Discovery of the “New World”

The native Americans were the Indians [E1] : they had travelled from Asia to America and had lived undisturbed until the European discovered it in 1492. It was Christopher Columbus [E1] [ES1] [I1] [I2], an Italian explorer sailing under the Spanish flag, to first land in the “New World”. He was soon followed by Spanish, Portuguese, French and English explorers looking for gold and glory.

Since North America had no gold to offer, the explorers did not stay.

 

From colonization to Independence

The people who did settle came later for other reasons: economic opportunity and religious and political freedom. The most famous new colonists were the Pilgrim Fathers. They left England, landed on the shores of Massachusetts and called the place New England.

During the 17^th century thousands of Europeans arrived in the New World and the English immigrants formed 13 colonies on the eastern coasts. By the middle of the 18^th century these colonies had absorbed the French, Dutch and Spanish settlements. Important seaport towns were prospering and trading with Europe. At first Britain allowed relative freedom to the colonies, but then it restricted the colonies’ trade and imposed heavy taxes on imported goods.

But in 1773 a new tax was imposed by the British: the Americans felt ready for independence and rebellion broke up when a cargo of tea that had just arrived  at the Boston harbour was dumped into the sea. This event is known as the Boston tea Party.

In 1775 George Washington was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the American army and in June 1776 a committee presided by Thomas Jefferson prepared a Declaration of Independence. On 4^th July 1776 Congress officially declared that the colonies were free from Britain. War broke out. The small American army, allied with France managed to win the war. Still today the Declaration remains a source of inspiration to all those who believe in democracy.

The colonies were now free, but not yet a united nation: the problems that were occurring demanded a central government. In 1787, 55 delegates met in Philadelphia to draft a constitution, which resulted in the Constitution of the United States. This document established a central government, a supreme court and gave executive power to an elected president. Along with the constitution, a Bill of Rights was added in 1791. The 10 amendments guaranteed freedom of religion, a free press, free speech, fair treatment of those accused of crimes. Other amendments were added in the course of time, such ad the 13^th which made slavery illegal; the 15^th gave black people equal voting rights.

Civil war

In the 19^th century the north-eastern states became great industrial powers and they had abolished slavery after the war of independence and supported slave revolts occurring in the south.

The economy of the south was based on agriculture: cotton and tobacco mainly, which required a lot of workforce. Slaves were then imported from Africa.

The two different systems of life caused increasing tensions in Congress and between the states. When abolitionist Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860 eleven southern states seceded from the union and formed a Confederacy. Lincoln’s priority was to keep the United States one country. It was the beginning of a civil war. When the civil war ended in 1865 slavery was abolished in all parts of the U.S. with the introduction of the 13^th amendment to the Constitution.

The 20^th century

By the early 1900s the States had become a great world power attracting millions of immigrants in search for a better life. In World War I the United States helped Britain and France win the war (1918). After the war the country was affected by a severe economic crisis – the Great Depression –  started with the collapse of the New York stock market in 1929. President Roosevelt then launched a programme for the recovery of the economy, the New Deal.  By the forties the situation got better and better.

World War II

When World War II broke out, the conflict  involved Europe, but soon it became worldwide. In 1941 Japan attacked American naval base at Pearl Harbour  [E1] [ES1] [F1] [I1] in Hawaii. Immediately The United States entered the war. It took six years to make the war end, with the enormous loss of thousands of lives after the nuclear bombing on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At the end of the war representatives from 50 nations created a new organisation, the United Nations (Onu) [E1] [E2] [ES1] [ES2] [F1]  [F2]  to help countries find ways to avoid war and solve conflicts by peaceful means.

But soon after  W.W. II  the Western Allies and the U.S. had to face a tense, but non-violent relationship with the Soviet Union – the Cold War – . The Western allies reacted forming a defensive military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

1950s-1970s

This is the period of the Korean War: the United Nations condemned the Communist invasion of south Korea. The bitter conflict ended in 1953 with neither side having won.
The U.S. then experienced a period of political involution where democracy and freedom of thought were threatened. People accused of being communists were blacklisted and lost their jobs.

Under Johnson’s presidency the U.S. made war against Vietnam (Vietnam War), where a nationalist-communist government had gained control of the northern half of the country. President Nixon put an end to the conflict.

A notable event of his administration was the lunar landing [E1] [ES1] [ES2] [F1] [I1]  in July 1969.

From mid 70s to present time

After the Vietnam War the government of Carter and Reagan followed one another.

The major event of the following republican president, George Bush, was the participation in 1991 of the U.S. army in the liberation of Kuwait (War in the Persian Gulf), [E1]  [E2]  [ES1]  [I1] which had been invaded by Iraq in 1990. The successful results of the Operation Desert Storm did not help him to get re-elected.

The Democratic Bill Clinton was the following President of the Unites States. He was re-elected for a second term of office because of his popularity with the voters. The second term, however was dominated by a series of scandals that centred on the private life of the president and on his financial past, but Clinton survived the scandal.

George W. Bush beat Al Gore in the following elections by a hair’s breadth. The major event occurring during Bush’s term of office was the war against terrorism, a war that America is still leading.