Michael Hurley - United States of America

Humans have lived in the land that is now the United States for more than 12,000years. Over time these people settled all over what is now North America. These people,who later became known as American Indians, or Native Americans, lived here for thousandsof years before other settlers arrived on the continent .

Daily life

American Indians made tools and hunted for food. Coastal people lived on a diet ofmainly fish, while inland tribes hunted animals such as bison (buffalo) for meat.Different tribes developed their own religions and cultures.

From the 1400s, explorers, including Christopher Columbus, set off from Europe. Theyexplored new lands in the Caribbean and the coasts of Central and South America.In 1497 John Cabot, an Italian navigator sailing on a British ship, became the firstEuropean to visit the northeast coast of North America since the Vikings in 1000CE.

The first permanent British settlement in North America was Jamestown, which wasfounded in 1607 in present-day Virginia. Between 1620 and 1630 more colonists arrivedon the northeastern coast. The British people who migrated here were known as Puritans.They wanted to come to this new land because they thought that they would be freeto practice their religion in their own way.

The early colonists faced many hardships and dangers. Food was often scarce and diseasewas common. They also came into conflict with American Indian people. The AmericanIndians helped and supported the colonistsuntil their lands and way of life becamethreatened. Eventually, the colonists managed to establish farms and plantations.

This is an artist's impression of an early British settlement on the east coast ofNorth America.

The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776.

The new settlers built up thriving settlements, and they began to resent the restrictionsimposed on their freedom by the British. On April 19, 1775, the Revolutionary Warbegan between the Americans and the British. In 1783 the Americans finally defeatedthe British.

In 1803 the United States bought land from the French in the Louisiana Purchase.For about $15 million, the United States acquired land that went from New Orleansin the south to Montana in the north. This encouraged more American citizens to movewestward.

War broke out between the United States and Mexico in 1846 over land ownership andboundaries. U.S. forces invaded Mexico and eventually gained lands that includedpresent-day New Mexico and California. The United States now controlled land fromthe east coast to the west coast.

From the 1500s, many Africans were taken from their homes and forced to work in thegrowing European settlements in North America. By the 1800s, slavery was a part oflife in the United States, and it became a major factor in the most devastating warin U.S. history.

The Civil War ripped the nation in half. The southern Confederate states fought toprotect slavery and break away from the northern states. The northern Union stateswanted to preserve the union and end slavery. This terrible war divided the country,and families and friends fought on opposite sides. More than 620,000 soldiers werekilled.

HARRIET TUBMAN (ABOUT 1820-1913)
Harriet Tubman was an escaped slave. She helped many other slavestoescapeto freedom in the North and Canada. During the Civil War, she served asanurseand spy for the Union Army.