Week 11:

History of
the U.S
 The 1500s- Exploration

 The 1600s - Settlement

 The 1700s - Independence

 The 1800s - Expansion

 The 1900s – Conflicts and Reforms

 The New Millennium

 Hunters from Asia migrated to North America
11,000 years ago over a land bridge into Alaska
after the retreat of Ice Age glaciers.
 In the 1400s: Europeans wanted to find a
short sea path to Asia (called Far East) where
they traded for spices, silks, and other valuable
commodities via overland caravans.
 1492: Christopher Columbus sailed west from
Spain looking for a sea route to those lands when
he discovered America by mistake.
 He landed south of what is Florida, thinking he
had found the Far East

A new era in Western history began as

European nations set sail for the NEW
WORLD
 During 1500s: Spain moved into and settled
much to Mexico and Central and South America
=> Spanish is the predominant language.
 Spain established St. Augustine, Florida in
1565, the first permanent American settlement.
 The 1500s- Exploration

 The 1600s - Settlement

 The 1700s - Independence

 The 1800s - Expansion

 The 1900s – Conflicts and Reforms

 The New Millennium

 Early 1600s: England’s King granted charters to
merchants allowing them to establish colonies in
America.
 During 1600s and half of 1700s: small
settlements were established along the East Coast
from New Hampshire to Georgia. They banded
together to form the larger Thirteen Colonies
(later became the first 13 states).
 1607: about 100 English people founded
Jamestown in Virginia => the 1st English
settlement in America. They were called Colonists
because they established a colony for England.
 1620: New England colonies were founded by
Puritans who had been persecuted by the English
because of their opposition to Britain’s official
church (Church of England)
 Plymouth Rock is a famous rock on the shore in
Massachusetts with the date “1620” carved in it.
It is located where the Pilgrims (original settlers)
were thought to have set foot in America.
 1626: a Dutch colonist bought Manhattan Island
from Native Americans for $24 and some beads.
 1634:English Roman Catholics who were
persecuted in England settled in Maryland and
prospered with tobacco crops.
 1643: Colonists from Sweden established a small
settlement in Pennsylvania
 In South Carolina: rich landowners established
rice and tobacco plantations and brought blacks
from Africa to work them.
 Connecticut and Rhode Island became colonies
within 20 years followed by New Hampshire in
1680.
 The colonists came to America primarily for
religious and economic reasons.
 They continued to establish settlements during
the rest of the 1600s and well into the 1700s.
 While living under British rule, the colonists’
increasing desire for independence ultimately
lead to an eventual split with Britain in the
1700s.
 The 1500s- Exploration

 The 1600s - Settlement

 The 1700s - Independence

 The 1800s - Expansion

 The 1900s – Conflicts and Reforms

 The New Millennium

 Colonists grew discontented with British rule and
wanted more voice in how they were governed.
 Britain, in opposition to colonists’ wishes, taxed
Americans for products imported from England such
as tea.
 1773: colonists boarded an English ship in Boston
Harbor that was loaded with British tea. They tossed
342 crates of tea in the water in response to what
they called irresponsible “taxation without
representation” => Boston Tea Party.
 July 4th, 1776: Congress – comprised of the 13
original colonies – formally declared independence
from Britain and formed the United States of
America by adopting the written Declaration of
Independence => The 13 colonies became states.
 The Liberty Bell was rung when the Continental
Congress signed the Declaration of Independence
and is still on display in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
It was rung so long and hard that it cracked =>
remains a symbol of freedom.
 Revolutionary War: resulted when Britain invaded
America because of treasonous act of declaring
independence.
- At first, with few provisions and little training,
American troops generally fought well, but were
outnumbered and overpowered by the British.
- In 1777, American soldiers defeated the British Army at
Saratoga, New York. France had secretly been aiding the
Americans. Following the Americans’ victory, France and
America signed the treaties of alliance => France
provided the Americans with troops and warships.
 1781: Last major battle took place at Yorktown,
Virginia. A combined force of American and French
troops surrounded the British and forced their
surrender.
 War officially ended with the Treaty of Paris in
1783, by which England recognized American
independence.
 1787: The U.S. Constitution was written => became
the basic law of the new nation and bonded the
states together into one united country.
- Written by famous leaders in American history
including Washington, James Madison, and
Alexander Hamilton. (along with Benjamin Franklin,
John Adams are referred to as America’s Founding
Fathers)
 The 1500s- Exploration

 The 1600s - Settlement

 The 1700s - Independence

 The 1800s - Expansion

 The 1900s – Conflicts and Reforms

 The New Millennium

1803: Thomas Jefferson purchased from France
a vast area of land for $15 million that ranged
from the Mississippi River west to the Rockies,
and from the Gulf of Mexico up to Canada =>
known as Louisiana Purchase, double the size of
the U.S.
 1846: in continuing border with Mexico, a
treaty was finally signed that expanded America
farther west from Texas and up to Oregon.
1853: The U.S. purchased a small trip of land
from Mexico along the border.
 The large, profitable cotton plantations in the
South needed slaves to tend to the crops. By
early 1800s, there were 12 “free” (anti-slavery)
states and 12 states permitted slavery.
 Civil War: In 1861, 11 southern states withdrew
from the U.S., insisting that the federal
government had no right to control the states on
certain matters, including slavery.
-The North insisted the South had no right to
secede and that this union of states must be
preserved at all cost.
- The Civil War broke out between North and
South in 1861.
 The southern states (Confederacy) had their
own Confederate flag.

 The North (Union) continued to fly the

American flag.
 The war took more American lives than any
other war in history (800,000) and left many
parts of the South in ruins. It ended in 1865.
 Civil War was the most traumatic episode in
American history. However, it resolved two
matters that had vexed Americans since 1776.
- It put an end to slavery.
- It decided that the country was not a collection
of semi-independent states but an indivisible
whole.
 The 1500s- Exploration

 The 1600s - Settlement

 The 1700s - Independence

 The 1800s - Expansion

 The 1900s – Conflicts and Reforms

 The New Millennium

 President: Theodore Roosevelt.
 is regarded as the first president to truly use the
power of his office to govern, improve, and protect
the public interest.
 1904: Started the massive construction of the
Panama Canal between Central and South
America allowing ships to pass between the
Pacific and Atlantic Ocean.
 1904- 1905: Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize for negotiating a peace treaty to end
Russo-Japanese War.
 1914: Problems among European nations led to the
outbreak of World War I, but America remained
neutral until 1917 when unarmed ships were being
sunk by Germany. The War ended in 1918.
 The U.S was opposed to the harsh settlement
terms imposed on Germany at the Treaty of
Versailles, including harsh territorial concessions
and monetary reparations.
 The Roaring Twenties: With the booming
economy came new lifestyles, new attitudes, and
a fast paced society called The Roaring Twenties.
-People moved from farms to the city, business
thrived, and people had jobs.
- They bought newfangled items such as washing
machines, telephones, radios, and autos.
- In 1920s, women had the right to vote.
 Prohibition: Concerned that liquor leads to
increased crime, poverty, and violence, coupled
with the public outcry of the Protestant view that
liquor was evil, an amendment was made to the
Constitution in 1920 that prohibited the sale of
alcoholic beverages => this era was called
Prohibition.
 Depression Years: After the soaring, roaring 20s,
America plunged into an economic hardship in the
1930s => The Great Depression.
-Began with the stock market crash of 1929.
- Millions of people lost jobs and their buying power,
and business suffered from people not buying their
products.
- On top of the Depression, the Midwest experienced a
terrible drought and closed 700,000 farms in that vast
area.
 1932: President Franklin Roosevelt was elected
president. His New Deal promised new reforms and
new recovery steps.
- pushed public work projects that provided jobs.
- helped farmers and manufacturing firms
- tightened regulations on banks and the stock market.
- started Social Security System to provide retirement
funding for workers that remains in place today.
 World War II: started in 1939 .
 The U.S. was reluctant to enter until Hawaii was
attacked in 1941 (Pearl Harbor).
 Franklin Roosevelt died in office toward the end of
the war. Vice President Truman became president.
Truman knew that millions of Japanese would be killed
with an invasion of Japan if conventional warfare was
used to finally end the war.
 He made decision to drop two atomic bombs on Japan
that ended the war in 1945.
 When the war ended, American entered its greatest
period of economic expansion in its history.
 Human Right Era – 1955: Martin Luther King began
organizing demonstrations against racial discrimination.
Thus began civil rights movement that called for equal
rights for all minorities, not just blacks.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by

the content of their character.”

 Nixon Era – 1972: Richard Nixon became the U.S.
president.
 In 1974: Nixon became the first president to resign from
the office because of what the public and Congress viewed
as obstruction of justice.
 The situation that led to Nixon’s downfall became known
as the Watergate Scandal because of illegal break-ins in the
Watergate office building. He tried to cover up these
relatively minor, yet illegal, activities of some of his
campaign workers during the election of 1972.
 Cold War : The Cold War began soon after the end of WWII
when the Soviet Union took control of Eastern European
nations.
 During this era, relations between The U.S. and the USSR
were strained . Communism as viewed as an enemy of the U.S.
 In April 1949, The United States had allied with Belgium,
Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg,
the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United
Kingdom to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO).
 1950: Korean War with the U.S. evolvement
 1953: Korean War ended, the final settlement left
Korea divided.
 1945 – 1970: the U.S. enjoyed a long period of
economic growth.
 1960: John F. Kennedy was elected president.
 1961 Apr.: Soviet sent the 1st man into orbit around
the Earth.
 1969 July: Astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped out of
the Apollo 11 spacecraft and onto the moon’s surface.

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
 1963: Kennedy was assassinated.
 Lyndon B. Johnson managed to push through Congress a
number of new laws establishing social programs
including preschool education for poor children,
vocational training for dropouts from school, and
community service for slum youths.
1989 – 1990: Berlin Wall came down.
 Late 1991: Soviet Union dissolved into it component
republics.
 1990s: Iron Curtain lifted and Cold War came to an end.
 The 1500s- Exploration

 The 1600s - Settlement

 The 1700s - Independence

 The 1800s - Expansion

 The 1900s – Conflicts and Reforms

 The New Millennium

 September 11, 2001: The U.S. lost its innocence
when two hijacked jetliners rammed the World
Trade Towers in the worst-ever terrorist attack
against the U.S.
- A third hijacked plane flew into the Pentagon and a
fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania.
- More than 3,000 people died in the Sep 11 attack
 Afghanistan War: began when the U.S. and Britain
launched air attacks after the Taliban government
failed to hand over Saudi Arabian terrorist Osama
Bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the
terrorist attacks.
- Osama bin Laden was finally found in 2011 and
killed by U.S. troops raiding his hideout compound
across the border in Pakistan where many Americans
believe he was given shelter and protection.
 Iraq War: began in 2003 with claims that Iraq
possessed weapons of mass destruction. Some
officials also accused Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
of harboring and supporting al- Qaeda, but no
evidence of meaningful connection was ever found.
 Saddam Hussein was captured in 2003 by U.S.
troops and executed by the Iraq government in 2006
for the inhumane treatment of his people for the 24
brutal years he ruled.
Ly Thi Hoang Men – SFL, TNU