United States History

History of the United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia History of the United States The history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of In dependence in the year 1776, although its territory was inhabited by Native Amer icans since prehistoric times and then by European colonists who followed the vo yages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The largest settlements were by the English on the East Coast, starting in 1607. By the 1770s the Thirteen Colon ies contained two and half million people, were prosperous, and had developed th eir own political and legal systems. The British government's threat to American self-government led to war in 1775 and the Declaration of Independence in 1776. With major military and financial support from France, the patriots won the Ame rican Revolution. In 1789 the Constitution became the basis for the United State s federal government, with war hero George Washington as the first president. Th e young nation continued to struggle with the scope of central government and wi th European influence, creating the first political parties in the 1790s, and fi ghting a second war for independence in 1812. U.S. territory expanded westward across the continent, brushing aside Native Ame ricans and Mexico, and overcoming modernizers who wanted to deepen the economy r ather than expand the geography. Slavery of Africans was abolished in the North, but heavy world demand for cotton let it flourish in the Southern states. Throu gh shipping, manufacturing and supplies, major northern cities were closely tied to the Southern cotton economy and slavery as well. For 50 of the 72 years betw een the election of George Washington and that of Abraham Lincoln, a slaveholder served as president of the United States and, during that period, only slavehol ding presidents were re-elected to second terms.[1] The 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln, who called for no more expansion of slaver y, triggered a crisis as eleven slave states seceded to found the Confederate St ates of America in 1861. The bloody American Civil War (1861 65) redefined the nat ion and remains the central iconic event. The South was defeated and, in the Rec onstruction era, the U.S. ended slavery, extended rights to African Americans, a nd readmitted secessionist states with loyal governments. The national governmen t was much stronger, and it now had the explicit duty to protect individuals. Re construction was never completed by the US government and left the blacks in a w orld of Jim Crow political, social and economic inferiority. The entire South re mained poor while the North and West grew rapidly. Thanks to an outburst of entrepreneurship in the North and the arrival of millio ns of immigrant workers from Europe, the U.S. became the leading industrialized power by 1900. Disgust with corruption, waste, and traditional politics stimulat ed the Progressive movement, 1890s-1920s, which pushed for reform in industry an d politics and put into the Constitution women's suffrage and Prohibition of alc ohol (the latter repealed in 1933). Initially neutral in World War I, the U.S. d eclared war on Germany in 1917, and funded the Allied victory. The nation refuse d to follow President Woodrow Wilson's leadership and never joined the League of Nations. After a prosperous decade in the 1920s the Wall Street Crash of 1929 m arked the onset of the decade-long world-wide Great Depression. A political real ignment expelled the Republicans from power and installed Democrat Franklin D. R oosevelt and his elaborate and expensive New Deal programs for relief, recovery, and reform. Roosevelt's Democratic coalition, comprising ethnics in the north, labor unions, big-city machines, intellectuals, and the white South, dominated n ational politics into the 1960s. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in De cember 1941, the U.S. entered World War II alongside the Allies and helped defea t Nazi Germany in Europe and, with the detonation of newly-invented atomic bombs , Japan in Asia and the Pacific. The Soviet Union and the U.S. emerged as opposing superpowers after the war and

began the Cold War confronting indirectly in an arms race, the Space Race, and i ntervention in Europe and eastern Asia. Liberalism reflected in the civil rights movement and opposition to war in Vietnam peaked in the 1960s 70s before giving w ay to conservatism in the early 1980s. The Cold War ended when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, leaving the U.S. to prosper in the booming Information Age ec onomy that was boosted, at least in part, by information technology. Internation al conflict and economic uncertainty heightened by 2001 with the September 11 at tacks and subsequent War on Terror and the late-2000s recession. Main article: Pre-Columbian era See also: Native Americans in the United States It is not definitively known how or when the Native Americans first settled the Americas and the present-day United States. The prevailing theory proposes that people migrated from Eurasia across Beringia, a land bridge that connected Siber ia to present-day Alaska, and then spread southward throughout the Americas. Thi s migration might have begun as early as 30,000 years ago[2] and continued throu gh to about 10,000 years ago, when the land bridge became submerged by the risin g sea level caused by the ending of the last glacial period.[3] These early inha bitants, called Paleoamericans, soon diversified into many hundreds of culturall y distinct nations and tribes. The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and pr ehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influence s on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in th e Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during the Early Modern peri od. While technically referring to the era before Christopher Columbus' voyages of 1492 to 1504, in practice the term usually includes the history of American i ndigenous cultures until they were conquered or significantly influenced by Euro peans, even if this happened decades or even centuries after Columbus' initial l anding. Colonial period The Spanish conquistador Coronado explored parts of the American Southwest from 1540 to 1542. Main article: Colonial history of the United States After a period of exploration by people from various European countries, Spanish , Dutch, English, French, Swedish, and Portuguese settlements were established. In the 16th century, Europeans brought horses, cattle, and hogs to the Americas and, in turn, took back to Europe maize, potatoes, tobacco, beans, and squash. T he disease environment was very unhealthy for explorers and early settlers. The Native Americans became exposed to new diseases such as smallpox and measles and died in very large numbers, usually before large-scale European settlement bega n. Spanish, Dutch, and French colonization Spanish explorers were the first Europeans to arrive in what is now the United S tates with Christopher Columbus' second expedition, which reached Puerto Rico on November 19, 1493; others reached Florida in 1513.[4] Quickly Spanish expeditio ns reached the Appalachian Mountains, the Mississippi River, the Grand Canyon[5] and the Great Plains. In 1540, Hernando de Soto undertook an extensive explorat ion of Southeast. Also in 1540 Francisco Vázquez de Coronado explored from Arizona to central Kansas.[6] The Spanish sent some settlers, creating the first perman ent European settlement in the continental United States at St. Augustine, Flori da in 1565, but it attracted few permanent settlers. Much larger and more import ant Spanish settlements included Santa Fe, Albuquerque, San Antonio, Tucson, San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco.[7]

European territorial claims in North America, c. 1750 France Kingdom of Great Britain Spain New Netherland was the 17th century Dutch colony centered on New York City and t he Hudson River Valley, where they traded furs with the Native Americans to the north and were a barrier to Yankee expansion from New England. The Dutch were Ca lvinists who built the Reformed Church in America, but they were tolerant of oth er religions and cultures. The colony was taken over by Britain in 1664. It left an enduring legacy on American cultural and political life, including a secular broadmindedness and mercantile pragmatism in the city, a rural traditionalism i n the countryside typified by the story of Rip Van Winkle, and politicians such as Martin Van Buren, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roose velt.[8] New France was the area colonized by France from 1534 to 1763. There were few pe rmanent settlers outside Quebec, but Indian tribes often became military allies in France's wars with Britain. After 1750 the Acadians French settlers who had bee n expelled by the British from Acadia (Nova Scotia) resettled in Louisiana, where they developed a distinctive rural Cajun culture that still exists. They became American citizens in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase.[9] Other French villages along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers were absorbed when the Americans start ed arriving after 1770. British colonization Further information: British colonization of the Americas The Mayflower, which transported Pilgrims to the New World. During the first win ter at Plymouth, about half of the Pilgrims died.[10] The strip of land along the eastern seacoast was settled primarily by English co lonists in the 17th century, along with much smaller numbers of Dutch and Swedes . Colonial America was defined by a severe labor shortage that employed forms of unfree labor such as slavery and indentured servitude, and by a British policy of benign neglect (salutary neglect) that permitted the development of an Americ an spirit distinct from that of its European founders.[11] Over half of all Euro pean immigrants to Colonial America arrived as indentured servants.[12] The first successful English colony was established in 1607, on the James River at Jamestown. It languished for decades until a new wave of settlers arrived in the late 17th century and established commercial agriculture based on tobacco. B etween the late 1610s and the Revolution, the British shipped an estimated 50,00 0 convicts to their American colonies.[13] One example of conflict between Nativ e Americans and English settlers was the 1622 Powhatan uprising in Virginia, in which Native Americans had killed hundreds of English settlers. The largest conf lict between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century was King Philip's War in New England,[14] although the Yamasee War may have been bloodier .[15] New England was initially settled primarily by Puritans who established the Mass achusetts Bay Colony in 1630, although there was a small earlier settlement in 1 620 by a similar group, the Pilgrims, at Plymouth Colony. The Middle Colonies, c onsisting of the present-day states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and D elaware, were characterized by a large degree of diversity. The first attempted English settlement south of Virginia was the Province of Carolina, with Georgia Colony the last of the Thirteen Colonies established in 1733.[16] The colonies w ere characterized by religious diversity, with many Congregationalists in New En gland, German and Dutch Reformed in the Middle Colonies, Catholics in Maryland, and Scotch Irish Presbyterians on the frontier The First Great Awakening. Many r

oyal officials and merchants were Anglicans. Religion expanded greatly after the First Great Awakening, a religious revival in the 1740s led by preachers such a s Jonathan Edwards. American Evangelicals affected by the Awakening added a new emphasis on divine outpourings of the Holy Spirit and conversions that implanted within new believers an intense love for God. Revivals encapsulated those hallm arks and forwarded the newly created evangelicalism into the early republic, set ting the stage for the Second Great Awakening beginning in the late 1790s.[17] Political integration and autonomy Join, or Die: This 1756 political cartoon by Benjamin Franklin urged the colonie s to join together during the French and Indian War. The French and Indian War (1754 1763) was a watershed event in the political devel opment of the colonies. The influence of the main rivals of the British Crown in the colonies and Canada, the French and North American Indians, was significant ly reduced. Moreover, the war effort resulted in greater political integration o f the colonies, as symbolized by Benjamin Franklin's call for the colonies to "J oin or Die". Following Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America, King Georg e III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 with the goal of organizing the new North American empire and stabilizing relations with the native Indians. In ensu ing years, strains developed in the relations between the colonists and the Crow n. The British Parliament passed the Stamp Act of 1765, imposing a tax on the co lonies to help pay for troops stationed in North America following the British v ictory in the Seven Years' War. The British government felt that the colonies were the primary beneficiaries of this military presence, and should pay at least a portion of the expense. The co lonists did not share this view. Rather, with the French and Indian threat dimin ished, the primary outside influence remained that of Britain. A conflict of eco nomic interests increased with the right of the British Parliament to govern the colonies without representation being called into question. Nathaniel Currier's 1846 depiction of the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party in 1773 was a direct action by colonists in the town of Bos ton to protest against the taxes levied by the British government. Parliament re sponded the next year with the Coercive Acts, which sparked outrage and resistan ce in the Thirteen Colonies. Colonists convened the First Continental Congress t o coordinate their resistance to the Coercive Acts. The Congress called for a bo ycott of British trade, published a list of rights and grievances, and petitione d the king for redress of those grievances. The Congress also called for another meeting if their petition did not halt enfo rcement of the Coercive Acts. Their appeal to the Crown had no effect, and so th e Second Continental Congress was convened in 1775 to organize the defense of th e colonies at the onset of the American Revolutionary War. Formation of the United States of America (1776 1789) Main article: History of the United States (1776 1789) Washington's surprise crossing of the Delaware River in Dec. 1776 was a major co meback after the loss of New York City; his army defeated the British in two bat tles and recaptured New Jersey. The Thirteen Colonies began a rebellion against British rule in 1775 and proclai med their independence in 1776 as the United States of America. In the American Revolutionary War (1775 1783) the American capture of the British invasion army at

Saratoga in 1777 secured the Northeast and encouraged the French to make a mili tary alliance with the United States. France brought in Spain and the Netherland s, thus balancing the military and naval forces on each side as Britain had no a llies.[18] General George Washington (1732 1799) proved an excellent organizer and administrator, who worked successfully with Congress and the state governors, s electing and mentoring his senior officers, supporting and training his troops, and maintaining an idealistic Republican Army. His biggest challenge was logisti cs, since neither Congress nor the states had the funding to provide adequately for the equipment, munitions, clothing, paychecks, or even the food supply of th e soldiers. As a battlefield tactician Washington was often outmaneuvered by his British cou nterparts. As a strategist, however, he had a better idea of how to win the war than they did. The British sent four invasion armies. Washington's strategy forc ed the first army out of Boston in 1776, and was responsible for the surrender o f the second and third armies at Saratoga (1777) and Yorktown (1781). He limited the British control to New York and a few places while keeping Patriot control of the great majority of the population. The Loyalists, whom the British counted upon too heavily, comprised about 20% of the population but never were well org anized. As the war ended, Washington watched proudly as the final British army q uietly sailed out of New York City in November 1783, taking the Loyalist leaders hip with them. Washington astonished the world when, instead of seizing power fo r himself, he retired quietly to his farm in Virginia.[19] Political scientist S eymour Martin Lipset observes, "The United States was the first major colony suc cessfully to revolt against colonial rule. In this sense, it was the first 'new nation'."[20] Trumbull's Declaration of Independence On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, decla red the independence of "the United States of America" in the Declaration of Ind ependence. July 4 is celebrated as the nation's birthday. The new nation was fou nded on Enlightenment ideals of liberalism in what Thomas Jefferson called the u nalienable rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," and dedicated strongly to republican principles. Republicanism emphasized the people are sove reign (not hereditary kings), demanded civic duty, feared corruption, and reject ed any aristocracy.[21] In the 1780s the national government was able to settle the issue of the western territories, which were ceded by the states to Congress and became territories; with the migration of settlers to the Northwest, soon they became states. Natio nalists worried that the new nation was too fragile to withstand an internationa l war, or even internal revolts such as the Shays' Rebellion of 1786 in Massachu setts. Nationalists most of them war veterans organized in every state and convinced Congress to call the Philadelphia Convention in 1787. The delegates from every state wrote a new Constitution that created a much more powerful and efficient c entral government, one with a strong president, and powers of taxation. The new government reflected the prevailing republican ideals of guarantees of individua l liberty and of constraining the power of government through a system of separa tion of powers.[22] Although some delegates had hoped to end slavery, southern d elegates negotiated protection of the international slave trade for 20 years. In addition, three-fifths of the population of slaves was to be counted toward eac h state's total population for purposes of Congressional apportionment. As slave ry expanded in the South during the following decades, this provision increased the political power of southern representatives in Congress. To assuage the Anti-Federalists who feared a too-powerful national government, t he nation adopted the United States Bill of Rights in 1791. Comprising the first ten amendments of the Constitution, it guaranteed individual liberties such as freedom of speech and religious practice, jury trials, and stated that citizens

and states had reserved rights (which were not specified).[23] Civil religion The American Revolution was the main source of the non-denominational American c ivil religion that shaped patriotism ever since. It produced a Moses-like leader (George Washington), prophets (Thomas Jefferson, Tom Paine) and martyrs (Boston Massacre, Nathan Hale), as well as devils (Benedict Arnold), sacred places (Val ley Forge), rituals (raising the Liberty Tree), flags (the Betsey Ross flag), sa cred holidays (July 4) and a holy scripture (The Declaration of Independence, th e Constitution and the Bill of Rights).[24] Early national era (1789 1849) Main article: History of the United States (1789 1849) See also: First Party System and Second Party System Economic growth in America per capita income George Washington a renowned hero of the American Revolutionary War, commander-inchief of the Continental Army, and president of the Constitutional Convention beca me the first President of the United States under the new Constitution in 1789. The major accomplishments of the Washington Administration were creating a stron g national government that was recognized without question by all Americans, and , following the plans of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, assuming the deb ts of the states (the debt holders received federal bonds), creating the Bank of the United States to stabilize the financial system, setting up a uniform syste m of tariffs (taxes on imports) and other taxes to pay off the debt and provide a financial infrastructure. To support his programs Hamilton created a new polit ical party the first in the world based on voters the Federalist Party. Thomas Jeffe rson and James Madison led the opposition, forming an opposition Republican Part y (usually called the Democratic-Republican Party by historians). Hamilton and W ashington presented the country in 1794 with the Jay Treaty that reestablished g ood relations with Britain. The Jeffersonians vehemently protested, and the vote rs aligned behind one party or the other, thus setting up the First Party System . The treaty passed, but politics became very heated.[25] The Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, when western settlers protested against a federal tax on liquor, was the first serious test of the federal government. Washington called out the state militia and personally led an army, as the insurgents melt ed away and the power of the national government was firmly established.[26] Washington refused to serve more than two terms setting a precedent and in famous hi s farewell address, he extolled the benefits of federal government and importanc e of ethics and morality while warning against foreign alliances and the formati on of political parties.[27] During the first two decades after the Revolutionary War, there were dramatic ch anges in the status of slavery among the states and an increase in the number of freed blacks. Inspired by revolutionary ideals of the equality of men and their lesser economic reliance on it, northern states abolished slavery, although som e had gradual emancipation schemes. States of the Upper South made manumission e asier, resulting in an increase in the proportion of free blacks in the Upper So uth from less than one percent in 1792 to more than 10 percent by 1810. By that date, a total of 13.5 percent of all blacks in the United States were free.[28] After that date, with the demand for slaves on the rise with the development of the Deep South for cotton cultivation, the rate of manumissions declined sharply , and an internal slave trade became an important source of wealth for many plan ters and traders.

John Adams, a Federalist, defeated Jefferson in the 1796 election. War loomed wi th France and the Federalists used the opportunity to try to silence the Republi cans with the Alien and Sedition Acts, build up a large army with Hamilton at th e head, and prepare for a French invasion. However, the Federalists became divid ed after Adams sent a successful peace mission to France that ended the Quasi-Wa r of 1798. Territorial expansion Thomas Jefferson defeated Adams for the presidency in the 1800 election.[29] He is known for the Louisiana Purchase, in 1803, which ended the French presence fr om the western border of the United States and provided U.S. settlers with vast potential for expansion west of the Mississippi River.[30] Although the Constitu tion included a Supreme Court, its functions were vague until John Marshall, the Chief Justice (1801 35), defined them, especially the power to overturn acts of C ongress that violated the Constitution, first enunciated in 1803 in Marbury v. M adison.[31] In response to multiple grievances, the Congress declared war on Britain in 1812 . The grievances included humiliating the Americans in the Chesapeake incident o f 1807, continued British impressment of American sailors into the Royal Navy, r estrictions on trade with France, and arming hostile Indians in Ohio and the wes tern territories.[32] The War of 1812 ended in a draw after bitter fighting that lasted until January 8, 1815, during the Battle of New Orleans. The Americans g ained no territory but were cheered by a sense of victory in what they called a "second war of independence". The war was a major loss for Native American tribe s in the Northwest and Southeast who had allied themselves with Britain and were defeated on the battlefield. As strong opponents of the war, the Federalists held the Hartford Convention in 1814 that hinted at disunion. National euphoria after the victory at New Orleans ruined the prestige of the Federalists and they no longer played a significant role.[33] President Madison and most Republicans realized it had been a mistake to let the Bank of the United States close down, for its absence greatly hindere d the financing of the war. So they chartered the Second Bank of the United Stat es in 1816. The Republicans also imposed tariffs designed to protect the infant industries that had been created when Britain was blockading the U.S. With the c ollapse of the Federalists as a party, the adoption of many Federalist principle s by the Republicans, and the systematic policy of President James Monroe in his two terms (1817 25) to downplay partisanship, the nation entered an Era of Good F eelings, with far less partisanship than before (or after), and closed out the F irst Party System.[34][35] The Monroe Doctrine, expressed in 1823, proclaimed the United States' opinion th at European powers should no longer colonize or interfere in the Americas. This was a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States. The Monroe Doc trine was adopted in response to American and British fears over Russian and Fre nch expansion into the Western Hemisphere.[36] Settlers crossing the Plains of Nebraska In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which authorized the president to negotiate treaties that exchanged Native American tribal lands in the eastern states for lands west of the Mississippi River. This established Andrew Jackson , a military hero and President, as a proponent of the forcible removal of nativ e populations to the West. The act resulted most notably in the Trail of Tears, a forced migration of several native tribes to the West, with several thousand p eople dying en route.[37] Many of the Seminole Indians in Florida refused to mov e west; they fought the Army for years in the Seminole Wars.

After 1840 the growing abolitionist movement redefined itself as a crusade again st the sin of slave ownership. It mobilized support (especially among religious women in the Northeast affected by the Second Great Awakening). William Lloyd Ga rrison published the most influential of the many anti-slavery newspapers, The L iberator, while Frederick Douglass, an ex-slave, began writing for that newspape r around 1840 and started his own abolitionist newspaper North Star in 1847.[38] The great majority of anti-slavery elements rejected its moralism and held that slavery was an unfortunate social evil, not a sin. The Republic of Texas was annexed in 1845, which Mexico had warned meant war. Th e U.S. army, using regulars and large numbers of volunteers, easily won the Mexi can-American War, 1846-48. Public sentiment in the U.S. was divided as Whigs and anti-slavery elements opposed the war. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ced ed California, New Mexico, and adjacent areas to the United States, with the res idents given full citizenship. Simultaneously gold was discovered, pulling over 100,000 men to northern California in a matter of months in the California Gold Rush. Civil War era (1849 1865) Main article: History of the United States (1849 1865) The Union: blue (free), yellow (slave); The Confederacy: brown *territories in light shades The churches split on slavery, with the Methodists and Baptists dividing into no rthern and southern denominations. In the North, the Methodists, Congregationali sts and Quakers included many abolitionists, especially among women activists. T he Catholic, Episcopal and Lutheran denominations ignored the slavery issue. The issue of slavery in the new territories was seemingly settled by the Comprom ise of 1850 brokered by Whig Henry Clay and Democrat Stephen Douglas; the Compro mise included admission of California as a free state. The sore point was the Fu gitive Slave Act to make it easier for masters to reclaim runaway slaves; with a bolitionists used it to attack slavery, as in Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beech er Stowe. The Compromise of 1820 was repealed in 1854 with the Kansas-Nebraska A ct, promoted by Senator Douglas in the name of "popular sovereignty" and democra cy. It permitted settlers to decide on slavery in each territory, and allowed Do uglas to say he was neutral on the slavery issue. Antislavery forces rose in ang er and alarm, forming the new Republican Party. Pro and anti-forces rushed to Ka nsas to vote slavery up or down, resulting in a mini civil war called Bleeding K ansas. By the late 1850s the young Republican Party dominated nearly all norther n states and thus the electoral college, and insisted that slavery would never b e allowed to expand (and thus would slowly die out). The southern slave societies had become wealthy based on their cotton and other commodity production, and some particularly profited from the internal slave tra de. They were tied to northern cities such as New York City by banking, shipping , and manufacturing, as northerners supplied many goods to planters. By 1860, th ere were nearly four million slaves, held primarily in the South, nearly eight t imes as many as the total slaves nationwide in 1790; within the same time period , cotton production in the U.S. boomed from less than a thousand tons to nearly one million tons per year. For 50 of the 72 years between the election of George Washington and that of Abraham Lincoln, a slaveholder served as president of th e United States and, during that period, only slaveholding presidents were re-el ected to second terms.[1] In addition, southern states benefited by their increa sed apportionment in Congress due to the partial counting of slaves in their pop ulations. Slave rebellions occurred including by Gabriel Prosser (1800), Denmark Vesey (182

2), and Nat Turner (1831) but they all failed. They led southern states to establi sh tighter slave oversight as well as reducing rights of free blacks. At the sam e time, southerners had a growing distrust of Yankees as abolitionists. [39] The Supreme Court's 1857 decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford took the Southern posit ion of making slavery legal everywhere, which outraged northerners. Abraham Lincoln with Allan Pinkerton and Major General John Alexander McClernand at the Battle of Antietam. After Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 election, eleven Southern states seceded from the union between late 1860 and 1861, establishing a new government, the Confed erate States of America, on February 8, 1861.[40] Along with the northwestern po rtion of Virginia, which became West Virginia, four of the five northernmost "sl ave states" did not secede and became known as the Border States.[40] Civil War Further information: American Civil War The Civil War began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a U.S. m ilitary installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina.[41] In response to the at tack, on April 15, Lincoln called on the states to send detachments totaling 75, 000 troops to recapture forts, protect the capital, and "preserve the Union", wh ich in his view still existed intact despite the actions of the seceding states. The two armies had their first major clash at the First Battle of Bull Run, whi ch ended in a surprising Union defeat, but, more importantly, proved to both the Union and Confederacy that the war was going to be much longer and bloodier tha n they had originally anticipated. The war soon divided into two theaters: Eastern and Western. In the western thea ter, the Union was quite successful, with major battles, such as Perryville, pro ducing strategic Union victories and destroying major Confederate operations. Irish anger at the draft led to the New York Draft Riots of 1863, one of the wor st incidents of civil unrest in American history In the Eastern theater, things did not start well for the Union as the Confedera tes won at Manassas Junction (Bull Run), just outside Washington. Major General George B. McClellan was put in charge of the Union armies. After reorganizing th e new Army of the Potomac, McClellan failed to capture the Confederate capital o f Richmond, Virginia in his Peninsula Campaign and retreated after attacks from newly appointed Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Feeling confident in his army after defeating the Union at Second Bull Run, Lee embarked on an invasion of the north that was stopped by McClellan at the bloody Battle of Antietam. Despite this, McClellan was relieved from command for refus ing to pursue Lee's crippled army. The next commander, General Ambrose Burnside, suffered a humiliating defeat by Lee's smaller army at the Battle of Fredericks burg late in 1862, causing yet another change in commanders. Lee won again at th e Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, while losing his top aide, Stonewall J ackson. But Lee pushed too hard and ignored the Union threat in the west.[citati on needed] Lee invaded Pennsylvania in search of supplies and to cause war weari ness in the North. In perhaps the turning point of the war, Lee's army was badly beaten at the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1 3, 1863, and barely made it back to Vi rginia. Battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864 Simultaneously on July 4, 1863, Union forces under the command of General Ulysse s S. Grant gained control of the Mississippi River at the Battle of Vicksburg, t hereby splitting the Confederacy. Lincoln made General Grant commander of all Un

ion armies. The last two years of the war was bloody for both sides, with Grant launching a war of attrition against General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. This war of at trition was divided into three main campaigns. The first of these, the Overland Campaign forced Lee to retreat into the city of Petersburg where Grant launched his second major offensive, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign in which he sieged Petersburg. After a near ten-month siege, Petersburg surrendered. However, the d efense of Fort Gregg allowed Lee to move his army out of Petersburg. Grant pursu ed and launched the final, Appomattox Campaign which resulted in Lee surrenderin g his Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House.[40] Other Confederate armies followed suit and the war ended. Based on 1860 census figures, about 8% of all white males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including about 6% in the North and approximately 18% in the South,[42] establishing the American Civil War as the deadliest war in American history. I ts legacy includes ending slavery in the United States, restoring the Union, and strengthening the role of the federal government. The social, political, econom ic and racial issues of the war decisively shaped the Reconstruction era, which lasted through 1877, and brought about changes that would eventually help make t he country a united superpower. Reconstruction and a rise in power (1865 1918) Main article: History of the United States (1865 1918) Reconstruction Further information: Reconstruction era of the United States Reconstruction took place for most of the decade following the Civil War. During this era, the "Reconstruction Amendments" were passed to expand civil rights fo r black Americans. Those amendments included the Thirteenth Amendment, which out lawed slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment that guaranteed citizenship for all peop le born or naturalized within U.S. territory, and the Fifteenth Amendment that g ranted the vote for all men regardless of race. While the Civil Rights Act of 18 75 forbade discrimination in the service of public facilities, the Black Codes d enied blacks privileges readily available to whites.[43] In response to Reconstruction, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) emerged around the late 18 60s as a white-supremacist organization opposed to black civil rights. Congress passed the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1870 and vigorous enforcement closed down the Kla n and classified the KKK as a terrorist group. By 1874 other paramilitary groups , such as the White League and Red Shirts organized in numerous chapters in the Deep South, where they acted to suppress black voting and ran Republicans out of office, contributing to Democrats' regaining political power in states across t he South during the 1870s. An 1883 Supreme Court decision nullified the Civil Ri ghts Act of 1875 and ended federal efforts to stop private acts of violence desi gned to suppress legal rights.[44] During the era, many regions of the southern U.S. were military-governed and oft en corrupt; Reconstruction ended after the disputed 1876 election between Republ ican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes and Democratic candidate Samuel J. Tilden. Wi th a compromise Hayes won the election, the federal government withdrew its troo ps from the South, and Southern Democrats soon re-entered the national political scene with more power than ever given the addition of freedmen counted fully as citizens.[45] By the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, southern stat es passed new constitutions and voter registration rules that effectively disfra nchised black voters; the situation persisted until after the mid-1960s Voting R ights Act and other civil rights legislation provided for enforcement of their r ights.

Western expansion and Indian wars Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad (1869) at First Transcontinental Rai lroad, by Andrew J. Russell The latter half of the nineteenth century was marked by the United States' devel opment and settlement of the West, first by wagon trains and then aided by the c ompletion of the transcontinental railroad, and frequent Indian wars as settlers encroached on traditional Native American lands. Gradually the US purchased the ir lands and extinguished their claims, forcing most tribes onto restricted rese rvations. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census (1894), "The Indian wars under the government of the United States have been more than 4 0 in number. They have cost the lives of about 19,000 white men, women and child ren, including those killed in individual combats, and the lives of about 30,000 Indians."[46] Gilded Age and Progressivism Further information: Gilded Age and Progressive Era The "Gilded Age" was a term that Mark Twain used to describe the period of the l ate 19th century when there had been a dramatic expansion of American wealth and prosperity. Reform of the Age included the Civil Service Act, which mandated a competitive examination for applicants for government jobs. Other important legi slation included the Interstate Commerce Act, which ended railroads' discriminat ion against small shippers, and the Sherman Antitrust Act, which outlawed monopo lies in business. Twain believed that this age was corrupted by such elements as land speculators, scandalous politics, and unethical business practices.[47] By 1890 American industrial production and per capita income exceeded those of a ll other world nations. In response to heavy debts and decreasing farm prices, w heat and cotton farmers joined the Populist Party.[48] An unprecedented wave of immigration from Europe served to both provide the labor for American industry a nd create diverse communities in previously undeveloped areas. From 1880 to 1914 , peak years of immigration, more than 22 million people migrated to the United States.[49] The workers' demand for control of their workplace led to the oftenviolent rise of the labor movement in the cities and mining camps. Industrial le aders included John D. Rockefeller in oil and Andrew Carnegie in steel; both bec ame leaders of philanthropy, giving away their fortunes to create the modern sys tem of hospitals, universities, libraries and foundations. Mulberry Street, along which Manhattan's Little Italy is centered. Lower East Si de, circa 1900. Almost 97% of residents of the 10 largest American cities of 190 0 were non-Hispanic whites.[50] Dissatisfaction on the part of the growing middle class with the corruption and inefficiency of politics as usual, and the failure to deal with increasingly imp ortant urban and industrial problems, led to the dynamic Progressive Movement st arting in the 1890s. In every major city and state, and at the national level as well, and in education, medicine, and industry, the progressives called for the modernization and reform of decrepit institutions, the elimination of corruptio n in politics, and the introduction of efficiency as a criterion for change. Lea ding politicians from both parties, most notably Theodore Roosevelt, Charles Eva ns Hughes, and Robert LaFollette on the Republican side, and William Jennings Br yan on the Democratic side, took up the cause of progressive reform. Women becam e especially involved in demands for woman suffrage, prohibition, and better sch ools; their most prominent leader was Jane Addams of Chicago. Progressives imple mented anti-trust laws and regulated such industries of meat-packing, drugs, and railroads. Four new constitutional amendments the Sixteenth through Nineteenth resu lted from progressive activism, bringing the federal income tax, direct election

of Senators, prohibition, and woman suffrage.[51] The Progressive Movement last ed through the 1920s; the most active period was 1900 1918.[52] Imperialism Further information: American imperialism The United States emerged as a world economic and military power after 1890. The main episode was the Spanish American War, which began when Spain refused America n demands to reform its oppressive policies in Cuba. The "splendid little war", as one official called it, involved a series of quick American victories on land and at sea. At the Treaty of Paris peace conference the United States acquired the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Cuba became an independent country, unde r close American tutelage. Although the war itself was widely popular, the peace terms proved controversial. William Jennings Bryan led his Democratic Party in opposition to control of the Philippines, which he denounced as imperialism unbe coming to American democracy. President William McKinley defended the acquisitio n, and was riding high as the nation had returned to prosperity and felt triumph ant in the war. McKinley easily defeated Bryan in a rematch in the 1900 presiden tial election. After defeating an insurrection by Filipino nationalists, the Uni ted States engaged in a large-scale program to modernize the economy of the Phil ippines, and dramatically upgrade the public health facilities.[53] By 1908, how ever, Americans lost interest in an empire, and turned their international atten tion to the Caribbean, and especially the building of the Panama Canal. The cana l opened in 1914, and increased trade with Japan and the rest of the Far East. A key innovation was the Open Door Policy, whereby the imperial powers were given equal access to Chinese business, with no one of them allowed to take control o f China.[54] World War I Main articles: American entry into World War I and United States home front duri ng World War I American Cemetery at Romagne-sous-Montfaucon As World War I raged in Europe from 1914, President Woodrow Wilson took full con trol of foreign policy, declaring neutrality but warning Germany that resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare against American ships would mean war. German y decided to take the risk and try to win by cutting off Britain; the U.S. decla red war in April 1917.[55] American money, food and munitions arrived quickly, b ut troops had to be drafted, trained; by summer 1918 American soldiers under Gen eral John J. Pershing arrived at the rate of 10,000 a day, while Germany was una ble to replace its losses.[56] The result was Allied victory in November 1918. P resident Woodrow Wilson demanded Germany depose the Kaiser and accept his terms, the Fourteen Points. Wilson dominated the 1919 Paris Peace Conference but Germa ny was treated harshly by the Allies in the Treaty of Versailles (1919) as Wilso n put all his hopes in the new League of Nations. Wilson refused to compromise w ith Senate Republicans over the issue of Congressional power to declare war, and the Senate rejected the Treaty and the League.[57] Woman suffrage Further information: Women's suffrage in the United States Alice Paul wrote the Equal Rights Amendment, whose passage would become an impor tant goal of the Women's Liberation Movement half a century later. The women's suffrage movement began with the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, organ ized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, and the Declaration of Sentime nts demanding equal rights for women. Many of the activists became politically a ware during the abolitionist movement. The women's rights campaign during "first -wave feminism" was led by Mott, Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, among many others. T

he movement reorganized after the Civil War, gaining experienced campaigners, ma ny of whom had worked for prohibition in the Women's Christian Temperance Union. By the end of the 19th century a few western states had granted women full voti ng rights,[58] though women had made significant legal victories, gaining rights in areas such as property and child custody.[59] Around 1912 the feminist movement, which had grown sluggish, began to reawaken, putting an emphasis on its demands for equality and arguing that the corruption of American politics demanded purification by women, because men could not do th at job.[60] Protests became increasingly common as suffragette Alice Paul led pa rades through the capital and major cities. Paul split from the large National A merican Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), which favored a more moderate approa ch and supported the Democratic Party and Woodrow Wilson, led by Carrie Chapman Catt, and formed the more militant National Woman's Party. Suffragists were arre sted during their "Silent Sentinels" pickets at the White House, the first time such a tactic was used, and were taken as political prisoners.[61] Finally, the suffragettes were ordered released from prison, and Wilson urged Co ngress to pass a Constitutional amendment enfranchising women. The old anti-suff ragist argument that only men could fight a war, and therefore only men deserve the right to vote, was refuted by the enthusiastic participation of tens of thou sands of American women on the home front in World War I. Across the world, grat eful nations gave women the right to vote. Furthermore, most of the Western stat es had already given the women the right to vote in state and national elections , and the representatives from those states, including the first woman Jeannette Rankin of Montana, demonstrated that woman suffrage was a success. The main res istance came from the south, where white leaders were worried about the threat o f black women voting. Nevertheless Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment in 1 919. It became constitutional law on August 26, 1920, after ratification by the 36th required state.[62] NAWSA became the League of Women Voters and the National Woman's Party began lob bying for full equality and the Equal Rights Amendment which would pass Congress during the second wave of the women's movement in 1972. Politicians responded t o the new electorate by emphasizing issues of special interest to women, especia lly prohibition, child health, and world peace.[63][64] The main surge of women voting came in 1928, when the big-city machines realized they needed the support of women to elect Al Smith, while rural organizations mobilized women to suppor t Prohibition and vote for Republican Herbert Hoover.[65] Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and World War II (1918 1945) Main article: History of the United States (1918 1945) Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in Chicago, 1921 Following World War I, the U.S. grew steadily in stature as an economic and mili tary world power. The United States Senate did not ratify the Treaty of Versaill es imposed by its Allies on the defeated Central Powers; instead, the United Sta tes chose to pursue unilateralism, if not isolationism.[66] The aftershock of Ru ssia's October Revolution resulted in real fears of communism in the United Stat es, leading to a three-year Red Scare. In 1918 the U.S. lost 675,000 people to t he Spanish flu pandemic.[67] In 1920, the manufacture, sale, import and export of alcohol were prohibited by the Eighteenth Amendment. Prohibition encouraged illegal breweries and dealers t o make substantial amounts of money selling alcohol illegally. The Prohibition e nded in 1933, a failure. Additionally, the KKK re-formed during that decade and gathered nearly 4.5 million members by 1924, and the U.S. government passed the Immigration Act of 1924 restricting foreign immigration.[68] The 1920s were also known as the Roaring Twenties, due to the great economic prosperity during this

period.[citation needed] Jazz became popular among the younger generation, and thus was also called the Jazz Age. Great Depression Further information: Great Depression Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea pickers in California, cen tering on a mother of seven, age 32, in Nipomo, California, March 1936. During most of the 1920s, the United States enjoyed a period of unbalanced prosp erity: farm prices and wages fell, while new industries and industrial profits g rew. The boom was fueled by an inflated stock market, which later led to the Sto ck Market Crash on October 29, 1929.[69] This, along with many other economic fa ctors, triggered a worldwide depression known as the Great Depression. During th is time, the United States experienced deflation, unemployment soared from 3% in 1929 to 25% in 1933, and manufacturing output collapsed by one-third. In 1932, Democratic presidential nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt promised "a new d eal for the American people",[70] a phrase that has endured as a label for his a dministration and its many domestic achievements. The desperate economic situati on, along with the substantial Democratic victories in the 1932 elections, gave Roosevelt unusual influence over Congress in the "First Hundred Days" of his adm inistration. He used his leverage to win rapid passage of a series of measures t o create welfare programs and regulate the banking system, stock market, industr y and agriculture, along with many other government efforts to end the Great Dep ression and reform the American economy. Some programs that were a part of Roose velt's New Deal include the Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief program, the Social Security Act, the Emergency Banking Act, and the Economy Act. World War II The Japanese hoped to cripple American naval power in the Pacific with the attac k on Pearl Harbor, a naval base in Hawaii. Further information: World War II and United States home front during World War II In the Depression years the United States remained focused on domestic concerns while democracy declined across the world and many countries fell under the cont rol of dictators. Imperial Japan asserted dominance in East Asia and in the Paci fic. Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy militarized to and threatened conquests, whi le Britain and France attempted appeasement to avert another war in Europe. U.S. legislation in the Neutrality Acts sought to avoid foreign conflicts; however p olicy clashed with increasing anti-Nazi feelings following the German invasion o f Poland in September 1939 that started World War II. Roosevelt positioned the U .S. as the "Arsenal of Democracy" pledging full-scale financial and munitions su pport for the Allies but no soldiers.[71] Japan tried to neutralize America's powe r in the Pacific by attacking Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which catalyzed American support to enter the war and seek revenge.[72] The main contributions of the U.S. to the Allied war effort comprised money, ind ustrial output, food, petroleum, technological innovation, and (especially 194445), soldiers. Much of the focus in Washington was maximizing the economic outpu t of the nation. The overall result was a dramatic increase in GDP, the export o f vast quantities of supplies to the Allies and to American forces overseas, the end of unemployment, and a rise in civilian consumption even as 40% of the GDP went to the war effort. This was achieved by tens of millions of workers moving from low-productivity occupations to high efficiency jobs, improvements in produ ctivity through better technology and management, and the move into the active l abor force of students, retired people, housewives, and the unemployed, and an i ncrease in hours worked. It was exhausting; leisure activities declined sharply.

People tolerated the extra work because of patriotism, the pay, and the confide nce it was only "for the duration" and life would return to normal as soon as th e war was won. Most durable goods became unavailable, and meat, clothing, and ga soline were tightly rationed. In industrial areas housing was in short supply as people doubled up and lived in cramped quarters. Prices and wages were controll ed, and Americans saved a high portion of their incomes, which led to renewed gr owth after the war instead of a return to depression.[73][74] American corpses sprawled on the beach of Tarawa, November 1943. The Allies--the U.S., Britain and the Soviet Union, as well as China, Canada and other countries fought the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The Allies s aw Germany as the main threat, and gave highest priority to Europe. The U.S. dom inated the war against Japan, and stopped Japanese expansion in the Pacific in 1 942. After losing to the Japanese Pearl Harbor and in the Philippines, and drawi ng the Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942), the American Navy inflicted a decisiv e blow at Midway (June 1942). American ground forces assisted in the North Afric an Campaign that eventually concluded with the collapse of Mussolini's fascist g overnment in 1943, as Italy switched to the Allied side. A more significant Euro pean front was opened on D-Day, June 6, 1944, in which American and Allied force s invaded Nazi-occupied France from Britain. Into the Jaws of Death: The Normandy landings began the Allied march toward Germ any from the west. On the home front, mobilization of the U.S. economy was managed by Roosevelt's W ar Production Board. The wartime production boom led to full employment, wiping out this vestige of the Great Depression. Indeed, labor shortages encouraged ind ustry to look for new sources of workers, finding new roles for women and blacks .[75] However the fervor also inspired anti-Japanese sentiment, which responded by rem oving everyone of Japanese descent from the West Coast war zone.[76] Research an d development took flight as well, best seen in the Manhattan Project, a secret effort to harness nuclear fission to produce highly destructive atomic bombs.[77 ] The Allied pushed the Germans out of France, but faced an unexpected counteratta ck at the Battle of the Bulge in December. The final German effort failed, and a s 1945 opened Allied armies in East and West were converging on Berlin, as the N azis hurriedly tried to kill the last remaining Jews. The western front stopped short, leaving Berlin to the Soviets as the Nazi regime formally capitulated in May 1945, ending the war in Europe.[78] Over in the Pacific, the U.S. implemente d an island hopping strategy toward Tokyo, establishing airfields for bombing ru ns against mainland Japan from the Mariana Islands and achieving hard-fought vic tories at Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945.[79] Bloodied at Okinawa, the U.S. prepar ed to invade Japan's home islands when B-29's dropped two atomic bombs on Japane se cities, forcing the empire's surrender in a matter of days and thus ending Wo rld War II.[80] The U.S. occupied Japan (and part of Germany), sending Douglas M acArthur to restructure the Japanese economy and political system along American lines.[81] Though the nation lost more than 400,000 soldiers,[82] the mainland prospered un touched by the devastation of war that inflicted a heavy toll on Europe and Asia . Participation in postwar foreign affairs marked the end of predominant American isolationism. The awesome threat of nuclear weapons inspired both optimism and f ear. Nuclear weapons were never used after 1945, as both sides drew back from th e brink and a "long peace" characterized the Cold War years, 1947 1991. There were

, however, regional wars in Korea and Vietnam.[83] The Cold War begins (1945 1964) Main article: History of the United States (1945 1964) President Kennedy's Civil Rights Address, June 11, 1963. Following World War II, the United States emerged as one of the two dominant sup erpowers. The U.S. Senate on a bipartisan vote approved U.S. participation in th e United Nations (UN), which marked a turn away from the traditional isolationis m of the U.S. and toward increased international involvement. The primary American goal of 1945 48 was to rescue Europe from the devastation of World War II and to contain the expansion of Communism, represented by the Sovie t Union. The Truman Doctrine of 1947 provided military and economic aid to Greec e and Turkey to counteract the threat of Communist expansion in the Balkans. In 1948, the United States replaced piecemeal financial aid programs with a compreh ensive Marshall Plan, which pumped money into the economy of Western Europe, and removed trade barriers, while modernizing the managerial practices of businesse s and governments. The Plan's $13 billion budget was in the context of a U.S. GD P of $258 billion in 1948, and was on top of $12 billion in American aid to Euro pe between the end of the war and the start of the Marshall Plan. Soviet head of state Joseph Stalin prevented his satellites from participating, and from that point on Eastern Europe, with inefficient centralized economies, fell further an d further behind Western Europe in terms of economic development and prosperity. In 1949, the United States, rejecting the long-standing policy of no military a lliances in peacetime, formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alli ance, which continues into the 21st century. In response the Soviets formed the Warsaw Pact of communist states.[84] In August 1949 the Soviets tested their first nuclear weapon, thereby escalating the risk of warfare. Indeed, the threat of mutually assured destruction prevent ed both powers from going too far, and resulted in proxy wars, especially in Kor ea and Vietnam, in which the two sides did not directly confront each other.[83] Within the United States, the Cold War prompted concerns about Communist influe nce. The unexpected leapfrogging of American technology by the Soviets in 1957 w ith Sputnik, the first Earth satellite, began the Space Race, won by the America ns as Apollo 11 landed astronauts on the moon in 1969. The angst about the weakn esses of American education led to large-scale federal support for science educa tion and research.[85] In the decades after World War II, the United States became a global influence i n economic, political, military, cultural, and technological affairs. Beginning in the 1950s, middle-class culture became obsessed with consumer goods. White Am ericans made up nearly 90% of the population in 1950.[86] In 1960, the charismatic politician John F. Kennedy was elected as the first and t hus far only Roman Catholic President of the United States. The Kennedy family bro ught a new life and vigor to the atmosphere of the White House. His time in offi ce was marked by such notable events as the acceleration of the United States' r ole in the Space Race; escalation of the American role in the Vietnam War; the C uban missile crisis; the Bay of Pigs Invasion; the jailing of Martin Luther King , Jr. during the Birmingham campaign; and the appointment of his brother Robert F. Kennedy to his Cabinet as Attorney General. Kennedy was assassinated in Dalla s, Texas, on November 22, 1963, leaving the nation in profound shock.[87] Climax of liberalism The climax of liberalism came in the mid-1960s with the success of President Lyn don B. Johnson (1963 69) in securing congressional passage of his Great Society pr ograms, including civil rights, the end of segregation, Medicare, extension of w

elfare, federal aid to education at all levels, subsidies for the arts and human ities, environmental activism, and a series of programs designed to wipe out pov erty.[88][89] As recent historians have explained: "Gradually, liberal intellectuals crafted a new vision for achieving economic an d social justice. The liberalism of the early 1960s contained no hint of radical ism, little disposition to revive new deal era crusades against concentrated eco nomic power, and no intention to fast and class passions or redistribute wealth or restructure existing institutions. Internationally it was strongly anti-Commu nist. It aimed to defend the free world, to encourage economic growth at home, a nd to ensure that the resulting plenty was fairly distributed. Their agenda-much influenced by Keynesian economic theory-envisioned massive public expenditure t hat would speed economic growth, thus providing the public resources to fund lar ger welfare, housing, health, and educational programs."[90] Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., 22 June 1963, Washington, D.C. Johnson was rewarded with an electoral landslide in 1964 against conservative Ba rry Goldwater, which broke the decades-long control of Congress by the Conservat ive coalition. But the Republicans bounced back in 1966 and elected Richard Nixo n in 1968. Nixon largely continued the New Deal and Great Society programs he in herited; conservative reaction would come with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. Meanwhile, the American people completed a great migration from farms into the c ities and experienced a period of sustained economic expansion. At the same time , institutionalized racism across the United States, but especially in the South , was increasingly challenged by the growing Civil Rights movement. The activism of African American leaders Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. led to the M ontgomery Bus Boycott, which launched the movement. For years African Americans would struggle with violence against them, but would achieve great steps towards equality with Supreme Court decisions, including Brown v. Board of Education an d Loving v. Virginia, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 196 5, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which ended the Jim Crow laws that legalize d racial segregation between Whites and Blacks. Martin Luther King, Jr., who had won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to ac hieve equality of the races, was assassinated in 1968. Following his death other s led the movement, most notably King's widow, Coretta Scott King, who was also active, like her husband, in the Opposition to the Vietnam War, and in the Women 's Liberation Movement. Over the first nine months of 1967, 128 American cities suffered 164 riots.[91] The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the strengthening of Black Power, however the decade would ultimately bring about positive strides to ward integration. The Women's Movement Further information: Second-wave feminism Gloria Steinem at a meeting of the Women's Action Alliance, 1972. A new consciousness of the inequality of American women began sweeping the natio n, starting with the 1963 publication of Betty Friedan's best-seller, The Femini ne Mystique, which explained how many housewives felt trapped and unfulfilled, a ssaulted American culture for its creation of the notion that women could only f ind fulfillment through their roles as wives, mothers, and keepers of the home, and argued that women were just as able as men to do every type of job. In 1966 Friedan and others established the National Organization for Women, or NOW, to a ct for women as the NAACP did for African Americans.[59][92] Protests began, and the new Women's Liberation Movement grew in size and power, gained much media attention, and, by 1968, had replaced the Civil Rights Movemen

t as the U.S.'s main social revolution. Marches, parades, rallies, boycotts, and pickets brought out thousands, sometimes millions; Friedan's Women's Strike for Equality (1970) was a nation-wide success. The Movement was split into factions by political ideology early on, however (with NOW on the left, the Women's Equi ty Action League (WEAL) on the right, the National Women's Political Caucus (NWP C) in the center, and more radical groups formed by younger women on the far lef t). Along with Friedan, Gloria Steinem was an important feminist leader, co-founding the NWPC, the Women's Action Alliance, and editing the Movement's magazine, Ms. The proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, passed by Congress in 1972 and favored by about seventy percent of the American public, failed to be r atified in 1982, with only three more states needed to make it law. The nation's conservative women, led by activist Phyllis Schlafly, defeated the ERA by argui ng that it degraded the position of the housewife, and made young women suscepti ble to the military draft.[93][94] However, many federal laws (i.e. those equalizing pay, employment, education, em ployment opportunities, credit, ending pregnancy discrimination, and requiring N ASA, the Military Academies, and other organizations to admit women), state laws (i.e. those ending spousal abuse and marital rape), Supreme Court rulings (i.e. ruling the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applied to women ), and state ERAs established women's equal status under the law, and social cus tom and consciousness began to change, accepting women's equality. The controver sial issue of abortion, deemed by the Supreme Court as a fundamental right in Ro e v. Wade (1973), is still a point of debate today.[95] The Counterculture Revolution and Cold War Détente (1964 1980) Main article: History of the United States (1964 1980) Amid the Cold War, the United States entered the Vietnam War, whose growing unpo pularity fed already existing social movements, including those among women, min orities and young people. President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society social pro grams and numerous rulings by the Warren Court added to the wide range of social reform during the 1960s and 1970s. Feminism and the environmental movement beca me political forces, and progress continued toward civil rights for all American s. The Counterculture Revolution swept through the nation and much of the wester n world in the late sixties and early seventies, dividing the already hostile en vironment but also bringing forth more liberated social views. United States Navy F-4 Phantom II shadows a Soviet Tu-95 Bear D aircraft in the early 1970s Johnson was succeeded in 1969 by Republican Richard Nixon, who turned the war ov er to the South Vietnamese forces and ended American combat roles; he negotiated a peace treaty in 1973, secured the release of POWs and ended the draft. The wa r had cost the lives of 58,000 American troops. Nixon manipulated the fierce dis trust between the Soviet Union and China to the advantage of the United States, achieving détente (cooperation) with both parties. The Watergate scandal, involvin g Nixon's cover-up of his operatives break-in into the Democratic National Commi ttee headquarters at the Watergate office complex destroyed his political base, sent many aides to prison, and forced Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974. He was succeeded by Vice President Gerald Ford, who was subsequently helpless to pr event the conquest of South Vietnam when North Vietnam invaded in 1975.[96] The OPEC oil embargo marked a long-term economic transition, as for the first ti me energy prices skyrocketed and American factories faced serious competition fr om foreign automobiles, clothing, electronics and consumer goods. By the late 19 70s the economy suffered an energy crisis, slow economic growth, high unemployme nt, and very high inflation coupled with high interest rates (the term stagflati

on was coined). While economists agreed on the wisdom of deregulation, many of t he New Deal era regulations were ended, as in transportation, banking and teleco mmunications.[97] Jimmy Carter, running as someone who was not a part of the Washington political establishment, was elected president in 1976.[98] On the world stage, Carter bro kered the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt. In 1979, Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 66 Americans hostage, resulting in the Iran hostage crisis. With the hostage crisis and continuing stagflation, Car ter lost the 1980 election to the Republican Ronald Reagan.[99] On January 20, 1 981, minutes after Carter's term in office ended, the remaining U.S. captives he ld at the U.S. embassy in Iran were released, ending the 444-day hostage crisis. [100] The end of the Cold War (1980 1991) Main article: History of the United States (1980 1991) Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate challenges Gorbachev to tear down the Berl in Wall in 1987, shortly before the end of the Cold War Ronald Reagan produced a major realignment with his 1980 and 1984 landslide elec tions. Reagan's economic policies (dubbed "Reaganomics") and the implementation of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 lowered income taxes from 70% to 28% ov er the course of seven years.[citation needed] Reagan continued to downsize gove rnment taxation and regulation.[101] The U.S. experienced a recession in 1982 bu t the negative indicators reversed, as the inflation rate decreased from 11% to 2%, the unemployment rate decreased from 10.8% in December 1982 to 7.5% in Novem ber 1984,[102] and the economic growth rate increased from 4.5% to 7.2%.[103] Reagan ordered a massive buildup of the U.S. military, incurring a costly budget deficit. Reagan introduced a complicated missile defense system known as the St rategic Defense Initiative (dubbed "Star Wars" by opponents) in which, theoretic ally, the U.S. could shoot down missiles with laser systems in space. Though it was never fully developed or deployed,[104] the Soviets were genuinely concerned about the possible effects of the program[105] and the research and technologie s of SDI paved the way for the anti-ballistic missile systems of today.[106] The Reagan administration also provided covert funding and assistance to anti-Co mmunist resistance movements worldwide. Reagan's interventions against Grenada a nd Libya were popular in the U.S., though his backing of the Contra rebels was m ired in controversy.[107] The arms-for-hostages scandal led to the convictions o f such figures as Oliver North and John Poindexter.[108] Reagan met four times with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who ascended to powe r in 1985, and their summit conferences led to the signing of the Intermediate-R ange Nuclear Forces Treaty. Gorbachev tried to save Communism in the Soviet Unio n first by ending the expensive arms race with America,[109] then by shedding th e East European empire in 1989. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, ending the U .S. Soviet Cold War. World superpower (1991 present) Main article: History of the United States (1991 present) The NASDAQ Composite index swelled with the dot-com bubble in the optimistic "Ne w Economy". The bubble burst in 2000. The United States emerged as the world's sole remaining superpower and continued to intervene in international affairs during the 1990s, including the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq. Following his election in 1992, President Bill Clinton oversa w one of the longest periods of economic expansion and unprecedented gains in se

curities values, a side effect of the digital revolution and new business opport unities created by the Internet. He also worked with the Republican Congress to pass the first balanced federal budget in 30 years. In 1998, Clinton was impeach ed by the House of Representatives on charges of "high crimes and misdemeanors" for lying about a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, b ut was later acquitted by the Senate. The failure of impeachment and the Democra tic gains in the 1998 election forced House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican, to resign from Congress.[110] The presidential election in 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore was one of the closest in U.S. history, and helped lay the seeds for political polarization to come. The vote in the decisive state of Florida was extremely close and prod uced a dramatic dispute over the counting of votes. The U.S. Supreme Court in Bu sh v. Gore ended the recount with a 5 4 vote. That meant Bush, then in the lead, c arried Florida and the election.[111] 9/11 and the War on Terror The September 11 attacks led to the War on Terror. Once again the United States was attacked by terrorism with the September 11, 20 01 attacks (9/11) in which al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four transcontinental ai rliners and intentionally crashed two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon killing 3,000 people.[112] President Geor ge W. Bush announced a "War on Terror" in response. The United States and NATO l aunched an invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime that had harb ored al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden. The federal government established new domestic efforts to prevent future attacks. The controversial USA PATRIOT A ct increased government's power to monitor communications and removed legal rest rictions on information sharing between federal law enforcement and intelligence services. A cabinet-level agency called the Department of Homeland Security was created to lead and coordinate federal counter-terrorism activities.[113] Some of these anti-terrorism efforts, particularly the U.S. government's handling of detainees at the prison at Guantanamo Bay, led to allegations toward the U.S. go vernment of human rights violations.[114] In 2003, the United States launched an invasion of Iraq, which led to the collap se of the Iraqi government and the eventual capture of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hus sein, with whom the U.S. had long-standing tense relations. The reasons for the invasion cited by the Bush administration included the spreading of democracy, t he elimination of weapons of mass destruction[115] (a key demand of the UN as we ll, though later investigations found parts of the intelligence reports to be in accurate)[116] and the liberation of the Iraqi people. Despite some initial succ esses early in the invasion, the continued Iraq War fueled international protest s and gradually saw domestic support decline as many people began to question wh ether or not the invasion was worth the cost.[117][118] In 2007, after years of violence by the Iraqi insurgency, President Bush deployed more troops in a strat egy dubbed "the surge". While the death toll decreased, the political stability of Iraq remained in doubt.[119] In 2008, the unpopularity of President Bush and the Iraq war, along with the 200 8 financial crisis, led to the election of Barack Obama, the first African Ameri can President of the United States. After he took office, Obama began to decreas e troop levels in Iraq, and officially ended combat operations in the country on August 31, 2010. He kept 50,000 in Iraq to assist Iraqi forces, help protect wi thdrawing forces, and work on counter-terrorism until December 2011, when the wa r was declared formally over and the last troops left the country.[120][121][122 ] At the same time, Obama increased American involvement in Afghanistan, startin g a surge strategy using an additional 30,000 troops, while proposing to begin w ithdrawing troops in July 2011.[123] In May 2011, after nearly a decade in hidin

g, Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by U.S. armed forces acting under Pres ident Obama's direct orders.[124] Recent events Lehman Brothers (headquarters pictured) filed for bankruptcy in September 2008 a t the height of the U.S. financial crisis. In December 2007, the United States, and most of Europe, entered the longest pos t World War II recession,[125] which included a housing market crisis, a subprime mortgage crisis, soaring oil prices,[126] an automotive industry crisis, rising unemployment, and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.[127][12 8][129] The financial crisis hit a critical point in September 2008 when Lehman Brothers and other important financial institutions failed.[130] Starting the fo llowing month the federal government lent $245 billion to financial institutions through the Troubled Asset Relief Program [131] which was signed into law under the Bush administration.[132] Shortly after taking office, President Obama sign ed into law a $787 billion economic stimulus package aimed at helping the econom y recover from the deepening recession. In addition to the economic stimulus, th e government took steps to rescue the auto industry and prevent future economic meltdowns. These included a bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, putting owne rship temporarily in the hands of the government, and the "cash for clunkers" pr ogram which temporarily boosted new car sales.[133] Congress enacted the Dodd Fran k Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a bill that makes sweeping cha nges to the financial regulatory system.[134] In June 2009, the recession offici ally ended and the U.S. economy began to expand once again.[135] The unemploymen t rate peaked at 10.1% in October, followed by a slow economic recovery.[136] The beginning of the 2010s saw the rise of various social and political movement s across the world, such as the conservative Tea Party movement in the U.S., the international populist Occupy movement and the pro-democratic Arab Spring movem ent in the Middle East. The 111th Congress saw the passage of major legislation such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Stre et Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act, which were signed into law by President Obama. Some of these bills were controve rsial and ran into heated Republican opposition in Congress. In the 2010 midterm elections, the Republicans regained control of the House and installed John Boe hner as Speaker, and they also made some gains in the Senate. [137][138][139] Th e new divided Congress presided over a period of elevated gridlock and heated de bates over whether or not raise the debt ceiling and whether or not to extend ta x cuts for citizens making less than $250,000 annually.[140] As a result of grow ing public frustration with both parties in Congress, their approval rating fell to an all time low of 11%.[141] As e, is 2] of January 2012, debates continue over the economy, the 8.5% unemployment rat economic inequality, deficit spending, health care reform, the financial cris in state government, the role of corporate spending in election campaigns,[14 and U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.