Civilization refers to the most developed phase of social growth and organization of human beings. A given society attains civilization through this procedure. Civilization II began with shifts in the temperament of religious veneration that occurred in the first millennium B.C. The primitive religions included all rituals aimed at augmenting the agricultural fertility. These religions recognized and feed ancestral spirits of a given community. The rituals entailed human and animal sacrifices as a way of gratifying the gods. However, all these changed following the philosophical thinking wave that swept over societies of the earlier world in the course of the first millennium B.C. Hereditary priesthood pave way to more meritocratic and democratic techniques of choosing leaders of religions. Sacrificial rituals became less important and people began to uphold ethical conduct, and thereby acting ethically. Moreover, when the wars of 16th and early 17th Centuries were compelled by religious passion, the modern wars had more to do with territory and wealth accumulation.
Formulation of account of corporations and nations governs the modern world. Human beings rely on these accounts to lead the modern institutions, economies, governments and societies. These accounts of corporations and nations apparently have their roots from the Dark Ages in Europe, particularly in the Northern Italy and Scotland. The new-fangled account keeping is made perfect through the characters in the merchant of Venice, the prince and other books that highlight the conduct of the people and rulers during the ancient times. With respect to the merchants of Venice, the tales depicts a mathematician, a renaissance monk, and a magician. This period saw exposition for merchants, industry and communication revolutions and renaissances in mathematics and art. The revolution during this period introduced cultural and wealth efflorescence, which is now considered as the new beginning of the modern world. The revolution during the merchant of Venice allowed capitalism to flourish. Capitalism instigated shifts in economies. The metamorphosis and establishment of double-entry bookkeeping introduced in Northern Italy during the Dark Ages received perfections from the merchant of Venice. The double entry bookkeeping of the merchant of Venice had a considerable impact of the World’s economy. This is in the view of the fact that, as the years went by, the double-entry bookkeeping developed into a complicated scheme of numbers that are currently, in the 21st century, are directing the world’s economy. More importantly, the bookkeeping holds the power to break or make a good world.
The book, The Prince, also highlight how the Scottish formed the fundamental concept of modernity. Modernity changed the society and the culture of the people of Scotland during the 18th Century. The tale of Scotland in the 18th and 19th Century is a hard earned victory as well as a heart-rendering catastrophe , destroyed lives and spilled blood, but of considerable achievement. During the 19th and 18th Centuries, Scotland received much respect from all over the world because of its vital contributions to philosophy, literature, science, commerce, politics, medicine and education. All these contributions have created and cultivated the contemporary West.
The fascinating expedition across the centuries of the history of the Scottish highlighted through tales summarizes the concept of achievements and discoveries. The achievements and discoveries made the Scotland a driving force and motivation in the history of the world. Particularly, the prince and Scottish church put down the establishment of the contemporary concept of democracy. The enlightenment of the people of Scotland facilitated the motivation of the American Revolution as well as the United States Constitution. Moreover, the immigration of the Scottish to other countries helped in creation of the American frontier, the British Empire and the Australian outback. How the Scottish created the major concepts and establishments of contemporary world led to recognition of remarkable historical figures such James Watt, Arthur Conan Doyle , Adam Smith among others.
From my perspective, the most significant revolution in the period covered is the American Revolution that began in 1775 (Frank p. 23). This was a result of an open conflict between the United States (in the form of the thirteen colonies) and the Great Britain. The war or revolution ended in the 1783 through the treaty of Paris. Because of this treaty, the colonies emerged victorious through the achievement of independence thus the illustration of the republican concept by the founding fathers as illustrated in the Prince. The cause of the American Revolution cannot be termed as one agent of change because numerous events led to its course.
The American Revolution began because of discomfort in relation to the treatment of the colonies by the Great Britain. Americans demanded all the rights accorded to the Englishmen during the period covered. The other level of disagreement resulted from the argument by the Great Britain who viewed the colonies as elements or factors of exploitation to meet the needs and demands of the crown and the parliament of England. This conflict of interest led to the cries of the America society through the revolution that demanded representation because of their contribution towards the development of the economy through the taxation system (Frank p. 24).
One of the key events that led to the development of the American Revolution is French and Indian War between 1754 and 1763 (Frank p. 24). This war ended with the debt burden on the Great Britain thus the need to increase the size of the revenues from the thirteen colonies within the context of America. The defeat of the French resulted in less dependency of the colonies on the Great Britain in relation to safety or protection. The other event to the development of the American Revolution is the proclamation of the 1763. The order prohibited settlement in the Appalachian Mountains and the relevant areas beyond this border. The colonists took the risk to ignore this proclamation thus the need to suppress this unrest by the Great Britain. The intention was not to harm the colonist, but to ensure that they abide with the proclamation.
The other event is the essence of the sugar act, which had the ability to increase the size of revenues in relation to duties in the context of the sugar from the West Indies. The other elementary contribution to the war was the essence of the currency act that prohibited the American assembly from publication of the paper bills and relevant bills of credit. This is because of the harm or devaluation of the trade by the Great Britain because of influence from the colonial currency (Frank p. 26). The other element that led to the disagreement between the colonies and the Great Britain was the quartering act. The quartering act demanded that the thirteen colonies provide shelter and food to the Great Britain’s soldiers in case of need. The colonies felt the burden of the provision of shelter and food to the soldiers because this was an additional cost to the heavy taxation system by the colonists. The results of the American Revolution led to the adoption and implementation of the ideals of republicanism within the American history. The declaration of independence was also an effect of the American Revolution in 1776 despite the event of the chaotic aspect in the Northern America because of the American Civil War (Frank p. 27).
Work Cited
Frank, Andrew. American Revolution. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2007. Print.
