First inhabitants were Indians who came here about 15 000 years ago. During the last Ice age /glacial period the water from the oceans covered the land; water changed into snow, so water level was rapidly reduced about 150m. So in the sea invented the bridge between Alaska and Siberia. Across this bridge came the Indians from Asia to USA.
The American continent was first discovered around the year 1000 by the Icelandic Vikings sailing under Leif Ericson. They failed to establish any permanent settlements. They were very wild. The Indians were dangerous for the Vikings.
Five hundred years after the Vikings (in 1492) a great demand for spices, textiles and also a navigation error brought Christopher Columbus (an Italian mariner under Spanish monarchs) to the Caribbean Sea instead to Asia. He settled down in the New World and discovered new continent. But whole his life he meant, that he found new journey to India. Co he named the local tribes: Indians. First person, who came with the idea about new continent was Amerigo Vespuci and after him is the continent named.
The first English colony was founded in Virginia at Jamestown in 1607. In 1620 the ship named the Mayflower brought 102 English men, women and children to the north-eastern region (Massachussetts now) where they founded the colony named Plymouth. They were Puritans -members of a religious sect which wanted to reform the Church of England. They called themselves the Pilgrim Fathers and wanted to build up a colony based on their own religious ideals. The first winter was cold and about half of them died. In spring they planted corn and other plants (with help and advice from the Indians with whom they lived in peace). In October 1621 they celebrated good harvest and held a feast with much food (including a wild turkey). They called this day their day of Thanksgiving.
After 1600 British settlements were built up in the North. During the 17th century many colonists, mostly British but also French, German, Dutch and Irish, settled in the country, mainly along the eastern coast. These settlers were seeking land, wealth and religious or personal freedom. These settlements became the 13 colonies under British rule.
African slaves were first brought to Virginia in 1619. Between 1619 and 1808 about half a million Africans were brought as slaves (importing slaves became a crime only in 1808).
British government started to charge new taxes on sugar, tea, coffee, textiles to cover the costs of the war against France. The colonists refused to pay taxes and so British soldiers were sent to Boston. In 1773 a group of patriots, dressed as the Indians, threw a cargo of British tea into the Boston Harbour. This event is known as the Boston Tea Party. The Americans began boycotting British trade.
On July 4th, 1776 is sign the Declaration of independence, which was written mainly by Thomas Jefferson, and UK recognized 13 colonies as independent. The Declaration defended the American revolution against the British king George III and explained „that all men are created equal“ and have a natural right to „life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness“. The War of Independence lasted till 1783 when Britain signed the peace treaty and recognized the USA. The new Constitution was adopted in 1787.
During 1776-1898 the territory of the original states was expanded through purchase of land, treaties or war (e.g. in 1803 Jefferson made a „Louisiana Purchase“ which meant that he bought for about 15 million dollars all central part of the present States from France; wars with Mexico led to expansion in California, Arizona, Nevada etc. Alaska was bought from Russia in 1867). In 1820-1840 1mil European came to USA to find better life and get rich quick.
In this era of expansion social reforms became important, especially the abolition of slavery. Many northern states abolished slavery by the early 1880 but southern economy was based on large plantations where slaves were used to grow cotton, rice, tobacco and sugar.
About 60 years of never ending disputes led to the Civil War between the North and the South. It was the worst episode in American history. It started after Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. Southern States protested against Lincoln being the President and wanted to leave the Union. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 which granted freedom to all slaves. Finally the Union Forces (North) under generals Grant and Sherman won in April 1865. It was only shortly by after the end of the war that Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865.
The war had two main good results – slavery was abolished and it decided, once for all, that America was a single and indivisible nation. This war, however, took more American lives than any other war conflict (635,000 dead).
Industrial growth started after the Civil War. Major industries were coal mining, petroleum, railways, manufacturing of steel goods. Urbanization was the major trend, especially in the North. During this period the USA became the world’s leading industrial power.
The first American military mobilization on foreign soil was not until 1917 when the US entered the World War I against Germany and helped France and Britain. US president Woodrow Wilson helped negotiate a peace treaty, Versailles treaty, in 1918.
The „Roaring Twenties“ brought large economic growth which continued until the Great Depression started after the stock market crash in 1929 („Black Friday“). In the next decade unemployment was high and poverty widespread. The Depression lasted till the beginning of the World War II. The war was declared against Japan in 1941 when they attacked the Pearl Harbour and President Harry Truman ordered atomic bombs to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (in 1945).
The „Cold War“ period after WWII saw increasing mistrust between the US and the Soviet Union. This was the period of the „Iron Curtain“. There were several war conflicts e.g. Korean War.
The post war period was a time of economic expansion. The US continued as a world leader in scientific, medical and technological achievements. The Soviet Union was the first to send a man into space; the US had the first man to walk on the Moon (July 20th, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong). The Earth could hear his words: „That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.“
Afro-Americans demanded an end to racial discrimination in the 60´s – civil rights leader Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968. The assassination of President J. F. Kennedy in 1963 and Robert Kennedy in 1968 shocked the world. The Vietnam War in 1970 brought further internal unrest. In this war American army sent their soldiers to support democrats fighting against communists in the land. This continued till the 70′s, which were marked with political corruption – the Watergate Scandal and the resulting resignation of president Richard Nixon (he was the first US president who was forced to resign). US troops were finally withdrawn from Vietnam in 1975.
Economic issues dominated in the 80′s, which began with high unemployment, high inflation and slow economic growth. By the middle of the 90′s this recession had ended and the US continues to have one of the highest standards of living in the world.
At the beginning of the 90′s (2th August, 1990) Iraq attacked Kuwait because Iraq wanted to have the control over oil supplies in Kuwait. The UN Security Council gave an ultimatum to Iraq to leave Kuwait, but in 1991 the international military action lead by the USA started under the name „Desert Storm“. Iraq lost the war and it officially ended on 3rd March, 1991, when Iraqui leader accepted the capitulation conditions.
Then there were military actions and bomb attacks in some parts of former Yugoslavia in spring 1999 in the name of protection of human rights, where the US got involved with their modern weapons. They wanted to capture Milosevic.
The worst conflict is the war on terrorism which began after the radical Islamic terrorists’ attack on New York (the World Trade Center destruction) and the Pentagon on 11th September, 2001. Osama bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist group Al Kaida, declared the Islamic „Saint War“ on the USA. Famous is the Bush Doctrine: „Any person or government that supports, protects, or harbors (hájí) terrorists is complicit (spoluvinen) in the murder of the innocent, and will be held to account (předvolán k zúčtování).“ The US and their coalition partners took military action in Afghanistan to break the Taliban. There the US managed to crash the terrorist training camps.
The US and their coalition partners’ military actions continued in Iraq against Saddam Hussein the worldwide known dictators such as Hitler and Stalin. A danger to the world security was the possibility that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Bush’s main opponents (France, Germany, Russia and China) criticize the USA for the war. Saddam Hussein was captured in Spring 2004 and in June 2004 new Iraqui government should assume control over the country.