History of the United States

This article forms the top level of the

History of the United States series.

Colonial America (1493-1776)

History of the United States (1776-1861)

The coming of the Civil War

The Civil War

History of the United States (1865-1918)

History of the United States (1918-1945)

History of the United States (1945-1964)

History of the United States (1964-1980)

History of the United States (1980-present)

Military history of the United States

Table of contents

1 Pre-Colonial America
2 Colonial America (1493-1776)
3 History of the United States (1776-1861)
4 The American Civil War (1861-1865)
5 History of the United States (1865-1918)
6 Interwar America and World War II
7 History of the United States (1945-1964)
8 History of the United States (1964-1980)
9 Contemporary United States History (1980-present)
10 See also

Pre-Colonial America

See Native American article.

Native Americans arrived on the North American continent in about 8,000 BC, give or take 5,000 years, and dominated the area until the influx of European settlers began in the early 17th century.

Colonial America (1493-1776)

For details, see the main Colonial America article.

Colonial America was defined by ongoing battles with Native Americans, a severe labor shortage which birthed slavery and indentured servitude and a British policy of benign neglect which permitted the development of an American spirit and culture which was distinct from that its English founders.

History of the United States (1776-1861)

For details, see the main History of the United States (1776-1861) article.

The truly revolutionary American Revolution was fought and won, and the early years of the republic were marked by an agarian economy, a drive to test the frontier (usually to the detriment of Native Americans) and struggles between the federal government and states for jurisdictional control, particularly over the defining issue of slavery.

The American Civil War (1861-1865)

For details, see Origins of the American Civil War, Civil War and Reconstruction articles.

In 1861, tensions over slavery and states' rights came to a head, and 11 states seceded, establishing a rebel government, the Confederate States of America. In order to save the Union, northerners led by Abraham Lincoln engaged the southerners in battle. Some 650,000 Americans died in the conflict; the nation was literally ripped in two. The Union prevailed, America's slaves were emancipated and the long, slow and ultimately unsuccessful process of Reconstruction began.

History of the United States (1865-1918)

For details, see the main History of the United States (1865-1918) article.

The United States began its rise to international power in this period, driven by Manifest Destiny, a ceaseless flood of European immigrants and the development of an industrial base the likes of which the world had not yet seen.

Interwar America and World War II

For details, see the main History of the United States (1918-1945) article.

The years between the great wars were defined by the Great Depression, a flowering of uniquely American arts and great intra-national migrations--millions of African-Americans moved north, and many Easterners tested the waters of the Pacific for the first time. The era culminated in the U.S.'s participation in World War II and its eventual victory over the Axis Powers, cementing strong relationships with western European countries and setting the stage for the bipolar world of the Cold War.

History of the United States (1945-1964)

For details, see the main History of the United States (1945-1964) article.

The post-war era in the United States was defined by the ever more challenging Cold War, the arms race and the space race. Meanwhile, the American people completed their great migration from the farms into the cities, began shifting the economy from an industrial base to a service economy, and enjoyed the prosperity of triumphalist America, all while the sowing within themselves the seeds of the discontent that would flower into the social revolution of the late 1960s.

History of the United States (1964-1980)

For details, see the main History of the United States (1964-1980) article.

As the Cold War dragged on, the United States entered a very hot war in Vietnam, found itself fragmenting socially as women, minorities and young people rebelled against the status quo, and therein faced its greatest crisis since the Civil War. And then suddenly, it was all over and the country found itself in the doldrums of the 1970s, battling stagflation, Watergate and the first appearances of international terrorism.

Contemporary United States History (1980-present)

For details, see the main History of the United States (1980-present) article.

As the Soviet Union collapsed and the Eastern bloc shattered, the wealth of the United States grew to unprecedented proportions, as did its debt and international entanglements. Social change continued, albeit more slowly than in the '60s, as the baby boomers put the finishing touches on their revolution. And as the 21st century was born, the United States came to realize that its Cold War victory was anything but the end of history, as battling international terrorism, at home and abroad, became the country's newest raison d'�tre.