The United States of America extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, bounded by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. It includes the outlying states of Alaska and Hawaii.
When Christopher Columbus discovered the New World in 1492, Native Americans were living on the land that is now the United States.
The town of Saint Augustine in Florida was founded by the Spanish in 1565. It is the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States.
The first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States was that of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. In its early years, many people in Virginia died of disease and starvation. The colony lasted only because it made money by planting tobacco.
In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers, who were escaping religious persecution in England, landed in New England and founded Massachusetts. They were trying to separate themselves from the Church of England and establish a religious sect of their own.
Later, English Catholics founded Maryland in 1634 and English Quakers founded Pennsylvania in 1682.
Great Britain was not the only country to settle what would become the United States. In the 1500s,. the Spanish set up the first settlements in Florida and New Mexico such as Saint Augustine and Santa Fe and France settled Louisiana, and the area around the Great Lakes. A Dutch settlement in 1611 on Manhattan Island, named New Amsterdam in 1626, was renamed New York after it was taken by England in 1664. However, in time Britain controlled all of the colonies, and most American colonists adopted the British way of life.
By 1733, there were thirteen colonies. Boston, Charleston, New York City and Philadelphia were the largest cities and main ports at that time.
The growth of the colonies was a disaster for Native Americans. Many of them died of smallpox, a disease brought to America by the Europeans. The ones who lived lost their lands to the colonists. The Smithsonian estimates that 65 million Native Americans died from genocidal practices between 1492 and the 19th century.
In the 18th century the English colonies were threatened by French expansion from the Great Lakes in Canada to Louisiana until the Seven Years War between 1756 and 1763.
Duringt the mid-1700s, there was a Christian revival in the colonies called the Great Awakening. It began in Northampton, Massachusetts under Jonathan Edwards in 1734 and came to fruition in New England between 1740 and 1743. One result of the Great Awakening was that higher education was encouraged and major institutions like Princeton College opened as a result of the revival. The religious revival may have led to the thinking used in the American Revolution.
In 1775 the thirteen colonies rose against the government of Britain declaring themselves to be "free and independent states." Later in the year the USS Alfred became the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to the Stars and Stripes.)
The Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The fourth day of July has been celebrated annually since as Independence Day.
On September 9, 1776 the Continental Congress formally declared the name of the new nation to be the "United States" of America. In a declaration delegates to the Continental Congress wrote; "That in all continental commissions, and other instruments, where, heretofore, the words 'United Colonies' have been used, the stile be altered for the future to the 'United States.'"
Led by George Washington, the American army defeated George III of the United Kingdom's troops in the War of American Independence. The War ended in 1781, with the British surrender after their decisive defeat at the Siege of Yorktown, Virginia.
In 1782 John Adams secured the Dutch Republic's recognition of the United States as an independent government. The house which he had purchased in The Hague, Netherlands becomes the first American embassy.
By the Treaty of Paris in 1783 Britain recognized the independence of the thirteen colonies. The constitution came into force in 1789 with George Washington chosen as the first president of the United States.
The first United States Census was conducted on August 2, 1790, with the new country's residential population enumerated to be 3,929,214. The census was conducted by the marshals of the United States judicial districts. They were instructed to visit every household and count the number of people living there. They were also asked to collect information about the sex, age, race, and occupation of the people they counted.
On September 9, 1791, the city of Washington District of Columbia was officially named after George Washington, the country's first president. The District of Columbia part of the name came from Columbia being a poetic name for the USA at the time. Washington DC was founded to serve as the new nation's capital.
Tripoli (now in Libya) declared war on the United States on May 10, 1801, beginning the First Barbary War and the new American nation’s first foreign conflict. The war was incited by American refusal to continue payment of tribute to the piratical rulers of the North African Barbary States of Algiers, Tunis, Morocco, and Tripoli; this practice had been customary among European nations.
The capture of the Tripolitan city of Derna on May 13, 1805 was the first time the United States flag was raised in victory on foreign soil. The capturing of the city ended the First Barbary War.
Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York, supplied barrels of beef to the U.S. Army during the War of 1812 between the USA and Great Britain. Each of the barrels was stamped with "US" for United States but soldiers referred to the chow as "Uncle Sam's." The character and legend of Uncle Sam grew and his story was enhanced by cartoonist Thomas Nast. In time it became an accepted nickname for the United States government.
After the War of 1812, America went through the "Era of Good Feelings". During this period America experienced national unity and had only one political party, the Democratic-Republicans.
HISTORY
When Christopher Columbus discovered the New World in 1492, Native Americans were living on the land that is now the United States.
The town of Saint Augustine in Florida was founded by the Spanish in 1565. It is the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States.
The first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States was that of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. In its early years, many people in Virginia died of disease and starvation. The colony lasted only because it made money by planting tobacco.
In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers, who were escaping religious persecution in England, landed in New England and founded Massachusetts. They were trying to separate themselves from the Church of England and establish a religious sect of their own.
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| The Mayflower Compact, 1620 by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris |
Later, English Catholics founded Maryland in 1634 and English Quakers founded Pennsylvania in 1682.
Great Britain was not the only country to settle what would become the United States. In the 1500s,. the Spanish set up the first settlements in Florida and New Mexico such as Saint Augustine and Santa Fe and France settled Louisiana, and the area around the Great Lakes. A Dutch settlement in 1611 on Manhattan Island, named New Amsterdam in 1626, was renamed New York after it was taken by England in 1664. However, in time Britain controlled all of the colonies, and most American colonists adopted the British way of life.
By 1733, there were thirteen colonies. Boston, Charleston, New York City and Philadelphia were the largest cities and main ports at that time.
 |
| The Thirteen Colonies and neighboring polities in 1748. By User:Varing Wikipedia |
The growth of the colonies was a disaster for Native Americans. Many of them died of smallpox, a disease brought to America by the Europeans. The ones who lived lost their lands to the colonists. The Smithsonian estimates that 65 million Native Americans died from genocidal practices between 1492 and the 19th century.
In the 18th century the English colonies were threatened by French expansion from the Great Lakes in Canada to Louisiana until the Seven Years War between 1756 and 1763.
Duringt the mid-1700s, there was a Christian revival in the colonies called the Great Awakening. It began in Northampton, Massachusetts under Jonathan Edwards in 1734 and came to fruition in New England between 1740 and 1743. One result of the Great Awakening was that higher education was encouraged and major institutions like Princeton College opened as a result of the revival. The religious revival may have led to the thinking used in the American Revolution.
In 1775 the thirteen colonies rose against the government of Britain declaring themselves to be "free and independent states." Later in the year the USS Alfred became the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to the Stars and Stripes.)
The Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The fourth day of July has been celebrated annually since as Independence Day.
 |
| Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull |
On September 9, 1776 the Continental Congress formally declared the name of the new nation to be the "United States" of America. In a declaration delegates to the Continental Congress wrote; "That in all continental commissions, and other instruments, where, heretofore, the words 'United Colonies' have been used, the stile be altered for the future to the 'United States.'"
Led by George Washington, the American army defeated George III of the United Kingdom's troops in the War of American Independence. The War ended in 1781, with the British surrender after their decisive defeat at the Siege of Yorktown, Virginia.
In 1782 John Adams secured the Dutch Republic's recognition of the United States as an independent government. The house which he had purchased in The Hague, Netherlands becomes the first American embassy.
By the Treaty of Paris in 1783 Britain recognized the independence of the thirteen colonies. The constitution came into force in 1789 with George Washington chosen as the first president of the United States.
 |
| Portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart |
The first United States Census was conducted on August 2, 1790, with the new country's residential population enumerated to be 3,929,214. The census was conducted by the marshals of the United States judicial districts. They were instructed to visit every household and count the number of people living there. They were also asked to collect information about the sex, age, race, and occupation of the people they counted.
The results of the first census were used to determine the number of seats each state would have in the House of Representatives. They were also used to apportion federal taxes.
On September 9, 1791, the city of Washington District of Columbia was officially named after George Washington, the country's first president. The District of Columbia part of the name came from Columbia being a poetic name for the USA at the time. Washington DC was founded to serve as the new nation's capital.
Tripoli (now in Libya) declared war on the United States on May 10, 1801, beginning the First Barbary War and the new American nation’s first foreign conflict. The war was incited by American refusal to continue payment of tribute to the piratical rulers of the North African Barbary States of Algiers, Tunis, Morocco, and Tripoli; this practice had been customary among European nations.
 |
| Stephen Decatur boarding a Tripolitan gunboat during a naval engagement, 3 August 1804 |
The capture of the Tripolitan city of Derna on May 13, 1805 was the first time the United States flag was raised in victory on foreign soil. The capturing of the city ended the First Barbary War.
Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York, supplied barrels of beef to the U.S. Army during the War of 1812 between the USA and Great Britain. Each of the barrels was stamped with "US" for United States but soldiers referred to the chow as "Uncle Sam's." The character and legend of Uncle Sam grew and his story was enhanced by cartoonist Thomas Nast. In time it became an accepted nickname for the United States government.
After the War of 1812, America went through the "Era of Good Feelings". During this period America experienced national unity and had only one political party, the Democratic-Republicans.
The Convention of 1818 was a significant agreement between the United Kingdom and the United States that resolved a number of outstanding issues between the two countries. The most important provision of the treaty was the establishment of the Canada–United States border along the 49th parallel from the Rocky Mountains to Lake of the Woods. This border remains in place today, and it is one of the longest undefended borders in the world.
During the presidency of Andrew Jackson, the national debt was significantly reduced and stood at zero for the first and only time on January 8, 1835 and remained so for about a year. This was achieved through aggressive debt repayment and financial policies. However, this period was followed by the Panic of 1837, a severe economic depression that caused the debt to rise again.
The Gadsden Purchase was a strip of territory the United States purchased from Mexico following negotiations. On December 30, 1853, The United States purchased approximately 29,600 square miles (77,000 km2) of land in southern Arizona and the southwestern part of New Mexico for $10 million. The Gadsden Purchase represented the last parcel of land acquired by the United States to complete the 48 mainland states.
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| Territorial enlargement of the United States, the Gadsden Purchase shown in red-orange |
The American Civil War between 1861-1865 put an end to slavery but left ill feeling between the North and South. It stimulated the industrial development of the North, and the construction of railways continued until the end of the century.
Mark Twain initially supported American Imperialism, but, after discovering America's true motives in the Philippine–American War by reading the Treaty of Paris, he changed his position, saying "And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land."
The USA's huge economic, industrial and agricultural expansion was brought to a halt by the stock market crash of 1929, which marked the Great Depression.
The USA stayed out of the Second World War until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
The USA having emerged as a superpower, remained internationalist doing the post-war era.
The American flag consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty stars. The 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and became the first states in the U.S. The 50 stars represent the 50 states of the United States of America, The 50 star version was adopted on July 4, 1960 after Hawaii became the 50th state.
The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower.
The militant Islamist organization al-Qaeda carried out a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in the U.S. on September 11, 2001. 19 members of al-Qaeda hijacked four aircraft crashing two into the World Trade Center, a third into The Pentagon, and a fourth into a field. 2,977 people were killed.
Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush and the U.S. National Security Council agreed that military action would probably have to be taken against al-Qaeda and Afghanistan, America's first bombing of the Taliban in Afghanistan started on October 7, 2001.
The war ended on August 30, 2021 as the final troops left. The conflict lasted 19 years and 47 weeks, making it America’s longest war, far longer than the country’s great victories and longer even than its previous protracted defeat in Vietnam or stalemate in Korea.
FUN UNITED STATES FACTS
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with about 306 million people, the United States is the third largest country in the world by land area and by population.
The United States is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries.
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| American children of many ethnic backgrounds celebrate in a 1902 Puck cartoon |
The US has had the largest economy in the world since 1871. Accounting for just 5% of the world's population, the US represents 23.6% of the world' s gross domestic product (GDP).
Almost half of the United States GDP comes from five states: California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois. California is the most significant contributor, responsible for nearly 15% of the country's value.
The United States ranks third in liking the United States. Japan likes the U.S. the most, with Kenya a close second.
Despite having a population of 310 million, 47% of the U.S. remains unoccupied. Of the 11,078,300 census blocks in the country, 4,871,270 reported a population of zero in 2010.
40% of Americans have never been outside of the US, and 11% have never left the state they were born in.
The geographic center of the contiguous United States is near Lebanon, Kansas. It is recognized in a historical marker in a small park at the intersection of AA Road and K-191. The park is accessible by a turn-off from U.S. Route 281.
Supai, Arizona, is the most remote community in the contiguous United States. It is 8 miles (13 km) from the nearest road and is only accessible by helicopter, foot, or mule. Supai is the only place in the US where mail is still carried in and out by mules.
There are 71 volcanoes in the U.S. but don't worry, only two have erupted since the beginning of the 20th century — California's Lassen in 1915 and Washington's Mount St. Helen's in 1980.
The highest point and the lowest point in the continental US are only 88 miles apart in California, with almost a 15,000 foot (4,500 meter) drop in elevation. The high point is Mount Whitney at 14,494 feet (4,418 meters) above sea level, which crowns the mighty Sierra Nevada range. The lowest point is the Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park just to the east at an elevation of -282 feet (-86 meters).
From atop Telescope Peak in Death Valley, one can see both the highest point (Mt Whitney) and the lowest point (Badwater Basin) in the Continental US.
2020 marked 61 years since the US has added a state, making it the longest the country has ever gone without adding a state.
Q is the only letter in the alphabet that does not appear in the name of any of the USA's states.
It costs more to renounce U.S. Citizenship ($2,350) than applying to gain it ($725). Renouncing citizenship was free before 2010. A fee was imposed due to the increase in recent years.
There are 71 volcanoes in the U.S. but don't worry, only two have erupted since the beginning of the 20th century — California's Lassen in 1915 and Washington's Mount St. Helen's in 1980.
The highest point and the lowest point in the continental US are only 88 miles apart in California, with almost a 15,000 foot (4,500 meter) drop in elevation. The high point is Mount Whitney at 14,494 feet (4,418 meters) above sea level, which crowns the mighty Sierra Nevada range. The lowest point is the Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park just to the east at an elevation of -282 feet (-86 meters).
From atop Telescope Peak in Death Valley, one can see both the highest point (Mt Whitney) and the lowest point (Badwater Basin) in the Continental US.
2020 marked 61 years since the US has added a state, making it the longest the country has ever gone without adding a state.
United States has the world's most violent weather, receiving more high-impact extreme weather incidents than any other country in the world.
Only two U.S. states have never recorded a temperature above 100 F. One of them is obvious: Alaska. The other one, however, is surprising. It is Hawaii. (It was not a state when the last 100 F occurred).
27 U.S. states have land north of the southernmost point in Canada.
27 U.S. states have land north of the southernmost point in Canada.
It costs more to renounce U.S. Citizenship ($2,350) than applying to gain it ($725). Renouncing citizenship was free before 2010. A fee was imposed due to the increase in recent years.
Sources New York Times
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