United States America History
Think Tanks
HISTORY
Wikipedia.Indigenous peoples and pre-Columbian history
Further information: Native Americans in the United States, Prehistory of the United States, and Pre-Columbian era
Aerial view of the Cliff Palace
The Cliff Palace, built by the Native American Puebloans between AD 1190 and 1260
It
has been generally accepted that the first inhabitants of North America
migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at
least 12,000 years ago; however, some evidence suggests an even earlier
date of arrival. The Clovis culture, which appeared around 11,000 BC, is
believed to represent the first wave of human settlement of the
Americas. This was likely the first of three major waves of migration
into North America; later waves brought the ancestors of present-day
Athabaskans, Aleuts, and Eskimos.
Over
time, indigenous cultures in North America grew increasingly complex,
and some, such as the pre-Columbian Mississippian culture in the
southeast, developed advanced agriculture, architecture, and complex
societies. The city-state of Cahokia is the largest, most complex
pre-Columbian archaeological site in the modern-day United States. In
the Four Corners region, Ancestral Puebloan culture developed from
centuries of agricultural experimentation.The Haudenosaunee, located in
the southern Great Lakes region, was established at some point between
the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. Most prominent along the Atlantic
coast were the Algonquian tribes, who practiced hunting and trapping,
along with limited cultivation.
Estimating
the native population of North America at the time of European contact
is difficult. Douglas H. Ubelaker of the Smithsonian Institution
estimated that there was a population of 92,916 in the south Atlantic
states and a population of 473,616 in the Gulf states,but most academics
regard this figure as too low. Anthropologist Henry F. Dobyns believed
the populations were much higher, suggesting around 1.1 million along
the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, 2.2 million people living between
Florida and Massachusetts, 5.2 million in the Mississippi Valley and
tributaries, and around 700,000 people in the Florida peninsula.
European settlements
Further information: Colonial history of the United States and Thirteen Colonies
Claims
of very early colonization of coastal New England by the Norse are
disputed and controversial. The first documented arrival of Europeans in
the continental United States is that of Spanish conquistadors such as
Juan Ponce de León, who made his first expedition to Florida in 1513.
Even earlier, Christopher Columbus had landed in Puerto Rico on his 1493
voyage, and San Juan was settled by the Spanish a decade later. The
Spanish set up the first settlements in Florida and New Mexico, such as
Saint Augustine, often considered the nation's oldest city, and Santa
Fe. The French established their own settlements along the Mississippi
River, notably New Orleans. Successful English settlement of the eastern
coast of North America began with the Virginia Colony in 1607 at
Jamestown and with the Pilgrims' colony at Plymouth in 1620.The
continent's first elected legislative assembly, Virginia's House of
Burgesses, was founded in 1619. Documents such as the Mayflower Compact
and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut established precedents for
representative self-government and constitutionalism that would develop
throughout the American colonies. Many English settlers were dissenting
Christians who came seeking religious freedom. In 1784, the Russians
were the first Europeans to establish a settlement in Alaska, at Three
Saints Bay. Russian America once spanned much of the present-day state
of Alaska.
In
the early days of colonization, many European settlers were subject to
food shortages, disease, and attacks from Native Americans. Native
Americans were also often at war with neighboring tribes and European
settlers. In many cases, however, the natives and settlers came to
depend on one another. Settlers traded for food and animal pelts;
natives for guns, tools and other European goods. Natives taught many
settlers to cultivate corn, beans, and other foodstuffs. European
missionaries and others felt it was important to "civilize" the Native
Americans and urged them to adopt European agricultural practices and
lifestyles. However, with the increased European colonization of North
America, the Native Americans were displaced and often killed. The
native population of America declined after European arrival for various
reasons, primarily diseases such as smallpox and measles.
Map of the U.S. showing the original Thirteen Colonies along the eastern seaboard
The original Thirteen Colonies (shown in red) in 1775
European
settlers also began trafficking of African slaves into Colonial America
via the transatlantic slave trade. Because of a lower prevalence of
tropical diseases and better treatment, slaves had a much higher life
expectancy in North America than in South America, leading to a rapid
increase in their numbers. Colonial society was largely divided over the
religious and moral implications of slavery, and several colonies
passed acts both against and in favor of the practice. However, by the
turn of the 18th century, African slaves had supplanted European
indentured servants as cash crop labor, especially in the American
South.
The
Thirteen Colonies (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia) that would become
the United States of America were administered by the British as
overseas dependencies. All nonetheless had local governments with
elections open to most free men. With extremely high birth rates, low
death rates, and steady settlement, the colonial population grew
rapidly, eclipsing Native American populations. The Christian revivalist
movement of the 1730s and 1740s known as the Great Awakening fueled
interest both in religion and in religious liberty.
During
the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), known in the U.S. as the French and
Indian War, British forces captured Canada from the French. With the
creation of the Province of Quebec, Canada's francophone population
would remain isolated from the English-speaking colonial dependencies of
Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the Thirteen Colonies. Excluding the
Native Americans who lived there, the Thirteen Colonies had a population
of over 2.1 million in 1770, about a third that of Britain. Despite
continuing new arrivals, the rate of natural increase was such that by
the 1770s only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas. The
colonies' distance from Britain had allowed the development of
self-government, but their unprecedented success motivated British
monarchs to periodically seek to reassert royal authority.
Independence and expansion
Further information: American Revolution and Territorial evolution of the United States
See caption
Declaration
of Independence, a painting by John Trumbull, depicts the Committee of
Five presenting the draft of the Declaration to the Continental
Congress, July 4, 1776.
The American
Revolutionary War fought by the Thirteen Colonies against the British
Empire was the first successful war of independence by a non-European
entity against a European power in modern history. Americans had
developed an ideology of "republicanism", asserting that government
rested on the will of the people as expressed in their local
legislatures. They demanded their "rights as Englishmen" and "no
taxation without representation". The British insisted on administering
the empire through Parliament, and the conflict escalated into war.
The
Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of
Independence on July 4, 1776; this day is celebrated annually as
Independence Day. In 1777, the Articles of Confederation established a
decentralized government that operated until 1789.
After
its defeat at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, Britain signed a peace
treaty. American sovereignty became internationally recognized, and the
country was granted all lands east of the Mississippi River. Tensions
with Britain remained, however, leading to the War of 1812, which was
fought to a draw.[82] Nationalists led the Philadelphia Convention of
1787 in writing the United States Constitution, ratified in state
conventions in 1788. Going into force in 1789, this constitution
reorganized the federal government into three branches, on the principle
of creating salutary checks and balances. George Washington, who had
led the Continental Army to victory, was the first president elected
under the new constitution. The Bill of Rights, forbidding federal
restriction of personal freedoms and guaranteeing a range of legal
protections, was adopted in 1791.
Map of the U.S. depicting its westward expansion
Territorial acquisitions of the United States between 1783 and 1917
Although
the federal government outlawed American participation in the Atlantic
slave trade in 1807, after 1820, cultivation of the highly profitable
cotton crop exploded in the Deep South, and along with it, the slave
population.[84][85][86] The Second Great Awakening, especially in the
period 1800–1840, converted millions to evangelical Protestantism. In
the North, it energized multiple social reform movements, including
abolitionism;[87] in the South, Methodists and Baptists proselytized
among slave populations.
Beginning
in the late 18th century, American settlers began to expand
westward,[89] prompting a long series of American Indian Wars. The 1803
Louisiana Purchase almost doubled the nation's area,[91] Spain ceded
Florida and other Gulf Coast territory in 1819,[92] the Republic of
Texas was annexed in 1845 during a period of expansionism,[93] and the
1846 Oregon Treaty with Britain led to U.S. control of the present-day
American Northwest.[94] Victory in the Mexican–American War resulted in
the 1848 Mexican Cession of California and much of the present-day
American Southwest, making the U.S. span the continent.[89][95]
The
California Gold Rush of 1848–1849 spurred migration to the Pacific
coast, which led to the California Genocide[96] and the creation of
additional western states.[97] The giving away of vast quantities of
land to white European settlers as part of the Homestead Acts, nearly
10% of the total area of the United States, and to private railroad
companies and colleges as part of land grants spurred economic
development.[98] After the Civil War, new transcontinental railways made
relocation easier for settlers, expanded internal trade, and increased
conflicts with Native Americans.[99] In 1869, a new Peace Policy
nominally promised to protect Native Americans from abuses, avoid
further war, and secure their eventual U.S. citizenship. Nonetheless,
large-scale conflicts continued throughout the West into the 1900s.
Civil War and Reconstruction era
Main articles: American Civil War and Reconstruction era
Drawing of the Battle of Gettysburg, depicting soldiers charging forward and firing a cannon
The
Battle of Gettysburg, fought between Union and Confederate forces on
July 1–3, 1863, around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, marked a
turning point in the American Civil War.
Irreconcilable
sectional conflict regarding the enslavement of Africans and African
Americans ultimately led to the American Civil War.[100] With the 1860
election of Republican Abraham Lincoln, conventions in thirteen slave
states declared secession and formed the Confederate States of America
(the "South" or the "Confederacy"), while the federal government (the
"Union") maintained that secession was illegal.[101] In order to bring
about this secession, military action was initiated by the
secessionists, and the Union responded in kind. The ensuing war would
become the deadliest military conflict in American history, resulting in
the deaths of approximately 620,000 soldiers as well as upwards of
50,000 civilians.[102] The Union initially simply fought to keep the
country united. Nevertheless, as casualties mounted after 1863 and
Lincoln delivered his Emancipation Proclamation, the main purpose of the
war from the Union's viewpoint became the abolition of slavery. Indeed,
when the Union ultimately won the war in April 1865, each of the states
in the defeated South was required to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment,
which prohibited slavery except as penal labor. Two other amendments
were also ratified, ensuring citizenship and voting rights for blacks.
Reconstruction
began in earnest following the war. While President Lincoln attempted
to foster friendship and forgiveness between the Union and the former
Confederacy, his assassination on April 14, 1865 drove a wedge between
North and South again. Republicans in the federal government made it
their goal to oversee the rebuilding of the South and to ensure the
rights of African Americans. They persisted until the Compromise of 1877
when the Republicans agreed to cease protecting the rights of African
Americans in the South in order for Democrats to concede the
presidential election of 1876.
Southern
white Democrats, calling themselves "Redeemers", took control of the
South after the end of Reconstruction, beginning the nadir of American
race relations. From 1890 to 1910, the Redeemers established so-called
Jim Crow laws, disenfranchising most blacks and some impoverished whites
throughout the region. Blacks would face racial segregation nationwide,
especially in the South.[103] They also occasionally experienced
vigilante violence, including lynching.[104]
Further immigration, expansion, and industrialization
Main
articles: Economic history of the United States, Immigration to the
United States, and Technological and industrial history of the United
States
File:Emigrants (i.e. immigrants) landing at Ellis Island -.webm
Film
by Edison Studios showing immigrants disembarking at Ellis Island in
New York Harbor, which served as a major entry point for European
immigration into the U.S.[105]
In the
North, urbanization and an unprecedented influx of immigrants from
Southern and Eastern Europe supplied a surplus of labor for the
country's industrialization and transformed its culture.[106] National
infrastructure, including telegraph and transcontinental railroads,
spurred economic growth and greater settlement and development of the
American Old West. The later invention of electric light and the
telephone would also affect communication and urban life.[107]
The
United States fought Indian Wars west of the Mississippi River from
1810 to at least 1890.[108] Most of these conflicts ended with the
cession of Native American territory and their confinement to Indian
reservations. Additionally, the Trail of Tears in the 1830s exemplified
the Indian removal policy that forcibly resettled Indians. This further
expanded acreage under mechanical cultivation, increasing surpluses for
international markets.[109] Mainland expansion also included the
purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867.[110] In 1893, pro-American
elements in Hawaii overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy and formed the
Republic of Hawaii, which the U.S. annexed in 1898. Puerto Rico, Guam,
and the Philippines were ceded by Spain in the same year, following the
Spanish–American War.[111] American Samoa was acquired by the United
States in 1900 after the end of the Second Samoan Civil War.[112] The
U.S. Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1917.[113]
Rapid
economic development during the late 19th and early 20th centuries
fostered the rise of many prominent industrialists. Tycoons like
Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie led the
nation's progress in the railroad, petroleum, and steel industries.
Banking became a major part of the economy, with J. P. Morgan playing a
notable role. The American economy boomed, becoming the world's
largest.[114] These dramatic changes were accompanied by growing
inequality and social unrest, which prompted the rise of organized labor
along with populist, socialist, and anarchist movements.[115] This
period eventually ended with the advent of the Progressive Era, which
saw significant reforms including women's suffrage, alcohol prohibition,
regulation of consumer goods, and greater antitrust measures to ensure
competition and attention to worker conditions.[116][117][118]
World War I, Great Depression, and World War II
Further information: World War I, Great Depression, and World War II
The Empire State Building in the 1940s, towering above its neighbors in Midtown Manhattan
The Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world when completed in 1931, during the Great Depression.
The
United States remained neutral from the outbreak of World War I in 1914
until 1917 when it joined the war as an "associated power" alongside
the Allies of World War I, helping to turn the tide against the Central
Powers. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson took a leading diplomatic role
at the Paris Peace Conference and advocated strongly for the U.S. to
join the League of Nations. However, the Senate refused to approve this
and did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles that established the League
of Nations.[119]
In
1920, the women's rights movement won passage of a constitutional
amendment granting women's suffrage.[120] The 1920s and 1930s saw the
rise of radio for mass communication and the invention of early
television.[121] The prosperity of the Roaring Twenties ended with the
Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression. After
his election as president in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt responded with
the New Deal.[122] The Great Migration of millions of African Americans
out of the American South began before World War I and extended through
the 1960s;[123] whereas the Dust Bowl of the mid-1930s impoverished many
farming communities and spurred a new wave of western migration.[124]
Four soldiers plant a U.S. flag on a long pole on a bare mountaintop
U.S.
Marines raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle
of Iwo Jima in one of the most iconic images of the war
At
first effectively neutral during World War II, the United States began
supplying materiel to the Allies in March 1941 through the Lend-Lease
program. On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched a surprise
attack on Pearl Harbor, prompting the United States to join the Allies
against the Axis powers, and in the following year, to intern about
120,000[125] U.S. residents (including American citizens) of Japanese
descent.[126] Although Japan attacked the United States first, the U.S.
nonetheless pursued a "Europe first" defense policy.[127] The United
States thus left its vast Asian colony, the Philippines, isolated and
fighting a losing struggle against Japanese invasion and occupation.
During the war, the United States was one of the "Four Powers"[128] who
met to plan the postwar world, along with Britain, the Soviet Union, and
China.[129][130] Although the nation lost around 400,000 military
personnel,[131] it emerged relatively undamaged from the war with even
greater economic and military influence.[132]
The
United States played a leading role in the Bretton Woods and Yalta
conferences, which signed agreements on new international financial
institutions and Europe's postwar reorganization. As an Allied victory
was won in Europe, a 1945 international conference held in San Francisco
produced the United Nations Charter, which became active after the
war.[133] The United States and Japan then fought each other in the
largest naval battle in history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf.[134][135] The
United States developed the first nuclear weapons and used them on
Japan in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945; the
Japanese surrendered on September 2, ending World War II.[136][137]
Cold War and late 20th century
Main
articles: History of the United States (1945–1964), History of the
United States (1964–1980), History of the United States (1980–1991), and
History of the United States (1991–2008)
Further information: Cold War, Civil Rights Movement, War on Poverty, Space Race, and Reaganomics
See caption
Martin Luther King Jr. gives his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, 1963.
After
World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union competed for
power, influence, and prestige during what became known as the Cold War,
driven by an ideological divide between capitalism and communism.[138]
They dominated the military affairs of Europe, with the U.S. and its
NATO allies on one side and the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies
on the other. The U.S. developed a policy of containment towards the
expansion of communist influence. While the U.S. and Soviet Union
engaged in proxy wars and developed powerful nuclear arsenals, the two
countries avoided direct military conflict.[139]
The
United States often opposed Third World movements that it viewed as
Soviet-sponsored and occasionally pursued direct action for regime
change against left-wing governments, occasionally supporting
authoritarian right-wing regimes.[140] American troops fought communist
Chinese and North Korean forces in the Korean War of 1950–1953.[141] The
Soviet Union's 1957 launch of the first artificial satellite and its
1961 launch of the first crewed spaceflight initiated a "Space Race" in
which the United States became the first nation to land a man on the
Moon in 1969.[141] The United States became increasingly involved in the
Vietnam War (1955–1975), introducing combat forces in 1965.[142]
At
home, the U.S. had experienced sustained economic expansion and a rapid
growth of its population and middle class following World War II. After
a surge in female labor participation, especially in the 1970s, by
1985, the majority of women aged 16 and over were employed.[143]
Construction of an Interstate Highway System transformed the nation's
infrastructure over the following decades. Millions moved from farms and
inner cities to large suburban housing developments.[144][145] In 1959,
the United States formally expanded beyond the contiguous United States
when the territories of Alaska and Hawaii became, respectively, the
49th and 50th states admitted into the Union.[146] The growing Civil
Rights Movement used nonviolence to confront segregation and
discrimination, with Martin Luther King Jr. becoming a prominent leader
and figurehead.[147] A combination of court decisions and legislation,
culminating in the Civil Rights Act of 1968, sought to end racial
discrimination.[148][149][150] Meanwhile, a counterculture movement
grew, which was fueled by opposition to the Vietnam war, the Black Power
movement, and the sexual revolution.[151]
The
launch of a "War on Poverty" expanded entitlements and welfare
spending, including the creation of Medicare and Medicaid, two programs
that provide health coverage to the elderly and poor, respectively, and
the means-tested Food Stamp Program and Aid to Families with Dependent
Children.[152]
The
1970s and early 1980s saw the onset of stagflation. The United States
supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War; in response, the country
faced an oil embargo from OPEC nations, sparking the 1973 oil crisis.
After his election, President Ronald Reagan responded to economic
stagnation with free-market oriented reforms. Following the collapse of
détente, he abandoned "containment" and initiated the more aggressive
"rollback" strategy towards the Soviet Union.[153][154] The late 1980s
brought a "thaw" in relations with the Soviet Union, and its collapse in
1991 finally ended the Cold War.[155][156][157] This brought about
unipolarity[158] with the U.S. unchallenged as the world's dominant
superpower.[159]
After
the Cold War, the conflict in the Middle East triggered a crisis in
1990, when Iraq invaded and annexed Kuwait, an ally of the United
States. Fearing the spread of instability, in August, President George
H. W. Bush launched and led the Gulf War against Iraq; waged until
February 1991 by coalition forces from 34 nations, it ended in the
expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait and restoration of the
monarchy.[160]
Originating
within U.S. military defense networks, the Internet spread to
international academic platforms and then to the public in the 1990s,
greatly affecting the global economy, society, and culture.[161] Due to
the dot-com boom, stable monetary policy, and reduced social welfare
spending, the 1990s saw the longest economic expansion in modern U.S.
history.[162] Beginning in 1994, the U.S. signed the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA), causing trade among the U.S., Canada, and
Mexico to soar.[163]
21st century
Main article: History of the United States (2008–present)
Further
information: September 11 attacks, War on terror, Great Recession in
the United States, and COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
Dark smoke billows from the Twin Towers over Manhattan
The
World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan during the September 11 terrorist
attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda in 2001
On
September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorist hijackers flew passenger planes
into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near
Washington, D.C., killing nearly 3,000 people.[164] Hundreds more died
later from illnesses related to the attacks, and perhaps thousands of
first responders, cleanup workers, and survivors suffer from long-term
effects.[165] In response, President George W. Bush launched the War on
Terror, which included a nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan from 2001 to
2021 and the 2003–2011 Iraq War.[166][167] A 2011 military operation in
Pakistan led to the killing of Osama bin Laden.[168]
Government
policy designed to promote affordable housing,[169] widespread failures
in corporate and regulatory governance,[170] and historically low
interest rates set by the Federal Reserve[171] led to the United States
housing bubble in 2006, which culminated with the financial crisis of
2007–2008 and the Great Recession, the nation's largest economic
contraction since the Great Depression.[172] During the crisis, assets
owned by Americans lost about a quarter of their value.[173] Barack
Obama, the first multiracial[174] president, with African-American
ancestry was elected in 2008 amid the crisis,[175] and subsequently
passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 economic stimulus
and the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in an
attempt to mitigate its negative effects and ensure there would not be a
repeat of the crisis.
Republican
Donald Trump was elected as the 45th president in 2016, a result viewed
as one of the biggest political upsets in American history.[176] Trump
led the country through the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in the
United States, which as of December 2021 is estimated to have killed
over 900,000 Americans.[177] In 2020, in what was seen as a repudiation
of Trump's divisive leadership, Democrat Joe Biden was elected as the
46th president.[178] On January 6, 2021, supporters of outgoing
President Trump stormed the United States Capitol in an unsuccessful
effort to disrupt the presidential Electoral College vote count.[179]
Data State Goverment United States America
Science, Technology, and Innovation
POLICY ISSUES
Science,
technology, and innovation are cornerstones of the American economy.
They are also dominant forces in modern society and international
economic development. Strengthening these areas can foster open,
transparent, and meritocratic systems of governance throughout the
world.
The
Department of State executes public diplomacy programs that promote the
value of science to the general public. It also implements
capacity-building programs in emerging markets that train young men and
women to become science and technology entrepreneurs, strengthening
innovation ecosystems globally. The Department’s efforts contribute to
scientific enterprises that hasten economic growth and advance U.S.
foreign policy priorities.
Using a Whole-of-Government Approach To Advance Health Objectives
OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL HEALTH AND BIODEFENSE
IHB
collaborates with interagency colleagues to effectively implement
health priorities across the U.S. government, including on cross-cutting
issues like antimicrobial resistance.
Global
health security is a national security priority reflected in the first
pillar of the U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS). The Office of
International Health and Biodefense (IHB) collaborates with interagency
colleagues to ensure health security policies are sound and effectively
implemented across U.S. departments and agencies. In September 2018, the
President launched the U.S. National Biodefense Strategy (NBS)
outlining – for the first time – a comprehensive and integrated U.S.
approach to address natural, accidental, and intentional biological
threats domestically and internationally. In May 2019, the White House
released the Global Health Security Strategy (GHSS) , which outlines the
United States Government’s approach to strengthen global health
security, including by improving the capacity of foreign countries to
prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks. IHB
engages the U.S. interagency and diverse stakeholders to implement these
strategies.
Antimicrobial
Resistance (AMR) is a significant threat to achieving the objectives
identified in the NSS, NBS, and the GHSS. AMR is a significant threat to
health systems and requires a multi-sectoral response. AMR reduces the
effectiveness of treatments for viral, bacterial, and fungal infections
and results in prolonged illness and greater risk of death for infected
patients. AMR puts at risk modern medical advances involving surgery,
chemotherapy, maternal and child health, and treatments for infectious
diseases like tuberculosis. IHB works with U.S. interagency and global
partners to advance a comprehensive, strategic, and innovative approach
to combat AMR globally.