History of the United States

United States located in the middle of the North American continent, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. Country United States stretching from the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast to the Pacific Ocean on the west coast, including the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean, the state of Alaska at the northern tip of the Americas, and several other territories.
The first settler in what is now the United States come from Asia about 15,000 years ago. They crossed the Bering land bridge into Alaska.Selanjutnya, Native Americans living in the area for thousands of years. In 1492, Christopher Columbus reached America. English people then settled in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. These settlements are considered as the first settlement in the United States. Furthermore, the United States continues visited by English people. The French, Spanish, and Dutch also settled in some of the United States. The development of British colonies did not end well for Native Americans, because many of those who died from the disease, and they lost their country.
United States is made up of 13 former British colony after the American Revolution after the declaration of independence on July 4, 1776. This war started because the colonists felt unfairly treated by the British.
After the Revolution, the United States face many problems, such as slavery. In the 1800s, the U.S. gained a lot of territory and began terindustralisasi. From 1861 to 1865, the American Civil War raged between the North and South. This war was caused by disputes over states' rights, slavery, and the future of the United States. Some states in the South left the United States and founded the Confederacy.
North won the war, and countries that have left the union returned to the United States. This country then through the reconstruction. In the late 1800s, many Europeans came to the United States and work in large factories. At the beginning of the 20th century, the U.S. became a world power. Its economy is one of the largest in the world. The country is also involved in World War I and II.
After World War II, the United States engaged in Cold War with the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, the government spent much money on defense. U.S. involvement in the Korean War and Vietnam, and also sent Neil Armstrong and other Americans into space. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War ended. Middle East is important for America, especially after the September 11 attacks of 2001. Now, the United States is a superpower, but still faces some problems.

Pre-Columbian

The ancestors of American natives came from Asia. They crossed the Bering land bridge into Alaska.
Pre-Columbian period is the period before the arrival of Christopher Columbus to America in 1492. At that time, Native Americans settled in the United States. They have a different culture: indigenous people in the United States east of hunting; natives of the northwestern United States catch fish native to the southwest to plant corn and build a house called the pueblo, and the natives of the Great Plains to hunt bison.

The colonial era

The British tried to establish settlements on Roanoke Island in 1585, but did not last long. In 1607, the first British settlement can survive standing in Jamestown, Virginia. This settlement was founded by John Smith, John Rolfe, and other British people who are interested in wealth and adventure. Colonies in Virginia almost failed to survive due to disease and starvation, but successful because of planting tobacco.
In 1621, a group of British people who dubbed the Pilgrim Fathers (those who fled because of disagreements with the church) settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Larger colonies built by the Puritans in Massachusetts Bay in 1630. Instead of finding gold, Pilgrims and Puritans more interested in creating a better society, which they dubbed "the city on a hill." Roger Williams, who was kicked out of Massachusetts, established a colony in Rhode Island in 1636.
Britain is not the only country who settled in what is now the United States. In the 1500s, the Spanish founded the fort in Saint Augustine, Florida. French settled in Canada and the region around the Great Lakes. The Dutch established a colony in New York, which they called Nieuw Nederland. Other regions dimukimi by Scots-Irish, German, and Swedish.
Development of the colony is a bad thing for Native Americans. They lost their country, and many of those who died from variola, a disease that Europeans brought to America.
In the early 1700s, the emerging religious movement called Awakening Movement Rohani.Gerakan Awakening is one of the first event in American history that is a "big move", or something that involves a lot of Americans. Awakening movement, along with the Salem Witch Punishment, is a response to the American situation at the time, and may influence the rationale used in the American Revolution.
In 1733, there were thirteen colonies. These colonies are usually grouped into New England (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut), the Middle colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware), and the South (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia). New England had small farms, and are more reliant on fishing, shipbuilding, and South kecil.Koloni industries have the tobacco and cotton plantations. The gardens were originally worked by workers who are willing to work a few years with the entrance to the American wage and land, and by slaves. The colony was a small-sized farms, and is known to have diverse cultures and beliefs.
Thirteenth colony is bound to the "Atlantic economy", which involves the use of ships for the slave trade, tobacco, rum, sugar, gold, spices, fish, timber, and manufactured goods, between the United States, West Indies, Europe, and Africa. New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Charleston is a city and major port in those days.
From 1754 until 1763, Britain and France engaged in a war called the Seven Years War. England managed to win the war. French surrender to the British colony in Canada, and gave Louisiana to Spain; Spain gave Florida to England. Furthermore, the British issued the Proclamation of 1763, which states that people who lived in the thirteen colonies could not be settled in the west of the Appalachians.

The American Revolution

After the Seven Years War, colonists began to feel they do not obtain their rights. Besides the Proclamation of 1763, they felt treated unfairly because of the tax levied by the British government. Colonists declared "No taxation without representation", which means they have requested that they have a voice in the Parliament of Britain. These taxes include the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), Townsend Duties (1767), and the Tea Act (1773). In 1770, the Boston Tea Party event occurs. Colonists in Boston dispose of hundreds of boxes of tea from ships in Boston Harbor, in response to the Tea Act. British troops then took over Boston, which resulted in the establishment of the Continental Congress, composed of leaders of every 13 colonies. Important figures in the Congress was Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, Roger Sherman, and John Jay.

Expansion, industrialization, and slavery, 1815-1861
One of the problems in this period was slavery. In 1861, more than three million African-American slaves in the South. Most of the work picking cotton on large plantations. South wanted slavery to remain there, while the North tried to end it.
After the War of 1812, America experienced "Era of Good Feelings" under President James Madison kepemipinan and James Monroe. Under Monroe, U.S. policy in North America is the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that America can no longer colonized by European countries. [33] In this same period, Congress asked "American system", ie by spending funds for banks , transportation, and communication, so that cities become larger and more factories are built. [34] One of the major transportation project in this period was the Erie Canal in New York. In the 1840s, railroads were also built. Thousands of miles of railway and telegraph lines have been built in the United States in 1860.
Industry in the United States is also growing. Many factories are built in northeastern cities such as Lowell, Massachusetts. Most factories produce garments. Most workers in the factory are women, and some are the children of Ireland and Germany. Despite industrialization, livelihood largely American population at that time were farmers.
In the early and mid-1800s, the Second Awakening Movement was launched. This movement started in New York. Awakening Movement is closely related to anti-slavery movement in the United States.
Andrew Jackson was elected president in 1828. Most of his supporters are poor people who have never voted before, so he gave them a job as a "gift". In addition, he also set a high import taxes which are not favored by the South. Vice president of Jackson, John C. Calhoun, who came from the South, wrote that the South should stop the policy and leave the United States.
People began moving to the west of the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains at this time. The first people who moved to the West is the man who sold the skins of animals. In the 1840s, many people moved to Oregon, and the more people who moved to the West after the California Gold Rush of 1849. Native Americans increasingly pressured by events such as expulsion (the so-called Trail of Tears) and the Black Hawk War.
In 1845, Texas, who had left Mexico, joined the United States. Mexicans do not like this, and Americans want Barat.Akibatnya Coast region of Mexico, Mexican-American War erupted. The U.S. managed to win this war, and acquire areas of California and the Southwestern United States. The people in the North do not like this war, because they feel the war is only to benefit the South.


Civil war

In the 1840's and 1850's, North and South are less like each other because of various differences, such as:
Northern economy based on industry, while based on the agrarian South.
Northern states did not require a slave, while the South needed slaves. The people in the South are also angry with books like Uncle Tom's Cabin which states that slavery is wrong.
North has the Republican Party, while the South has the Democratic Party.
Differences of views on the federal government power.
Government officials trying to make arrangements to stop the war. However, these agreements do not succeed in stopping perpecahan.Orang the North and South began killing each other because of the issue of slavery in Kansas. This event is called "Bloody Kansas". In 1859, John Brown took over a city in Virginia to show that slavery was wrong and he tried to take the slaves against their owners.
Republican Abraham Lincoln won the election in 1860. After that, eleven states left the United States and founded the Confederate State of America. Then the Civil War erupted between North and South America. Confederate general who has more capably than the north, but have fewer railway lines and nearly do not have the weapons factory. At the beginning of the war, Confederate generals like Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson won the battle against the Northern generals such as George B. McClellan and Ambrose Burnside. In the middle of the war, Lincoln proclaimed the Emancipation Proclamation which would free all slaves in the Confederacy, and allow blacks to fight in the Northern army. Chronology of the war began siding with the North after the battle of Gettysburg in 1863. In 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant had seized the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, and the generals forced Lee to surrender.

Reconstruction and the Gilded Age

Lincoln was re-elected as president in 1864. However, while attending a play at Ford's Theatre, Washington, DC, he was shot by John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln became the first American president who was murdered. He was succeeded by Andrew Johnson.
At this time, amendments to the 13, 14, and 15 approved. So the slaves freed and become citizens. They also have voting rights. Congress at that time controlled by the "Radical Republicans", who wanted to punish the South after the Civil War. They do not like Johnson and almost stop jabatannya.Mereka also sent many troops to the South and South forced approve amendments to the 14 and 15. South do not like this, and make laws "Jim Crow" that puts black people in the roles of low and force them to work as farmers in the South miskin.Orang White also founded the Ku Klux Klan attacked black people.
United States visited by immigrants from various countries, like Ireland, Italy, Germany, Eastern Europe, and China. Most of them work in large factories and live in big cities, like New York City, Chicago, and Boston . They usually inhabit the apartments are small, poor, and close together. Immigrants are often used as a "political machine". They were given jobs and money, in exchange for votes in elections.
"Political machines" had taken control of government in the last decade of the 19th century. Most of the president-elect because of the political machine. Large business owners often have more power than the government. An example is the John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan.
Transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. These pathways help ease transportation in the United States. Chicago, where the paths meet, a center of trade between East and West.

The period of progressivism and imperialism

At the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, the United States to become more active in foreign affairs. In 1898, the United States to war against Spain. The U.S. won the war, and control of Puerto Rico, Guam, Guantanamo, and the Philippines. Coupled with the purchase of Alaska and the takeover of Hawaii, the United States has gained throughout the region today, plus some of the areas to be separated after World War II.
In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became president of the United States. He has a foreign policy called "Big Stick". The point is that [the U.S.] should have a large navy and conduct oversight of Latin America. Between 1900 to 1930, the United States several times to send troops to Latin America. When Theodore Roosevelt was in office, digging the Panama Canal begins.
Woodrow Wilson was elected president in 1912. He is a progressive, but not entirely similar to Roosevelt.

World War I

United States initially did not want to get involved in World War I. However, because:
Ditenggelamkannya ship RMS Lusitania by a German torpedo on May 7, 1915
Disclosure of the Zimmermann Telegram, a message that invites Germany to Mexico to jointly attack the U.S.
America declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917.AS help the Allies, and the war ended a year later with the defeat of the Central Powers. After the war, Woodrow Wilson tried to establish the League of Nations, but the United States did not join because of the isolationist in the U.S. reject the treaty agreement .after World War I, a pandemic flu epidemic, killing many people in the U.S. and Europe. Moreover, after World War I, the United States became one of the richest and most powerful country in the world.

Inter-war period: 1919-1939

In the 1920's, racism is rampant. Ku Klux Klan is getting stronger and targeting blacks, Catholics, Jews, and immigrants. People accuse immigrants and labor leaders (who were accused of being Bolshevik) guilty of war and other problems in the business sector.
1920s was the era of economic boom and prosperity for the United States. At this time, many African-Americans who moved from South to big cities like New York City, Chicago, St.. Louis, and Los Angeles. They bring jazz music, so in the 1920s was dubbed the "Jazz Age".

Franklin D. Roosevelt

After World War I, the United States imposed an isolationist foreign policy. Laws and treaties that ended the war was approved. The U.S. also refused to sell weapons to his former allies.
Warren G. Harding became president in 1921. He believes that the best way to fix the economy is friendly to big business through tax cuts and reduced regulations. Economic performance held up well under this policy. However, the gap between rich and poor widened. Harding died in 1923, Calvin Coolidge and his place. Like Harding, Calvin Coolidge believed that government should not intervene in business affairs, so he went on many policies Harding. Coolidge decided not to become a candidate in elections 1928 and subsequently became president Herbert Hoover.
In 1929, the Great Depression hit the United States. Stock market crashed, and many banks ran out of money and closed. In 1932, more than a quarter of the people of the United States to become unemployed.
Herbert Hoover, who became president at the time, trying to stop the Depression, but failed. [80] In 1932, he was defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the election. Franklin D. Roosevelt launched the New Deal policies, namely a series of government programs that provide relief, recovery and reform. Examples of the New Deal programs were Social Security, the Works Progress Administration (roads, schools, government buildings and works of art), and the Civilian Conservation Corps (giving young people a job to help the environment). Such programs employ millions of Americans, albeit with a small salary. New Deal is often referred to as the period of "saving capitalism" and stop America become communist or fascist state. [84] Although the New Deal succeeded in improving the economy, this policy does not end the Great Depression. Depression was ended by World War II.

World War II

U.S. forces launched an invasion on Omaha Beach.
World War II began on 1 September 1939, and the United States have said they do not want to get involved. Most Americans feel the U.S. should remain neutral.
Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7 1941.Akibatnya, the United States declared war on the Axis (Germany, Japan, and Italy). United States engaged in two fronts, namely the Pacific Front against Japan, and Europe and Africa Front against Germany and Italy.
On 12 April 1945, Roosevelt died, and was succeeded by Harry Truman. Mussolini executed by Italian partisans on April 28.Two days later, Adolf Hitler committed suicide. [89] The Germans surrendered in Italy on 29 April and in Western Europe on May 7,
Allied leaders met at Potsdam, Germany, on July 11. They demanded that Japan surrender unconditionally. Japan ignored this call, so the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945) to end the war. Six days after the bombing, on August 15, Japan surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, signed the instrument of surrender on September 2.

Cold War

Soviet tanks face U.S. tanks at Checkpoint Charlie, on October 27, during the Berlin Crisis in 1961.
After World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States into two world superpowers. The Cold War was a period of tension and rivalry between the Soviet and the U.S.. However, the Americans and the Soviets have never met directly in battle, but fought indirectly, as in the Korean War (1950s) and the Vietnam War (1950s-1970s). The second war is a war between the communist North government (supported by the Soviets and the People's Republic of China), and the government assisted by the U.S. South. The Korean War ended with the division of Korea, while the war was won by the Vietnamese Communist Vietnam after the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam. In addition, one of the important conflict in this period is the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. During this crisis, the U.S. and the Soviet Union are in a position very close to each attack with nuclear weapons.


During the Cold War, the government tried to find the alleged Communists. People who are suspected communists will lose their jobs, go to jail, or a trap was killed. Many actors and writers who entered the black list. This event is referred to as the "Red Scare".
Arms race between the United States also took place with the Soviets. [98] United States spends a lot of money for defense projects. [99] In addition to the arms race, space race also took place. The race begins when the Soviets launched Sputnik in 1957. In recent years, both the U.S. and the Soviets had launched a satellite, and also sent animals and humans into space. In 1969, Apollo 11 successfully landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon.
U.S. foreign policy changed in the 1970's when the U.S. left Vietnam and Richard Nixon resigned because of Watergate scandal. In the 1970s and 1980s, the U.S. has a policy of "detente" (reduce tension) with the Soviet Union. Under the leadership of Nixon and Reagan, the United States sent troops and money to Latin American countries so that they do not become communist. At this time also, because the U.S. economy did not suffer as much as formerly produced goods, and because some countries in the Middle East to the oil embargo.
The Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet in December 1991

The era after the Cold War

The September 11 attacks
After the end of the Cold War, the United States became "post-industrial society". The U.S. also began running a trade deficit. Middle East to be important in U.S. foreign policy, because the Americans have billions of barrels of oil from the Middle East. Many countries in the Middle East do not care about the U.S. because America is an ally of Israel. In 1991, the United States engaged in the Gulf War to expel Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
In 1992, Bill Clinton became president. He sent troops to Bosnia was ravaged by war etnis.AS also agrees with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). [109] However, Clinton's presidency marred by scandal sex with a secretary named Monica Lewinsky.
George W. Bush won the election in 2000. In his tenure, the September 11 attacks occurred. As a result of the attacks, World Trade Center collapsed, and thousands of Americans were killed. Bush then approved the USA Patriot Act, which allows the government to collect information on Americans suspected of being terrorists. U.S. and NATO went into Afghanistan to find Osama bin Laden and others who planned the September 11 attacks. Furthermore, the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 because Saddam Hussein allegedly had weapons of mass destruction. In 2005, the southern United States hit by a big storm called Hurricane Katrina. Democrats won back Congress in 2006 because Americans dislike Bush's policies regarding the Iraq War and Katrina.
In 2008, Barack Obama was elected the first African-American president. He was elected during the worst recession since the Great Depression. At the beginning of his tenure, Obama and Congress approved the reform of health care and banking. The government also provides a stimulus to help the economy during recessions. During a recession, the government spent a lot of money to keep the banking and automotive industry from collapse. In addition to the financial crisis, Obama must also complete the Deepwater Horizon oil leak problem that occurred in June 2010.
In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote the pamphlet Common Sense, who declared that the colonies should be independent from Britain. On July 4, 1776, thirteen colonies agreed to the Declaration of Independence was Serikat.Kolonis-colonists have been engaged in battle with the British in the American Revolutionary War. The war began in 1775 in Lexington and Concord.Meskipun American soldiers under the leadership of George Washington suffered many defeats, they won the war after the victory at Yorktown, assisted by France. Treaty of Paris was signed, and Britain withdrew all its troops from the United States.

The Federal Period 1781-1815

Constitution of the United States
In 1781, the colonies to prepare an EU through the Articles of Confederation, but only lasted for six years. Most of the power delivered to the states, and few possessed the power of central government. In addition, there is no president. Articles of Confederation could not stop the Native Americans or the British people at the border, and also unable to stop the uprising as Shays Rebellion '. After Shays rebellion ', many people feel the Articles of Confederation had failed.
The U.S. Constitution was written in 1787. Figures who helped write the constitution, such as Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Gouverneur Morris, a major American thinkers of the time. Some leaders will hold an important position in the new government. This Constitution established a national government that is stronger and has three branches: executive (President and his cabinet), legislative (House of Representatives and the Senate rayat), and judicial branches of government (federal court). The Constitution was ratified by the states in 1788.

In 1789, Washington was elected first president. In his tenure, the Whiskey Rebellion erupted. Farmers in the countryside trying to stop the collection of tax on whiskey. In 1795, Congress approved the Jay Treaty, which opened trade with Britania.Traktat was made with the aim of improving relations with Britain. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison strongly opposed to this treaty.
In election 1796, John Adams defeated Thomas Jefferson. This election is an election between the first two political parties in the United States. As president, Adams made the Army and Navy the United States becomes larger, but also passed a law to close newspapers that write bad things about him.
Jefferson defeated Adams in the election in 1800. One of the important things he did as president was to buy Louisiana from Perancis.Jefferson send Lewis and Clark to map the Louisiana Purchase. President Jefferson also tried to stop trading with Britain and France, who was involved in the war. War erupted between the United States and Britain in 1812 when James Madison was president. This war was called the War of 1812.

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