History of the United States

1
History of the United States
2
Pre-Colonial America

• The US was first populated by people migrating
  from Asia between 50.000 and 11.000 years ago
• These people were Native Americans and they came
  before European explorers

3
The First Europeans

• The first European contact was with the in
  the year 1.000
• Leif Ericson established a settlement in present
  day Newfoundland
• There was no European contact for the following
  500 years
• answer VIKINGS

4
European exploration

• In 1492 a navigation error brought Christopher
  Columbus to the Caribbean Sea instead to Asia
• He was sailing on behalf of the Spanish crown
• After that there was a period of exploration by
  various European countries
• Dutch, Spanish, English, French, Swedish,
  Potuguese settlements were established

5
English Colonial America

• The first English colony was founded in Virginia
  at Jamestown
• In 1620 the ship named Mayflower brought 102
  Englishmen to northeast and they founded the
  cololny called PLYMOUTH
• They called themselves the
• answer PILGRIM FATHERS

6
Pilgrim Fathers

• The Mayflower, which transported Pilgrims to the
  New World arrived in 1620

• Pilgrims wanted to reform (purify) the Church of
  England
• They wanted to build a colony on their religious
  ideals

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Thanksgiving

• The winter was cold and about half of Pilgrims
  died
• In spring they planted corn and other plants with
  the help of ..
• then they celebrated their first harvest in
  spring
• They held a feast with much food and called this
  day Thanksgiving

8
17th century

• Many colonists settled in the country
• (mostly British, French, German, Dutch and
  Irish)
• They settled down in the east
• They seeked for land, wealth, religious and
  personal freedom
• These settlements became the first 13 colonies
  under the British rule

9
Formation of the US

• The US declared its independence in 1776 and
  defeated Great Britain in the American
  Revolutionary War

• The Boston Tea Party in 1773, often seen as the
  event which started the War

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The US was declared in Philadelphia on 4the July
1776

• Washingtons success crossing of the Delaware

• The presentation of the Declaration of
  Independence

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The Declaration of Independence

• All men are created equal.
• Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
• Written by Thomas Jefferson

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The end of the War of Independence

• It lasted till 1783 when Britain signed the peace
  treaty an recognized the USA
• The new Constitution was adopted in 1788 with the
  help of G. Washington, B. Franklin and J. Madison

13
Westward Expansion (18th- 19th century)

• The US was expanded through purchase of land
  (Alaska from Russia, central parts of Am. from
  France)
• Wars with Mexico lead to expansion in California,
  Arizona, Nevada
• Social reforms were needed, especially the
  abolition of slavery

14
US territorial growth 1810-1920
15
Civil War (1861-1865)

• The North
• The South

• Blue the Union
• Brown the Confederacy

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Match these with either the North or the South

• 23 states
• Slave system
• 22 million people
• Developed system
• 9 million people
• Battle at Gettysburg
• Wanted to abolish slavery

• The Union
• General Lee
• The Confederacy
• black people
• General Grant and Sherman
• Abraham Lincoln

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Emancipation Proclamtion 1863

• Issued by Lincoln, granted freedom to all slaves

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The war had two main results

• It put an end to slavery
• Decided that America was a single and
  indivisible nation

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BUT it was the worst episode in Am. history

• It took more American lives than any other war
  conflict
• 635.000 dead

20
The end of the 19th century

• Industrial growth ( esp. in the north)
• Mining, new railways, manufacturing of steel
• A strong wave of immigration (Ellis Isl.)

21
World War I

• The US entered it in 1917 to help France and
  England

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The Roaring Twenties

• A period of prosperity which was followed by the
  stock market crash in 1929

23
Great Depression

• High unemployment
• Widespread poverty
• high inflation rate
• It lasted until the beginning of WWII

24
World War II

• In 1941 after the attack on PEARL HARBOR
• Truman ordered the atomic bomb dropped on
  Hiroshima and Nagasaki

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The Cold War

• Increasing mistrust between the US and the Soviet
  Union
• Civil rights movement
• Economic expansion
• US- leader in scientific, medical and
  technological achievements
• Neil Armstrong

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The first man to step on the Moon

• Thats one step for a man, one giant leap for
  mankind.

27
Tremendous social unrestAmerican
blacks faced racial discrimination
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Martin Luther King

• I have a dream speech
• Assassinated in 1968
• Nobel Peace Prize winner
• Demanded and end to racial discrimination
• Struggled for equality
• Baptist priest persecuted by the whites

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John F. Kennedy

• Assassinated in 1963
• His death shocked the world

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The Vietnam War

• Brought further internal unrest
• US troops were finally withdrawn from Vietnam in
  1975

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The End of the Cold War

• Ronald Reagan tells Gorbachev to tear down the
  Berlin Wall in 1987

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Communism ended in 1989
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1989-present

• The worlds superpower
• 1991 Gulf War
• September 11, 2001 Islamist terrrorist attack
• The War on Terrorism started by President BUSH

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• New York under attack