United States

:For other uses, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation).

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they preyed upon into the Americas. These 'Native Americans' left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that at least ten million lived in the territory now occupied by the US before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who built Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in 1200 CE.

Related Topics:
Migration - Asia - Bering land bridge - Native Americans - Petroglyph - Burial mound - Artifact - Small pox - Anasazi - Chaco Canyon - Woodland Indians - Cahokia

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During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655.

Related Topics:
Southwest - Florida - St. Augustine - Santa Fe - Jamestown, Virginia - New Amsterdam - New York City - New York - New Jersey - Sweden established a colony - Fort Christina

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This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the settlers as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the settlers increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule.

Related Topics:
French and Indian War - Great Lakes - British Parliament

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In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed.

Related Topics:
Federal republic - Declaration of Independence - Revolutionary War - Confederation - Articles of Confederation - Debate - Constitution - Federal - Albany Congress

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From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis point in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments.

Related Topics:
Unfree labor - Indentured servitude - Slavery - States' rights - Agriculture - Missouri Compromise - Compromise of 1850 - ¹ - Confederate States of America - Civil War - Abraham Lincoln - Emancipation Proclamation - Thirteenth Amendment

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During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the US displaced most American Indian nations. (See Trail of Tears.) This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. Unlike European countries, the US was never a colonial power (having itself been spawned from a colonial rebellion) but through various military victories, diplomacy, and outside dealings, the US acquired a number of overseas possessions, from Cuba to the Philippines, though it gave up most of these over time. (See United States territorial acquisitions.)

Related Topics:
State - Manifest Destiny - Trail of Tears - Cuba - Philippines - United States territorial acquisitions

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During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation and aeronautics.

Related Topics:
Industrial power - American Century - Telephone - Television - Computer - Internet - Nuclear weapon - Nuclear power - Aviation - Aeronautics

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In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1941). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations started what they called the "War on Terrorism" and later the Iraq war.

Related Topics:
Great Depression - World War I - World War II - Allies - Cold War - Korean War - Vietnam War - Soviet Union - Superpower - Collapse of the Soviet Union - Police action - Peacekeeping - Kosovo - Haiti - Somalia - Liberia - Gulf War - Iraq - Kuwait - Attacks - World Trade Center - The Pentagon - September 11 - 2001 - War on Terrorism - Iraq war

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