Even if the United States of America emerged as an independent country after 1776 and recognized in 1783. the history of these lands is deeper than that thousands of years ago the first people settled in the American continent. It is not exactly known how the Native Americans first settled in these territories but a theory says that people migrated from Eurasia starting 30,000 years ago across a land bridge known as Beringia this connected Siberia to North America during the Ice Age. This migration continued until 10,000 years ago at that time a glacial period ended and the land bridge became submerged by the rising ocean.
The early inhabitants were called the Paleo Americans. They migrated even deeper in Americans and they formed tribes and nations. They created interesting civilizations developing their own culture among the cultures that existed here we can mention Adana Culture, Iroquois Culture, Coles Creek Culture, Puebloan Culture and Mississippian Culture.
But another part of today United States
has an interesting indifferent history speaking about Hawaii. This land wasn't
inhabited until the 1st century AD. Native development started with the
settlement of Polynesian people between the 1st and 10th centuries. Starting in
the 15th century European colonization began in 1492.
A Spanish expedition headed by the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sailed west to find a new trade route to the Far East but landed in what came to be known Europeans as the new world. After this event in the next decades more and more ships sailed west to establish colonies and trade posts. The Spaniards began building their American empire using islands such as Cuba, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola as bases and they expanded hugely. France founded colonies in Eastern North America. A number of Caribbean islands and small coastal parts of south America.
Portugal colonized Brazil the Eastern sea coast was settled primarily by English colonists in the 17th century along with a much smaller number of Dutch and Swiss. The first successful English colony, Jamestown was established in 1607 on the James River in Virginia. New wave of settlers arrived in the late 17th century and established commercial agriculture based on tobacco. Even though there were some conflicts between the Native Americans and English settlers the colonies managed to expand pretty fast and more and more people settled in each of the 13 American colonies had slightly different governmental structure. In fact, a colony was ruled by a governor appointed from London, this governor controlled the administration and relied upon a locally elected legislature to vote taxes and make laws.
By the 18th century the American colonies were growing very rapidly and as a result of low death rates. Along with ample supplies of land and food, this attracted a heavy flow of immigrants. The tobacco and rice plantations imported African slaves for labor from the British colonies in the West Indies and by the 1770s African slaves compromised the fifth of the American population. The question of independence from Britain did not arise as long as the colonies needed British military support against the French and Spanish powers. The French and Indian war was an event created by political development of the colonies. It was a lost part of the larger seven years’ war.
Britain beat French forces and French lost their colonies and territories in Canada and Louisiana. The war was costly and Britain needed money. The British parliament passed Stamp act of 1765 imposing attacks on the colonies without going through the colonial legislatures. The issue was drawn did parliament have this right to tax Americans who were not represented in it. Crying “No taxation without representation”. The colonists refused to pay the taxes as tensions escalated in the late 1760s and early 1770s.
The Boston Tea Party in 1773 was marked as the start of the revolution. It happened in the town of Boston to protest against the new tax on Tea parliament. Quickly responded the next year with coercive acts stripping Massachusetts of its historic right of self-government and putting it under army rule which sparked outrage and resistance in all 13 colonies. Leaders from all 13 colonies gathered and created the first continental Congress that coordinated their resistance. The congress called for a boycott of British trade. Published a list of rights and grievances and petitioned the king for redress of those grievances. It wasn't about independence at that point but this appeal had no effect and so the second continental Congress was created in 1775 in order to organize the defense of the colonies against the British army. The 13 colonies began a rebellion against British rule in 1775 and proclaimed their independence in1776 as the United States of America in the American Revolutionary War 1775 to 1783.
The Americans captured the British invasion army at Saratoga in 1777. Secured the Northeast and encouraged the French to make a military alliance with the United states. French brought in Spain and the Netherlands thus balancing the military and naval forces on each side as Britain had no allies.
General George Washington was an excellent organizer and administrator who worked successfully with congress and the state governors selecting and mentoring his senior officers, supporting and training his troops and maintaining an idealistic republican army. The American revolution was a success and that the peace of Paris of 1783. Their independence was recognized and even so the former colonies gained more than expected.
The expansion to the west started incorporating the Emmer Indian lands west of the Appalachian Mountains a deal was made by the United States President Thomas Jefferson in 1803. He bought the Louisiana territory from France and initial diplomats sent to France were allowed to spend up to ten million dollars in order to buy just New Orleans and if possible, the West bank of the Mississippi river. But the French government and said that for five million more dollars all of the Louisiana territory would be sold. The president approved the deal and the US doubled its size in the middle of the 19th century. Some sessions were happening and Texas in joining the union in1845 and after the war against Mexican empire. The united states will take important lands and expand even further in 1861.
After Abraham Lincoln was elected some states from the South the confederation attacked the rest. The south revolt was happening due to controversy over the enslavement of black people in 1860. The United States was led by Abraham Lincoln supporting banning slavery in all territories. War broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina after four years of war. The union achieved its victory and the confederates were defeated. National unity was slowly restored the national government expanded its power.
The 19th century was a period of economic expansion more and more industries were created and also the ascent was put on infrastructure in 1898. The American Spanish war is happening, Americans are winning in short terms some battles and at the Treaty of Paris, US is getting the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam at the beginning of the 20th century, World War I started. Even though the US was neutral, due to German attacks on the American ships and due to their intentions to make Mexico join against the US. The Americans joined the Allies. After this event the economy was growing and all was good until the Great Depression which started in 1929 this event shook the world and created a base on which the second World War will start. United states joined the Allies after being attacked at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by the Japanese Empire.
Americans fought a distant war in Europe Pacific and they provided supplies to the Soviets armored cars, motorized equipment, food etc. Winning battle by battle in the Pacific getting closer to the Japanese mainland and after the day in Europe in 1944 the Americans managed to have a great impact and to help a lot on the allied side. The war ended in 1945. Germany capitulated in May and Japan in September after the two nuclear bombs dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The United States and Soviet Union emerged as rival superpowers in the aftermath of World War II. This was a period known as the Cold War, the two countries confronted each other indirectly in the arms race proxy wars across the world including the Korean and Vietnam wars and propaganda campaigns. The purpose of this was to stop the spread of communism. In the 1960s waves of civil rights movement started rights of voting and freedom of movement to African Americans and other racial minorities.
The cold war ended with the collapse of the Soviet
Union after the United States has been focusing on modern conflicts in the
middle east. The beginning of the 21st century in September 11th attacks
carried out by Al-Qaeda in 2001 which was later followed by the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan in 2008. The United States had its worst economic crisis since
the Great Depression.
