Download File

(Very) Brief History of the
United States
400+ years.....
….... in 40 minutes
Pre-Colonial North America (before 1492)





Very advanced civilizations, over 200 tribes

Believed to have crossed from a land bridge from Asia

Many tribes eradicated from sicknesses which spread
in advance of Europeans
Differences in language, culture, government, way of life,
gender roles
Differed from Europeans in weaponry and concept of land
ownership
Algonquians were the first tribes to interact extensively with
the Europeans
Iroquois had formed a federation, with a federal system of
government pre-dating the US Constitution
Colonial Era (1400s-1763)


This is where Americans get their “Thanksgiving” tradition
from
Mainly Europeans of Northern European descent




Many fleeing religious persecution (Puritans and
Quakers)
“Indentured Servants”--usually 5 years, a way for the rich to
get richer (for every indentured servant who came over, they
got more land)
Slave trade began in the mid 1600's
Economic division between the North and the South began
with anti-slavery sentiment already beginning.
Diagram of a Slave Ship

John Newton was a slaver
who was converted
to Christianity and wrote
a song “Amazing Grace”
a well-known religious
song in the United State

Celtic Woman sings it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsCp5LG_zNE
War for Independence/
Revolutionary War (1774ish-1763)



Many rebellions previous to the Revolution, use of
guns to rebel

“No taxation without representation”

Boston Tea party (1773 Tea Act)
How are American rebellions different from other
colonized countries?
French and Indian war (between England and
France, waged in the US

Enlightenment thought from Europe

Declaration of Independence-July 4 1776
Westward Expansion

Louisiana Purchase 1803

Lewis and Clark (1803-1806) **Sacagawea**

War of 1812 (This is when the Star Spangled Banner
was written)

Manifest Destiny (8145)

“Trail of tears”

Choctaw 1831; Creek 1836 3,500 of 15,000 died;
Cherokees 1838 4,000 or 15,000 died—evicted by the
Army
The Louisiana Purchase
“American Progress”
by John Gast 1972
Rise of Industrialization

In the beginning of the 19th century, 90% rural

Transportation: turnpikes, canals, railroads (1830)

Communication: telegraph, expansion of newspapers

Innovation and inventions

Manufacturing production as early as 1800 → Factory
system (labor protests and unionizing)

Growth of cities, particularly in the North

Immigration
The Expansion of Slavery

Mason Dixon line





Reflected the needs of Southern plantation society
versus Northern industrialized society
Planters, overseers, drivers, domestic slaves
“Slave Codes”: Slaves as prizes, not allowed as witnesses,
reading forbidden, marriages not recognized
Emancipation or buying freedom was the only way to
become free
Free blacks were highly skilled artisans, business people,
educators, writers, etc.

e.g., Thomas L. Jennings (dry cleaning), Henry Blair
Glenn (seed planter), Frederick Douglas and Harriet
Tubman
Mexican-American War (1846-1847)

Texas joined the Union

The American President Polk wanted the ports of California

Declared war on Mexico

Ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
U.S. Civil War (1861-1865)

Abraham Lincoln elected, South Carolina seceded

Established the Confederate States of America

Emancipation Proclamation 1863 freed all slaves



The South had better military leaders. The North had
better..... numbers. It had more people.
Gettysburg, largest battle fought in North America. 170,000
fought, 40,000 died.
William T Sherman's “March to the Sea”
Reconstruction

“Black Codes”--legal code denying African Americans
rights (Jim Crow laws)

sharecropping

13th Amendment abolishing slavery 1865

Freedman's Bureau



African Americans still not allowed to vote until the 15th
Amendment (forbids states to deprive a citizen of voting)
1870
KKK
Reconstruction fails to establish a less racially divided
society
Expanding Influence Internationally

Transcontinental Railroad connected East and West coasts

Monroe Doctrine 1823



further efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with
states in North or South America would be viewed as acts of aggression
Hawai'i annexed in 1893 (not a state until 1959)
Involvement in Cuba leads to the Spanish-American War
(April-August 1898)

Philippine-American war 1899-1902

Panama Canal (begun 1904-1915)

Most productive economy

Banana Republics “Walk softly and carry a big stick”
World War I (1917-1918)

Neutrality and Isolationism

Lusitania-sunk on 7 May 1915 by German submarine




Zimmerman note (1917): Germany promised Mexico help
to recover its territory if Mexico aided Germany
Conscription enforced by the Selective Service Act of 1917
WW I was a whole-society effort: rationing, “meatless
Mondays,” “Victory gardens”, Daylight Savings time, first
income tax.
Over 14 million soldiers perished in total. 112,000
Americans died and many more were wounded.