Out of Our Past: The Forces That Shaped Modern America is a history that begins with the story of the Puritans, and how progress through the centuries led to the foundation of what we know today. In the sixteenth century, the Puritans escaped to what was then known as the New World to seek freedom of speech and religion. This goal was common during the time, but it is one that helped to shape the future of America.
Though the first few hundred years were basically a time to populate the new region, the morals and values of the people that populated it remained, and were very important to shaping the future. With rich, fertile land, America was the perfect place to grow staple food crops - that is, if the land was not susceptible to raiding Native Americans, that have realized that Europeans have no intention of sharing the land with them.
Starting in the seventeenth century, and leading all the way to the late eighteenth century, America underwent a sort of nationalist revolution, settlers finally realizing that, being so far away from the land that they used to call home, they should create their own ruling forces.
Eventually, the American Revolution of the late eighteenth century took place, and the American colonies were officially freed from Britain. Just decades later, the Industrial Revolution took hold in the newly formed United States of America, bringing with it much wealth and prosperity.
This era of immense innovation and technological improvement changed its course in 1914, when America hesitantly decided to get involved in World War I. Now, technological improvements were focused on the war, with airplanes, bombs, and political systems all being advanced toward the common goal of winning. Throughout the twentieth century, a surprisingly large amount of wars have been fought, including World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War. All of these helped shape the future of America, for better or for worse, and have brought the country to where it stands today.
