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 Table of Content:

I. Introduction:- From ancient times to 1492…………………………………………………….5

• Advent of the Europeans to British supremacy (1492-1606). …………………………….14

II. USA as a British Colony (1606-1783)… ………………………………………………...……15

III. USA as an Independent Country (1783 - 1819)… ……………………………………………17

IV. Expansion of USA: From 13 to 50 States (1820 - 1949)

V. Constitution of the USA: Salient Features………………………………………………….…36

VI. Civil War between the North and the East (1850 - 1869)

VII. Industrialization and its emergence as one of the world powers (1870 -1916) ………………..60

VIII. USA’s role in the Two World Wars (i. 1914 – 1918, ii. 1939 - 1945) ……………………..69

IX. Post 1945 world scenario and emergence of USA and USSR as the Two World Powers.

X. American Role in patronizing UNO and International Organizations 1945 – 2012. …………….84

XI. American Role in Cold War and its emergence as the Sole super Power (1945 -1990)……...…95

XII. International Concerns of USA: An Overview………………………………………………..107

XIII. The War on Terror and the Role of Pakistan and USA (2001 - 2012)………………………111

XIV. Global perceptions of the USA……………………………………………………….……..120

XV. Progressive Era: Reforms of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson,…………………..131

XVI. The Great Depression and the New Deal.. ………………………………………………138

XVII. Civil Rights Movement.. ……………………………………………………………………147

XVIII. United States Role in International Conflicts………………………………………………154

XIX. US Presidential Election. ………………………………………………………..………….174

XX. US Congress and its Mandate.. ……………………………………………………………183

XXI. Separation of Powers and Check & Balances.. ………………………………………………190

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Introduction:-
From ancient times to 1492

Migration to North America:

Civilization in America began during the last Ice Age when nomadic Paleo-Indians migrated across
Beringia.

America was inhabited by humans long before the first European set foot on the continent. The
beginning of civilization in America occurred during the last Ice Age when the nomadic, ancestral
peoples of the Americas - the "Paleo-Indians" - migrated into the current-day continental United
States and Canada. Their exact origins, as well as the route and timing of their migrations, are the
subject of much scholarly discussion.

The Land Bridge and Migrations

The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) of the Wurm/Wisconsin glacial period occurred between
approximately 18,000 and 20,000 years ago. Extremely cold weather resulted in the formation of vast
ice sheets across the Earth's northernmost and southernmost latitudes. As the ice sheets formed, sea
levels dropped worldwide. When the Bering and Chukchi Seas had dropped some 400 feet lower than
their present level, land beneath the Bering Strait was exposed. This ancient Ice Age subcontinent that
united the Eastern and Western hemispheres is referred to as Beringia - a treeless, grassy tundra over
1,000 miles wide .

The question of how, when, and why humans first entered the Americas has been a subject of heated
debate for centuries. Several models for the Paleo-Indian settlement of America have been proposed
by various academic communities. While there is general agreement that America was first settled
from Asia over the course of millennia by people who migrated across Beringia, their pattern of
migration, timing, and place of origin in Asia remains unclear. The chronology of migration models is
currently divided into two general approaches. In the first, known as the short chronology theory, the
first movement beyond Alaska into the New World occurs no earlier than 14,000 – 17,000 years ago,
followed by successive waves of immigrants.

The First American Civilizations

After the migration or migrations, it was several thousand years before the first complex civilizations
arose. One of the earliest identifiable cultures was the Clovis culture, with sites dating from some
13,000 years ago. The Clovis culture ranged over much of North America and also appeared in South
America. It is not clear whether the Clovis people were one unified tribe or whether there were many
tribes related by common technology and belief. As early Paleo-Indians spread throughout the
Americas, they diversified into many hundreds of culturally distinct tribes. Paleo-Indian adaptation
across North America was likely characterized by small, highly mobile bands consisting of
approximately 20 to 50 members of an extended family. These groups moved from place to place as
preferred resources were depleted and new supplies were sought.

As time went on, many of these first immigrants developed permanent settlements. With permanent
residency, some cultures developed into agricultural societies while others became pastoral. The
North American climate stabilized around 8000 BCE to a climate that we would recognize today. Due

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to the vastness and variety of the climates, ecology, vegetation, fauna, and landforms, ancient peoples
migrated and coalesced separately into numerous separate peoples of distinct linguistic and cultural
groups. Some of these cultures developed innovative technology that encouraged cities and even
empires. Comparative linguistics -- the study of languages of different tribes -- shows fascinating
diversity, with similarities between tribes hundreds of miles apart, yet startling differences with
neighboring groups.

Early Lifestyles in the Americas

Paleo-Indians subsisted as small, mobile groups of big game hunters, traveling light and frequently to
find new sources of food.

Paleo-Indians, or Paleo-Americans, were the first peoples who entered, and subsequently inhabited,
the American continent. Evidence suggests that small isolated groups of hunter-gatherers migrated far
into Alaska alongside herds of megafauna such as the giant beaver, steppe wisent, musk ox,
mastodon, woolly mammoth, and ancient reindeer (early caribou). Paleo-Indians subsisted as small,
mobile groups of big game hunters, traveling light and frequently to find new sources of food. Paleo-
Indian groups were efficient hunters and carried a variety of tools. These included highly efficient,
fluted-style spear points as well as microblades used for butchering and hide-processing. Their diet
was often sustaining and rich in protein due to successful hunting.

Food would have been plentiful during the few warm months of the year. Lakes and rivers were
teeming with many species of fish, birds, and aquatic mammals. Nuts, berries, and edible roots could
be found in the forests and marshes. The fall would have been a busy time because food needed to be
stored and clothing made ready for the winter. During the winter, coastal fishing groups moved inland
to hunt and trap animals.

Late-ice age climatic changes caused plant communities and animal populations to change. Groups
moved from place to place as preferred resources were depleted and new supplies were sought. Small
bands utilized hunting and gathering during the spring and summer months then broke into smaller
direct family groups for the fall and winter. Clothing was made from a variety of animal hides that
were also used for shelter construction.

The Paleo-Indians may have moved every three to four days and covered 150 to 200 miles a year.
Traveling light during frequent moves was a more efficient utilization of calories than hunting and
foraging farther and farther away from more permanent encampments. Such a highly mobile people
probably also had a high reproductive rate; they could carry more and provide for more children on
the move than if they had built permanent settlements.

The glaciers that covered the northern half of the continent began to gradually melt, exposing new
land for occupation, starting 17,500 to 14,500 years ago. At the same time, large mammals worldwide
began going extinct. The Clovis culture, appearing around 11,500 BCE (13,500 years ago),
undoubtedly did not rely exclusively on megafauna for subsistence. Instead, they employed a mixed
foraging strategy that included smaller terrestrial game, aquatic animals, and a variety of flora.

Great Basin Culture:

Great Bison Culture of the Great Basin area required ease of mobility to follow bison herds and gather
seasonally available food supplies.

Great Bison and Great Basin Culture

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Between 10,500 BCE and 9,500 BCE (11,500 - 12,500 years ago), the broad-spectrum, big game
hunters of the Great Plains began to focus on a single animal species: the bison, an early cousin of the
American Bison. The earliest of these bison-oriented hunting traditions is known as the Folsom
tradition. Folsom peoples traveled in small family groups for most of the year, returning yearly to the
same springs and other favored locations on higher grounds. There they would camp for a few days,
moving on after erecting a temporary shelter, making and/or repairing stone tools, or processing meat.
Paleo-Indians were not numerous, and population densities were quite low during this time.

These bison-oriented indigenous peoples mostly inhabited a portion of the North American continent
known as the "cultural region" of the Great Basin. The Great Basin is the region between the Rocky
Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, in what is now modern-day Nevada, Utah, California, Idaho,
Wyoming, and parts of Oregon. The original inhabitants of the region are believed to have arrived as
early as 10,000 BCE. The climate in the Great Basin was and is very arid; this affected the lifestyles
and cultures of its inhabitants.

While anthropologists can point to many distinct peoples throughout the region, most peoples of the
Great Basin shared certain common cultural elements that distinguished them from other surrounding
cultures. Except for the Washoe, most of the groups spoke Numic languages. Other groups may have
not have spoken Numic languages, but no relics of their linguistic patterns remain today. There was
considerable intermingling among the groups, who lived peacefully and often shared common
territories. These groups were all predominantly hunters and gatherers. As a result of these broad
general truths, anthropologists use the terms "Desert Archaic" or more simply "The Desert Culture" to
refer collectively to the Great Basin tribes.

Desert Archaic peoples required great mobility to follow seasonally available food supplies. The use
of pottery was rare because of its weight, but intricate baskets were woven that could be used to hold
water, cook food, and winnow grass seeds. Baskets were also used for storage, including the storage
of pine nuts. Heavy items such as metates were cached rather than carried from foraging area to
foraging area. Agriculture was not practiced within the Great Basin itself, although it was practiced in
adjacent areas. The area is too dry: even modern agriculture in the Great Basin requires either large
mountain reservoirs or deep artesian wells. Likewise, the Great Basin tribes had no permanent
settlements, although winter villages might be revisited winter after winter by the same groups of
families. In the summer groups would split; the largest social grouping was usually the nuclear family,
an efficient response to the low density of food supplies.

Pacific Coast Culture:

The mild climate and abundant natural resources along the Pacific Coast of North America allowed a
complex Aboriginal culture to flourish.

The land and waters of the Pacific Coast provided rich natural resources such as cedar and salmon in
the Northwest, which allowed highly structured cultures to develop. Along the coast, many different
nations developed, each with their own distinct history, culture, and society. These peoples had time
and energy to devote to the development of fine arts and crafts, and to religious and social

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ceremonies. Some cultures in this region were very similar to one another and shared certain
elements, such as the importance of salmon to their cultures, while others differed significantly.

MUSIC

The indigenous music of Pacific Coast cultures was characterized by being slow in tempo and
accompanied by a drum. The principal function of music in this region was to invoke spirituality.
Music was created to honor the Earth, creator, ancestors, and all other aspects of the supernatural
world. Sacred songs were not often shared with the wider world. Families owned songs as property
that could be inherited, sold, or given as a gift to a prestigious guest at a feast. Professional musicians
existed in some communities, and in some nations, those who made musical errors were punished,
usually through shaming. Vocal rhythmic patterns were often complex and ran counter to rigid
percussion beats.

Some instruments used by the indigenous peoples were hand drums made of animal hides, plank
drums, log drums, box drums, along with whistlers, wood clappers, and rattles. A great deal of the
instruments were used mostly for potlatches, but also carried over into other festivities throughout the
year.

Most songs are accompanied by dancing, with the exception of celebration chants. Most singing was
community-based. There are some solo parts, usually in the first line of each round of a song, but not
these sections were not long. For certain ceremonies, however, solo songs were sung by men and
women without the accompaniment.

ART

Due to the abundance of natural resources and the affluence of the coastal tribes, there was plenty of
leisure time to create art. Many works of art served practical purposes, such as clothing, tools,
weapons of war and hunting, transportation, and shelter; but others were purely aesthetic.

The creation of beautiful and practical objects served as a means of transmitting stories, history,
wisdom, and property from generation to generation. Art provided indigenous people with a tie to the
land by depicting their histories on totem poles and plank houses . The symbols depicted were a
constant reminder of their birth places, lineages, and nations.

SPIRITUALISM

The supernatural and the environment played integral roles in day-to-day life. Therefore, it was not
unusual for indigenous peoples' worldly goods to be adorned with symbols, crests, and totems that
represented some important figure from both the seen or unseen worlds.

Often the indigenous peoples would adorn their possessions with symbols that represented the tribe as
a collective. This would often be a signal of differentiation among tribal groups. Such symbols could
be compared to a coat of arms or the national flag of a country.

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The Pacific Coast was at one time the most densely populated area of North America in terms of
indigenous peoples. The mild climate and abundant natural resources made possible the rise of a
complex Aboriginal culture in what is today British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and further
south. Among the most prosperous of the coastal peoples were the Haida and the Tlingit. Other
cultures included the:

• Nisga'a
• Tsetsaut
• Tsimshian
• Gitxsan
• Haisla
• Heiltsuk
• Wuikinuxv
• Kwakwaka'wakw
• Nuu-chah-nulth
• Makah
• Coast Salish
• Nuxálk
• Willapa
• Chimakum
• Quileute
• Chinook

Eastern Woodland Culture:

Eastern Woodland Culture refers to the way of life of indigenous peoples in the eastern part of North
America between 1000 BCE and 1000 CE.

The Eastern Woodlands cultural region covered from what is now southeastern Canada and the
eastern United States down to the Gulf of Mexico. The time in which the peoples of this region
flourished is referred to as the Woodland Period.

This period is considered a developmental stage known for its continuous development in stone and
bone tools, leather crafting, textile manufacture, cultivation, and shelter construction. Many
Woodland hunters used spears and atlatls until the end of the period when they were replaced by bows
and arrows; however, southeastern Woodland hunters also used blowguns.

The major technological and cultural advancement during this period was the widespread use of
pottery and the increasing sophistication of its forms and decoration. The increasing use of agriculture
and the development of the Eastern Agricultural Complex also meant that the nomadic nature of many
of the groups was supplanted by permanently occupied villages.

Early Woodland Period (1000–1 BCE)

Research indicates that the first appearance of ceramics occurred around 2500 BCE in parts of Florida
and Georgia. What differentiates the early Woodland period from the Archaic period is the
appearance of permanent settlements, elaborate burial practices, intensive collection and horticulture
of starchy seed plants, differentiation in social organization, and other factors. Most of these were

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evident in the southeastern United States by 1000 BCE with the Adena culture, which is the best-
known example of an early Woodland culture.

Middle Woodland Period (1–500 CE)

The beginning of this period saw a shift of settlement to the interior. As the Woodland period
progressed, local and inter-regional trade of exotic materials greatly increased to the point where a
trade network covered most of the eastern United States. Throughout the southeast and north of the
Ohio River, burial mounds of important people were very elaborate and contained a variety of
mortuary gifts, many of which were not local. The most archaeologically certifiable sites of burial
during this time were in Illinois and Ohio. These have come to be known as the Hopewell tradition.

Due to the similarity of earthworks and burial goods, researchers assume a common body of religious
practice and cultural interaction existed throughout the entire region (referred to as the "Hopewellian
Interaction Sphere"). Such similarities could also be the result of reciprocal trade, obligations, or both
between local clans that controlled specific territories. Clan heads were buried along with goods
received from their trading partners to symbolize the relationships they had established. Although
many of the Middle Woodland cultures are called "Hopewellian," and groups shared ceremonial
practices, archeologists have identified the development of distinctly separate cultures during the
Middle Woodland period. Examples include the Armstrong culture, Copena culture, Crab Orchard
culture, Fourche Maline culture, the Goodall Focus, the Havana Hopewell culture, the Kansas City
Hopewell, the Marksville culture, and the Swift Creek culture.

Ceramics during this time were thinner, of better quality, and more decorated than in earlier times.
This ceramic phase saw a trend towards round-bodied pottery and lines of decoration with cross-
etching on the rims.

Late Woodland Period (500–1000 CE)

The late Woodland period was a time of apparent population dispersal. In most areas, construction of
burial mounds decreased drastically, as did long-distance trade in exotic materials. Bow and arrow
technology gradually overtook the use of the spear and atlatl, and agricultural production of the "three
sisters" (maize, beans, and squash) was introduced. While full scale intensive agriculture did not
begin until the following Mississippian period, the beginning of serious cultivation greatly
supplemented the gathering of plants.

Late Woodland settlements became more numerous, but the size of each one was generally smaller
than their Middle Woodland counterparts. It has been theorized that populations increased so much
that trade alone could no longer support the communities and some clans resorted to raiding others for
resources. Alternatively, the efficiency of bows and arrows in hunting may have decimated the large
game animals, forcing tribes to break apart into smaller clans to better use local resources, thus
limiting the trade potential of each group. A third possibility is that a colder climate may have
affected food yields, also limiting trade possibilities. Lastly, it may be that agricultural technology
became sophisticated enough that crop variation between clans lessened, thereby decreasing the need
for trade.

In practice many regions of the Eastern Woodlands adopted the full Mississippian culture much later
than 1000 CE. Some groups in the north and northeast of the United States, such as the Iroquois,
retained a way of life that was technologically identical to the Late Woodland until the arrival of the

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Europeans. Furthermore, despite the widespread adoption of the bow and arrow during, the peoples of
a few areas (e.g. around the mouth of the Mississippi River) appear never to have made the change.

Southwestern Cultures:

A period of relatively wet conditions saw many cultures in the American Southwest flourish.

A period of relatively wet conditions saw many cultures in the American Southwest flourish.
Extensive irrigation systems were developed and were among the largest of the ancient world.
Elaborate adobe and sandstone buildings were constructed, and highly ornamental and artistic pottery
was created. The unusual weather conditions could not continue forever, though, and gave way, in
time, to the more common arid conditions of the area. These dry conditions necessitated a more
minimal way of life and, eventually, the elaborate accomplishments of these cultures were abandoned.

The Anasazi

One prominent group were the Anasazi, who lived in present-day northeastern Arizona and
surrounding areas. The geography of this area is that of a flat, arid, desert plain surrounded by small
areas of high plateaus called mesas. Softer rock layers within the mesas eroded to form steep canyons
and overhangs. The Anasazi used these cave-like overhangs in the side of steep mesas as shelter from
the brief yet fierce southwestern storms. They also found natural seeps and diverted small streams of
snow melt into small plots of maize, squash, and beans.

Small, seasonal rivers formed beds of natural clays and dried mud. The Anasazi used hardened dry
mud, called adobe, along with sandstone, to form intricate buildings that were sometimes found high
in the natural overhangs of the mesas. The Anasazi people were also skilled at forming the natural
clays into pottery.

Between 900 and 1130 CE, a period of relatively wet conditions allowed the Anasazi people to
flourish. Traditional architecture was perfected, pottery became intricate and artistic, turkeys were
domesticated, and trade over long distances extended their influence across the entire region.
Following this golden period was the 300 year drought, known as the Great Drought. The Anasazi
culture was stressed and erupted into warfare.

Scientists once believed the entire people vanished, possibly moving great distances to avoid the arid
desert. New research suggests that the Anasazi dispersed, abandoning their intricate buildings and
moving towards smaller settlements in order to better utilize the limited water that existed.

The Hohokam

Bordering the Anasazi culture, a separate civilization emerged in southern Arizona called the
Hohokam. While many Native Americans in the southwest used water irrigation on a limited scale, it
was the Hohokam culture that perfected the technology (all without the benefit of modern excavating
tools). The ability to divert water into small agricultural plots meant that the Hohokam could live in
large agricultural communities of relatively high population density. These communities were
particularly prominent in the Gila River valley, where the Gila River was diverted in many places to
irrigate large fertile plains and numerous compact towns. The bigger towns had a "Great House" at
their centers, which was a large adobe/stone structure . Some of these structures were four stories in

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size and were likely used by the managerial or religious elites. Smaller pit rooms and pits were
enclosed by adobe walls and used as primary residences in addition to many other functions.

The successful use of irrigation is evident in the extensive Casa Grande village. Situated between two
primary canals, the Casa Grande site has been the focus of nearly nine decades of archaeological
work. The original town was built around a Great House and incorporated open courtyards and
circular plazas into its design. By the 10th century, neighboring settlements had been built to
accommodate overflow from the large, highly developed village. The scale of this community is
demonstrated by the 1997 excavation of a mere section of it, in which 247 pit houses, 27 pit rooms,
866 pits, 11 small canals, a ball court, and portions of four adobe walled compounds were identified.

The Hohokam culture disintegrated when the drought made it difficult to maintain their extensive
canals. Small blockages or collapses of the canal would choke the intricate irrigation networks. Large
towns and extensive irrigation canals were abandoned. The people gave up their cultural way of life
and dispersed into neighboring tribes.

Meso-American Culture:

The Mexicas, or Aztecs, were one of the most powerful and advanced civilizations of the ancient
world.

Meso-American civilizations were amongst some of the most powerful and advanced civilizations of
the ancient world. Reading and writing were widespread throughout Meso-America and these
civilizations achieved impressive political, artistic, scientific, agricultural, and architectural
accomplishments. Many of these civilizations gathered the political and technological resources to
build some of the largest, most ornate, and highly populated cities in the ancient world.

The aboriginal Americans settled in the Yucatan peninsula of present-day Mexico around 10,000
BCE. Archaeological, historical, and linguistic evidence suggest that the Nahua peoples originally
came from the deserts of northern Mexico, where they lived alongside the Cora and Huichol, and the
southwestern U.S. They migrated into central Mexico in several waves. The first group of Nahuas to
split from the main group were the Pochutec. The Pochutec went on to settle on the Pacific coast of
Oaxaca, possibly as early as 400 CE. From c. 600 CE, the Nahua quickly rose to power in the places
where they had settled central Mexico and expanded into areas earlier occupied by Oto-Manguean,
Totonacan and Huastec peoples.

From this period on, the Nahua were the dominant ethnic group in the Valley of Mexico and far
beyond, with migrations continuing to come in from the north. One of the last of the Nahua
migrations to arrive in the valley settled on an island in the Lake Texcoco c. 1,200 CE and proceeded
to subjugate the surrounding tribes. This group were the Mexica who, during the next 300 years,
became the dominant ethnic group of Meso-America, ruling from Tenochtitlan, their island capital.
Allying with the Tepanecs and Acolhua people of Texcoco, they formed the Aztec empire, spreading
the political and linguistic influence of the Nahuas well into Central America.

THE AZTEC CONFEDERACY

The Aztec confederacy began a campaign of conquest and assimilation. Outlying lands were inducted
into the empire and became part of the complex Aztec society. Local leaders could gain prestige by
adopting and adding to the culture of the Aztec civilization. The Aztecs, in turn, adopted cultural,
artistic, and astronomical innovations from its conquered people.

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The heart of Aztec power was economic unity. Conquered lands paid tribute to the capital city,
Tenochtitlan, the present-day site of Mexico City. Rich in tribute, this capital grew in influence, size,
and population. When the Spanish arrived in 1521, it was the fourth largest city in the world
(including the once independent city Tlatelco, which was by then a residential suburb) with an
estimated population of 212,500 people. It contained the massive Temple de Mayo (a twin-towered
pyramid 197 feet tall), 45 public buildings, a palace, two zoos, a botanical garden, and many houses.
Surrounding the city and floating on the shallow flats of Lake Texcoco were enormous chinampas --
floating garden beds that fed the many thousands of residents of Tenochtitlan

While many Meso-American civilizations practiced human sacrifice, none performed it to the scale of
the Aztecs. To the Aztecs, human sacrifice was a necessary appeasement to the gods. According to
their own records, one of the largest slaughters ever performed occurred when the great pyramid of
Tenochtitlan was reconsecrated in 1487. The Aztecs reported that they had sacrificed 84,400 prisoners
over the course of four days.

The Spanish arrival at Tenochtitlan marked the downfall of Aztec culture. Although shocked and
impressed by the scale of Tenochtitlan, the display of massive human sacrifice offended European
sensitivities, and the abundant displays of gold and silver inflamed their greed. The Spanish killed the
reigning ruler, Montezuma, in June 1520 and lay siege to the city. They destroyed it completely in
1521, aided by their alliance with a competing tribe, the Tlaxcala.

Advent of the Europeans to British supremacy (1492-1606)

Christopher Columbus is credited with having discovered the New World in 1492, not necessarily
America. How people interpret this fact is the subject of intense historical and cultural debate across
the world. The day honoring the discovery, October 12, is a national holiday, but for some historians
and cultures, this day is marked as one when Spanish imperialism and genocide of the Native
Americans began.

Those who want to discredit Columbus Day usually start with the wave of violence, slavery and
genocide of the Native Americans that began after his “discovery.” On the island of Hispanola (Haiti
/ Dominican Republic), the sailors left there after his first voyage were tasked with finding gold and
silver and soon tried to put to work the natives of the island. In subsequent voyages, he searched
Central and South America for gold, and the communicable diseases like smallpox and measles that
the Europeans had would also wipe out – intentionally or not – the Native populations. Conquistadors
Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro exploited divisions among the ruling tribes, Aztecs and Incas
respectively, to conquer vast empires. It’s estimated that something like 90% of the 100 million
Native Americans who lived in the New World were wiped out by disease, war, and famine brought
on by discovery.

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But was this all Columbus’ fault? His defenders say, of course not. Diseases act in random ways and
are influenced by many things including stress, food (or lack thereof), poverty and other cultural or
economic factors. Discovery could have brought some of these conditions on, but they weren’t
necessarily the primary cause. Columbus is also given credit for having been a visionary, having
convinced the Spanish monarchs to provide him with three ships to sail the Atlantic in search of a
newer, quicker route to Asia around the earth. In fact, Columbus failed in his attempt to find that
quicker trade route to Asia. It would be Magellan who would circumnavigate the globe. And,
Columbus is being blamed for what came in his wake – the Spanish conquistadors, the destruction of
Native peoples, and even the African slave trade since that was linked with the opening up of the New
World. Too much, much too much indeed, to put on one man’s shoulders.

Another way of looking at this is that when we celebrate Columbus Day, we celebrate America.
Should we acknowledge both the good and the bad that come with America / Columbus? Or is it
more patriotic to revel in America in a “Team America” way with unquestioning loyalty.

USA as a British Colony (1606-1783):

English America, and later British America, refers to the English, and later British territories in the
Americas (including Bermuda), Central America, the Caribbean, and Guyana from 1607 to 1783.
Formally, the British colonies in North America were known as British America and the British West
Indies until 1776, when the Thirteen British Colonies located along the Atlantic seaboard declared
their independence and formed the United States of America.[1] After that, British North America (or,
simply but not inclusively, Canada) was used to describe the remainder of Britain's continental North
American possessions. The term "British North America" was first used informally in 1783, but it was
uncommon before the Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839), called the Durham
Report.

British America gained large amounts of new territory following the Treaty of Paris (1763) which
ended Britain's involvement in the Seven Years' War. At the start of the American War of
Independence in 1775, the British Empire included 20 colonies north and east of New Spain (present-
day areas of Mexico and the Western United States). East and West Florida were ceded to Spain in the
Treaty of Paris (1783) which ended the American Revolution, and then ceded by Spain to the United
States in 1819. All but one of the remaining colonies of British North America apart from the British
West Indies united together from 1867 to 1873 forming the Dominion of Canada. Newfoundland
joined Canada in 1949.

History

Between 1606 and 1670, a number of English colonies were established in North America by
individuals and companies granted commercial charters by King James I, King Charles I, Parliament,
and King Charles II to found and run settlements there. The first such permanent settlement was
founded at Jamestown by the Virginia Company whose investors expected to reap rewards from their
speculative investments. Virginia Native Americans had established settlements long before the
English settlers arrived, and there were an estimated 14,000 natives in the region. Their chief sought
to resettle the English colonists from Jamestown to another location and expected them to become
members of his Confederacy. Other settlers, both English and German, did join the Powhatans.[2] The
first explorers were welcomed by the Indians with dancing, feasting and tobacco ceremonies.[3]

14
List of North American colonies in 1777:

There were twenty British colonies in North America in 1775. These were:

1) The Thirteen Colonies that eventually formed the original states of the United States of America:

• New England Colonies

• Province of Massachusetts Bay
• Province of New Hampshire

Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations – founded in 1636 as a sanctuary for religious
freedom by Baptists expelled from Massachusetts Bay by the Puritans and formally authorised by
charter of King Charles II on 8 July 1663.

• Connecticut Colony
• Middle Colonies
• Province of New York
• Province of New Jersey
• Province of Pennsylvania
• Delaware Colony
• Southern Colonies (Virginia and Maryland may also be grouped as the Chesapeake Colonies)
• Province of Maryland
• Colony of Virginia
• Province of North Carolina
• Province of South Carolina
• Province of Georgia

2) Other British colonies and territories (ruled by Britain since 1763) that were later ceded by Britain
to Spain (the Floridas) or the United States (the Indian Reserve and Southwestern Quebec); all this
territory eventually became part of the United States of America:

• Province of East Florida

• Province of West Florida
Indian Reserve
Province of Quebec (southwest of the Great Lakes)

3) British colonies and territories that would eventually become part of modern Canada:

• Province of Quebec (northeast of the Great Lakes)

• Province of Nova Scotia
• Island of St. John
• Colony of Newfoundland
• Rupert's Land
• List of colonies in 1783 in North America, the Caribbean and South America

The colonies remaining under British rule after 1783:

• British North America

15
 • Province of Quebec (the southwest portion was lost to the newly created United States)
• Colony of Newfoundland
• Province of Nova Scotia
• Province of New Brunswick
• Island of St. John
• Rupert's Land

Divisions of the Colony of the Leeward Islands

• Saint Christopher (de facto Capital)

• Antigua
• Barbuda
• British Virgin Islands
• Montserrat
• Nevis
• Anguilla

Island of Jamaica and its Dependencies

• Island of Jamaica

Settlement of Belize in the Bay of Honduras

• Mosquito Coast
• Bay Islands
• Cayman Islands

Other Possessions in the British West Indies

• Colony of the Bahama Islands

• Colony of Bermuda
• Island of Barbados
• Island of Grenada
• Island of St. Vincent (detached from Grenada in 1776)
• Island of Tobago (detached from Grenada in 1768)
• Island of Dominica (detached from Grenada in 1770)

16
III. USA as an Independent Country (1783 -
1819)
“The world appears full of commotion,” wrote the newspaper editor John Fenno in 1792.1 His was an
apt observation at a time when the French Revolution was making waves all around the Atlantic
littoral. Although Fenno hoped that the United States might be able to isolate itself from the conflicts
of the outside world – in effect, to escape from world history – his dream of American isolation would
not materialize. The United States was hopelessly entangled with the outside world from the start,
although historians have yet to take the full measure of these entanglements. The goal of this paper,
then, is to identify some of the transnational processes that helped to shape the early national United
States. By “transnational processes” I mean simply those patterns of human activity that cross, defy,
and transcend national borders. This paper will investigate three vectors of transnational history and
their implications for the early national United States. These are (1) trade and investment, which
shaped the political economy of the new nation; (2) migration, which changed the character and
distribution of the country’s population; and (3) the circulation of ideas. These three vectors – goods,
people, and ideas – may be analytically distinct but they merged in real life and were embodied by
real people.

This paper is intended to provide a basis for historians of the early republic to participate in an
important conversation about the historical relation of the U.S. to the rest of the world. Many scholars
have called for more attention to be paid to the global dimensions of U.S. history in light of the
country’s current worldwide hegemony. There are many possible approaches to the issue. Some
would trace the U.S. rise to global empire, exposing internal and external resistances to that rise, and
recovering real or merely imagined alternative patterns of global engagement. Others would use
comparative history to identify what was special and what was merely ordinary about the early United
States relative to other places in the world. Another vision of transnational history would draw on the
international community of scholars to rewrite American history from a more cosmopolitan
perspective.2 I have no intention of dethroning the nation-state as a central unit of analysis, which
seems to be the goal advanced by some historians who advocate a transnational research agenda.
Instead, my hope instead is to situate the history of the early United States within the broadest
possible geographic field, and to focus on phenomena that spill beyond the limits of the nation-state –
for instance, the mercantile networks that orchestrated Atlantic trade, and the currents of
communication and transportation that brought migrants to the United States.

There is also merit in an occasional attempt to synthesize and integrate the large and growing number
of monographic studies – conference papers, articles, and books – that illuminate the connections
between the early United States and the rest of the world. Historians of war and diplomacy have
always been attentive to the United States’s place in the wider world, but they have generally focused
on the elite agents who mediated the relationship between states in the international system. Scholars
influenced by ‘Atlantic world’ and ‘borderlands’ approaches have been attentive to transnational
phenomena, but these approaches are still more characteristic of colonial historians than those of the
early republic. It is obvious that the events and dynamics in the world at large had profound
consequences for the early United States, but specifying these consequences in a comprehensive and
synthetic way is quite challenging given the complexity of the era and the volume of available
scholarship. Perhaps the most important contribution of an essay like this is to provide a preliminary

17
analytical framework for tackling as broad a question as, “What in the world was the early United
States,” which is the title of our panel.

My inspiration for this investigation is an essay by Charles Bright and Michael Geyer titled, “Where
in the World is America” in the important volume Rethinking America in a Global Age, edited by
Thomas Bender.3 Bright and Geyer argue that the challenge for the United States has been to define a
particular sovereignty in the wake of a revolution bottomed on universal ideals. One might call this
the challenge of republicanism in one country. They contend that one fundamental aspect of that
challenge has been “the continuous and contentious efforts to bound, delineate, and possess a
geographical space for republican self-government.” (73-4) The implication of their argument is that
the outside world has had a profound effect on the nation’s interior shape, and that efforts to define
the nation-state from within have always had to come to grips with external pressures and
possibilities. This essay will extend that basic argument to the economy, population, and intellectual
life of the early U.S. nation-state roughly from the end of the American Revolution to 1819.

1. Economy

The economy of the new United States was deeply and necessarily embedded in a broader
transnational economy with regional, transatlantic, and global dimensions. So vital were these
dimensions that the classic debate between the Hamiltonians and Jeffersonians over the direction of
the new national political economy can be seen as a hinging on different visions of the country’s place
in the transnational economy. The Hamiltonians, concerned with increasing the nation’s economic
power in a world of competing empires, wanted to emulate the world’s leading imperial power, Great
Britain, by stimulating commercial and industrial development. Hamilton admired the British
economy, coveted European capital, and welcomed foreign immigrants. The Jeffersonians, on the
other hand, wanted to protect and expand commercial agriculture, which they viewed as essential to
maintaining the popular virtue necessary for republican self-government. That nationalist vision
ironically depended on securing foreign markets for American agricultural produce. Whatever their
differences, neither the Hamiltonians and Jeffersonians imagined the United States as an autarchy.4

The early national economy functioned within transnational circuits of goods, capital, and people. The
most obvious example of this pattern is the position of the United States in the system of world trade.
Robert E. Lipsey argues, “in terms of exports of its own products per capita, excluding re-exports of
products made by others, the United States was twice as trade-oriented as Europe, and more than five
times as export-oriented as the world as a whole” in the early nineteenth century.5 Lipsey’s trade
statistics indicate that US imports and exports amounted to 13.2% of GNP in 1800, fell to 10.5% in
1810, and then increased to 14.3% in 1820, which was the highest level for the United States in the
nineteenth century.6 Although the dollar value of U.S. exports did not increase in from the 1790s
through the 1810s, there were important shifts in the composition of American exports. The most
notable were the increase in the volume and proportion of cotton and wheat exports, which together
accounted for more than half of the total value of U.S. exports from 1800 to 1820. Although cotton
had been insignificant to the North American export economy in the colonial era, it had become the
nation’s leading export by 1820, with most of it going to Great Britain’s cotton textile
manufacturers.7 Slavery was crucial to both the cotton and wheat economies, albeit in different ways.
While most of the cotton exported from the United States was cultivated by slaves, much of wheat
exported from the United States fed slaves working on the sugar plantations of the West Indies.8

18
War in Europe allowed merchants in the United States to take advantage of American neutrality to
gain a dominant position in the neutral carrying trade from the mid-1790s to 1808, when the Jefferson
Administration imposed an embargo on foreign trade. The re-export trade was temporarily interrupted
by peace in 1797-8 and 1801-3, but overall, the value of re-exports increased from $300,000 in 1790
to almost $60,000,000 in 1807, eclipsing domestic exports.9 The benefits of this trade were
concentrated in the country’s four major seaports: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, all
of which experienced considerable prosperity and population growth during these years. While Robert
Oliver of Baltimore and other leading urban merchants enriched themselves in the carrying trade, the
port cities’ dependence on foreign trade left urban working people in distress during the economic
crisis that accompanied Jefferson’s embargo.10 Though lucrative, the neutral carrying trade brought
the United States into conflict with France and England, as each tried to stop the United States from
trading with its enemy, and ultimately, British harassment of U.S. shipping contributed to the
outbreak of the War of 1812.

For Complete CSS History of

USA:

Call At: 03084293988,

03314019933

19
For Complete CSS History of
USA:

Call At:
03084293988,
03314019933

20