United States

The history of the United States begins millennia ago with the indigenous peoples who migrated into the North American continent and settled throughout, creating culturally and linguistically distinct societies. The majority of these were founded on hunter-gatherer subsistence, but some also practiced agriculture and engaged in activities such as metallurgy, nautical navigation, and long-distance trade. By the time that the first European explorers reached the continent, these societies had been living in harmony with their surroundings for roughly 10,000 years. In contrast, Europeans such as the Icelanders under Leifr Eiriksson who sailed to modern-day Newfoundland c. 1000 CE failed to adapt to the local climate and thus left or disappeared. By the 15th century, Europe was undergoing a process of social and economic revolutions marked by, among other things, massive population booms and vibrant trade economies. An allure for luxury resources brought on by the taste that they had through trade partners in the Middle East spurred a desire to explore and establish settlements so as to have direct access to these resources. After Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the Caribbean islands while seeking an alternative western route to East Asia, European settlers began to flock to the so-called “New World” seeking land, wealth, and religious freedom, among other things. While a select few instances of peaceful coexistence did transpire, their interactions with the local indigenous populations were on the whole fraught with discord and friction. European settlers often treated the natives callously and seized land by force, a theme that would continue throughout the majority of the continent’s history. Exposure to new and devastating diseases wiped out entire native populations and the shifting balance of power spelled the end of the lives of the indigenous peoples as they knew it. Some integrated with the expanding European settlements, but most were driven away from their ancestral homelands or died off, not least due to certain European settlers’ nefarious practice of using manipulative diplomacy to spark conflict between nearby tribes before capitalizing on the weakened remnants. By the 18th century, the main European powers in North America were the British, the French, and the Spanish. The Seven Years’ War (1754-1763) resulted in the British establishing dominance over the eastern seaboard, whose disgruntled inhabitants became restless under the yoke of foreign domination, exorbitant taxes, and intrusive legal measures. In the early 1770s, this tension erupted into the American Revolution when, after some minor skirmishes, the Continental Congress convened in the city of Philadelphia and signed and then ratified the Declaration of Independence -- a document composed primarily by Thomas Jefferson -- on July 4, 1776. Under the steadfast leadership of George Washington -- who would later be elected the nation’s first president -- and the intervention of France, whose Marquis de La Fayette was instrumental in improving the discipline of the American armed forces, the revolution succeeded and the Americans set about establishing a democratic system of government. In 1803, the nation’s territory vastly expanded when it acquired the so-called Louisiana Purchase from France, but could not immediately focus on settling it; war with Britain broke out once more in 1812 and, while largely a stalemate, lasted until 1814-1815. At this time, several former European imperial possessions in Central and South America were likewise attaining their independence, and the United States moved to assist these new states by threatening military involvement should their former rulers attempt to retake them. Throughout the first half of the 19th century, American settlers thrust into the central and western regions of the continent, often showing blatant disregard for the native populations inhabiting those regions, who were wiped out, evicted, or forced onto reservations. Pioneering homesteads gradually evolved into forts and towns thriving on agricultural prosperity, trade, and rich natural resources. However, the nation was rife with division between its northern and southern halves. Policy in nearly all spheres of life diverged: the northern regions were more urban and industrial, while the southern regions were dominated by agriculturalism, particularly the growth of cotton, which was central to the developing textile economy in the Western Hemisphere. The most frictious issue, however, was that of slavery. Since the initial European arrival in the Americas a few centuries prior, Europeans had capitalized on the trading of African slaves, which they brought to their settlements in the Americas and put to backbreaking labor under abhorrent conditions. Over time, the northern regions of the United States had phased out slavery and in several states it was completely abolished, but the southern states clung to it dearly; slave labor drove the cotton plantations and allowed the continued influx of wealth that enabled decadent southern magnates to live ostentatious and extravagant lifestyles. The tragic legacy of slavery still lives on in the United States to this day. In 1861, shortly after Abraham Lincoln was elected president, the southern states announced a secession movement, formed their own government as the Confederate States of America, and opened hostilities by attacking Union (northern) military possessions. The resulting conflict lasted until 1865 and was the bloodiest in American history, claiming around 700,000 lives and destroying much of the infrastructure in the American South. Sordid battles on both land and sea showcased the dreadful power of a fully-industrialized war machine -- a grim foreshadowing of the events to come during the 20th century. The Union was victorious and the practice of slavery was forcibly abolished, but the damage was long-lasting and healed slowly. While free, African-Americans struggled to improve their livelihoods in a system where the odds remained stacked against them, an issue compounded by the rampant xenophobia directed towards foreign immigrants who entered the United States in droves during the 19th and 20th centuries. As the reunited American nation approached the turn of the 20th century, it entered a globalized world as one of the most powerful economic entities in existence. Massive population booms, urbanization, and the advent of new technology allowed unprecedented levels of growth and the harnessing of new natural resources on a grander scale. While many other nation-states adapted slowly, the United States sprung forward into a position of great prominence and, as the 20th century wore on, grew into a dominant power on the global stage.

From the game's History encyclopedia.