History of the USA

The United States had been occupied by Native Americans since prehistoric times, and European white settlers from 1492. The strip of land along the eastern coast of America became the original 13 British colonies. By the 1770s the 13 colonies had grown to contain over 2.5million people.

The 13 Colonies

1. Connecticut
2. Delaware
3. Georgia
4. Maryland
5. Massachusetts
6. New Hampshire
7. New Jersey
8. New York
9. North Carolina
10. Pennsylvania
11. Rhode Island
12. South Carolina
13. Virginia

The colonies were ruled from Britain by the King and Parliament, but the relationship between Britain and the colonies became strained. The British Parliament passed The Stamp Act of 1765 which meant that the people living in the colonies had to pay a tax which would pay for British troops being stationed in North America. Britain thought that having troops stationed their benefited the people living in the colonies more than people living in Britain and thought it was only fair that they should pay the expense. The colonists disagreed, especially since they were not represented in Parliament.

The Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party in 1773 was a protest by the colonists against the taxes. The colonists boarded a British ship and threw its cargo (which was tea) into the Boston Harbour. The British tried to punish the colonists by closing the harbour until the company had been paid the value of the tea. This caused outrage in the colonies, and the colonists called the First Continental Congress.

The First Continental Congress

The First Continental Congress was a meeting of representatives from the colonies. They published a list of grievances and petitioned the King to change his mind. The appeal to the King had no effect, and so a second meeting was called in 1775, the Second Continental Congress. Before the Second Continental Congress could meet, the War of Independence (American Revolution) had broken out with the Battle of Lexington and Concord.

Battle of Lexington and Concord

On April 18, 1775, Thomas Gage, the leading British general, planned to seize weapons and ammunition at Concord, Massachusetts, and to kill the leaders of the American Revolution. The next day, April 19, revolutionary forces quickly gathered a 77 man militia, known as the Minutemen, at Lexington. After a stand-off, a shot was fired, and it came to be known as the Shot Heard ‘Round the World. In the battle, the British defeated the revolutionaries. They then advanced to North Bridge in Concord and were met by 300 to 400 colonists, who drove the British back to Boston and forced the British to retreat without seizing the weapons and ammunition they had wanted. The American Revolutionary War had begun.

The Second Continental Congress

After the fighting at Lexington and Concord a meeting was called in Philadelphia on 10^th May 1775 to assemble delegates to the Second Continental Congress. Those present included Sam Adams, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington. Some wanted to declare America independent immediately; some wanted to avoid war at all costs. So Congress did both! They sent a document called the Olive Branch Petition to King George III to see if their differences could be settled once and for all, but also created an army and appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief (just in case!). King George III refused to even read the document, and so Britain and America were officially at war.

The Declaration of Independence

On 4th July 1776, the colonies issued the Declaration of Independence, declaring themselves to be ‘free and independent states’. The liberties that the colonists were fighting to protect were based not on the generosity of the king, but on a higher law embodying ‘natural rights’, that were ordained by God and essential to the progress of human society.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Victory and Independence

In 1783 the British and American signed a peace treaty ending the war, and recognising the independence of the settlers living in the colonies. The colonists originally set up a confederacy through the Articles of Confederation (1781) but this posed problems as there was a lack of a strong central government. It was not until 7 years later in 1788 that the constitution was written and approved, and another year after that the United States (still just 13 small ex-colonies) elected their first president, General George Washington in 1789. The War of Independence had been fought by the Americans to establish the right to govern themselves – the constitution is a result of that fight and is extremely important to Americans.

The Preamble

The first part of the constitution is called the ‘preamble’ and sets out the underlying principles of the constitution and the aims of the group of men who wrote the constitution (sometimes referred to as the Founding Fathers).

The Constitution

The Bill of Rights (1791)

The first 10 amendments to the constitution were proposed by Congress together in 1789 and ratified by the Senate in 1791. Collectively they are known as the Bill of Rights, aimed at protecting Americans against an over-powerful federal government.

The Growth of a Nation

Between 1791 and 1959, the United States grew from 13 small ex-colonies to 50 states.

• 1791 – Vermont
• 1792 – Kentucky
• 1796 – Tennessee
• 1803 – Ohio
• 1812 – Louisiana
• 1816 – Indiana
• 1817 – Mississippi
• 1818 – Illinois
• 1819 – Alabama
• 1820 – Maine
• 1821 – Missouri
• 1836 – Arkansas
• 1837 – Michigan
• 1845 – Florida
• 1845 – Texas
• 1846 – Iowa
• 1848 – Wisconsin
• 1850 – California
• 1858 – Minnesota
• 1859 – Oregon
• 1861 – Kansas
• 1863 – West Virginia
• 1864 – Nevada
• 1867 – Nebraska
• 1876 – Colorado
• 1889 – North Dakota
• 1889 – South Dakota
• 1889 – Montana
• 1889 – Washington
• 1890 – Idaho
• 1890 – Wyoming
• 1896 – Utah
• 1907 – Oklahoma
• 1912 – New Mexico
• 1912 – Arizona
• 1959 – Alaska
• 1959 – Hawaii

The US Today

The US is not only a vast country, but also a diverse one. It is diverse in its landscape, its climate, its economy and its people. American society has been described as a ‘melting pot’ – a great cauldron filled with people from diverse lands, cultures, languages and religions. These characteristics of size and diversity have important political implications