First of all, one must understand a bit of history. Baseball began after the colonies in America decided to have independence from England. Yet many years after severing its ties with England the United States still played the English game of cricket. Many Americans saw this game as slow and tedious. So the thirst for a faster game was quenched when baseball was created. By the end of the Civil War, baseball had won over the hearts of almost every American thus becoming the nation's pastime.[5]