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- "US," "USA" and "USA" redirect here. For other uses, see Us (disambiguation) , USA (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation) .
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United States Note 2 (in English , United States ), note 3 officially United States of America ( United States of America ), 2 is asovereign country constituted republic federal constitutional composed of 50 states and a federal district. Most of the country is located in central North America , where its 48 contiguous states and Washington D. C. , the district of the capital - between the oceans Pacific and Atlantic , bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and separated from Russia to the west by the Bering Strait . The state of Hawaii is an archipelago Polynesian in the Pacific Ocean, and is the only US state that is not in America . The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific.
With 9.83 million square kilometers and with over 316 million inhabitants, the country is the fourth largest in total area, the fifthlargest in contiguous area and third in population . It is one of the nation's most ethnically diverse and multicultural world, theproduct of large - scale immigration . 11 is, on the other hand, the world in nominal terms largest national economy, with a GDP estimated at 15.7 billion dollars (a quarter of nominal global GDP ) and a fifth of global GDP in purchasing power parity . 9 in GDP PPP was overtaken by China in 2014. 12 the European Union has a larger economy, but not a single nation.
The indigenous peoples have inhabited what is now the continental United States for thousands of years. This Amerindian population was reduced by disease and warfare after the first contact with Europeans . The United States was founded by thirteen colonies British, located along the Atlantic coast . The 4 of July of 1776 , they issued the Declaration of Independence , which proclaimed their right to self - determination and the establishment of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated theBritish Empire in the War of Independence , the first successful colonial war of independence. 13 The current United States Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights , comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791.
In the nineteenth century, the United States acquired territories of France , Spain , United Kingdom , Mexico and Russia , inaddition to annex the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii . In the 1860s, disputes between the agrarian South and industrial North over states ' rights and the abolition of slavery led to the Civil War . The North 's victory prevented a permanent division of the country and led to the end of legal slavery . For the 1870s, the national economy was the world's largest 14 and theSpanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country 's status as a military power. After World War II , it emerged as the first country with nuclear weapons and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council . The end of the Cold Warand the dissolution of the Soviet Union left the United States as the sole superpower . The country accounts for two - fifths of global military spending and is an economic, political and cultural leader in the world. 15 16
Index
[ Hide ]Etymology
In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he called the lands of the Western Hemisphere "America" after the explorer and cartographer Italian Américo Vespucio . 17 The former British colonies first used the name of the modern country the Declaration of Independence , the "unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America" adopted by the "representatives of the United States of America" on July 4, 1776. 18 the current name was established on November 15, 1777, when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation , which stipulates, "the name of this Confederacy shall be" the United States of America . ' " " Columbia ", a once popular name for the United States, is derived from the name of Christopher Columbus and still remains in the name of the District of Columbia . Occasionally it is called, incorrectly, "United States", leading to a confusion in his gentile.
The standard way to refer to a citizen of the United States are the terms American (or American in Honduras and Mexico). 2 are also used gringo and Yankee , which may or may not have a pejorative tinge, depending on usage, context and tone of voice. 19 is sometimes used "American" as synonymous with "American", but it must be remembered that the region of North America consists of Canada, the United States and most of Mexico to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec . Avoid theadjective "American" to refer exclusively to the natives of the United States in February because this word encompasses all inhabitants of the American continent . For this reason, the correct name is the word "American" . To briefly write the name of this country are commonly used, correctly, the abbreviation "EE. UU. " (United States), 20 or the acronym" USA " (USA). Although common in Spanish is a mistake to use the acronym USA . 2
History
Native Americans and early European settlements
Commonly it thought that the indigenous peoples of the continental United States, including Alaska Natives, migrated from Asia between 12,000 and 40,000 years ago. 21 Some, such as the Mississippian culture , developed advanced agriculture, great architectural works and partnerships with a hierarchical order. After Europeans began to settle in America, millions of indigenous Americans died due to epidemics of brought from Europe, diseases like smallpox . 22
In 1492, the explorer Christopher Columbus , sponsored by the Spanish crown , reached several Caribbean islands , making the first contact with indigenous peoples. On April 2, 1513, the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León landed on what he called La Florida , the first documented European arrival in the United States. Spanish settlements in the region were followed by others in today 'ssouthwestern United States . The fur traders French settled in New France , the area around the Great Lakes ; France finally reclaim much of the US interior to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico . The first settlements English successful were the Virginia Colony in Jamestownin 1607 and Plymouth colony founded by pilgrims in 1620. In 1628, the establishment of the Province of Massachusetts Bay resulted in a new wave of immigration: for 1634, new England was inhabited by some 10,000 Puritans . Between the 1610s and the war of independence, about 50,000 convicts were sent from the Old Continent to the colonies. 23 Since 1614, the Dutch settled along the Hudson River bottom, founding New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island .
In 1674, the Netherlands ceded their territory to England and the province of the New Netherlands was renamed New York . Many newcomers, especially in the south, immigrants were hired as servants, so that about two - thirds of all immigrants who arrived in Virginia between 1630 and 1680 worked as servants. 24 end of the century, African slaves they became the main source of labor bonded. With the division of the Carolinas in 1729 and colonization of Georgia in 1732, they established the Thirteen Colonies British, which eventually become the United States of America. All had an elected local government, attached to republicanism , besides the legalized slave trade . With high birth rates , low death rates , and steady immigration, the colonial population grew rapidly. The revivalist Christian movement of the 1730s and 1740s, known as the "Great Awakening" fueled interest in issues such as religion and freedom of worship . In the French and Indian War , British forces wrested Canada to France , but the population of francophone remained politically isolated from the southern colonies. Not counting the (popularly known as "Indians") Native Americans were finally displaced against their will, in 1770 the thirteen colonies had a population of 2.6 million people, about a third of the UK , although almost one in five Americans was a black slave. 25 However, the American colonists had no representation in the Parliament of the United Kingdom .
Independence and expansion
Tensions between the colonists and the British during the 1760s and 1770s led to the War of Independence , which lasted from 1775 to 1781. On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress , meeting in Philadelphia , established a Continental Army under the command ofGeorge Washington . Proclaiming that "all men are created equal" and endowed with "certain unalienable rights", Congress approved theDeclaration of Independence , drafted largely by Thomas Jefferson , on July 4 , 1776. 26 Each year, on this date is celebratedIndependence day of the United States . In 1777, the Articles of Confederation established a weak government confederal , which operated until 1789.
After the British defeat by American forces, assisted by French and Spanish, the United Kingdom recognized its independence and sovereignty over the territory east of the Mississippi River . A constitutional convention was organized in 1787 by those who wished toestablish a strong national government. The United States Constitution was ratified in 1788 and a year later, George Washington became the first president . The Bill of Rights , forbidding federal restriction of human rights and guaranteed a series of measures for legal protection was adopted in 1791. 27
With the new autonomy, attitudes toward slavery were shifting; a clause in the Constitution protected the slave trade until 1808. The Northern states abolished slavery between 1780 and 1804, leaving the slave states of the South as defenders of the "peculiar institution." The "Second Great Awakening" which began around 1800, became the Evangelical churches in one of the main forces behind several of the reform movements of the period, including abolitionism . 28
The desire to expand the national territory to the west brought a long series of wars. In 1803, the purchase of Louisiana to France during the tenure of President Thomas Jefferson nearly doubled the size of the nation, 29 while the war of 1812 further strengthened thenationalism among the population. In 1819, a series of military incursions into Florida forced Spain to cede this and other areas of the Gulf Coast. 29 The Trail of Tears in the 1830s exemplified the policy of Indian Removal which stripped several indigenous peoples from their lands . United States annexed Texas Republic in 1845, a period during which the concept of Manifest Destiny was popularized. 30 In 1846, the signing of the Oregon Treaty with Britain, gave the country the current territories of the northwest . 29 Two years later, victory in thewar with Mexico resulted in the cession of California and much of the current southwest . 29 the gold rush of 1848 and 1849 further stimulated migration to the west and the new railroads facilitated the relocation settlers and increased conflicts with native Americans. For half a century, up to 40 million American bison were slaughtered for their skins and meat to facilitate the spread of the railways. The loss of the buffalo, a major food source for the Plains Indians was a mortal blow to many native cultures. 31
Civil War and industrialization
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Tensions between slave pro-states and abolitionists, together with increased disagreements in the relationship between the federal and state government, provoked violent conflicts because of the expansion of slavery into the new territories. Abraham Lincoln , candidate of the Republican Party and a great abolitionist, was elected president in 1860 . Before he took up office, seven slave states declared theirsecession from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America . The federal government declared that secession was illegal and soon came the attack by secessionists at Fort Sumter , initiating the American Civil War . 32
After the Union victory in 1865 , three amendments to the added constitution to guarantee freedom of the nearly four million African Americans who had been slaves, making them citizens and giving them the right to vote . 33 The war and its resolution led a substantial increase in the powers of the federal government. 34
After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln , there was the era known as Reconstruction , in which policies aimed at reintegrating and rebuilding the Southern states while ensuring the rights of freed slaves developed new. The disputed presidential elections 1876 were resolved by the Compromise of 1877 , by which Southern Democrats recognized as president Rutherford B. Hayes in exchange for this withdrawal the troops were still deployed in Louisiana , South Carolina and Florida . From 1876 begin to apply the so - called laws of Jim Crow , a policy of apartheidwhich lasted until 1965. 35
In the north, the urbanization unprecedented influx of immigrants and accelerated the industrialization of the country. The wave of immigration, which lasted until 1929, provided labor for business, in turn transformed culture. The high tariff protection, the creation of national infrastructures and new banking regulations encouraged industrial growth. In 1867 occurs the purchase of Alaska to Russia , completing the continental expansion of the country. 29 The Slaughter of Wounded Knee in 1890 was the last major armed conflict against Native American Indians. In 1893, the indigenous monarchy of the Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in a coup led by American citizens; the archipelago was annexed the country in 1898. 29 The victory in the Spanish-American War that same year demonstrated that the United States was a world power and led to the annexation of Puerto Rico and the Philippines . 36 Philippines gained independence in 1946 , while Puerto Rico remains a commonwealth .
World War I, Great Depression and World War II
At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the United States declared itself neutral. Later, Americans sympathized with the British and French, although many citizens, especially those from Ireland and Germany , opposed the intervention. 37 In 1917 they joined the Allies , contributing to the defeat of the Powers central . Reluctant to participate in European affairs, the Senate did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles (1919) , which established the League of Nations , a policy of unilateralism, verging on isolationism . 38 In 1920, the movement of women 's rights won the approval of a constitutional amendment to give women the vote . 27
During most of the 1920s , the country enjoyed a period of prosperity, reducing the imbalance of the balance of payments while growing profits from factory farms. This period, known as the Roaring Twenties , culminated in the 1929 crash that triggered the Great Depression. After his election as president in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt responded with the New Deal (New Deal), a series of policies that increased government intervention in the economy. 39 From 1920 to 1933 one established dry law known as La prohibition . 40 the dust Bowl (dust Bowl) in the mid- 1930s left many farmers impoverished communities and spurred a new wave of migration to the west coast. 41
United States, officially neutral during the early stages of World War II , began providing supplies to the Allies in March 1941 through the program Lend-Lease . On December 7, 1941, the country joined the Allied fight against the Axis Powers after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . World War II boosted the economy by providing capital investment and jobs, causing many women to enter the labor market. Of the major combatants, the United States was the only nation that was enriched because of the war. 42 conferences at Bretton Woods and Yalta created a new system of international organization that placed the country and the Soviet Union at the center of world affairs . In 1945, when he came End of World War II in Europe an international conference held in San Francisco drafted the United Nations Charter , which came into force after the war. 43 Having developed the first nuclear weapon , the government decided to use it in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of that year. Japan surrendered on September 2, ending the war. 44
Cold War and political protests
See also: Cold War , McCarthyism , African-American Civil Rights Movement , the Vietnam War and Watergate .
During the " Cold War ", the United States and the Soviet Union fought for power after the end of the Second World War, dominating the military affairs of Europe through NATO and the Warsaw Pact . The first promoted liberal democracy and capitalism , while the second extended thecommunism and planned economy by the government. Both supported several dictatorships and engaged in proxy wars . Between 1950 and 1953, US troops fought the Chinese Communist forces in the Korean War . 45 Since the break with the USSR and the beginning of the Cold War and until 1957, in the United States developed the McCarthyism , also called Second red fear, in which the State unleashed a wave of political repression and a campaign of fear against those communists or simply suspected of being so, that some authors point out as characteristic of atotalitarian state . Hundreds of people were arrested, including dozens of celebrities, and between 10,000 and 12,000 people lost their jobs. 46The chase ended when the courts declared unconstitutional. 47
In 1961, the Soviet launch of the first manned spacecraft prompted President John F. Kennedyproposed the country to be the first to send " a man on the Moon " made achieved in 1969. 48 Kennedy also faced a tense nuclear conflict with Soviet forces in Cuba , while the economy grew and expanded steadily. A growing movement for civil rights , represented and led by African Americans such as Rosa Parks , Martin Luther King and James Bevel , used nonviolence to confront the segregation anddiscrimination . 49 After the assassination of Kennedy in 1963, the Act Civil rights Act of 1964 and Voting rights Act of 1965 were passed during the tenure of President Lyndon B. Johnson . Johnson and his successor, Richard Nixon , took a subsidiary civil war in Southeast Asia into the unsuccessful Vietnam War . 45 A movement countercultural widespread grew, fueled by opposition to the war , the black nationalism and the sexual revolution . A new wave of movement also emerged feminists , led by Betty Friedan , Gloria Steinem and other women seeking political, social and economic equity.
In 1974, as a result of the Watergate scandal , Nixon became the first president to resign, to avoid being removed from office on charges including obstruction of justice and abuse of power; he was succeeded by Vice President Gerald Ford . 50 The administration of Jimmy Carter in the 1970s was marked by stagflation and the Iran hostage crisis . The election of Ronald Reagan as president in 1980 announced a change in policy US, reflected in significant reforms in taxes and tax expenditures . His second term brought the scandal Iran-Contra and significant diplomatic progress with the Soviet Union. The subsequent Soviet collapse ended the Cold War. 45
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