It was surprising how the "New World" slowly became the Americas. With Columbus having much to do with the discovery of the new world, many new colonists were calling themselves "Americans" before the actual name came into play. The texts goes on to explain how the term "North America" is in reference to cultural unity that has build over the years.
This brings me back to our class discussion of ethnicity. Many people in the New World were from various different places. Many of these people were "escaping" from something whether its was religious freedom, leaving a monarchy, or just simply being able to do what is comfortable for themselves. Most of these people wanted better lifestyles than the one they were living. This example bring in the ethnicity factor in todays America. Many people still come to America for those similar reasons stated above and many want opportunities that might not be available to them in their own country.
While the next chapter refers to the adjustments the people had to make once coming to America, it seemed as though other people were learning from each other. Many of the Europeans didn't know how to grow crops like the Native Americans and even cultural influences were shared. Many of these people "went their separate ways" once they found that America was a vast piece of land, they didn't have to be so close to all the other civilizations. As some people may have "separated" from other settlers/colonists, many people stuck together with people who had commonalities. This, in a way, helped preserve their own cultures and traditions by having some type of freedom to create their newly adjusted lives without losing their ethnic backgrounds.
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