Eyewitness History of the World 2.0

THE UNITED STATES

North America was first settled by peoples who migrated from 
Asia across the frozen Bering Strait about 20,000 years ago, 
during the last Ice Age. They settled throughout the continent, 
and developed distinct cultures, depending on their environment. 
By 3000 BC people around the Great Lakes began working with native 
copper. The first North American pottery dates from about 2500 
BC.
EARLY CULTURES
By 800 BC Adena culture emerged in the Woodlands area in the 
east. This developed into the Hopewell Culture, which lasted 
from 200 BC to AD 400. The Hopewells created extensive trade 
links across North America and built large earth mounds as part 
of their burial ceremonies. In the Southwest, between about 1050 
and 1300, the Anasazi people built pueblos (villages) with multistory 
houses of mudbricks. They lived by farming, weaving, and making 
pottery.
COLONIZATION
The first Europeans to visit North America were the Vikings, 
in about AD 1000. Christopher Columbus (14511506) reached North 
America in 1492. The Spanish settled in Florida, and the British, 
French, Dutch, Germans, and Swedes soon followed and also founded 
settlements. The first successful British colony was established 
in Virginia in 1607. Religious persecution in England led to 
the voyage of a religious sect called the Pilgrims. They landed 
in what is now Massachusetts and founded the first of the New 
England colonies. In 1619 the first Africans were brought to 
North America to work as slaves on the colonists plantations.
STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL
From 1689 to 1763 the French and British colonists in North America 
fought one another. Sometimes these were local disputes, but 
more often they reflected conflicts in Europe. The French and 
Indian War (17541763) corresponded with the European Seven Years 
War. The British eventually defeated the French at the battle 
of Quebec. Peace terms agreed in 1763 left the British in control 
of North America.
AMERICAN REVOLUTION
The colonists had no say in government, and resented paying British 
taxes, which were increased in order to pay to for the war. Their 
motto became No taxation without representation. In 1773 men 
boarded British tea ships and tossed their cargo into the sea, 
an episode known as the Boston Tea Party. Two years later the 
War of Independence started, during which the colonists received 
military support from France, and Germany assisted the British. 
On July 4, 1776 the colonies signed the Declaration of Independence, 
written mostly by Thomas Jefferson (17431926). The declaration 
defined each British colony as a state in the new country, and 
outlined the principles on which the revolution was based. The 
colonists won a decisive victory at the battle of Yorktown in 
1781, although the war continued for another two years. The peace 
treaty of 1783 divided North America between Spain, Britain, 
and the newly-formed United States. When a new constitution was 
adopted in 1789 George Washington (17321799) became the first 
U.S. president. The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution 
in 1791.
WAR WITH MEXICO
The U.S. population grew rapidly, and a number of new states 
were admitted. France sold Louisiana to the United States in 
1803, and Spain sold Florida in 1819. In 1836 Texas declared 
independence from Mexico, and applied to join the United States, 
who annexed the territory. War broke out between the United States 
and Mexico over a border dispute, and Mexico was soundly defeated. 
The 1848 peace treaty gave the United States most of the Southwest, 
including California.
CIVIL WAR
The northern and southern states were divided on the issue of 
slavery, which was the basis of agriculture in the south. The 
northern states wished to prevent the expansion of slavery into 
the new western territories, and many people sought its abolition 
throughout the entire country. When Abraham Lincoln (18091865) 
was elected president on an antislavery platform, some southern 
states separated from the United States to form the Confederacy. 
Civil war soon broke out, and in 1862 Lincoln declared the emancipation 
(freedom) of slaves in all states. In spite of the Unions larger 
population and greater industrialization, the Confederates won 
the first battles of the war. The turning point came when the 
Union won the battle of Gettysburg in 1863. The Confederacy surrendered 
in 1865 and almost immediately afterward President Lincoln was 
assassinated. The North emerged from the war stronger than ever, 
while the South was ruined. By 1870 all the southern states had 
been readmitted into the Union.
WESTWARD EXPANSION
The building of railroads helped industrialize the country, and 
waves of immigrants moved west. Many were attracted by cheap 
farmland and the huge numbers of wild cattle available to ranchers. 
Others were lured by the California Gold Rush. Alaska was purchased 
from Russia in 1867, and Hawaii annexed in 1898. By the late 
1800s the United States was a leading agricultural and industrial 
power. There was a large increase in immigration from Europe 
and Asia.
NATIVE AMERICANS
Westward expansion proceeded at the expense of Native Americans 
who were driven from their traditional lands. The settlers massacred 
the vast herds of buffalo on which peoples such as the Sioux 
and Cheyenne depended. The Native Americans fought against the 
settlers and the government forces, but they were defeated, and 
forced onto reservations. They were not allowed to become U.S. 
citizens, and had few civil rights.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
When World War I (19141918) broke out the United States remained 
neutral until 1917, when German submarines attacked U.S ships 
carrying supplies to Britain. U.S. troops joined the Allies on 
the Western Front. After the war the United States returned to 
the policy of isolation, and did not become a member of the League 
of Nations. The 1920s were a period of prosperity and of greater 
opportunities for women, who were given the vote in 1920. These 
were also the years of Prohibition. People thought the banning 
of alcohol would reduce crime, but it had the opposite effect, 
as gangsters fought to control the profitable black market in 
liquor. In 1929 the Wall Street Crash led to a worldwide economic 
depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt (18821945) became president 
in 1933. He combatted the economic crisis with a program called 
the New Deal that introduced welfare reforms, created jobs, subsidized 
farmers, and controlled prices. However, it was not until World 
War II (19391945) that the U.S. economy properly recovered.
WORLD WAR II
The United States declared its neutrality when World War II broke 
out in Europe. However, on December 7, 1941 Japan attacked the 
U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The United States entered 
the war and played a major role in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific. 
Japans expansion was stopped in 1942, and the United States 
steadily regained territory. In early August 1945 the United 
States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima 
and Nagasaki. Five days later Japan surrendered.
COLD WAR
After the war the United States emerged as the chief world power 
opposed to communism. In 1949 the United States, Canada, and 
ten European countries formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
(NATO), a defense alliance of Western nations. During the Cold 
War, the United States and the Soviet Union stockpiled nuclear 
weapons and supported opposite sides in conflicts, as they did 
during the Korean War (19501953). The fear generated by the 
Cold War led to a frenzy of anticommunist witch-hunts in the 
United States, led by Senator Joe McCarthy (19091957.) Leading 
figures from all areas of society were suspected of communist 
sympathizing, and many careers were destroyed by false allegations. 
The postwar period in the United States was one of great prosperity, 
with a huge increase in the manufacture of consumer goods.
JOHN F. KENNEDY
In 1960 John F. Kennedy (19171963) became president. His election 
was seen as symbolic of the new youth culture and spirit of idealism 
in the United States. Kennedy initiated a program of social reform 
and took steps to encourage the U.S. space program. In 1961 the 
United States engineered an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba, designed 
to depose the communist leader Fidel Castro (born 1927). In October 
Kennedy alleged that Soviet missiles were being erected in Cuba, 
and announced a U.S. naval blockade of the island that lasted 
until the Soviets removed the weapons. In November 1963 Kennedy 
was assassinated. His death was mourned worldwide.
CIVIL RIGHTS
Increasing concern for black civil rights led to demonstrations 
in many U.S. cities. In 1956 the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, 
organized by Martin Luther King Jr. (19291968) gave the movement 
momentum. It became a nonviolent mass protest against southern 
segregation. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, intended 
to secure equal opportunities in jobs, housing, and any projects 
making use of federal money. Despite these measures, there were 
race riots in many cities during the 1960s. Martin Luther King 
Jr. was assassinated in 1968.
VIETNAM WAR
The United States first sent military advisers to Vietnam in 
1956, to assist South Vietnamese troops fighting against the 
communists. By 1966 nearly 250,000 U.S. soldiers were fighting 
in Vietnam. As time passed, and the horrors of the war were displayed 
on television around the world, U.S. society became bitterly 
divided over the governments policy on Vietnam. The protest 
movement spread after national guards killed several students 
during an antiwar demonstration at Kent State University in 1970. 
U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam in 1973.
RICHARD NIXON
Under the presidency of Richard Nixon (19131994) the United 
States landed a man on the moon. Nixon pursued a policy of detente 
with China, and improved relations with the Soviet Union. He 
was forced to resign in 1974 following his attempted cover-up 
of the Watergate scandal, in which Republican party workers were 
found to have bugged Democrat party headquarters during the 1972 
election campaign. White House knowledge of the Watergate break-in, 
and other illegal activities, was only exposed by the dedicated 
investigation of two journalists on the Washington Post. In the 
early 1970s the price of oil rose sharply when countries in the 
Middle East imposed an oil embargo against the United States. 
President Carter (born 1924) tried to introduce measures to reduce 
oil consumption, but much of the bill was blocked by Congress.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Carter successfully mediated in peace talks between Arabs and 
Israelis, and he also signed arms reduction agreements with the 
Soviet Union. But he proved unable to overcome events elsewhere 
in the Middle East. In 1979 the deposed Shah of Iran received 
medical treatment in the United States. In response, 53 members 
of U.S. embassy staff were taken hostage in Tehran. A rescue 
attempt failed, and the hostages were not released until the 
inauguration of Ronald Reagan (born 1911) as president in 1981. 
In the 1980s U.S. politics swung sharply to the right. Reagan 
instituted huge cuts in government spending on welfare and increased 
the defense budget. The United States was deeply involved in 
Central American politics, and intervened in the internal affairs 
of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, and Grenada.
RECENT EVENTS
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States 
as the only world superpower. In 1991 U.S. forces led the attack 
against Iraq in the Gulf War, after Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait. 
Bill Clinton (born 1946) was elected president in 1992, becoming 
the countrys first Democrat leader in 12 years. Clintons economic 
policies led to a fall in unemployment, but reduction of the 
federal budget deficit remained the government priority. Much 
of his more liberal legislation, such as reform of the healthcare 
system, was blocked by Congress. From November 1994 the Republicans 
controlled both houses of Congress, which added to the presidents 
difficulties. Clinton was reelected by a large majority in 1996.

Copyright 1995, 1998 Dorling Kindersley
