Establishment of British North American Colonies (1607- 1733)

The original inhabitants of North America were Indians. 16-18th century, the western European countries that were conducting primitive accumulation of capital invaded North America one after another. The French established new France (including the lower reaches of the St. Lawrence River and the Mississippi River); The Spanish established the new Spain (including Mexico and a large area in the southwestern United States). 1607, Britain established 1 colonial stronghold-Jamestown, and then established 13 colony on the Atlantic coast. Most of the people who arrived in the colonies were poor working people in western Europe, but there were also nobles, landlords and bourgeoisie, among which the British, Irish, Germans and Dutch were the most. Among the immigrants, there are people who escape from war and religious persecution, voluntary and involuntary "contract slaves", beggars and criminals; And black people trafficked from Africa.

The War of Independence (1774- 1783)

The seven-year war between Britain and France for maritime hegemony and plundering colonies ended in British victory. Britain took over Canada in North America, controlled New France east of the Mississippi River, strengthened its control over the North American colonies in an all-round way, and declared the west of the Appalachian Mountains a royal manor, banning colonial people from getting their hands on it. It also imposed heavy taxes, severely suppressed smuggling and restricted economic activities, which seriously harmed the economic interests of people of all walks of life in the colonies. Since 16 19 Virginia established parliament, various colonies have set up parliaments to compete with Britain. 1765, nine colonies held protests against stamp duty, which set off a wave of resistance.

18 In the 1970s, Britain further implemented the high-pressure policy, and 1770 witnessed the Boston Massacre. The tea tax law was passed on 1773, which caused the Boston tea party. 1774, five intolerable laws were promulgated (such as closing Boston harbor, sending more British troops, revoking Massachusetts autonomy, and establishing British judicial power over colonies, etc.). ), from the political and military stepped up control and repression of the colonies. 1772- 1774, the colonies generally set up communication committees to lead the anti-British struggle. 1 On September 5, 774, representatives of all colonies except Georgia held a1continental meeting in Philadelphia, and adopted a resolution to sever all trade relations with Britain, followed by the Declaration on Colonial Rights and Hatred, and submitted a petition to the King of England. On April 1775, 18, in Lexington and Concord, near Boston, colonial patriots fired their guns of resistance, which started the war of independence. In May, the second continental congress was held. In July of the following year, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, declaring that 13 colonies were independent from Britain.

At the beginning of the war of independence, the strength of the two sides was very different, and the war lasted for 8 years. By June 178 1, the United States and France had captured Yorktown, the last British stronghold, and the War of Independence was basically over. 1783 Britain and the United States signed the Paris Peace Treaty. During the War of Independence, a number of outstanding politicians emerged, such as G Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, T Jefferson, drafter of the Declaration of Independence, B Franklin, diplomat, and T Paine, a cultural warrior.

Establish an independent national sovereign state (1781-1814)

In the course of the war, the Continental Congress formulated the Confederacy Regulations, and1781-178713 states formed the Confederacy Congress, announcing the establishment of the United States. 1787, a constitutional convention was held in Philadelphia. After argument, representatives of big states and small states agreed that each state should elect two senators. On the issue of slavery, the North made a major compromise to the South, acquiesced in the existence of slavery, and counted slaves in the South as 3/5 of the population in terms of taxation and the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives. The meeting finally drafted a draft constitution. This is the written constitution of 1 in the world. 1788 was approved by nine countries in June. According to the Constitution, the United States has established a federal state in which legislative, executive and judicial powers are separated and balanced. Later, 10 constitutional amendment (later called "Bill of Rights") was added. The bill came into effect in179165438+February and was approved by 1 1 states.

The federal government was established in 1789. In April, Washington became the first president of the United States (1792 re-elected). In the process of policy differences at home and abroad, Finance Minister A. Hamilton organized the Federalist Party, advocated centralization, was pro-British in diplomacy, and controlled the power of the federal government. Secretary of State T Jefferson advocated safeguarding the democratic rights of the domestic people, sympathizing with the French Revolution, and organizing democracy and the Party. 1793, European powers jointly intervened in the French Revolution, and Washington adopted a neutral policy. The following June165438+1October, the federal government and Britain signed the Jay Treaty, which undermined the sovereignty of the United States. Pro-British and pro-French have become the dividing line between the federal party and democracy and the party in foreign policy. In internal affairs, the federal government formulated tariff regulations, established banks and stabilized the economy.

180 1 year, democratic party T. Jefferson became president. The Jefferson government abolished the above four laws, cut expenses, reduced taxes, abolished alcohol taxes and encouraged the export of agricultural products. 1803, Louisiana with an area of over 2 million square kilometers was purchased from France. Britain has always been reluctant to lose its North American colonies. British ships continue to intercept American ships on the high seas and forcibly requisition American sailors. In order to maintain freedom of navigation, the United States launched the second war against Britain at1812-1814. In addition to naval battles, the advantage lies in the British army. 1865438+In August, 2004, British troops captured the capital, Washington, and burned the presidential palace and parliament. But then America won. 18 14 12, Britain and the United States signed a peace treaty in Ghent, Belgium. This war made the United States get rid of British political control and economic infiltration and become a completely independent national sovereign country.

The Different Development of North-South Economy before the Civil War (1814-1861)

/kloc-in the first half of the 0/9th century, American territory gradually expanded from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast. Great changes have taken place in the economy, and the northern and southern economies are developing in different directions. Develop maritime trade and strengthen the northern shipping industry. A great deal of primitive accumulation of capital. As early as 1790, the first cotton mill was established in Rhode Island. Since then, other factories have appeared one after another. Since the19th century, a lot of money has been invested in industry and commerce, and industrial production has developed. While vigorously introducing science and technology from western Europe, we encourage creativity and invention. In the 1950s, industrialization advanced rapidly. From 65438 to 0860, American industrial production ranked fourth in the world. Two-thirds of the finished products are produced in the northeast. A large number of immigrants from western Europe poured in and migrated to the west, providing free employment labor for economic development. But in the south, from the Atlantic States to Texas, the cotton plantation economy based on slave labor has been expanding. In the newly developed areas in the west, whether to implement free labor system or slavery has become the theme of national political struggle. 1820, the north made concessions to the south and reached the Missouri compromise. The dispute between the two sides was temporarily suspended.

Diplomacy and Politics before the Civil War (1814-1861)

1823, American President J. Monroe issued the Monroe Declaration. Oppose European powers to interfere in western hemisphere affairs. 1846- 1848, the United States launched a war against Mexico and incorporated Texas, New Mexico and California into the territory of the United States. 18 14 At the end of the American-British War, the Federalist Party called the Hartford Conference in an attempt to split the Federation, but it failed and collapsed. The decline of the Federalist Party marks the beginning of the transformation from commercial capital to industrial capital. From 18 16- 1824, the United States entered a period of democratic one-party rule representing the interests of the northern bourgeoisie and the southern slave owners, commonly known as the "harmonious period." In the future, democracy and party split, and political forces regrouped. 1828, the democratic party was founded and a Jackson was elected as the presidential candidate. Jackson was elected and re-elected as president until March 1837. The Whig Party was founded in 1834. The Jackson administration moved Indians to the west of the Mississippi River and prevented the separatist crisis caused by the high tariff law in South Carolina. The government abolished the law that the poor were imprisoned for debts, popularized the universal suffrage of white men, and carried out some democratic reforms, commonly known as "Jackson democracy." 1828- 1856, the democratic party and the whig party became two major political parties. The Whig Party won two presidential elections, 1840 and 1848, and the Democratic Party won all other presidential elections.

With the intensification of the struggle between the two different social and economic systems in the North and the south and the rising resistance of slaves, the mass anti-slavery movement has been widely carried out. 1840, the "liberal party" advocating the abolition of slavery was established. 1848, abolitionists and opponents of slavery in the Democratic Party and Whig Party organized the Free Soil Party, aiming at establishing a free state in the western region. 1850, after a dispute, the two sides reached a compromise, and Congress passed a strict law on hunting fugitive slaves. 1854, Congress passed the kansas-nebraska act, abolishing the geographical boundary between slave-holding states and free states, and thus abolishing the Missouri compromise, which was strongly opposed by the northern industrial bourgeoisie. 1854 * * * The Peace Party was founded with the aim of opposing slavery. 1856. the democratic party J. Buchanan was elected president. at this time, the democratic party actually became a political party representing the interests of slave owners. 1857, the Supreme Court made Scott's judgment, the legal meaning of which is to push the scale of slavery to the whole country. 1859 The anti-slavery armed uprising led by J. Brown was suppressed. In the 1860 presidential election, * * * and the party candidate A. Lincoln won. The southern slave owners' group, which had been plotting rebellion for a long time, decided to leave the alliance, and in February of 186 1, another southern alliance was established, announcing the maintenance of slavery.

Civil War and Reconstruction Period (186 1- 1877)

186 1 In April, the Southern Alliance declared war and occupied Fort Sumter, and the civil war broke out. In May of the following year, Lincoln promulgated the Homestead Law, which allowed farmers who had cultivated land in the west for five years to obtain the right to use 160 acres of land after paying the certificate fee of 10, which made the farmers who cultivated in the west stand on the side of abolitionists and isolated the Confederacy. 1 863 65438+1October1day, the Emancipation Declaration issued by Lincoln came into effect, and all slaves who rebelled in various states were regarded as free men and allowed to join the army. In a short time, 186000 blacks joined the federal army. 1864, the federal army occupied Atlanta, Georgia, split the Confederacy in two and won a decisive victory. 1on April 9, 865, general Li, commander-in-chief of the confederate army, surrendered. The civil war ended with the victory of the union. April14; Lincoln was assassinated and Vice President A. Johnson succeeded him as President. Johnson adopted a compromise policy towards the southern planters. 165438+ 10 Mississippi promulgated the "black code" for the first time, brutally persecuting blacks. The terrorist organization Klan was founded in 1866, and lynched the newly freed blacks. In this chaotic situation, * * * and the Congress led by the radical party proposed to impeach the President (failed by 65,438+0 votes), and passed Articles 65,438+0865, 65,438+0868 and 65,438+0870 amendments to the Constitution (declaring that slavery no longer exists in the United States) and 65,000 respectively. 1867 In March, the National Assembly passed a bill to rebuild the south and imposed martial law on the south. 1867- 1877, democracy was re-established in the south, and the states established political power under the joint rule of blacks and whites, and enacted laws for democratic progress. 14 blacks were elected to the House of Representatives and two blacks were elected to the Senate. The inauguration of R.B. Hayes as president marked the end of democratic reconstruction.

/kloc-in the second half of the 9th century (1877- 1900), the economy developed rapidly.

After the Civil War, the abolition of the plantation system in the south created conditions for the capitalist development of the whole country. The rapid development of shipbuilding and machinery manufacturing, the completion of four transcontinental railways, the reclamation of large areas of land in the west and the disappearance of frontiers have promoted the formation and expansion of a unified domestic market. In the process of developing the midwest, the far west and the south, all regions have developed industries with local characteristics. The influx of foreign immigrants provided abundant labor force, which enabled North America to carry out agricultural production on a large scale. /kloc-agricultural mechanization developed rapidly in the second half of the 0/9th century. From 1860- 19 16, the cultivated land area has increased from 407 million mu to 879 million mu, the improved land area has more than tripled, and the output of wheat and corn has increased by about 3 times. Large-scale production in agriculture has crowded out and merged small-scale production. In the north, which is dominated by industry, agriculture is more and more intensive. In other areas, the number of large farms is gradually increasing. In 1900, half of the total agricultural products in the United States were produced by large farmers in16, forming the development path of American-style agricultural capitalism.

/kloc-in the second half of the 0/9th century, there were important inventions and breakthroughs in the field of science and technology, among which the application of electricity was the first; 1876 A.G: Bell invented the telephone;1886t.a. Edison made the electric light; 1892 The Duria brothers successfully trial-produced the car; 1903 The Wright brothers successfully trial-produced the plane and sailed. The wide application of electricity in industry has led to the all-round development of the American economy. In 1880, the proportion of industry in the national GDP exceeded that of agriculture, and the total industrial output value jumped from the fourth place in the world in 1860 to the first place in 1894. The United States has become a highly developed capitalist country.

Domestic and foreign policies before World War I (1889- 19 14)

1889 The United States held the Pan-American Conference, 1898 the Spanish-American War broke out. The United States defeated Spain, seized Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean, Guam and the Philippine Islands in the Pacific, and then merged the Hawaiian Islands. 1903 The United States captured the Panama Canal Zone. In the Far East, 1899, the United States put forward an "open door" policy towards China. 1904- 1905 The United States supported Japan in the Russo-Japanese War. After the Russo-Japanese War, the United States and Japan negotiated and signed the Roto-Gaoping Agreement in 1908. 19 12 In the presidential election, Democratic presidential candidate T.W. Wilson came to power. With the call of "new freedom", Wilson reformed through Clayton Anti-monopoly Law (19 14), reduced tariffs, established a federal reserve bank system, and levied progressive income tax. During this period, the United States intervened in the foreign policies of Mexico, Nicaragua and other countries in the Western Hemisphere.

The United States from World War I to the end of the 1920s.

After the first world war, the United States declared neutrality, provided arms to the warring parties, and soon provided loans to its allies. 19 16, Wilson was re-elected. 19 17, the United States declared war on Germany after a German submarine sank an American ship on April 6. During the war, due to the interruption of immigrants, a large number of blacks moved northward to fight abroad, which broadened their horizons. 19181kloc-0/In June, Wilson signed an armistice agreement with Germany. World War I promoted American economic prosperity. After the war, the United States borrowed $654.38 billion from debtor countries with debts of $6 billion to become creditor countries, and the United States became the richest country. 192 1 year * * and W.G. Harding came to power, which coincided with the overall depression of the American economy. He put forward the policies of "industrial normalization" and "saving capitalism"; 1923- 1929 world capitalism has entered a relatively stable period. In the United States, due to the rise of fixed capital renewal and construction industry, the expansion of automobile and steel industry and the surge of commodity and capital output, American industry and commerce reached a new climax at 1923. At the same time, the second "merger wave" of American enterprises (that is, further trust) spread throughout the banking and industrial sectors, especially water, electricity and gas utilities, and even extended to the retail business sector. * * * The Republican C Coolidge's administration was a period of American economic prosperity. Private monopoly capital has made great progress. However, due to the abnormal development and overproduction of emerging industries in China, the proportion of various sectors of the national economy is seriously unbalanced, production and consumption are out of touch, and agriculture has been in a chronic crisis for a long time. 1June 1929 and1June 1933, the economic crisis first broke out in the United States, and then the capitalist countries fell into the world economic crisis one after another.

/kloc-America in the 0/930s

Democrat F.D. Roosevelt took office as the 32nd president on 1933. The Roosevelt administration carried out the "New Deal" in which the state intervened and regulated the economy extensively, rectified finance, revitalized industry and agriculture, and organized relief, which saved the serious economic crisis in the United States and strengthened state monopoly capitalism. 1933165438+10 In October, the United States established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and adopted a "good neighbor policy" toward Latin America. 1937 new economic crisis reappears. The following year, Roosevelt adopted the method of expanding deficit expenditure to alleviate the crisis; After the outbreak of World War II, the United States revived its armaments and enabled its economy to recover and prosper.

America during World War II

1939 In September, Germany attacked Poland, and World War II broke out in an all-round way. Roosevelt signed the lease law in March 194 1 to provide materials to countries fighting Germany, Italy and Japan. On August 14, Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill published the Atlantic Charter. On September 24, the Soviet government agreed to its basic principles, and then held a meeting of the three countries in Moscow, which laid the foundation for wartime cooperation between the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union. On February 7, 65438, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and dealt a heavy blow to the US Pacific Fleet. The next day, the United States and Britain declared war on Japan. Britain and the United States lost one after another from the beginning. 1942 in may, the us army repelled the Japanese army in the naval battle of midway. From the end of the same year to the beginning of the following year, the United States defeated the Japanese in the battle of Guadalcanal, and the US military turned from defense to attack, which led to a turning point in the Pacific War. 1 June 65438+1October1day, 26 countries including the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union and China signed the United Nations Declaration. In August, British and American troops landed in North Africa. 1The victory of Stalingrad in February 1943 brought about a fundamental change in the situation of the anti-fascist war in Europe. In July of the same year, American and British troops landed in Sicily. Landed in southern Italy in September. Italy surrendered in 65438 10. 1943165438+10 In October, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin held a Tehran conference. 1June, 944, allied forces from Britain and the United States landed in Normandy, France, opening up the second battlefield in Europe. On April 12, Roosevelt died and H.S. Truman succeeded him as president. In May, Germany announced its unconditional surrender. In July, the heads of the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union held the Potsdam meeting, and the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union reached an agreement on dealing with Germany, Poland and other issues. The United States, Britain and China issued the Potsdam Proclamation, demanding that Japan surrender unconditionally. The United States and the Soviet Union reached an agreement on the Soviet Union's war against Japan. On August 6th, the US military dropped 1 atomic bomb on Hiroshima. On August 8, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, and on August 9, the US military dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Japan surrendered and World War II ended. Truman appointed D.MacArthur as the supreme commander of the allied forces stationed in Japan and the American troops stationed in Japan, which realized the situation that Japan was exclusively controlled by the United States.

America after World War II

In the Second World War, the United States expanded its army to participate in the war and supplied a large amount of arms and materials to its allies, which led to wartime economic prosperity, greater development of state monopoly capital and became the arsenal of its allies. The United States took advantage of the opportunity of participating in the war to control many important strategic strongholds in the world and establish military bases; Truman administration carried out the cold war policy, put forward Truman Doctrine, formulated Marshall Plan and planned to establish North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In terms of internal affairs, Truman put forward the program of "fair governance", but it achieved little. 1June, 950, the Korean War broke out. 1952 * * * and Republican D.D. Eisenhower were elected president of the United States, promising to end the Korean War. The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in July 1953.

Under the economic crisis of 1953- 1954, the Eisenhower administration made internal and external adjustments, expanded the implementation scope of the social insurance law, strengthened the nationalization of scientific research, and further developed the aerospace industry. 1955 in July, the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union held a summit, and the international situation eased somewhat. 1957 the Soviet union successfully launched 1 artificial earth satellite, challenging the leading position of cutting-edge science in the United States. 1958, the United States launched an artificial earth satellite, which made the US-Soviet arms race enter the space race. 1On July 20th, 969, the American spaceship Apollo-11"landed on the moon.

During the Second World War and the Korean War, due to the participation of blacks in the war, the apartheid system in the army was abolished, which promoted the struggle of Chinese blacks for civil rights. 1954, the Supreme Court made a judgment in the case of Brown v. Education Bureau, declaring that the principle of "separation but equality" which has ruled the field of education for a long time is unconstitutional. 1955 65438+In February, blacks in Montgomery, Alabama, under the leadership of M.L. King, held a 38 1 day movement to boycott car apartheid. Blacks sat in restaurants to protest against this aspect of apartheid, and the civil rights movement flourished. In the 1960s, the Democratic Party (J.F. Kennedy) and the Democratic Party (L.B. Johnson) came to power one after another, implemented a long-term fiscal deficit policy, expanded military expenditure, increased welfare expenditure, and the economy continued to rise. At the same time, because of their involvement in the Vietnam War, they paid huge military expenses, consumed a lot of American wealth and greatly weakened the economic strength of the United States, while the economies of the Federal Republic of Germany and Japan developed rapidly and gradually became competitors of the United States.

In the 1960s, due to the unpopularity of the Vietnam War, domestic society was in turmoil. 196 1 year, black and white citizens launched the "free passengers" movement. 1963 In April, Martin Luther King Jr. launched a large-scale procession, petition, sit-in and demonstration in Birmingham. In August, 250,000 blacks and whites held demonstrations to protest against racial discrimination. Driven by the black civil rights movement, Congress passed the civil rights law in June 1964.

1969 After R.M. Nixon came to power, the United States was deeply mired in the Vietnam War. The recurrent fiscal deficit and huge military expenditure aggravate inflation and are in a dilemma. From 65438 to 0969, Nixon took "partnership, strength and negotiation" as the new strategy of American foreign policy. From 65438 to 0972, President Nixon visited China and published the Shanghai Communique. 1On August 9, 974, Nixon was forced to resign due to Watergate Incident, and Vice President G.R. Ford became the 38th president. 1975 In May, the Vietnam War officially ended.

1 979 65438+1October1The communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States came into effect and relations between the two countries were normalized. On the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, after Nixon put forward a new "peace" strategy, the two countries strengthened their dialogue. 1972 In May, Nixon visited the Soviet Union and signed the Treaty on the Limitation of Strategic Arms. In the 1980s, the US-Soviet arms race shifted from quantity to quality. Starting from 1985, after continuous negotiations, the leaders of the two countries finally exchanged the instruments of ratification of the Intermediate-Range Missile Treaty in Moscow in June 1988. The relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union tends to be further eased.

1986165438+10, the "Iran Gate" incident broke out in the United States, revealing that the Reagan administration (members) bypassed the State Council and concealed Congress, and secretly sold weapons to Iran from 1985 to1986 in exchange. From 65438 to 0987, the United States sent military forces to the Gulf in the name of protecting navigation in the Gulf, and there were many military conflicts with Iran. 1989 1 Bush became the 4th1president of the United States.

1990 Gulf War broke out. The United States sent troops to Iraq. Forcing it to withdraw from Kuwait. 1992, Democrat Clinton was elected president. During this period, the United States and multinational forces repeatedly attacked Iraq to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. In the late 1990s, under the leadership of the United States, NATO expanded eastward.

1999 In early 1999, the United States led NATO to launch air strikes against Yugoslavia.

Economically, after the "energy crisis" in 1973, 1974- 1975, the worst post-war economic crisis broke out in the United States. The American economy has fallen into a complicated situation characterized by stagflation; From 65438 to 0980, the American economy was in serious recession. 198 1 after Reagan took office, he implemented a high deficit fiscal policy, stimulated the economy and encouraged investment through large-scale tax cuts and increased defense spending, and strictly controlled the currency circulation. From 65438 to 0982, the American economy began to recover and turned to low-speed growth. 1987 10 Although the stock market plummeted in 10, the economic situation in the United States is still relatively stable, but the fiscal deficit and foreign trade deficit are still hidden concerns of the American economy. In the 1990s, the rapid development of American computer industry promoted the global high-tech information industry and opened a new generation of industrial revolution!