Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

The United States is rich in resources.

Its farmlands produce corn, soybeans,

wheat, cotton, and many other crops

that are sold to countries all over the

world. The United States is among the

world’s leading producers of several

minerals, including copper, silver, zinc,

gold, coal, petroleum (oil), and natural

gas. Forestry and fishing are important

industries, too.

History

The first people to live in the Americas

were the Native Americans. The first

Native Americans probably came from

Asia beginning about 60,000 years ago.

By the 1400s there were about 200 different

groups of Native Americans living

on the land that became the United

States.

The history of the Americas changed

forever in 1492 when Christopher

Columbus sailed there from Spain.

After Columbus’ voyage, many other

explorers and settlers came from

Europe. The Native Americans suffered.

Some died from diseases carried by the

Europeans. Others died fighting the

Europeans.

Colonies

The first lasting European settlement in

what is now the United States was Saint

Augustine, Florida. It was built by the

Spanish in 1565. The Spanish made

Florida and what is now the southwestern

United States into colonies. The

The United States is often called a melting

pot because it is made up of people of

many different cultures.

A large pipe carries petroleum

across the U.S. state of Alaska.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA United States 27

 

English, the French, and the Dutch

(people from the Netherlands) also set

up colonies.

The English founded their first lasting

settlement in North America in 1607. It

was Jamestown, in what was later the

state of Virginia. Then the English built

other settlements and seized colonies

from the Dutch. Soon there were 13

English colonies along the Atlantic

coast.

In 1700 about 250,000 people lived in

the 13 colonies. By 1760 the population

was nearly 1.7 million. Many of the

newcomers were Africans who were

brought to work as slaves, especially in

the South.

American Revolution

In the 1760s the British government

started to tighten its control over the

colonies. Parliament, the British legislature,

forced the colonists to pay new

taxes. The colonists protested. Tension

built up between Britain and the colonies.

In 1775 fighting broke out between

colonists and British forces in Concord

and Lexington, Massachusetts. These

battles began the American Revolution.

On July 4, 1776, the colonies approved

the Declaration of Independence. This

document made the colonies into the

United States.

The American Revolution continued

until the British surrendered in 1781. By

signing a treaty in 1783, Britain

accepted the independence of the

United States.

The New Country

In 1787 representatives from the states

met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The

meeting produced a document that outlined

a new government. The document

was the U.S. Constitution. It took effect

September 11,

1607 1776 1803 1861 1941 1973 2001

The English

set up their

first lasting

American

colony.

The American

colonies

declare their

independence

from Great

Britain.

The American

Civil War

begins.

Japan attacks

Pearl Harbor,

Hawaii, and

the United

States enters

World War II.

The last U.S.

troops fighting

in the Vietnam

War leave

Vietnam.

Terrorists carry

out attacks in

New York City

and near

Washington, D.C.

T I M E L I N E

The United States

nearly doubles its

size by buying

the Louisiana

Territory from

France.

28 United States BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

in 1789. GeorgeWashington became

the country’s first president.

The United States soon began to grow.

In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson

bought the Louisiana Territory from

France. The purchase added a vast area

west of the Mississippi River to the

United States. In 1819 the United States

acquired Florida from Spain.

Texas became a state in 1845. The

United States and Mexico disagreed over

the border between Texas and Mexico.

In 1846 the countries went to war. The

MexicanWar lasted until 1848. The

United States defeated Mexico and took

over California and the rest of the

Southwest.

CivilWar and Reconstruction

In the middle of the 1800s slavery

divided the United States. Southern

farms depended on slave labor, but

many Northerners were strongly against

slavery. In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was

elected president. His party, the Republicans,

opposed slavery. After Lincoln’s

election, the Southern states began to

secede (withdraw) from the United

States. They formed their own government.

It was called the Confederate

States of America, or the Confederacy.

In 1861 war broke out between the

U.S. government, called the Union,

and the Confederacy. This was the

American Civil War. The Confederacy

won most of the early battles, but by

1864 the Union was winning. In 1865

the Confederate general Robert E. Lee

surrendered.

The period after the CivilWar is known

as Reconstruction. The Republican leaders

of Congress passed harsh laws to

punish the South. These laws angered

many Southern whites. And even

though the war had ended slavery, African

Americans still struggled. Many

became poor farmworkers.

Growth of the Country

In the late 1800s the population of the

United States grew as more people