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# United States/History

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The United States of America was founded from colonies established along the Atlantic Coast of North America by the [British Empire]?. In 1775 frustration with various British crown practices led to revolt by colonists in Massachusetts. In 1776, representatives of the thirteen North American Colonies met in Philadelphia and declared their independence in a remarkable document, the [Declaration of Indepedence]?, primarily authored by Thomas Jefferson. With the help of their French allies they were eventually able to win the American Revolutionary War.

In 1812, the United states entered a second war with the British Empire, known as the [War of 1812]?. It was caused in large part by the British policy of Impressment (the forcable seizure of American seamen for service in the British Navy)and the British blocking of French seaport where Americans desired to carry on trade. Though the British held the upper hand in most engagements, several of the battles entered the American mythos - including the [Battle of New Orleans]?, when General [Andrew Jackson]? handed the British one of their worse defeats in their history. Ironically, the battle was fought two weeks after the peace [Treaty of Ghent]?, which ended the hostilities, and restored pre-war conditions.

During the 19th century the country expanded greatly, and many new states were added to the Union. Two important events were the Louisiana Purchase, where the United States bought from France all of its territories west of the [Mississipi River]?, and the [Mexican War]?, where the Unites States obtained California, [New Mexico]? (that included part of Arizona?, Utah and Nevada) and the recognition of Texas as a state of the union, after American settlers declared independence from Mexico in the 1830s? and joined the United States a decade later.

In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, most of the southern states seceded from the union, forming the [Confederate States of America]?. An American Civil War ensued. U.S. military leadership was mediocre, at first, compared to Confederate generals, particularly Robert E. Lee. But the Union government managed to invade the Southern states, and defeat the Confederate army, by means of an overwhelming advantage in materials and number of soldiers, and the gradual appearance of skilled generals like Ulysses S. Grant and [William T. Sherman]?.

The destructiveness of the Union invasion and defeat of the South, followed by exploitive (and corruptly implemented) economic policies in the defeated region after the war, caused lasting bitterness among Southerners toward the U.S. government. This failure of the Federal government to effectively reunite the country contributed to the government's failure for many decades to enforce the [Civil Rights]? of the formerly enslaved African-Americans? in the South.

During the 20th century the U.S. was involved in two World Wars. Firmly maintaining neutrality when World War I began in 1914, the United States eventually entered the war after the Lusitania?, a British ship carrying many American passengers, was sunk by German submarines. With American help, Great Britain, France and Italy won the war, and imposed severe economic penalties on Germany in the Treaty of Versailles. The economic impact of the reparations mandated by the Treaty were so severe, that Adolf Hitler was easily able to convince the German people to elect him as their national leader in the early 1930s.

Disillusioned by the failure of the war to achieve the high ideals promised by President [Woodrow Wilson]?, the American people chose Isolationism?: that is, they turned their attention inward, away from international relations and solely toward domestic affairs.

During most of the 1920s the United States enjoyed a period of widespread prosperity and feverish economic growth. This boom was stimulated by the extension of credit to a dangerous degree, including in the [Stock Market]?, which rose to dangerously inflated levels.

The [Stock Market]? crashed in 1929, and the economy sank into a severe depression, referred to by Americans as the "Great Depression", marked by punishing levels of unemployment. The depth and severity of the Depression? were exacerbated by economic isolationist policies enacted by the U.S. government in response to the Stock Market crash [Smoot-Hawley tariff]?, and the fact that American farmers had already been suffering from severe drought and depressed prices since the mid 1920's.

With work so difficult to come by, political ferment and discontent were greatly increased among the working classes. An unsympathetic or repressive response from the U.S. government might well have sparked a Socialist? uprising, but President [Franklin D. Roosevelt]?, elected in 1932, prevented this by implementing a number of Keynsian programs to aid the poor and unemployed. He skillfully improved the appeal of these programs to the American people, by refusing to label them "Socialist", or even admit that they were. He also contributed to the future stability of the economy by instituting new regulations in business, particularly banking.

Despite his skillful use of language to disguise the Socialist nature of these programs, the wealthy and the business interests were profoundly alarmed by FDR?'s innovations, and opposed them resolutely. But they were unable to prevent them, due to their widespread popularity with the working classes.

Despite (or because of) these new programs, economic recovery was very slow. The nadir of the Great Depression was about 1933, but the economy showed very little improvement through the end of the decade, and remained grim until it was dramatically reshaped through America's involvement in World War II.

Isolationist sentiment in America had ebbed a little, but the United States at first declined to enter the war, limiting itself to giving supplies and weapons to Great Britain, China, and the Soviet Union. American feeling changed drastically with the sudden Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and the United States quickly joined the British-Soviet alliance against Japan, Fascist? Italy, and Nazi Germany, known as the "Axis? Alliance". Even with American participation, nearly four years to defeat Germany and Japan. Though the Soviet Union suffered far more casualties than its allies, America's active involvement in the war was vital to preventing an eventual Axis victory.

After the second world war, America experienced a period of great economic growth, charaterized by the growth of suburban housing, etc.

America entered into a so-called Cold War with the Soviet Union to prevent the spread of communist idealogy. [Berlin Airlift]?, Korean War, [Cuban Missile Crisis]?, [Vietnam War]?, ...

...

The United States remains a popular destination for immigrants, because of its economic prosperity and the high degree of freedom its citizens enjoy.

See also:

- /History Discussion
- /History Talk

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