Without the ability to read ancient Chinese and Maya text, we would be limited to archeological findings and guesses made based on them. The fact, that we can read ancient texts, let us know for example:
the names and times of rule of many rulers,
the religious practices
some events from the past
some cultural and technological inventions such as their knowledge of astronomy
the social composition of the society
Our knowledge of urban live comes from the description of customs and occational information about who lived where and how much was paid for what services
Mostly due to the ideas of Manifest Destiny. They started going westwards with the desire to span the United States from coast to coast, and then they started going worldwide. The idea behind it is that the United States were destined to help the world become free and democratic like they were so they started helping people worldwide in rebellions against colonialism or in similar affairs.
The Native Americans had to move because they took over land.
Answer:
it was both good and bad for them. it was bad because they were limited to national imports and exports only. they had to rely on the little resources they had on their islands alone to survive. When they were finally ready to become unisolated and join the rest of the world, they were really far behind on their industrial era. it was good for them because it meant very little conflict with other nations.
hope this helps
