(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 diedevicted 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.