a result of the American need to expand and the answer to the zeal and enthusiasm. This phenomenon led to a war with Mexico, the aquisition of California and New Mexico, and to the settlement of Oregon. The free- soil Northerners resisted the demands of proslav- ery Southerners, that the territories be opened to .slavery. The Compromise of 1850 was, it was hoped, to be an end to the sectional strife on the issue of slavery expansion and economic policy. The Golden Spike ceremony at Promon- tory, Utah May 10, 1869 marked the com- pletion of the tran- scontinental railroad and opened up the last of the great frontiers. 12