American History
A brief overview of the history of the United States and its people.
North America and European Colonization
The history of the United States as a nation begins with the arrival of European explorers and settlers in the 16th century. Before the arrival of these colonists, the region was home to millions of indigenous people and a number of advanced civilizations. Their ancestors are thought to have traveled to North America through Asia's Bering Land Bridge about 30,000 years ago. There, they diversified into many different lifestyles and civilizations. Long isolation from the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, however, would later prove devastating to their communities. Diseases such as smallpox swept across the Americas soon after first contact with the Europeans. An estimated 50 percent of the Native American population succumbed to these diseases.
European colonists, most notably the French, Spanish, Dutch, and British, stepped ashore in search of new land and resources. The Spanish founded St. Augustine in modern Florida in 1565. The British settled the colony of Jamestown in 1607 after a failed venture on Roanoke Island. Some came looking for gold, silver, and furs. Others sought religious freedom or served out sentences in penal colonies. Still more wanted nothing more than land of their own to farm. These colonies conducted regular trade with indigenous peoples but rarely integrated with them. They also imported African slaves to act as servants and manual laborers.
Over time, the British came to control most of the East Coast of the United States through thirteen major colonies. British dominance in North America was cemented through the French and Indian War waged from 1754 to 1763. The colonies primarily existed to produce the raw resources needed to fuel a global empire. They grew cash crops like cotton and tobacco and exported goods such as fish and lumber. The early colonists, most of them descended from English or Scottish immigrants, remained loyal to the Crown. But as cities and societies developed, they began to form new identities based around their colony as well.
Independence and the Early United States
Independence movements within the colonies began as early as the 17th century. In 1676, for example, a group of Virginians led by Nathaniel Bacon launched a revolt known as Bacon’s Rebellion. Attitudes against the British Empire hardened by the 1760s thanks to new taxes and a ban on further westward settlement. After a series of protests, including the Boston Tea Party, the thirteen colonies declared formal independence in 1776. They prepared for war under the leadership of future national heroes like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton. The resulting struggle, with the help of the French, lasted seven years and ended with the withdrawal of British forces.
The young United States of America spent several years as a confederacy, with little federal power. The Articles of Confederation, however, proved too loose to hold a nation together. The states adopted the United States Constitution in 1789, electing George Washington as their first president. This document was followed by the Bill of Rights in 1791, which further outlined the rights of its citizens. By 1800, the nation’s capital had shifted from New York to Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. The U.S. faced several early challenges, including the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 and another clash with Britain in the War of 1812. The government weathered them all and acquired vast new territories through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
Further Reading:
Immigration, Urbanization and Westward Expansion
The 19th century saw both the growth of an American identity and the scattering of its citizens. New arrivals, flooding in from Europe, China, and elsewhere, were eager to press west and claim land for themselves. In doing so, they continued to displace the indigenous people already living there, often through violence. Surviving tribes were pushed onto marginal land set aside as reservations. Many of these reservations were established far from the tribes’ original territories. A number of wars broke out between the U.S. government and the people of the Great Plains in particular. Armed resistance for the most part ended with the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890.
Meanwhile, cities grew on an industrial scale, driven by factories and the expansion of railroads. In 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico and had become a member of the U.S. by 1845. This led to the Mexican-American War of 1845, which resulted in the U.S. also acquiring California and New Mexico. In 1846, the U.S. assumed full control of the Oregon Territory, once jointly occupied with Britain.
The American Civil War
As the nation expanded through diplomacy, conquest, and immigration, one issue loomed larger than any other. Slavery was permitted in some states but outlawed in others, and it called the power of the federal government into question. Ending the institution, which sat on the shoulders of 4 million enslaved people, would have a profound impact on the wealthy plantations of the rural South. The issue came to a boil in the 1850s, made worse by growing regional tensions. Events like John Brown’s attack on “Bleeding Kansas,” and his subsequent hanging, only stoked the flames. In 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union in response to the election of President Abraham Lincoln. Six more states followed, forming the Confederate States of America and plunging the U.S. into its Civil War.
Between 1860 and 1865, an estimated 618,000 Americans lost their lives to the conflict. The more industrial North eventually prevailed over the South, which saw much of its infrastructure destroyed. Shortly after the end of the war, President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Without his leadership, Reconstruction commenced with uneven results. While slavery had ended, discrimination against ethnic minorities continued nationwide. Especially in the South, black citizens were denied the right to vote, violently harassed, and segregated for at least another century.
Further Reading:
Village Life in America: 1852-1872; Inauguration of Lincoln and the Start of the Civil War
Village Life in America: 1852-1872; End of the War and the Assassination of Lincoln
The United States in the Early 20th Century
By the early 20th century, the United States had emerged as a global industrial and naval power. Its vast natural resources, booming population, and zealous philosophies propelled this rapid growth. President Theodore Roosevelt pushed the construction of the Panama Canal, enabling faster shipping between the Pacific and Atlantic. He also oversaw the Great White Fleet, a demonstration of the U.S.’s powerful new navy between 1907 and 1909. The U.S. entered World War I relatively late, but its influx of fresh troops and ships helped bring the war to an end. A period of booming markets and spreading electricity, known as the Roaring Twenties or Gilded Age, preceded a massive market crash in 1929. The Great Depression was marked by high unemployment, homelessness, drought, and a struggling economy. It sparked a revived labor movement in the country as well as progressive policies like Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal.
The Depression came to an end with the United States’ entry into World War II. In 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack against the US naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In response, the U.S. joined the Allies against the Axis of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The war consumed the nation’s industry and the attention of its people. American scientists developed the nuclear bomb, eventually ending the conflict through the destruction of Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. On the West Coast, nearly 120,000 Japanese-Americans were relocated to internment camps during this period.
The Cold War and the Present United States
The United States emerged from World War II as the foremost industrial power of the world. With the threat of nuclear warfare now on the table, it embarked on a Cold War with the communist Soviet Union. This conflict, fought across many countries through warfare, diplomacy, trade, and espionage, lasted until 1991. The Korean and Vietnam Wars of this era had the greatest impact on the American populace. At home, the U.S. experienced a period of economic prosperity and social activism. The civil rights movement, anti-war protests, feminism, and increasing social tolerance have all shaped modern American society.
On September 11, 2001, highly visible and damaging terrorist attacks against the United States launched a series of controversial wars in the Middle East, primarily Iraq and Afghanistan. The country entered a major economic recession in late 2007 and has since recovered. Today, it remains the world’s largest economic and military power, though it faces increasing competition on both fronts.
Learn More About American Culture
Cultural Overview | Geography | History | Daily Life | Society | Economy | Beliefs | Arts & Music
References
Grant, Susan-Mary. A Concise History of the United States of America. Cambridge University Press. 2012.
Nies, Judith. Native American History: A Chronology of a Culture's Vast Achievements and Their Links to World Events. Random House Publishing Group. 2012.
Remini, Robert. A Short History of the United States: From the Arrival of Native American Tribes to the Obama Presidency. Harper Collins. 2009.
“The World Factbook: United States.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 5 Sept. 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html.
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present. Routledge. 2015.
About TOTA
TOTA.world provides cultural information and sharing across the world to help you explore your Family’s Cultural History and create deep connections with the lives and cultures of your ancestors.
