History of the United States

History of the United States
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"American history" redirects here. For the history of the continents, seeHistory of the Americas.

TheMayflower, which transportedPilgrims to the New World
U.S. Historyv • d • e
Timeline:          Topics:
Pre-Columbian era
Colonial period
1776 to 1789
1789 to 1849
1849 to 1865
1865 to 1918
1918 to 1945
1945 to 1964
1964 to 1980
1980 to 1991
1991 to present
Westward expansion
Overseas expansion
Diplomatic history
Military history
Technological and industrial history
Economic history
Cultural history
History of the South
Civil Rights (1896–1954)
Civil Rights (1955–1968)
Women's history
TheUnited States is located in the middle of the North American continent, withCanada to the north andMexico to the south. The United States ranges from theAtlantic Ocean on the nation's east coast to thePacific Ocean bordering the west, and also includes the state ofHawaii, a series of islands located in the Pacific Ocean, the state ofAlaska located in the northwestern part of the continent above theYukon, and numerous other holdings and territories.[1]
The first known inhabitants of modern-day United States territory are believed to have arrived over a period of several thousand years beginning sometime prior to 15,000 - 50,000 years ago by crossingBeringia into Alaska.[1][2] Solid evidence of these cultures settling in what would become the US is dated to at least 14,000 years ago.[2]
Research has revealed much about the earlyNative American settlers of North America as indicated byCyrus Thomas.[3] Columbus' men were the first documentedOld Worlders to land in the territory of the United States when they arrived inPuerto Rico during their second voyage in 1493.[4]Juan Ponce de León, who arrived inFlorida in 1513,[5] is credited as being the first European to land in what is now thecontinental United States, although some evidence suggests thatJohn Cabot might have reached what is presentlyNew England in 1498.[6][7]
In its beginnings, the United States consisted only of theThirteen Colonies, which consisted of states occupying the same lands as when they were British colonies. American colonists fought off the British army in theAmerican Revolutionary War of the 1770s and issued aDeclaration of Independence in 1776. Seven years later, the signing of theTreaty of Paris officially recognized independence from Britain.[8] In the nineteenth century, westward expansion of United States territory began, upon the belief ofManifest Destiny, in which the United States would occupy all the North American land east to west, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. By 1912, with the admission ofArizona to the Union, the U.S. reached that goal. The outlying states of Alaska and Hawaii were both admitted in 1959.
Ratified in 1788, theConstitution serves as the supreme American law in organizing thegovernment; theSupreme Court is responsible for upholding Constitutional law. Many social progresses came up starting in the nineteenth century; those advancements have been widely reflected in the Constitution.Slavery wasabolished in 1865 by theThirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution; the followingFourteenth andFifteenth Amendments respectively guaranteed citizenship for all persons naturalized within U.S. territory and voting for people of all races. In later years, civil rights were extended to women and black Americans, following effective lobbying from social activists. TheNineteenth Amendment prohibited gender discrimination invoting rights; later, theCivil Rights Act of 1964 outlawedracial segregation in public places.
TheProgressive Era marked a time of economic growth for the United States, advancing to theRoaring Twenties. However, theWall Street Crash of 1929 led to theGreat Depression, a time of economic downturn and mass unemployment. Consequently, the U.S. government established theNew Deal, a series of reform programs that intended to assist those affected by the Depression. The New Deal has varied success. However, once the U.S. enteredWorld War II in December 1941, the economy quickly recovered, so much that the U.S. became a worldsuperpower by the dawn of theCold War. During the Cold War, the U.S. and theSoviet Union were the world's two superpowers, but with the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, United States became the world's only superpower.
Contents
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1 Pre-Columbian period1.1 North America's Moundbuilder Culture
2 Colonial period2.1 Spanish colonization2.2 French colonization2.3 British colonization
3 Formation of the United States of America (1776–1789)4 Westward expansion (1789–1849)5 Civil War era (1849–1865)6 Reconstruction and the rise of industrialization (1865–1890)7 Progressivism, imperialism, and World War I (1890–1918)8 Post-World War I and the Great Depression (1918–1940)9 World War II (1940–1945)9.1 Battle against Germany9.2 Battle against Japan
10 Cold War beginnings and the Civil Rights Movement (1945–1964)11 Cold War (1964–1980)12 End of the Cold War (1980–1991)13 1991–present14 Notes15 References16 External links
Pre-Columbian period
Main article:Pre-Columbian
The earliest known inhabitants of what is now the United States are thought to have arrived inAlaska by crossing theBering land bridge, at least 14,000 - 30,000 years ago.[9] Some of these groups migrated south and over time spread throughout theAmericas. These were the ancestors to modernNative Americans in the United States andAlaskan Native peoples, as well as allindigenous peoples of the Americas.
Many indigenous peoples were semi-nomadic tribes of hunter-gatherers; others were sedentary and agricultural civilizations. Many formed newtribes or confederations in response to European colonization. Well-known groups included theHuron,Apache Tribe,Cherokee,Sioux,Delaware,Algonquin,Choctaw,Mohegan,Iroquois (which included theMohawk nation,Oneida tribe,Seneca nation,Cayuga nation,Onondaga and later theTuscarora tribe) andInuit. Though not as technologically advanced as the Mesoamerican civilizations further south, there were extensive pre-Columbian sedentary societies in what is now the US. TheIroquois had a politically advanced and unique social structure that was at the very least inspirational if not directly influential to the later development of the democratic United States government, a departure from the strong monarchies from which the Europeans came.[citation needed]
North America's Moundbuilder Culture

A Mississippian priest, with a ceremonial flint mace. Artist Herb Roe, based on a repousse copper plate.
Mound Builder is a general term referring to the American Indians who constructed various styles of earthen mounds for burial, residential and ceremonial purposes. These included Archaic, Woodland period (Adena and Hopewell cultures), and Mississippian period Pre-Columbian cultures dating from roughly 3000 BC to the 16th century AD, and living in the Great Lakes region, the Ohio River region, and the Mississippi River region.
Mound builder cultures can be divided into roughly three eras:
Archaic era
Poverty Point in what is nowLouisiana is a prominent example of early archaic mound builder construction (c. 2500 BC - 1000 BC). Whileearlier Archaic mound centers are known, Poverty Point remains one of the best-known early examples.
Woodland period
The Archaic period was followed by the Woodland period (c. 1000 BC). Some well-understood examples would be theAdena culture ofOhio and nearby states and the subsequentHopewell culture known fromIllinois to Ohio and renowned for their geometric earthworks. The Adena and Hopewell were not, however, the only mound building peoples during this time period. There were contemporaneous mound building cultures throughout the Eastern United States.
Mississippian culture
Main article:Mississippian Culture
Around 900–1450 AD theMississippian culture developed and spread through the Eastern United States, primarily along the river valleys. The location where the Mississippian culture is first clearly developed is located in Illinois, and is referred to today asCahokia.
Colonial period
Main article:Colonial history of the United States
After a period of exploration by people from various European countries,Spanish,Dutch,English,French,Swedish, andPortuguese settlements were established.[10][1]Christopher Columbus was the first European to set foot on what would one day become U.S. territory when he came toPuerto Rico on November 19, 1493, during his second voyage. In the 15th century, Europeans brought horses, cattle, and hogs to the Americas and, in turn, took back to Europe corn, potatoes, tobacco, beans, and squash.[10]
[edit] Spanish colonization

Coronado Sets Out to the North (1540) byFrederic Remington, oil on canvas, 1905.
See also:New Spain
Spanishexplorers came to what is now the United States beginning withChristopher Columbus'second expedition, which reached Puerto Rico on November 19, 1493.[11] The first confirmed landing in the continental US was by a Spaniard,Juan Ponce de León, who landed in 1513 on a lush shore he christenedLa Florida.[5]
Within three decades of Ponce de León's landing, the Spanish became the first Europeans to reach theAppalachian Mountains, theMississippi River, theGrand Canyon[12] and theGreat Plains. In 1540,De Soto undertook an extensive exploration of the present US and, in the same year,Francisco Vázquez de Coronado led 2,000 Spaniards and Mexican Indians across the modernArizona-Mexico border and traveled as far as centralKansas.[13] Other Spanish explorers includeLucas Vásquez de Ayllón,Pánfilo de Narváez,Sebastián Vizcaíno,Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo,Gaspar de Portolà,Pedro Menéndez de Avilés,Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca,Tristán de Luna y Arellano andJuan de Oñate.[14]
The Spanish sent some settlers, creating the first permanent European settlement in the continental United States atSt. Augustine, Florida in 1565.[1] Later Spanish settlements includedSanta Fe,Albuquerque,San Antonio,Tucson,San Diego,Los Angeles andSan Francisco. Most Spanish settlements were along the California coast or theSanta Fe River in New Mexico.
French colonization
See also:New France andFort Caroline
New France was the areacolonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of theSaint Lawrence River, byJacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain andBritain in 1763. At its peak in 1712 (before theTreaty of Utrecht), the territory of New France extended fromNewfoundland to theRocky Mountains and fromHudson Bay to theGulf of Mexico. The territory was divided in five colonies, each with its own administration:Canada,Acadia,Hudson Bay,Newfoundland andLouisiana.
Also during this period, FrenchHuguenots, sailing underJean Ribault, attempted to found a colony in what became the southeastern coast of the United States. Arriving in 1562, they established the ephemeral colony ofCharlesfort onParris Island in what is nowNorth Carolina. When this failed most of the colonists followedRené Goulaine de Laudonnière and moved south, founding the colony ofFort Caroline at the mouth of theSt. Johns River in what is nowJacksonville,Florida on June 22, 1564. Fort Caroline was destroyed in 1565 by the Spanish underPedro Menéndez de Avilés, who moved in fromSt. Augustine, founded to the south earlier in the year.
British colonization

In 1607, theVirginia Company of London established theJamestown Settlement on theJames River, both named afterKing James I
Main article:Colonial America
The strip of land along the eastern seacoast was settled primarily byEnglish colonists in the17th century, along with much smaller numbers ofDutch andSwedes. Colonial America was defined by a severe labor shortage that gave birth to forms ofunfree labor such asslavery andindentured servitude,[15] and by a British policy of benign neglect (salutary neglect) that permitted the development of an American spirit distinct from that of its European founders.[16] Over half of all European migrants to Colonial America arrived as indentured servants.[17]
The first successful English colony was established in 1607, on theJames River atJamestown. It languished for decades until a new wave of settlers arrived in the late 17th century and established commercial agriculture based on tobacco. Between the late 1610s and the Revolution, the British shipped an estimated 50,000 convicts to its American colonies.[18] One example of conflict between Native Americans and English settlers was the 1622Powhatan uprising in Virginia, in which Native Americans had killed hundreds of English settlers. The largest conflict between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century wasKing Philip's War inNew England.[19]
ThePlymouth Colony was established in 1620. The area ofNew England was initially settled primarily byPuritans who established theMassachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.[1] The Middle Colonies, consisting of the present-day states ofNew York,New Jersey,Pennsylvania, andDelaware, were characterized by a large degree of diversity. The first attempted English settlement south of Virginia was theProvince of Carolina, withGeorgia Colony the last of theThirteen Colonies established in 1733.[20] Several colonies were used aspenal settlements from the 1620s until the American Revolution.[21]Methodism became the prevalent religion among colonial citizens after theFirst Great Awakening, a religious revival led by preacherJonathan Edwards in 1734.[1]
Formation of the United States of America (1776–1789)
Main article:History of the United States (1776–1789)

Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, one of America's first successes in the Revolutionary war
TheThirteen Colonies began a rebellion against British rule in 1775 and proclaimed their independence in 1776. They subsequently constituted the first thirteen states of the United States of America, which became anation in 1781 with the ratification of theArticles of Confederation. The1783 Treaty of Paris represented Great Britain's formal acknowledgement of the United States as an independent nation.[8]
The United States defeated theKingdom of Great Britain with help from France and Spain in theAmerican Revolutionary War. The colonists' victory atSaratoga in 1777 led the French into an open alliance with the United States. In 1781, a combined American and French Army, acting with the support of a French fleet,captured a large British army led by GeneralCharles Cornwallis atYorktown, Virginia. The surrender of General Cornwallis ended serious British efforts to find a military solution to their American problem.[8] Seymour Martin Lipset points out that "The United States was the first major colony successfully to revolt against colonial rule. In this sense, it was the first 'new nation'."[22]

Trumbull's Declaration of Independence
Side by side with the states' efforts to gain independence through armed resistance, a political union was being developed and agreed upon by them. The first step was to formally declare independence from Great Britain. On July 4, 1776, theSecond Continental Congress, still meeting inPhiladelphia, declared the independence of "the United States of America" in theDeclaration of Independence. Although the states were still independent entities and not yet formally bound in a legal union, July 4 is celebrated as the nation's birthday. The new nation was dedicated to principles ofrepublicanism, which emphasized civic duty and a fear of corruption and hereditary aristocracy.[8]
TheContinental Congress that convened on September 5, 1774 played an important coordinating role among the thirteen colonies in dealing with Great Britain, including the American Revolutionary War from 1775.[8] A constitutional government, theCongress of the Confederation first became possible with the ratification of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union on March 1, 1781.[23]Samuel Huntington became the first President of theUnited States in Congress Assembled.[24] However, it became apparent early on that the newconstitution was inadequate for the operation of the new government and efforts soon began to improve upon it.[25]

Theterritory of the newly formed USA was much smaller than it is today. A Frenchmap showingLes Etats Unis in 1790
A series of attempts to organize a movement to outline and press reforms culminated in the Congress calling thePhiladelphia Convention in 1787. The structure of the national government was profoundly changed on March 4, 1789, when the American people replaced the Articles with theConstitution. The new government reflected a radical break from the normative governmental structures of the time, favoring representative, elective government with a weak executive, rather than the existing monarchical structures common within the western traditions of the time. The system of republicanism borrowed heavily from theEnlightenment ideas and classical western philosophy: a primacy was placed upon individual liberty and upon constraining the power of government through a system ofseparation of powers.[25] Additionally, theUnited States Bill of Rights was ratified on December 15, 1791 to guarantee individual liberties such as freedom of speech and religious practice and consisted of the first ten amendments of the Constitution.[26]John Jay was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, whose membership was established by theJudiciary Act of 1789; the first Supreme Court session was held inNew York City on February 1, 1790.[27] In 1803, the Court caseMarbury v. Madison made the Court the sole arbiter ofconstitutionality of federal law.[28]
Westward expansion (1789–1849)
Main article:History of the United States (1789–1849)

Economic growth in America per capita income

Territorial expansion of the United States, omitting Oregon and other claims.
George Washington—a renowned hero of the American Revolutionary War, commander in chief of the Continental Army, and president of the Constitutional Convention—became the firstPresident of the United States under the new U.S. Constitution. TheWhiskey Rebellion in 1794, when settlers in thePennsylvania counties west of theAllegheny Mountains protested against a federal tax on liquor and distilled drinks, was the first serious test of the federal government.[29] He announced his resignation from the presidency inhis farewell address, which was published in the newspaper Independent Chronicle on September 26, 1796. In his address, Washington triumphed the benefits of federal government and importance of religion and morality while warning against foreign alliances and formation of political parties.[30] His vice presidentJohn Adams succeeded him in presidency; Adams was a member of theFederalist Party. However, the Federalists became divided after Adams sent a peace mission to France despite ongoing disputes with that nation.Thomas Jefferson, aRepublican, defeated Adams for the presidency in the1800 election.[31]
TheLouisiana Purchase, in 1803, removed the French presence from the western border of the United States and provided U.S. settlers with vast potential for expansion west of theMississippi River.[32] In response to continued Britishimpressment of American sailors into the British Navy, presidentJames Madison declared war onBritain in 1812.[33] Slave importation from Africa became illegal beginning in 1808, despite a growingplantation system in many southern states such asNorth Carolina andGeorgia.[34] The United States and Britain came to a draw in theWar of 1812 after bitter fighting that lasted until January 8, 1815, during theBattle of New Orleans. TheTreaty of Ghent, officially ending the war, essentially resulted in the maintenance of thestatus quo ante bellum;[35] however, crucially for the U.S., some Native American tribes had to sign treaties with the U.S. government in response to their losses in the war.[33] During the later course of the war, the Federalists held theHartford Convention in 1814 over concerns that the war would weaken New England. There, they proposed seven constitutional amendments meant to strengthen the region politically, but once the Federalists delivered them toWashington, D.C., the recent American victories in New Orleans and the signing of theTreaty of Ghent undermined the Federalists' arguments and contributed to the downfall of the party.[36]
TheMonroe Doctrine, expressed in 1823, proclaimed the United States' opinion that European powers should no longer colonize or interfere in the Americas. This was a defining moment in theforeign policy of the United States.[1] The Monroe Doctrine was adopted in response to American and British fears over Russian and French expansion into areas of the Western Hemisphere. It was not until the Presidential Administration ofTeddy Roosevelt that the Monroe Doctrine became a central tenet ofAmerican foreign policy. The Monroe Doctrine was then invoked in the Spanish-American War as well as later in theproxy wars between the United States and Soviet Union in Central America and has also essentially given developing nations in the Americas support from the United States and warned the powers in Europe to steer clear of far western affairs.[37]
In 1830, Congress passed theIndian Removal Act, which authorized the president to negotiate treaties that exchanged Indian tribal lands in the eastern states for lands west of the Mississippi River. This establishedAndrew Jackson, a military hero and President, as a cunning tyrant in regards to native populations. The act resulted most notably in theforced migration of several native tribes to the West, with several thousand Indians dying en route, and the Creeks' violent opposition and eventual defeat. The Indian Removal Act also directly caused the ceding of Spanish Florida and subsequently led to the manySeminole Wars.[38]

Pioneers Crossing the Plains of Nebraska.
In its mission to end slavery, theabolitionist movement also gained a larger following of participants from both black and white races. TheAmerican Anti-Slavery Society was politically active from 1833 to 1839 for the government to abolish slavery, but Congress imposed a "gag rule" that rejected any citizen's request against slavery.[39]William Lloyd Garrison, formerly associated with the Society, then began publication of the anti-slavery newspaperThe Liberator inBoston, Massachusetts in 1831, andFrederick Douglass, a black ex-slave, began writing for that newspaper around 1840 and started his own abolitionist newspaperNorth Star in 1847.[40]
TheRepublic of Texas was annexed by presidentJohn Tyler in 1845.[41] The U.S., using regulars and large numbers of volunteers, defeated Mexico in 1848 during theMexican-American War. Public sentiment in the U.S. was divided as Whigs[42] and anti-slavery forces[43] opposed the war. The 1848Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo cededCalifornia,New Mexico, and adjacent areas to the United States, which composed about thirty percent of former Mexican land. Westward expansion was enhanced further by theCalifornia Gold Rush following the discovery ofgold in that state in 1848. Numerous "forty-niners" trekked to California in pursuit of gold; land-demanding European immigrants also contributed to the rising Western population.[1]
Civil War era (1849–1865)

TheBattle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle and turning point of theAmerican Civil War
Main article:History of the United States (1849–1865)
In the middle of the 19th century,white Americans of theNorth andSouth were unable to reconcile fundamental differences in their approach to government, economics, society andAfrican American slavery. The issue of slavery in the new territories was settled by theCompromise of 1850 brokered by WhigHenry Clay and DemocratStephen Douglas; the Compromise included admission ofCalifornia as afree state and the passage of theFugitive Slave Act to make it easier for masters to reclaim runaway slaves.[41] In 1854, the proposedKansas-Nebraska Act abrogated theMissouri Compromise by providing that each new state of the Union would decide its stance on slavery.[44] AfterAbraham Lincoln won the1860 Election, eleven Southern states seceded from the union between late 1860 and 1861, establishing a rebel government, theConfederate States of America, on February 8, 1861.[45]
By 1860, there had been nearly four million slaves residing in the United States, nearly eight times as many from 1790; within the same time periodcotton production in the U.S. boomed from less than a thousand tons to nearly one million tons per year. There were some slave rebellions - including byGabriel Prosser (1800),Denmark Vesey (1822), andNat Turner (1831) - but they all failed and led to tighter slave oversight in the south.[46] White abolitionistJohn Brown tried and failed to free a group of black slaves held inHarpers Ferry, Virginia and was therefore executed for his actions.[47]Harriet Beecher Stowe, daughter of ministerLyman Beecher, published her novelUncle Tom's Cabin in 1852 in response to the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act. The novel intended to express her views of the cruelty of slavery and sold nearly 300,000 copies during its first year of publication.[41] Numerous slaves also escaped their masters through theUnderground Railroad, a term defining secret routes where abolitionists confidentially transported runaway slaves to "free state" territory; its most famous leader wasHarriet Tubman.[48]

The Union: blue, yellow, gray; The Confederacy: brown
The Civil War began when Confederate GeneralPierre Beauregard opened fire uponFort Sumter, in the Confederate state ofSouth Carolina.[49] Along with the northwestern portion of Virginia, four of the five northernmost "slave states" did not secede and became known as theBorder States.[45] Emboldened bySecond Bull Run, the Confederacy made its first invasion of the North when GeneralRobert E. Lee led 55,000 men of the Army of Northern Virginia across thePotomac River intoMaryland.[50] TheBattle of Antietam nearSharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17, 1862, was the bloodiest single day in American history.[51] At the beginning of 1864, Lincoln made GeneralUlysses S. Grant commander of all Union armies. GeneralWilliam Tecumseh Sherman marched fromChattanooga, Tennessee, toAtlanta, Georgia, defeating Confederate GeneralsJoseph E. Johnston andJohn Bell Hood.[45] Sherman's army laid waste to about 20% of the farms in Georgia in his "March to the Sea", and reached the Atlantic Ocean atSavannah in December 1864.[52] Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865, atAppomattox Court House.[45] Based on1860 census figures, 8% of all white males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including 6% in the North and an extraordinary 18% in the South.[53]
Reconstruction and the rise of industrialization (1865–1890)
Main article:History of the United States (1865–1918)

Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad (1869) atFirst Transcontinental Railroad, by Andrew J. Russell
Reconstruction took place for most of the decade following the Civil War. During this era, the "Reconstruction Amendments" were passed to expand civil rights for black Americans. Those amendments included theThirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery, theFourteenth Amendment that guaranteed citizenship for all people born or naturalized within U.S. territory, and theFifteenth Amendment that granted the vote for all men regardless of race. While theCivil Rights Act of 1875 forbade discrimination in the service of public facilities, theBlack Codes denied blacks certain privileges readily available to whites.[54] In response to Reconstruction, theKu Klux Klan (KKK) emerged around the late 1860s as a white-supremacist organization opposed to black civil rights. Increasing hate-motivatedviolence from groups like the Klan influenced both theKu Klux Klan Act of 1870 that classified the KKK as a terrorist group[55] and an 1883Supreme Court decision nullifying the Civil Rights Act of 1875; however, in the Supreme Court caseUnited States v. Cruikshank the Court interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment as regulating only states' decisions regarding civil rights.[56] The case defeated any protection of blacks from terrorist attacks, as did the later caseUnited States v. Harris.[57] During the era, many regions of the southern U.S. weremilitary-governed and often corrupt; Reconstruction ended after the disputed1876 election between Republican candidateRutherford B. Hayes and Democratic candidateSamuel J. Tilden. Hayes won the election, and the South soon re-entered the national political scene.[1]
Following was theGilded Age, a term that authorMark Twain used to describe the period of the late nineteenth century when there had been a dramatic expansion of American industry. Reform of the Age included theCivil Service Act, which mandated a competitive examination for applicants for government jobs. Other important legislation included theInterstate Commerce Act, which ended railroads' discrimination against small shippers, and theSherman Antitrust Act, which outlawed monopolies in business. Twain believed that this age was corrupted by such elements as land speculators, scandalous politics, and unethical business practices. By century's end, American industrial production andper capita income exceeded those of all other world nations and ranked only behind Great Britain. In response to heavy debts and decreasing farm prices, farmers joined thePopulist Party.[58] Later, an unprecedented wave ofimmigration served both to provide the labor for American industry and create diverse communities in previously undeveloped areas. Abusive industrial practices led to the often violent rise of thelabor movement in the United States.[59] Influential figures of the period includedJohn D. Rockefeller andAndrew Carnegie.
Progressivism, imperialism, and World War I (1890–1918)
Main article:Progressive Era

Mulberry Street, along which Manhattan'sLittle Italy is centered.Lower East Side, circa 1900.
After the Gilded Age came theProgressive Era, whose followers called for reform over perceived industrial corruption. Viewpoints taken by progressives included greater federal regulation of anti-trust laws and the industries of meat-packing, drugs, and railroads. Four new constitutional amendments—theSixteenth throughNineteenth—resulted from progressive activism.[60] The era lasted from 1900 to 1918, the year marking the end ofWorld War I.[61]
U.S. Federal government policy, since theJames Monroe Administration, had been to move the indigenous population beyond the reach of the white frontier into a series ofIndian reservations. Tribes were generally forced onto small reservations as Caucasian farmers and ranchers took over their lands. In 1876, the last majorSioux war erupted when theBlack Hills Gold Rush penetrated their territory.[62]

Ellis Island in 1902, the main immigration port for immigrants entering the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The United States began its rise to international power in this period with substantial population and industrial growth domestically and numerous military ventures abroad, including theSpanish-American War, which began when the United States blamed the sinking of theUSS Maine (ACR-1) on Spain. Also at stake were U.S. interests in acquiringCuba, an island nation fighting for independence from Spanish occupation;Puerto Rico and thePhilippines were also two former Spanish colonies seeking liberation. In December 1898, representatives of Spain and the U.S. signed theTreaty of Paris to end the war, with Cuba becoming an independent nation and Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines becoming U.S. territories.[63][1] In 1900, Congress passed theOpen Door Policy that at the time required China to grant equal trading access to all foreign nations.[1]
PresidentWoodrow Wilson declared U.S. entry intoWorld War I in April 1917 following a yearlong neutrality policy; the U.S. had previously shown interest in world peace by participating in theHague Conferences. American participation in the war proved essential to the Allied victory. Wilson also implemented a set of propositions titled theFourteen Points to ensure peace, but they were denied at the1919 Paris Peace Conference. Isolationist sentiment following the war also blocked the U.S. from participating in theLeague of Nations, an important part of theTreaty of Versailles.[1]
Post-World War I and the Great Depression (1918–1940)
Main article:History of the United States (1918–1945)
FollowingWorld War I, the U.S. grew steadily in stature as an economic and military world power. The United States Senate did not ratify theTreaty of Versailles imposed by itsAllies on the defeatedCentral Powers; instead, the United States chose to pursueunilateralism, if notisolationism.[64] The aftershock of Russia'sOctober Revolution resulted in real fears of communism in the United States, leading to a three-yearRed Scare and the U.S. lost 675,000 people to theSpanish flupandemic in 1918.[65]

Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in Chicago, 1921
In 1920, the manufacture, sale, import and export of alcohol was prohibited by theEighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.Prohibition encouragedillegal breweries and dealers to make substantial amounts of money selling alcohol illegally. The Prohibition ended in 1933, a failure. Additionally, theKKK re-formed during that decade and gathered nearly 4.5 million members by 1924, and the U.S. government passed theImmigration Act of 1924 restricting foreign immigration.[66] The 1920s were also known as theRoaring Twenties, due to the great economic prosperity during this period.Jazz became popular among the younger generation, and therefore, it was also called theJazz Age.
During most of the 1920s, the United States enjoyed a period of unbalanced prosperity: farm prices and wages fell, while new industries, and industrial profits grew. The boom was fueled by a rise in debt and an inflatedstock market. TheHawley-Smoot Tariff, theWall Street Crash of 1929, theDust Bowl, and the ensuingGreat Depression led to government efforts to restart the economy and help its victims withFranklin D. Roosevelt'sNew Deal. The recovery was rapid in all areas except unemployment, which remained fairly high until 1940.
World War II (1940–1945)

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Main articles:World War II andHomefront-United States-World War II
As with World War I, the United States did not enter World War II until after the rest of the activeAllied countries had done so. The United States's first contribution to the war was simultaneously to cut off the oil and raw material supplies desperately needed by Japan to maintain its offensive inManchuria, and to increase military and financial aid to China. Its first contribution to the Allies came in September 1940 in the form of theLend-Lease program with Britain.
On December 7, 1941 Japan launched a surprise attack on the American naval base in Pearl Harbor, citing America's recent trade embargo as justification. The following day,Franklin D. Roosevelt successfully urged a joint session ofCongress to declare war on Japan, calling December 7, 1941"a date which will live in infamy". Four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 11,Nazi Germany declared war on the United States, drawing the country into a two-theater war.
Battle against Germany
Further information:Europe first
Upon entering the war, the United States and its allies decided to concentrate the bulk of their efforts on fightingHitler in Europe, while maintaining a defensive position in thePacific until Hitler was defeated. The United States's first step was to set up a largeairforce in Britain to concentrate on bombing raids into Germany itself. The American Air force relied on theB-17 Flying Fortress as its primary heavy bomber. Britain had ceased its daylight bombing raids, due to heavy casualties inflicted by theLuftwaffe. The USAAF suffered similar high losses until the introduction of the P-51 Mustang as a long range escort fighter for the bombers.

Landing at Normandy atBattle of Normandy, by Robert F. Sargent,United States Army
The American army's first ground action was fighting alongside the British and Australian armies in North Africa. By May 1943, the British 8th Army had expelled the Germans from North Africa and the Allies controlled this vital link until the end of the war. The American navy also played an active role in the Atlantic protecting the convoys bringing vital American war material to Britain. By midway through 1943, the Allies were fighting the war from Britain with unbroken supply lines, while at the same time Hitler's armies were very much on the back foot, with heavy bombing taking its toll on production.
By early 1944, a planned invasion ofWestern Europe was underway. What followed on June 6, 1944, was Operation Overlord, orD-Day. The largest war armada ever assembled landed on the beaches ofNormandy and began the penetration of Western Europe that eventually overthrew Hitler and Nazi Germany. Following the landing at Normandy, the Americans contributed greatly to the outcome of the war, with dogged fighting in theBattle of the Ardennes and theBattle of the Bulge resulting in Allied victories against the Germans. The battles took a heavy toll on the Americans, who lost 19,000 men during the Battle of the Bulge alone. The allied bombing raids on Germany increased to unprecedented levels after the D-Day invasion, with over 70% of all bombs dropped on Germany occurring after this date. On April 30, 1945, with Berlin completely overrun with Russian forces and his country in tatters, Adolf Hitler committedsuicide. On May 8, 1945, the war with Germany was over, following its unconditional surrender to the Allied forces.
Battle against Japan
Main article:Pacific War
Due to the United States commitment to defeating Hitler in Europe, the first years of the war against Japan was largely a defensive battle with theUnited States Navy attempting to prevent theJapanese Navy from asserting dominance of the Pacific region. Initially, Japan won the majority of its battles in a short period of time. Japan quickly defeated and created military bases inGuam,Thailand,Malaya,Hong Kong,Papua New Guinea,Indonesia andBurma. This was done virtually unopposed and with quicker speed than that of the GermanBlitzkrieg during the early stages of the war. This was important for Japan, as it had only 10% of the homeland industrial production capacity of the United States.

Douglas MacArthur lands at theBattle of Leyte, by U.S. Army Signal Corps
The turning point of the war was theBattle of Midway in June 1942. Following this, the Americans began fighting towards China where they could build an airbase suitable to commence bombing of mainland Japan with itsB-29 Superfortress fleet. The Americans began by selecting smaller, lesser defended islands as targets as opposed to attacking the major Japanese strongholds. During this period, they inadvertently triggered what would become their most comprehensive victory in the entire war.
The Pacific war became the largest naval conflict in history. The American Navy emerged victorious after at one point being stretched to almost breaking point with almost complete destruction of the Japanese Navy. The American forces were then poised for an invasion of the Japanese mainland, to force the Japanese intounconditional surrender. On April 12, 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died and Vice President Harry S. Truman was sworn in as the 33rd President of the United States. The decision to usenuclear weapons to end the conflict has been one of the most controversial decisions of the war. Supporters of the use of the bombs argue that an invasion would have cost enormous numbers of lives, while opponents argue that the large number of civilian casualties resulting from the bombings were still unjustified. The first bomb was dropped onHiroshima on August 6, 1945, and the second bomb was dropped onNagasaki on August 9. On August 15, 1945, the Japanese surrendered unconditionally.
Cold War beginnings and the Civil Rights Movement (1945–1964)

President Kennedy's address onCivil Rights, June 11, 1963.

Martin Luther King gives hisI Have a Dream speech at the 1963March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Main article:History of the United States (1945–1964)

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Following World War II, the United States emerged as one of the two dominantsuperpowers. TheU.S. Senate, on December 4, 1945, approved U.S. participation in theUnited Nations (UN), which marked a turn away from the traditionalisolationism of the U.S. and toward more international involvement. The post-war era in the United States was defined internationally by the beginning of theCold War, in which the United States and theSoviet Union attempted to expand their influence at the expense of the other, checked by each side's massivenuclear arsenal and the doctrine ofmutual assured destruction. The result was a series of conflicts during this period including theKorean War and the tense nuclear showdown of theCuban Missile Crisis. Within the United States, the Cold War prompted concerns aboutCommunist influence, and also resulted in government efforts to encourage math and science toward efforts like thespace race.
In the decades after World War II, the United States became aglobal influence in economic, political, military, cultural and technological affairs. At the center of middle-class culture since the 1950s has been a growing obsession with consumer goods.
John F. Kennedy was electedPresident in 1960. Known for his charisma, he is so far the onlyRoman Catholic to be President. The Kennedy's brought a new life and vigor to the atmosphere of theWhite House. During his time in office, the Cold War reached its height with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. He wasassassinated inDallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.
Meanwhile, the American people completed their great migration from the farms into the cities and experienced a period of sustained economic expansion. At the same time, institutionalizedracism across the United States, but especially in theAmerican South, was increasingly challenged by the growingCivil Rights movement andAfrican American leaders such asMartin Luther King, Jr. During the 1960s, theJim Crow laws that legalizedracial segregation between Whites and Blacks came to an end.
Cold War (1964–1980)
Main article:History of the United States (1964–1980)

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United States NavyF-4 Phantom II intercepts a SovietTu-95 Bear D aircraft in the early 1970s
TheCold War continued through the 1960s and 1970s, and the United States entered theVietnam War, whose growing unpopularity fed already existing social movements, including those among women, minorities and young people. PresidentLyndon Johnson'sGreat Society social programs and the judicial activism of theWarren Court added to the wide range of social reform during the 1960s and 1970s.Feminism and the environmental movement became political forces, and progress continued towardcivil rights for all Americans. TheCounterculture Revolution swept through the nation and much of the western world in the late sixties, dividing the already hostile environment but also bringing forth more liberated social views.
In the early 1970s, Johnson's successor, PresidentRichard Nixon was forced by Congress to bring the Vietnam War to a close, and the American-backedSouth Vietnamese government subsequently collapsed. The war had cost the lives of 58,000 American troops and millions of Vietnamese. TheOPEC oil embargo and slowing economic growth led to a period ofstagflation. Nixon's own administration was brought to an ignominious close with the political scandal ofWatergate.
End of the Cold War (1980–1991)
Main article:History of the United States (1980–1991)

In the1984 election,Ronald Reagan won 49 states in one of thelargest ever election victories.

Ronald Reagan at theBrandenburg Gate tellsGorbachev totear down theBerlin Wall in 1987, shortly before the end of theCold War
Ronald Reagan produced a majorrealignment with his1980 and1984 landslides. In 1980, theReagan coalition was possible because of Democratic losses in most social-economic groups. "Reagan Democrats" were those who usually voted Democratic, but were attracted by Reagan's policies, personality and leadership, notably his social conservatism and hawkish foreign policy. Widely regarded as a hard-line conservative, Reagan downsized government taxation, spending, and regulation.[67] Early during the Reagan administration, unemployment and business failures soon entered rates close toDepression-era levels; by 1982, the unemployment rate was 9.7 percent, and nearly 17,000 businesses failed.[68] Gigantic budget deficits prevented any implementation of social programs.[69] These trends reversed around 1983, when the inflation rate decreased from 11 to 2 percent, the unemployment rate decreased to 7.5 percent, and the economic growth rate increased from 4.5 to 7.2 percent.[70]
In 1986, theIran-Contra affair began after Reagan sold arms toIran for the nation to free American hostages that it was holding to fund theContras, although one of theBoland Amendments signed by Reagan in 1984 prohibited the U.S. government from offering any assistance to them.[71] Hearings on the issue were held in early 1987,[72] ending with the convictions of such figures asOliver North andJohn Poindexter.[73]
Reagan took a hard line against the Soviet Union, teaming up with friend and allyMargaret Thatcher, theBritish premier, against the "Evil Empire".[74] However, he succeeded in growing the military budget and launching a costly and complicated missile defense system called theStrategic Defense Initiative (dubbed "Star Wars"), hoping to intimidate the Soviets.[75] Though it was never fully developed or deployed, the research and technologies of SDI paved the way for some anti-ballistic missile systems of today. Gorbachev tried to save Communism in Russia first by ending the expensive arms race with America,[76] then in 1989 by shedding the East European empire. Communism finally collapsed in Russia in 1991, ending the US-SovietCold War.
1991–present
Main article:History of the United States (1991 - present)
After the fall of theSoviet Union, the United States emerged as the world's sole remaining superpower and continued to involve itself in military action overseas, including the 1991Gulf War. Following hiselection in 1992, PresidentBill Clinton oversaw unprecedented gains in securities values, a side effect of thedigital revolution and new business opportunities created by theInternet (seeInternet bubble). The 1990s saw one of the longest periods of economic expansion. Under Clintonan attempt to universalize health care, led byFirst LadyHillary Rodham Clinton failed after almost two years of work on the controversial plan.[77]
In 1993,Ramzi Yousef, aKuwaiti national, planted explosives in the underground garage ofOne World Trade Center and detonated them, killing six people and injuring thousands, in what would become the beginning of an age ofterrorism. Yousef would be subsequently captured.[78] In 1995, a domestic terrorist bombing at the federal building inOklahoma City killed 168 people.
During the 1990s, the United States and allied nations found themselves under attack from Islamist terrorist groups, chieflyAl-Qaida. The regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq proved a continuing problem for the UN and Iraq’s neighbors in its refusal to account for previously known stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, its violations of UN resolutions, and its support for terrorism against Israel and other countries. After the 1991 Gulf War, the US, French, and British militaries began patrolling theIraqi no-fly zones to protect Iraq’s Kurdish minority and Shi’ite Arab population – both of which suffered attacks from the Hussein regime before and after the 1991 Gulf War – in Iraq’s northern and southern regions, respectively.[79] In the aftermath ofOperation Desert Fox during December 1998, Iraq announced that it would no longer respect the no-fly zones and resumed its efforts in shooting down Allied aircraft.[80]
The1993 World Trade Center bombing by Al-Qaida was the first of many terrorist attacks upon Americans during the same period. Later that year in theBattle of Mogadishu, Al-Qaida militants took part in an assault upon US forces inSomalia, killing 19 Marines. President Clinton subsequently withdrew US combat forces from Somalia (there originally to support UN relief efforts),[81] a move described by Al-Qaida leaderOsama bin Laden as evidence of American weakness. These attacks were followed by others including the 1996Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, and the1998 United States embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. Next came the2000 millennium attack plots which included an attempted bombing of Los Angeles International Airport, followed by theUSS Cole bombing in Yemen in October 2000, which the government associated withOsama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network.[82]
US responses to these attacks included limitedCruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan (August 1998), which failed to stop Al-Qaida’s leaders and their Taliban supporters. Also in 1998, President Clinton signed theIraq Liberation Act which called for regime change in Iraq on the basis of Saddam Hussein’s possession of weapons of mass destruction, oppression of Iraqi citizens and attacks upon other Middle Eastern countries.[83]
In 1998, Clinton wasimpeached for charges ofperjury andobstruction of justice that arose from an inappropriate sexual relationship with White House internMonica Lewinsky and a sexual harassment lawsuit fromPaula Jones. He was the second president to have been impeached. TheHouse of Representatives voted 228 to 206 on December 19 to impeach Clinton,[84] but on February 12, 1999, theSenate voted 55 to 45 to acquit Clinton of the charges.[85]
Thepresidential election in 2000 betweenGeorge W. Bush (R) andAl Gore (D) was one of the closest in the U.S. history, and helped lay the seeds for political polarization to come. Although Bush won the majority of electoral votes, Gore won the majority of the popular vote. In the days following Election Day, the state ofFlorida entereddispute over the counting of votes due to technical issues over certain Democratic votes in some counties.[86] The Supreme Court caseBush v. Gore was decided on December 12, 2000, ending the recount with a 5-4 vote and certifying Bush as president.[87]

New York under attack in theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks

George W. Bush in a televised address from theUSS Abraham Lincoln thanking members of the US armed services.
At the beginning of the new millennium, the United States found itself attacked byIslamic terrorism, with theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks in which 19 extremists hijacked four transcontinental airliners and intentionally crashed two of them into the twin towers of theWorld Trade Center and one intothe Pentagon. The passengers on the fourth plane,United Airlines Flight 93, revolted causing the plane to crash into a field inSomerset County, PA. According to the9/11 Commission Report, that plane was intended to hit theUS Capitol Building in Washington. The twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, destroying the entire complex. The United States soon found large amounts of evidence that suggested that a terrorist group,al-Qaeda, spearheaded byOsama bin Laden, was responsible for the attacks.
In response to the attacks, under the administration of PresidentGeorge W. Bush, the United States (with the military support ofNATO and the political support of some of the international community) launchedOperation Enduring Freedom which overthrew theTaliban regime which had protected and harbored bin Laden and al-Qaeda. With the support of large bipartisan majorities, the US Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force AgainstIraq Resolution of 2002. With acoalition of other countries including Britain, Spain, Australia, Japan and Poland, in March 2003 President Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq dubbedOperation Iraqi Freedom which led to the overthrow and capture ofSaddam Hussein. Using the language of 1998Iraq Liberation Act and the Clinton Administration, the reasons cited by the Bush administration for the invasion included the spreading of democracy, the elimination of weapons of mass destruction[88] (a key demand of the UN as well, though later investigations found parts of the intelligence reports to be inaccurate)[89] and the liberation of the Iraqi people.[90] This second invasion fueled protest marches in many parts of the world.
In August 2005,Hurricane Katrina flooded parts of the city of New Orleans and heavily damaged other areas of the gulf coast, including major damage to theMississippi coast. The preparation and the response of the government werecriticized as ineffective and slow.[91]
By 2006, rising prices saw Americans become increasingly conscious of the nation's extreme dependence on steady supplies of inexpensivepetroleum for energy, with President Bush admitting a U.S. "addiction" to oil.[92] The possibility of serious economic disruption, should conflict overseas ordeclining production interrupt the flow, could not be ignored, given the instability in the Middle East and other oil-producing regions of the world. Many proposals and pilot projects for replacement energy sources, fromethanol towind power andsolar power, received more capital funding and were pursued more seriously in the 2000s than in previous decades. The2006 midterm elections saw CongresswomanNancy Pelosi becomeSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives and the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government.[93]
In addition to military efforts abroad, in the aftermath of 9/11 the Bush Administration increased domestic efforts to prevent future attacks. A new cabinet level agency called theUnited States Department of Homeland Security was created to lead and coordinate federal counterterrorism activities. TheUSA PATRIOT Act removed legal restrictions on information sharing between federal law enforcement and intelligence services and allowed for the investigation of suspected terrorists using means similar to those in place for other types of criminals. A newTerrorist Finance Tracking Program monitored the movements of terrorist’s financial resources but was discontinued after being revealed byThe New York Times.[94] Telecommunication usage by known and suspected terrorists was studied through theNSA electronic surveillance program.
Since 9/11, Islamic extremists made various attempts to attack the US homeland, with varying levels of organization and skill. For example, in 2001 vigilant passengers aboard a transatlantic flight toMiami preventedRichard Reid (shoe bomber) from detonating an explosive device. Other terrorist plots have been stopped by federal agencies using new legal powers and investigative tools, sometimes in cooperation with foreign governments. Such thwarted attacks include a plan to crash airplanes into theU.S. Bank Tower (aka Library Tower) in Los Angeles; the 2003 plot byIyman Faris to blow up theBrooklyn Bridge in New York City; the2004 Financial buildings plot which targeted theInternational Monetary Fund andWorld Bank buildings inWashington, DC, theNew York Stock Exchange and other financial institutions; the 2004Columbus Shopping Mall Bombing Plot; the2006 transatlantic aircraft plot which was to involve liquid explosives; the2006 Sears Tower plot; the2007 Fort Dix attack plot; and the2007 John F. Kennedy International Airport attack plot.
After months of brutal violence against Iraqi civilians by Sunni and Shi’ite terrorist groups and militias -- includingAl-Qaeda in Iraq –- in January 2007 President Bush presented a new strategy forOperation Iraqi Freedom based uponCounter-insurgency theories and tactics developed by GeneralDavid Petraeus. TheIraq War troop surge of 2007 was part of this "new way forward"[95] and has been credited by some[who?] with a dramatic decrease in violence and an increase in political and communal reconciliation in Iraq.
As of 2008, debates continue overabortion,gun control,same-sex marriage,immigration reform, and the ongoingwar in Iraq. A new Congressional majority promised to withdraw US forces from Iraq, however Congress continues to fund efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In the area of foreign policy, the U.S. maintains ongoing talks withNorth Korea over itsnuclear weapons program, as well as withIsrael and thePalestinian Authority over atwo-state solution to theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict; the Palestinian-Israeli talks began in 2007, an effort spearheaded byUnited States Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice.[96] TheGeorge W. Bush administration has also stepped up rhetoric implicatingIran and more recentlySyria in the development ofweapons of mass destruction.
On November 4, 2008,Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected president of the United States.