| Christopher Columbus, sailing westward across the Atlantic
in 1492, found land that became known as the New World. The early colonists
were mainly English, Dutch, French, and Spanish; the British were the first
to settle North America in large numbers.
Over the years many colonists came to feel more and more independent of
their mother country. Finally, fighting between the colonists and the
British broke out, and on July 4, 1776 the Americans declared their
independence. The American Revolution lasted more than six years, with
fighting in every colony. In 1787 a Constitutional Convention met in
Independence Hall, Philadelphia, to shape a new government. The U.S.
Constitution is the oldest written constitution in force in any nation.
Over the next 100 years the settlers moved westward to establish
settlements and carve out states hundreds of miles away from the centers of
authority in the East. The industrial revolution combined with a flood of
immigrants to change the face of the nation. The immigrants, who came in
millions from many lands, worked in the factories of the North, built
railroads across the continent, and dug canals and waterways. America's
energy turned to developing its vast natural resources. It was not until
World War I, however, that the United States started to exert influence on
world affairs outside the Americas.
The United States emerged from World War II as an industrial giant among
the war-shattered nations. In the immediate postwar years, U.S. Marshall
Plan aid helped rebuild Western Europe. A multitude of U.S. aid programs
assisted developing nations. The United States was a founding member of the
United Nations and its agencies and NATO. |
