A Super Quick History of the United States

hello everyone and welcome to M America this is North America and here's the United States now let's go shall we gigantic in size stunning in Beauty rich in resources the lands that today comprise the US were first inhabited by Peoples migrating out of Siberia these were the ancestors of all Native Americans and their manifold languages and cultures many tribes lived as hunter gatherers but others developed more advanced societies the largest settlements that made up the Mississippian culture perhaps housed up to 20,000 people they displayed skilled craftsmanship in multiple materials but also practiced Human Sacrifice the puebloans are famous for their architecture Cliff Dwellings like this and that built around the year 1200 what happened to end the peblo and Heyday is unknown meanwhile the culture of hokam devised a clever system of canals for irrigation to grow maze beans Etc what happened to them again not known maybe War maybe environmental fluctuations maybe a giant bison that shot laser beams out of its horns anyway 1492 the year that changed everything three ships from Spain set sail across the Atlantic Ocean in search of India and instead discovered the Americas The Voyage was led by Christopher Columbus who landed in the Caribbean and labeled the natives Indians Explorer Juan Pon Deon landed on the shores of a region he named Florida and it was here in 1565 that the Spanish founded the first permanent European settlement of the North American Mainland more followed as Spaniards explored vast stretches of the continent here's Hernando Votto who journeyed and fought his way to the Mississippi River now of course the rest of Western Europe eyed Spain's glittering Acquisitions with envious expressions and sought to seek their Fortunes in the Americas as well the French British and Dutch All Began pecking about the land mass eager to glean some pecuniary fruitfulness from its immense territories before others beat them to it but while money was a major motivation it wasn't the only one Western Europe in those days was for the most part a dangerous place for people professing a non-state approved religion the pilgrims and Puritans were persecuted in England and looked to the new world for freedom to worship according to their convictions in 1620 a bunch of pilgrims set sail on a ship called the mayflower heading for the English colony of Virginia but instead landing in Massachusetts before alighting they signed a compact without the approval of the king in which they agreed to enact just and equal laws and govern their colony under elected representatives a rare thing in an undemocratic World some years later the Puritans arrived thousands of them and they set up their own colony which proved to be very economically successful English settlements spread further and cities were built and there were sometimes friendly relations with the natives and sometimes allout War the second and third Anglo Dutch Wars ended with the English gaining the colony of New Netherland including its settlement of New Amsterdam which was renamed New York meanwhile the French establishing themselves in Canada were venturing South and claiming everything they saw for Louis 14th and his wig and named it Louisiana and the Spanish claimed lots of land too but the English sections were the most developed and populated and there ended up being 13 of them Virginia was first with its abundant tobacco plantations then Massachusetts with its Port City of Boston and hatred of witches then New Hampshire with its Timber and fishing industries Maryland founded as a refuge for English Catholics Connecticut with its groundbreaking Constitution Rhode Island with its Progressive laws Delaware contested and multiethnic North and South Carolina with their rural economies New York the richly mertile New Jersey Agricultural and bipoc Pennsylvania a Quaker founded holy experiment with its key city of Philadelphia and finally Georgia meant as a buffer against Spanish Florida and for settlement by dors given a second chance these 13 colonies all came to be subject to the British crown and also I believe to the person wearing the crown unfortunately the wealth seeking colonists began doing what the Spanish and Portuguese had long been doing in the Americas importing African slaves to work for them a whole system was in place where African leaders captured other Africans to sell to Europeans for guns and other Goods who shipped them to the Americans to toil on plantations for products to sell to Europe for money the slave population was more prominent in the South where most plantations were now this map here shows how things stood around the year 1750 British here French here Spanish here but now the British wanted to be here the good fertile land of Ohio was calling out not literally and and the British pushed on in and the French were unhappy and what do you think at War British Americans versus French Canadians each with tribes of natives supporting them the first battle was a victory for a young man named George Washington the war ended with the Americans triumphant and much land was gained but there was resentment in the 13 colonies Britain had long irked them with its restrictive demands but colonists began to be peeved at having to pay taxes to Britain whilst not being represented in Britain's Parliament doesn't sound very fair does it the colonies certainly didn't think so and they started saying so but running colonies is very expensive and complicated and when Britain passed further acts that asserted its dominance and increased taxation the colonies were far from pleased tensions spilled into violence Britain against colonists colonists against Britain and the British stubbornly refused to budge and the colonists rebelled and Britain hit back and what do you think war is what happened the American war of independence at Lexington and Concord the Americans scored an early Victory soon after the 13 colonies agreed to unite they formed the Continental Army and appointed George Washington its Commander Fierce battles daring Maneuvers frostbitten encampments and thundering sieges meanwhile a young delegate to Congress named Thomas Jefferson wrote the draft of what would become known as the Declaration of Independence it was ratified on the 4th of July 1776 signed by all 56 delegates today known as the founding fathers influenced by their revolutionary ideas of the Age of Enlightenment these states men philosophers scientists lawyers and businessmen would go on to craft the most astoundingly original nation in history the Declaration famously stated we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal self-evident not to the rest of the world with its Kings Sultans Emperors and cast systems that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to Institute new government this was to be a country run by the actual people and not some guy with a golden hat the Americans stormed to victory at Saratoga and with their French allies at Yorktown where Britain's Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington thus the United States of America was born in 1787 the Constitution was composed which structured the government with the specific aim of making sure no future Tyrant would take total control Power was split into three branches and things were so ordered that each kept the other in check and also did not infringe upon the individual rights of the different states later amendments were added the first one restricting the government from interfering with free speech or freedom of religious worship the second gave citizens the right to be arms to resist any potential oppression bare arms what about bare legs get out Washington became the first president his Farewell Address warned against partisanship and foreign alliances he was followed by John Adams and then Jefferson under whose leadership the US purchased the massive Louisiana Territory from France doubling the size of the nation Lewis and Clark here set out to explore it famously aided by the lemi Shoni native woman Saka Jaa President James Madison wanted Native Americans to adapt to European customs and ways the Sha of Indiana didn't want to and War and speaking of War here's another one the British up in Canada were supporting native resistance to American expansion as well as throttling American trade with France whom Britain was at war with of course hostilities erupted and the British burned the US capital city before the Americans led by General Andrew Jackson crushed the British at the Battle of New Orleans in 1819 the US gained Florida from Spain Jackson became president who took on both the bank of the United States which he accused of being a corrupt unconstitutional for fourth branch of government designed to benefit only the elite and the natives 60,000 of whom were pushed out of the way west of the Mississippi in What's called the Trail of Tears now the declining Spanish Empire had since lost control of these lands to Mexico including a chunk called Texas anglo-americans had begun entering and settling in it and soon outnumbered the few Mexicans residing there after the ensuing Texan revolution in which the anglos who suffered a Slaughter at the Alamo but later scored a resounding Victory under Sam Houston Texas became its own Nation joining the the US 10 years later under James K pulk the US expanded even more after defeating Mexico in this war and conquering the southwest and also gaining the territory of Oregon and for a good while the US had been rapidly industrializing Railways factories especially in the Northeast but was still torn over the institution of slavery since the revolution slavery had incrementally died out in the northern states but was still deeply embedded in the South and it was a very divisive contentious issue since the 1600s Christian denominations such as the Quakers had called for ending slavery and over the years the Abolitionist Movement gained increased influence from the writings and activism of reformers such as William Lloyd Garrison Frederick Douglas and Harriet beer Stow others took more direct action like Harriet Tubman involved in the underground Network to rescue slaves from the south and John Brown who waged violent War upon slave owners while slavery had been normal in most of the world for most of History it really had no place in a country that declared itself a champion of freedom and humanity and its rights and problem was it was entrenched in the economies of the southern states and those States insisted upon their right to maintain the institution tensions increased and when the lanky self-taught lawyer from Kentucky Abraham Lincoln who was staunchly anti-slavery won the presidential election in 1860 Southern States broke away to form their own country the Confederate States of America as opposed to the union the Confederacy captured Fort Sumpter from the north and it was war Civil War a bloody hard fought contest in which over 600,000 people died and which ended with victory for the union and the confederacy's collapse and slavery abolished on the battlefield of Gettysburg Lincoln delivered a famous speech that ended these dead shall not have died in vain this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and government of the People by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth reconstruction followed a messy Troublesome era wherein frightened Democrats in the South tinkered with legislation to prevent African-Americans from voting meanwhile amidst the call of Go West Young Man Americans were settling in significant numbers into regions where the W on the compass pointed this was the age of the old west the wild west from the Gold Rush of California to the land rush of Oklahoma from Cowboy cattle drives from Texas to Kansas to Wars with Native Americans the age of Gunslingers Dodge City and Tombstone Arizona of Wyatt her Jesse James Billy the Kid Annie Oakley Buffalo Bill and Calamity Jane the age of apachi Warrior gono Sitting Bull of the Lakota who defeated General kuster at the Battle of Little Big Horn and the Mormons settling at Salt Lake City Utah America was growing big and strong on beef and Earth and coal and oil and steel industry skyrocketed and ushered in the Gilded Age a time of unprecedented economic growth and Wealthy business magnates and tycoons such as John D Rockefeller JP Morgan Andrew carnegi and Mr Vanderbilt the us became the wealthiest of all Nations and the Envy of the world and much of the world was eager to partake of its success immigration boomed Millions arrived Italians poles Jews Greeks and Russians who joined the Irish Germans and Scandinavians who had preceded them and who beheld the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor like the hopeful harbinger of a better life and the US continued to expand purchasing Alaska from Russia and after defeating Spain in this war taking possession of Puerto Rico America also took the Polynesian Pacific Islands of Hawaii and the US was helping to lead the way in technological progress from the wri brothers inventing the airplane and Henry Ford revolutionizing the automobile industry to George Washington Carver's Innovations in Agricultural Science this age of action and robustness was embodied in the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt he pushed his Square Deal reforms the conservation of Nature and Wildlife reserves and oversaw the construction of the Panama Canal under Woodrow Wilson big things happened the establishment of the Federal Reserve Central banking system the American entrance into World War I and income tax I didn't say they were all good things then there was The Great Migration wherein African-Americans began to flee discrimination in the South to seek out new lives in the big cities elsewhere women gained the right to vote and the ensuing decade called The Roaring 20s saw Prosperity surge Art Deco skyscrapers Flappers and jazs not so roaring was the president Kelvin kulage who was famed for being very quiet and reserved in fact when the writer Dorothy Parker was told that kulage had died she responded how can they tell but it was easy to tell when the good times died the stock market crashed in 1929 leading to the Great Depression an Epoch of economic hard ship that affected the whole world unemployment homelessness ruin even nature chipped in to add to the misery in 1933 the new President Franklin D Roosevelt unveiled his solution the New Deal the government swelling reforms aiming to patch and Spruce things up and while times were hard the economy began to slowly heal meanwhile World War II Germany Japan and Italy against everyone the United States was like oh man not again look just leave us out of it and that's right Japan thought it would be a good idea to bomb the American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in aahu Hawaii big mistake amidst the anti-japanese hysteria thousands of Japanese Americans were locked up in camps as the United States entered the war on multiple fronts there was an intense burst of wartime production a gush of manufacturing aircraft tanks ships submarines and the full force of American power was Unleashed from D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge US troops under generals such as Patton and Eisenhower played a pivotal role in defeating the Germans and led the way in the war of the Pacific crushing Japan in battles such as Midway guadal canal and iojima oh yeah and the us became the first country to develop nuclear weapons and President Truman sanctioned their use against Japan which surrendered soon after and the war was over the US was now the strongest Nation on Earth its only rival being the Soviet Union countries sided with one or the other and the Cold War began the US provided the money to rebuild Europe and with the creation of the UN it looked like America was going to make a habit of involving itself in international Affairs ignoring ing George Washington's warning the US formed the alliance of NATO a systematic anti-communist investigation was launched and the US fought in the Korean War to stop communism's spread the 1950s further saturated the Earth in American culture rock and roll conquered the world as the US economy boomed two movements also gained momentum which stretched into the 1960s first was the Civil Rights Movement challenging the nation's policies of segregation and Injustice against African-Americans the most prominent figure being Martin Luther King Jr who famously declared his dream of a future where a person would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character under President Lynden Johnson the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed which outlawed all forms of discrimination the other thing was the Space Race in 1957 the Soviets stunned the World by launching the first satellite into orbit America was like nope and a tech race ensued as both Nations competed to outdo the other President John F Kennedy announced his belief that America would land a man on the moon before the decade was through and though he was assassinated in July 1969 televisions around the world displayed the image of American astronaut Neil Armstrong stepping onto the lunar surface the United States won another big change was the passing of the immigration and nationality Act of 1965 which allowed non-western immigrants to come into the country huge changes were happening and a foreshadowing of future interventionalist calamities was had with the American involvement in the Vietnam War as in Korea you had a communist North trying to conquer a non-communist South and the US sent many many thousands of troops to prevent this though the Americans won multiple victories including the Tet Offensive the war was extremely unpopular back home where the public was shocked at reports of atrocities committed by American forces and protested accordingly President Nixon oversaw the withdrawal of American troops after the 1973 Paris Peace Accords for most of the 1980s Ronald Reagan was President and whilst being a likable joke-telling guy he projected American power and wealth on the world stage and the Soviet Union just couldn't keep up the Cold War ended with the United States triumphant and it was now the world's only superpower the economy expanded further in the 1990s as the US continued to involve itself in foreign conflicts including the Gulf War in which the American Le Coalition of forces defeated Iraq's attempt to conquer Kuwait the American military's presence in the Arabian Peninsula angered militant islamists including this guy who stated it was the duty of all Muslims to kill Americans then this happened the American response was the wherein the US invaded both Iraq and Afghanistan as in Vietnam there were many victories but again the wars were exceedingly unpopular and served to make the US hated and despised all over the world it was safe to say that American foreign policy was terribly misguided and you could almost hear the ghost of Washington saying told you back in 1961 President Eisenhower had warned against the military-industrial complex now it was too late the country it seemed had lost its way it was now acting many believed like the very bullying Imperial power it had once overthrown in its own Revolution all those years ago the US weathered its way through the Great Recession and in 2011 Navy Seals killed that guy and in the ensuing years America continued to dominate and dictate the pace and popular culture of the world but the nation was becoming more and more bitterly vulcanized ideologically divided to a worrisome extent extremely pessimistic and optimistic so what's going to happen I'll tell you I'm not sure anyway the USA is today the richest and most powerful nation in the world with a very high level of human development and featuring everything from a Grand Canyon to a mustard Museum and for all its flaws and sins which it loudly broadcasts and bemon the United States has given the world so much good and so many exceptional and Brilliant contributions to every field imaginable from art to literature to science and more science to Sport and more sport to cinema and more Cinema to music and more music entertainment and more entertainment architecture and scrumptious Foods it's the country with the most Nobel Prize winners by far and the country with the most Olympic go Mists by far and there is undeniably something extraordinary about this place but what awaits the US OFA comment below but for now bye-bye [Music]