The first Europeans who arrived in North America were Icelandic Scandinavians led by Ye Xiaokai Eriksson around AD 1000. They left traces of sightseeing in Newfoundland, Canada, but they failed to establish permanent settlements, so they soon lost contact with the New World.
Five centuries later, the demand for Asian spices, textiles and dyes made European navigators eager to find a shortcut to connect East and West. 1492, the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus sailed westward from Europe on behalf of the king of Spain, and later landed on an island in the Bahamas in the Caribbean. In 40 years, Spanish adventurers built a huge empire in Central and South America.
Colonial era
The British successfully established the first colony in Jamestown, Gunia. A few years later, the English Puritans came to America to avoid religious persecution because they opposed the Anglican Church. 1620, Puritans established Plymouth colony in what later became Massachusetts. This is the second permanent British colony in North America and the first in New England.
In New England, the Puritans hoped to build a "mountain city", that is, an ideal society. Since then, Americans have regarded their country as a great experiment and a model worthy of emulation by other countries. Puritans believed that the government should abide by God's moral norms and severely punish apostates, adulterers, alcoholics and those who violated the Sabbath. Although they pursue religious freedom themselves, they follow some form of dogma of rejecting dissidents. 1636, an English priest named roger williams left Massachusetts and established the colony of Rhode Island. His ideological foundation is the principle of religious freedom and separation of church and state, which was later accepted by the framers of the American Constitution.
The colonists came from all over Europe, but the British had a much better position in the United States. By 1733, the British had established 13 colonies along the Atlantic coast from New Hampshire in the north and Georgia in the south. Elsewhere in North America, France controlled Canada and Louisiana, including the vast Mississippi Valley. /kloc-during the 0/8th century, there were several wars between France and Britain, and each war dragged North America into the whirlpool. /kloc-the seven-year war that ended in 0/763 made the British control all parts of Canada and North America east of the Mississippi River.
Shortly thereafter, Britain clashed with its colonies. The colony's home country imposed new taxes in part to pay for the Seven-Year War and expected Americans to keep British soldiers at home. The colonists expressed dissatisfaction with the new tax and refused to let the soldiers live at home. They insisted that only their own colonial parliament could levy taxes on them. These colonists United under the slogan "No taxes without representatives".
All taxes except tea were abolished, but in 1773, a group of patriots fought back by planning the Boston Tea Party. Dressed as Indians, they boarded the British merchant ship and dumped 342 boxes of tea in the sea of Boston Harbor. This led to a crackdown by the British Parliament, including the closure of Boston Harbour to ships. 1774, the leaders of the colonies held the first continental conference to discuss the problem of colonial resistance to British rule. 1775, 19 In April, British soldiers and colonial rebels met in Lexington, Massachusetts, and war broke out. 1776 On July 4th, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.
At first, Americans were defeated in the "Revolutionary War". Due to the lack of supplies and training, although the American army is brave and good at fighting on the whole, it is overwhelmed by the British army in number and firepower. The turning point of the war occurred in 1777, when American soldiers defeated the British in Saratoga, new york. France has been secretly helping the Americans, but it is unwilling to openly form an alliance with them before they prove their ability in the battle. With the victory of the United States in Saratoga, France and the United States signed an alliance treaty. France provided troops and warships to the United States.
The last major battle of the American Revolution started in Yorktown, Virginia in 178 1. The United States and France allied forces surrounded Britain and forced them to surrender. In some areas, the fighting lasted for another two years. 1783 signed the Paris Peace Treaty, officially ending the war with Britain's recognition of American independence.
A new country
The formulation of the American Constitution and the establishment of the United States are described in detail in Chapter 4. The Constitution of the United States divides the government into three branches-legislative (Congress), executive (President and federal agencies) and judicial (federal courts)-including 65,438+00 amendments called "Bill of Rights" aimed at protecting individual freedom. It has basically alleviated Americans' concerns about the excessive concentration of central power. However, some people are still uneasy about the growth of power, which is reflected in the different political ideas of the two great men during the American Revolution. George Washington was a military hero in the War of Independence and the first president of the United States. His party stands for a strong president and central government. Thomas Jefferson is the main author of the Declaration of Independence, and his party tends to give states more power, because theoretically, state governments should be more accountable to the people.
180 1 year, Jefferson was elected as the third president of the United States. Although he tends to limit the president's power, political reality shows the opposite. In other vigorous actions, he bought the vast Louisiana region from France in 1803, almost doubling the area of the United States. "Louisiana Purchase" increased the territory of the United States by more than two million square kilometers, and extended the border of the United States westward to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
Slavery and the American Civil War
In the first quarter of the19th century, the border was expanded and moved westward to the Mississippi River and beyond. From 65438 to 0828, andrew jackson became the first "foreign" elected president. He came from a remote Tennessee, was born in poverty, and did not belong to the traditional cultural circle along the Atlantic coast.
On the surface, the Jackson era was an optimistic and energetic period in the United States, but the young country was caught in contradictions at that time. The slogan of the Declaration of Independence is "All men are created equal". Nothing to 1.5 million slaves. For a detailed introduction of slavery and its consequences, please refer to Chapters 1 and 4.
1820, politicians in the south and the north debated whether slavery was legal in the western region. Congress reached some kind of compromise: slavery was allowed in the newly established Missouri and Arkansas, but it was banned anywhere in western and northern Missouri. 1846- 1848 as a result of the Mexican war, more territory fell into the hands of Americans, and the next question was whether to carry out slavery. 1850 reached another compromise, recognizing California as a free state, allowing residents of Utah and New Mexico to decide whether or not to practice slavery in their own territory (they didn't want to).
However, this issue continues to cause dissatisfaction. 1860, abraham lincoln, the sworn enemy of slavery, was elected president of the United States. 1 1 The states seceded from the Union and declared themselves an independent country, namely the American Confederacy. 1 1 states are South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina. A civil war broke out in America. At the beginning of the war, the Confederate army played quite well. Some commanders, especially General Robert Lee, are outstanding tacticians. However, the alliance has advantages in quantity and abundant resources. In the summer of 1863, Lee ventured to lead his army north into Pennsylvania. He met the union army at Gettysburg, and an unprecedented war began on American soil. After three days of desperate struggle, the Confederate army was defeated. At the same time, on the Mississippi River, General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union Army captured Vicksburg, which made the North control the whole Mississippi River basin and split the Confederacy in two.
Two years later, under the leadership of Lee and Grant, after a long battle, the Confederate army surrendered. The American Civil War was the most painful scene in American history. But it has solved two problems that have been puzzling Americans since 1775. It ended slavery and confirmed that the United States is not a collection of semi-independent countries, but a completely independent country.
1Late 9th century
1865, abraham lincoln was assassinated, which made the United States lose a leader who was very suitable for healing the wounds left by the civil war in terms of background and temperament. His successor, andrew johnson, was a southerner and remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War. Southern members of Johnson's own party filed a lawsuit demanding that he be removed because he was allegedly too lenient with former Confederate elements. Johnson's acquittal is a major victory of the principle of separation of powers: a president should not be removed from office because Congress does not agree with his policies unless he commits "treason, corruption or other felony and misdemeanor" as pointed out in the US Constitution.
Within a few years after the end of the civil war, the United States became a major industrial power, and savvy businessmen made a fortune. 1869, the first transcontinental railway was built; By 1900, the railway mileage of the United States will exceed the whole of Europe. The oil industry in the United States is booming, and john D Rockefeller of Standard Oil Company has become one of the richest people in the United States. Andrew carnegie built a huge steel empire from scratch as a Scottish labor immigrant. In the south, textile mills have multiplied, and in Chicago, Illinois, meat processing has mushroomed. Thanks to a series of inventions in the United States: telephone, light bulb, photography, alternator and transformer, and movies, the power industry is booming. In Chicago, architect Lewis Sullivan created a unique American image for this modern city with steel frame buildings: skyscrapers.
However, unrestricted economic development also brings danger. In order to limit competition, railway companies merged with each other and formulated standardized freight rates. Trust (a huge consortium of companies) wants to monopolize certain industries, most obviously the oil industry. These huge enterprises can make the survival efficiency of goods higher and the sales price cheaper, but they can still fix prices and eliminate competitors. To counter this trust, the federal government took action. 1887, the Interstate Commercial Committee was established to control the freight rate in Lu Yi. 1800 The Sherman Anti-monopoly Law prohibits trusts, mergers and commercial agreements that "restrict trade".
Industrialization was accompanied by the rise of labor organizations. The American trade union was founded in 1885, which is a joint organization of skilled workers' trade unions. /kloc-In the late 20th century, a large number of immigrants flooded into the United States, and many jobs in emerging industries were born abroad. However, life is very difficult for American farmers. As food prices fall, farmers have to bear high freight, expensive mortgage loans, high taxes and high tariffs on consumer goods.
Since 1848, the territory of the United States has not changed, except Alaska was bought from the Russians in 1867. 1890s, a new spirit of expansion was deeply rooted in people's hearts. Following the leaders of the Nordic countries, the United States declared its responsibility to "educate" the people of Asia, Africa and Latin America. 1808 War broke out between the United States and Spain after American newspapers published sensational reports about the atrocities committed in the Spanish colony of Cuba. After the war, the United States got some trophies from Spain: Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam. In an unrelated operation, the United States also acquired the Hawaiian Islands.
But Americans themselves have got rid of the shackles of the empire, so they feel uncomfortable managing an empire. 1902, the us military left Cuba, but asked the new Republic to give the us a naval base. The Philippines gained limited autonomy in 1907 and became completely independent in 1946. Puerto Rico became an autonomous region of the United States, while Hawaii became a state of the United States (like Alaska) on 1959.
Progressive movement
While taking risks abroad, Americans look at domestic social problems from a brand-new perspective. Although seemingly prosperous, more than half of industrial workers still live in poverty. New york, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco are proud of their museums, universities and public libraries, but they are also ashamed of their slums. The popular economic theory has always been laissez-faire: let the government interfere in business as little as possible. 1900 or so, the "progressive movement" rose, aiming at changing society and individuals through government actions. The supporters of this movement are mainly economists, sociologists, technicians and civilian officials, who seek scientific and economically effective ways to solve political problems.
Social workers go deep into slums to set up neighborhood cultural and educational centers to provide health services and entertainment for the poor. Temperance activists demanded a ban on alcohol sales, in part to prevent alcoholic husbands from torturing their wives and children. In cities, reformist politicians crack down on corruption, formulate rules and regulations for public transportation and build public facilities owned by municipal authorities. States have passed laws to restrict child labor and working hours, and provide compensation for injured workers.
Some Americans support a more radical view. The Socialist Party led by Eugene V. Debs advocates a peaceful and democratic transition to a state-managed economic system. However, socialism has never established a solid foundation in the United States-the party's best performance in the presidential election was that it won 6% of the votes in 19 12.
War and Peace
19 14, World War I broke out in Europe. President Woodrow Wilson urged the United States to adopt a strict neutral policy. The Germans announced that they would attack all ships bound for the ports of the Allies with submarines without restriction, which made this position impossible to adhere to. 19 17, the US Congress declared war on Germany. At that time, the US Army had only 200,000 troops. The United States had to recruit and train millions of people and send them across the Atlantic with a large number of submarines. The United States Army spent a whole year preparing for large-scale operations.
In the autumn of 19 18, Germany fell into despair. In the face of a steady stream of American troops, the Germans are losing ground. In June+1October, 5438, the Germans demanded peace, and in June165438+1October1,a truce came. 19 19, Wilson went to Versailles to help draft the peace treaty. In the allied capitals, people cheered for him, but in the United States, his international image was eclipsed. His idea of establishing the League of Nations was written into the Treaty of Versailles, but the United States Senate did not ratify the Treaty, so the United States did not join the League of Nations.
Most Americans do not regret that the treaty was rejected. Their attention turned to domestic affairs, and the United States was far away from European affairs. At the same time, Americans became hostile to foreigners among them. 19 19, a series of terrorist bombs triggered "red fear". Authorized by U.S attorney general a Mitchell Palmer, he attacked political rallies and expelled hundreds of foreign-born political activists, although most of them had no criminal record. In 192 1, two Italian-born anarchists Nicola Coe and barto Lome Vanzetti were convicted of murder, but the evidence of the charges was not reliable. Some intellectuals protested, but they were sent to the electric chair on 1927. Congress promulgated the immigration quota law in 192 1, and further tightened these quotas in 1924 and 1929. These restrictions favor immigrants from Anglo-Saxon and Nordic countries.
1920s is a very chaotic era, where hedonism and puritanical conservatism coexist. This is a period of prohibition of alcohol: 1920, a constitutional amendment made it illegal to sell alcoholic beverages. However, drinkers have escaped the law in thousands of "unlicensed bars" (illegal bars), and they happily indulge in alcohol. The gangsters made a fortune by hard liquor. This was also the prosperous 1920s. Jazz, spectacular silent movies, flagpole sitting and goldfish swallowing were all fanatical behaviors. The Klan, a racist organization founded in the south after the civil war, attracted new followers, who threatened blacks, Catholics, Jews and immigrants. Meanwhile, Alfred E smith, a Catholic and governor of New York, became the Democratic presidential candidate.
1920s is a golden age for large enterprises. At that time, the United States had become a consumer society, and the markets for radios, daily necessities, synthetic textiles and plastic products were booming. In 10, Henry Ford was one of the most admirable figures. He introduced the assembly line into the automobile factory. By mass-producing Model T, a car that millions of people can afford, Ford can pay high wages and still make huge profits. For a time, Americans seemed capable of making big money.
But the apparent prosperity masks serious problems. With soaring profits and low interest rates, there is a lot of money available for investment. However, most of this money is blindly speculated in the stock market. Crazy bidding makes the price much higher than the actual value of the stock. Investors use "margin" to buy stocks, and the loan amount is as high as 90% of the purchase price. The bubble burst at 1929. The collapse of the stock market triggered a worldwide economic recession.
Great Depression
By 1932, thousands of American banks and more than 65,438+10,000 enterprises went bankrupt. Industrial production is halved, wages are reduced by 60%, and one out of every four workers is unemployed. This year, Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented the "New Deal" plan for the American people and was elected as the President of the United States.
Roosevelt inspired the country with optimism and self-confidence. In his inaugural speech, he said, "The only thing we are afraid of is this emotion." He took firm action before saying his word. Within three months (the historic "hundred days"), Roosevelt urged Congress to pass a large number of laws to help the economy recover. New institutions such as the Civil Resources Protection Team and the Civil Engineering Administration have created millions of jobs by building roads, bridges, airports, parks and public buildings. Later, the Social Insurance Law stipulated the establishment of co-financing pensions and survivors' pensions.
Roosevelt's "New Deal" plan did not end the Great Depression. Although the economic situation has improved, the overall recovery still needs to be prepared for the United States to participate in the defense before World War II.
The Second World War
1939 When the war broke out in Europe, the initial reaction of the United States was neutral. However, in 194 1 1 February, the Japanese bombed the naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and involved the United States in this war. The United States fought with Japan first, and then with its allies Germany and Italy.
American, British and Soviet strategists agreed to concentrate on defeating Germany first. 1942 British and American troops fought in landing operation in north africa, 1943 marched into Sicily and Italy,1liberated Rome on June 4, 944. Two days later ("D-Day"), the Allies landed in Normandy. Paris was liberated on August 24th, and in September, American troops crossed the German border. The Germans finally surrendered1May 5, 945.
1945 In August, US President Harry Truman ordered the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the war against Japan soon ended. Nearly 200,000 civilians died in the atomic bomb. Although this issue is still hotly debated, the argument in favor of dropping the atomic bomb is that if the allied forces are forced to invade Japan, the casualties on both sides may be even greater.
Cold War
After World War II, a new international parliament, the United Nations, came into being, and this time the United States joined this organization. Soon, the relationship between the United States and its wartime ally, the Soviet Union, became tense. Although Soviet leader Joseph Stalin promised to support free elections in all liberated European countries, the Soviet Union exercised dictatorship over eastern European countries. Germany became a divided country, with the west occupied by Britain, France and the United States and the east occupied by the Soviet Union. 1in the spring of 948, the Soviet Union imposed a blockade on West Berlin, trying to force the isolated city to yield through starvation. Western powers fought back by airlifting food and fuel on a large scale until the Soviet Union lifted the blockade in May 1949. A month ago, the United States established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) by forming alliances with Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Britain. 1On June 25th, 950, the North Korean army armed with Soviet weapons invaded South Korea with the approval of Stalin. Truman quickly won the promise of the United Nations to defend South Korea. The war lasted for three years, and the final solution was to split Korea.
The Soviet Union's control over Eastern Europe, the Korean War and the Soviet Union's development in atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs deeply frightened Americans. Some people think that America's new weakness is caused by spies. * * * and Democratic Senator joseph mccarthy declared in the early 1950s that the State Council and the American army were full of * * * capitalists. McCarthy eventually lost his reputation. However, during this period, people's careers were destroyed, and the American people almost lost the basic morality of the United States: tolerance for different political views.
From 1945 to 1970, the American economy maintained a long-term growth, during which it experienced only a few slight and brief recessions. Most Americans live a comfortable life for the first time. From 65438 to 0960, in all American families, 55% owned washing machines, 77% owned cars, 90% owned televisions, and almost all families owned refrigerators. At the same time, the United States is slowly moving towards the establishment of racial justice.
1960, John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States. Kennedy was full of vigor, energy and handsome. He promised to "make this country move forward again" after eight years in power of Eisenhower, the old general of World War II. 1962 10 10 In October, Kennedy encountered the worst crisis during the Cold War and found that the Soviets had installed nuclear missiles in Cuba. They are close at hand and can destroy American cities in a few minutes. Kennedy imposed a sea blockade on the island country. Soviet Prime Minister Khrushchev finally agreed to remove these missiles. In exchange, the United States promised not to invade Cuba.
196 1 In April, the Soviets put a man into Earth orbit for the first time, thus achieving a series of victories in the space field. President Kennedy's response was to ensure that Americans could walk on the moon before the late 1960s. This guarantee was realized in July 1969, when astronaut neil armstrong stepped out of Apollo 1 1 spacecraft and landed on the surface of the moon.
Kennedy didn't live to witness this brilliant feat. He was assassinated on 1963. Kennedy was not a popular president, but his death deeply shocked the American people. His successor, Lyndon B. Jenson, managed to get Congress to pass some new laws on social planning. Jenson's "War on Poverty" includes providing preschool education for poor children, vocational training for dropouts and social services for young people in slums.
The first six years of Jenson's administration were plagued by the Vietnam War. By1968,500,000 American troops were fighting in this small country that most of them knew little about before. Although politicians try to take this war as part of the necessary efforts to curb productism on all fronts, more and more Americans believe that what happened in Vietnam did not involve the important interests of the United States. Demonstrations against American intervention in Vietnam broke out on the university campus, and students and police clashed fiercely. The spread of anti-war sentiment triggered widespread protests against injustice and discrimination.
Jenson became increasingly unpopular, and he decided not to participate in the next presidential election. 1968, Richard Nixon was elected president of the United States. He carried out the Vietnam policy and gradually let Vietnamese replace American soldiers. 1973, he signed a peace agreement with North Vietnam, enabling American soldiers to return home. Nixon also made two other diplomatic breakthroughs: rebuilding the relationship between the United States and the people of China, and negotiating with the Soviet Union on the first-stage strategic arms limitation treaty. 1972, re-elected easily.
However, during the presidential campaign, five people were arrested for breaking into the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate office building in Washington, DC. The reporter who investigated the incident found that the invaders were employed by Nixon's re-election Committee. The White House tried to cover up its relationship with the invaders, but it only made things worse. President Nixon's personal recording finally showed this point. In the summer of 1974, he participated in the cover-up, and the situation was very clear. Congress was ready to impeach him and convict him. On August 9, Richard Nixon became the only American president to resign as president.
Decades of change
After World War II, the presidency was held by Democrats and Republicans in turn, but most of the time, Democrats were in the majority in Congress (House of Representatives and Senate). The control of Democrats for 26 years in a row was broken in 1980, when Republicans won the majority of seats in the Senate and Republican Ronald Reagan was elected president of the United States: this change marked the beginning of a period characterized by uncertainty in the American electoral model.
No matter what attitude most Americans have towards Reagan's policies, they all believe that Reagan has the ability to make America proud and optimistic about the future. If there is a central problem in Reagan's domestic policy, it is that the federal government is too big and the federal tax is too high.
From 65438 to 0983, although the federal budget deficit continued to grow, the American economy entered the longest period of sustained growth since World War II. The Reagan administration was defeated in the mid-term election of 1986. The Democratic Party regained control of the Senate. The most serious problem at that time was to expose the secret arms sales of the United States to Iran, to try to rescue the American hostages held in Lebanon, and to fund the Nicaraguan rebels, all of which were prohibited by the US Congress at that time. Despite the revelations, Reagan remained very popular during his second term as president.
From 65438 to 0988, Reagan's successor, Republican George Bush, benefited from Reagan's popularity and continued to implement many Reagan policies. 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, which is rich in oil. Bush formed a multinational alliance, 199 1 liberated Kuwait at the beginning of the year.
However, by 1992, American voters became unstable again. Voters initially elected Democrat Bill Clinton as president, but only two years later, they changed direction, giving Republicans and Republicans a majority in both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years. At the same time, several long-term arguments broke out between those who advocate a strong federal government and those who believe in decentralization, between those who advocate praying in public schools and those who defend the separation of church and state, and between those who emphasize the prompt and effective punishment of criminals and those who seek to solve the main causes of crime. Complaints about the influence of money on political activities triggered a movement to limit the term of office of elected officials. Dissatisfaction with the system led to the most powerful third party movement in decades, led by Texas businessman H Ross perrot.
During the period of 1990, the American economy performed strongly, but two phenomena puzzled many Americans. Companies are increasingly relying on a method called layoffs. That is, reducing the number of workers to reduce costs, regardless of the pain this practice brings to workers. In many industries, the gap between company executives and ordinary workers in annual subsidies has become extremely huge. Even most Americans who live comfortably are worried about the decline of living standards and the weakening of family, neighborhood and civilization. Americans may still be the most optimistic people in the world, but as the new century approaches, opinion polls show that optimism is not as good as before.