CH 6 SEC 1 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF THE U.S.

I. CREATING A NATION Many groups began moving into North America starting around 15,000 B.C. They crossed over the Bering Straight and moved southward. They spread out and developed separate cultures and languages, and had little interaction with outsiders until the Europeans began arriving.

I. CREATING A NATION The Spanish showed up first, looking for gold and other precious materials. They founded St. Augustine in Florida, the oldest European settlement in North America. The French and English came later, both around The French were interested in the fur trade and settled in Canada. The English settled farther south, in Virginia and Massachusetts.

I. CREATING A NATION The Europeans began to bring African slaves to work, beginning the Columbian Exchange. Goods were brought from Europe to the New World, and vice versa. England and France fought for control of North America, and in 1763 England won and took over French colonies in Canada and land east of the Mississippi.

I. CREATING A NATION Then the American colonies became independent and formed the United States. They began to expand westward with the purchase of the Louisiana territory. Divisions developed between slave states and free states, until the Civil War started that ended slavery in the U.S.

II. AN INDUSTRIAL AND URBAN SOCIETY The U.S. continued to expand west, and in the process displaced the Native Americans living in the areas. They were either wiped out or forced to live on reservations. Railroads moved people and goods faster than ever, and by 1890 the U.S. declared that there was no more frontier. They had settled from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

II. AN INDUSTRIAL AND URBAN SOCIETY Immigrants were moving into the U.S., mostly from Europe. They settled in the major cities on the East coast, and worked in the factories. Some did travel west, but the country was changing from a rural society to an urban one. By 1920 there were more people living in cities than in the countryside, meaning the U.S. was officially an urban country.

III. WORLD POWER AND DOMESTIC CHANGE The U.S. had traditionally stayed out of world affairs, but in the 20 th century the U.S. would become the major world power. Because of the two oceans and the relative weakness of its neighbors, the U.S. has been free from invasion or internal conflict. During both world wars, the U.S. was able to immediately go back to normal life.

III. WORLD POWER AND DOMESTIC CHANGE Society began to change rapidly after World War 2. People began to move to the suburbs, and they moved to the South and West. The civil rights movement and the feminist movement fought for equality for African Americans and women. There were protests against the Vietnam war that made people distrust the government.

III. WORLD POWER AND DOMESTIC CHANGE During all of this the U.S. economy grew, technology increased and expanded into everyday life, and the U.S. became the world’s greatest economic power. The U.S. also took leadership against Communism, trying to prevent the Soviet Union from spreading its empire. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, that left the U.S. as the sole world power.

IV. GOVERNING THE PEOPLE The U.S. has a representative democracy, where the people elect representatives to govern on their behalf. It is also a federal republic, where the powers are divided between state and national government. There are 3 branches of government; executive, legislative, and judicial.

IN YOUR NOTEBOOKS Half page summary of the lecture.