1. Independent Country Tensions between American colonists and the British led to the American Revolutionary War (1775 – 1781) Americans won, lead by George Washington, who became their first president. July 4, 1776 - Declaration of Independence

2. American Civil War (1861 - 1865) The Americans were divided by their opinion on slavery and different economic development of the North and the South The war ended with the victory of the North 1863 –Abraham Lincoln signed Emancipation Proclamation : legal end of slavery

3. 20 th Century The USA entered the World War I in 1917; fought on the side of Britain and France 1920 – women can vote. “The Roaring Twenties” – era of boom and prosperity for the USA 1929 –start of The Great Depression, which ended with the USA entering the World War II in 1941 (the war created many jobs)

4. Civil Rights Movement - 1950s, 1960s

5. To end racial segregation, economic discrimination, violence and inability to vote suffered by African Americans Nonviolent civil disobedience – marches, boycotts, sit-ins Rosa Parks Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream “

6. Cold War (1947-1991) Tension between the USA and the Soviet Union Arms race – nuclear weapons Space race- 1969 –Neil Armstrong on the Moon Ended after the Soviet Union collapsed, leaving the USA as the dominant military power

7. 21 st Century September 11, 2001 – terrorist attacks George W. Bush - global War on Terror, invasion of Afghanistan, war in Iraq 2005 – Hurricane Katrina Global economic recession 2008 – Barack Obama – the first African American president of the USA 2010 –oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

8. President Barack Obama “We have to out-innovate, out- educate, and out-build the rest of the world.” State of the Union address, January 2011