|
== Kasaysayan ==
{{main|Kasaysayan ng Estados Unidos}}
Ang mga katutubo ng pangunanglupa ng Estados Unidos, kasama ang mga katutubong taga-Alaska, ay pinaniniwalaang lumipat galing sa Asya, simula noong 12,000 hanggang 40,000 nakaraang taon. Ilan, tulad ng bago-Columbyanong kulturang Misisipyo, ay bumuo ng nangungunang agrikultura, magarbong arkitektura, at mga hanay-estadong lipunan. Pagkatapos magsimulang manirahan ang mga Europeo sa mga Amerika, madaming milyon na katutubong Amerikano ay nangamatay mula sa mga epidemikong dala ng mga dayuhan tulad ng smallpox.
Noong 1492, ang taga-Genoang manlalakbay na si Christopher Columbus, sa ilalim ng isang kontrata ng koronang Espanyol, ay nakarating sa ilan-ilang pulong Caribbean, unang nakagawa ng pakikipag-ugnay sa mga katutubo. Noong 2 Abril 1513, ang kongkistadoreng Espanyol na si Juan Ponce de Leon ay dumaong sa kanyang binansagang "La Florida"—ang unang naulat na pagdating ng Europeo sa kung ano ang magiging pangunanglupa ng Estados Unidos. Ang mga paninirahang Espanyol sa rehiyon ay nasundan ng mga paninirahan sa ngayo'y timog-kanlurang Estados Unidos na naghikayat sa libu-libo patungong Mehiko. Ang mga mangangalakal na mabalahibong Pranses ay nagtatag ng mga tigilan ng New France sa paligid ng Great Lakes; kinalaunan, inangkin ng Pransiya ang malaking bahagi ng kaloobang Hilagang Amerika; patimog hanggang sa Golpo ng Mehiko. Ang unang matagumpay na panirahang Ingles ay ang Kolonyang Virginia sa Jamestown noong 1607 at ang Pilgrimong Kolonyang Plymouth noong 1620. Ang pagtatala noong 1628 ng Kolonya ng Look ng Massachusetts ay nagbungta ng isang malaking paglilipat; noong 1634, ang New England ay tinirhan na ng 10,000 Puritan. Sa pagitan ng huling bahagi ng mga 1610 at Himagsikang Amerikano, mga 50,000 na hinatulan ang dinaong patungo sa mga kolonyang Amerikano ng Britanya. Simula 1614, ang mga Olandes ay nanatili sa baybayin ng babang Ilog Hudson, kasama ang New Amsterdam sa pulo ng Manhattan.
=== Indigenous and European contact ===
Further information: [[Pre-Columbian era]] and [[Colonial history of the United States]]
An artistic recreation of [[Kincaid Mounds State Historic Site|The Kincaid Site]] from the prehistoric Mississippian culture as it may have looked at its peak 1050-1400 AD
The [[Settlement of the Americas|first inhabitants of North America]] migrated from [[Siberia]] by way of the [[Beringia|Bering land bridge]] and arrived at least 15,000 years ago, though increasing evidence suggests an even earlier arrival.<sup>[[United States#cite note-earliest-28|[26]]]</sup> Some, such as the [[Pre-Columbian era|pre-Columbian]] [[Mississippian culture]], developed advanced agriculture, grand architecture, and state-level societies.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Lockard2010-59|[57]]]</sup> After the Spanish [[conquistadors]] made the first contacts, the [[Demographic history of the indigenous peoples of the Americas|native population declined]] for various reasons, primarily from diseases such as [[smallpox]] and [[measles]]. Violence was not a significant factor in the overall decline among [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]], though conflict among themselves and with Europeans affected specific tribes and various colonial settlements.<sup>[[United States#cite note-60|[58]]][[United States#cite note-61|[59]]][[United States#cite note-Thornton47-62|[60]]][[United States#cite note-63|[61]]][[United States#cite note-64|[62]]][[United States#cite note-65|[63]]]</sup> In the [[Hawaiian Islands]], the earliest indigenous inhabitants arrived around 1 AD from [[Polynesia]]. Europeans under the British explorer [[Captain James Cook]] arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in 1778.
In the early days of colonization, many European settlers were subject to food shortages, disease, and attacks from Native Americans. Native Americans were also often at war with neighboring tribes and allied with Europeans in their colonial wars. At the same time, however, many natives and settlers came to depend on each other. Settlers traded for food and animal pelts, natives for guns, ammunition and other European wares.<sup>[[United States#cite note-66|[64]]]</sup> Natives taught many settlers where, when and how to cultivate corn, beans and squash. European missionaries and others felt it was important to "civilize" the Native Americans and urged them to adopt European agricultural techniques and lifestyles.<sup>[[United States#cite note-67|[65]]][[United States#cite note-68|[66]]]</sup>
=== Settlements ===
Further information: [[European colonization of the Americas]] and [[Thirteen Colonies]]
[[Castillo de San Marcos]] in [[St. Augustine, Florida]], the [[List of North American cities by year of foundation|oldest continuously occupied]] European-established settlement in the United States
The signing of the [[Mayflower Compact]], 1620
After Spain sent [[Christopher Columbus|Columbus]]' [[Columbus's first voyage|on his first voyage]] to the [[New World]] in 1492, other explorers followed. The Spanish set up small settlements in New Mexico and Florida. France had several small settlements along the [[Mississippi River]]. Successful [[English overseas possessions|English settlement]] on the eastern coast of North America began with the Virginia Colony in 1607 at[[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]] and the [[Pilgrim Fathers|Pilgrims']] [[Plymouth Colony]] in 1620. Early experiments in communal living failed until the introduction of private farm holdings.<sup>[[United States#cite note-69|[67]]]</sup> Many settlers were[[English Dissenters|dissenting Christian groups]] who came seeking [[Freedom of religion|religious freedom]]. The continent's first elected legislative assembly, Virginia's [[House of Burgesses]] created in 1619, and the[[Mayflower Compact]], signed by the Pilgrims before disembarking, established precedents for the pattern of representative self-government and constitutionalism that would develop throughout the American colonies.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Remini2.E2.80.933-70|[68]]][[United States#cite note-Johnson26.E2.80.9330-71|[69]]]</sup>
Most settlers in every colony were small farmers, but other industries developed within a few decades as varied as the settlements. [[Cash crops]] included tobacco, rice and wheat. Extraction industries grew up in furs, fishing and lumber. Manufacturers produced rum and ships, and by the late colonial period Americans were producing one-seventh of the world's iron supply.<sup>[[United States#cite note-72|[70]]]</sup> Cities eventually dotted the coast to support local economies and serve as trade hubs. English colonists were supplemented by waves of [[Scotch-Irish American|Scotch-Irish]] and other groups. As coastal land grew more expensive freed [[Indentured servant|indentured servants]] pushed further west.<sup>[[United States#cite note-73|[71]]]</sup>
Slave cultivation of cash crops began with the Spanish in the 1500s, and was adopted by the English, but life expectancy was much higher in North America because of less disease and better food and treatment, leading to a rapid increase in the numbers of slaves.<sup>[[United States#cite note-74|[72]]][[United States#cite note-75|[73]]][[United States#cite note-76|[74]]]</sup> Colonial society was largely divided over the religious and moral implications of slavery and colonies passed acts for and against the practice.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Lien522-77|[75]]][[United States#cite note-Davis7-78|[76]]]</sup> But by the turn of the 18th century, African slaves were replacing indentured servants for cash crop labor, especially in southern regions.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Quirk2011-79|[77]]]</sup>
With the British colonization of [[Province of Georgia|Georgia]] in 1732, the [[Thirteen Colonies|13 colonies]] that would become the United States of America were established.<sup>[[United States#cite note-BilhartzElliott2007-80|[78]]]</sup> All had local governments with elections open to most free men, with a growing devotion to the ancient [[rights of Englishmen]] and a sense of self-government stimulating support for republicanism.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Wood1998-81|[79]]]</sup> With extremely high birth rates, low death rates, and steady settlement, the colonial population grew rapidly. Relatively small Native American populations were eclipsed.<sup>[[United States#cite note-82|[80]]]</sup> The [[Christian revival|Christian revivalist]] movement of the 1730s and 1740s known as the [[First Great Awakening|Great Awakening]] fueled interest in both religion and religious liberty.<sup>[[United States#cite note-83|[81]]]</sup>
During the [[Seven Years War]] (also known as the [[French and Indian War]]), British forces seized Canada from the French, but the [[francophone]] population remained politically isolated from the southern colonies. Excluding the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], who were being conquered and displaced, those 13 colonies had a population of over 2.1 million in 1770, about one-third that of Britain. Despite continuing new arrivals, the rate of natural increase was such that by the 1770s only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas.<sup>[[United States#cite note-84|[82]]]</sup> The colonies' distance from Britain had allowed the development of self-government, but their success motivated monarchs to periodically seek to reassert royal authority.<sup>[[United States#cite note-85|[83]]]</sup>
=== Independence and expansion (1776–1865) ===
Further information: [[American Revolutionary War]], [[United States Declaration of Independence]], [[American Revolution]], and [[Territorial evolution of the United States]]
The ''[[Declaration of Independence (Trumbull)|Declaration of Independence]]'': the [[Committee of Five]] presenting their draft to the [[Second Continental Congress]] in 1776
The American Revolutionary War was the first successful colonial war of independence against a European power. Americans had developed an ideology of "[[Republicanism in the United States|republicanism]]" asserting that government rested on the will of the people as expressed in their local legislatures. They demanded their [[Rights of Englishmen|rights as Englishmen]], "no taxation without representation". The British insisted on administering the empire through Parliament, and [[American Revolution|the conflict]] escalated into war.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Humphrey2003-86|[84]]]</sup>
Following the passage of the [[Lee Resolution]], on July 2, 1776, which was the actual vote for independence, the [[Second Continental Congress]] adopted the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], on July 4, which proclaimed, in a long preamble, that humanity is created equal in their unalienable rights and that those rights were not being protected by Great Britain, and declared, in the words of the resolution, that the [[Thirteen Colonies]] were independent states and had no allegiance to the British crown in the United States. The fourth day of July is celebrated annually as [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]]. In 1777, the [[Articles of Confederation]] established a weak government that operated until 1789.<sup>[[United States#cite note-YoungNash2011-87|[85]]]</sup>
Britain recognized the independence of the United States following their [[Siege of Yorktown|defeat at Yorktown]].<sup>[[United States#cite note-88|[86]]]</sup> In the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|peace treaty of 1783]], American sovereignty was recognized from the Atlantic coast west to the Mississippi River. Nationalists led the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Philadelphia Convention]] of 1787 in writing the [[United States Constitution]], [[Ratification of the United States Constitution|ratified]] in state conventions in 1788. The federal government was reorganized into three branches, on the principle of creating salutary checks and balances, in 1789. George Washington, who had led the revolutionary army to victory, was the first [[President of the United States|president]] elected under the new constitution. The [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]], forbidding federal restriction of [[Natural and legal rights|personal freedoms]] and guaranteeing a range of legal protections, was adopted in 1791.<sup>[[United States#cite note-BoyerJr.2007-89|[87]]]</sup>
Although the federal government criminalized the international slave trade in 1808, after 1820, cultivation of the highly profitable cotton crop exploded in the [[Deep South]], and along with it, the slave population.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Cogliano2008-90|[88]]][[United States#cite note-91|[89]]][[United States#cite note-92|[90]]]</sup> The [[Second Great Awakening]], beginning about 1800, converted millions to [[Evangelicalism|evangelical]] Protestantism. In the North, it energized multiple social reform movements, including [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionism]];<sup>[[United States#cite note-Clark2012iu-93|[91]]]</sup> in the South, Methodists and Baptists proselytized among slave populations.<sup>[[United States#cite note-94|[92]]]</sup>
Americans' eagerness to [[United States territorial acquisitions|expand westward]] prompted a long series of [[American Indian Wars]].<sup>[[United States#cite note-BillingtonRidge2001j-95|[93]]]</sup> The [[Louisiana Purchase]] of French-claimed territory in 1803 almost doubled the nation's size.<sup>[[United States#cite note-96|[94]]]</sup> The [[War of 1812]], declared against Britain over various grievances and fought to a draw, strengthened U.S. nationalism.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Wait1999-97|[95]]]</sup> A series of military incursions into Florida led [[Adams–Onís Treaty|Spain to cede]] it and other Gulf Coast territory in 1819.<sup>[[United States#cite note-KloseJones1994-98|[96]]]</sup>Expansion was aided by [[Steam engine|steam power]], when [[steamboats]] began traveling along America's large water systems, which were connected by new [[Canal|canals]], such as the [[Erie Canal|Erie]] and the [[Illinois and Michigan Canal|I&M]]; then, even faster railroads began their stretch across the nation's land.<sup>[[United States#cite note-99|[97]]]</sup>
[[United States territorial acquisitions|U.S. territorial acquisitions]]–portions of each territory were granted statehood since the 18th century.
From 1820 to 1850, [[Jacksonian democracy]] began a set of reforms which included wider white male suffrage; it led to the rise of the [[Second Party System]] of Democrats and Whigs as the dominant parties from 1828 to 1854. The [[Trail of Tears]] in the 1830s exemplified the Indian removal policy that moved Indians into the west to their own reservations. The U.S. annexed the [[Republic of Texas]] in 1845 during a period of expansionist [[Manifest destiny]].<sup>[[United States#cite note-Morrison1999-100|[98]]]</sup> The 1846 [[Oregon Treaty]] with Britain led to U.S. control of the present-day [[Northwestern United States|American Northwest]].<sup>[[United States#cite note-Kemp2010-101|[99]]]</sup> Victory in the [[Mexican–American War]] resulted in the 1848 [[Mexican Cession]] of California and much of the present-day American Southwest.<sup>[[United States#cite note-McIlwraithMuller2001-102|[100]]]</sup>
The [[California Gold Rush]] of 1848–49 spurred western migration and the creation of additional western states.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Rawls1999-103|[101]]]</sup> After the [[American Civil War]], new transcontinental [[Rail transportation in the United States#History|railways]]<nowiki/>made relocation easier for settlers, expanded internal trade and increased conflicts with Native Americans.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Black2011kj-104|[102]]]</sup> Over a half-century, the loss of the [[American bison]] (sometimes called "buffalo") was an existential blow to many [[Plains Indians]] cultures.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Wishart2004-105|[103]]]</sup> In 1869, a new [[Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant#Indian affairs and human rights|Peace Policy]] sought to protect Native-Americans from abuses, avoid further war, and secure their eventual U.S. citizenship, although conflicts, including several of the largest Indian Wars, continued throughout the West into the 1900s.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Smith pp525-526-106|[104]]]</sup>
=== Civil War and Reconstruction Era ===
Further information: [[American Civil War]] and [[Reconstruction Era]]
The [[Battle of Gettysburg]],[[Pennsylvania]] during the Civil War by[[Thure de Thulstrup]]
[[Origins of the American Civil War|Differences of opinion and social order]] between northern and southern states in early United States society, particularly regarding [[Slavery in the United States|Black slavery]], ultimately led to the American Civil War.<sup>[[United States#cite note-107|[105]]]</sup> Initially, states entering the Union alternated between [[slave and free states]], keeping a sectional balance in the Senate, while free states outstripped slave states in population and in the House of Representatives. But with additional western territory and more free-soil states, tensions between slave and free states mounted with arguments over federalism and disposition of the territories, whether and how to expand or restrict slavery.<sup>[[United States#cite note-O.27Brien2002qs-108|[106]]]</sup>
With the 1860 election of [[Abraham Lincoln]], the first president from the largely anti-slavery [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], conventions in thirteen slave states ultimately declared secession and formed the [[Confederate States of America]], while the federal government maintained that secession was illegal.<sup>[[United States#cite note-O.27Brien2002qs-108|[106]]]</sup> The ensuing war was at first for Union, then after 1863 as casualties mounted and Lincoln delivered his [[Emancipation Proclamation]], a second war aim became abolition of slavery. The war remains the deadliest military conflict in American history, resulting in the deaths of approximately 618,000 soldiers as well as many civilians.<sup>[[United States#cite note-109|[107]]]</sup>
Following the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] victory in 1865, [[Reconstruction Amendments|three amendments]] were added to the U.S. Constitution: the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Thirteenth Amendment]] prohibited slavery, the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]]<nowiki/>provided citizenship to the nearly four million [[African American|African Americans]] who had been slaves,<sup>[[United States#cite note-110|[108]]]</sup> and the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth Amendment]] ensured that they had the right to vote. The war and its resolution led to a substantial increase in [[Federalism in the United States|federal power]]<sup>[[United States#cite note-111|[109]]]</sup> aimed at reintegrating and rebuilding the Southern states while ensuring the rights of the newly freed slaves.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Tarr2009-112|[110]]]</sup>Following the [[Reconstruction Era]], throughout the South [[Jim Crow laws]] soon effectively [[Disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction Era|disenfranchised]] most blacks and some poor whites. Over the subsequent decades, in both the North and the South blacks and some whites faced systemic discrimination, including [[Racial segregation in the United States|racial segregation]] and occasional [[Lynching in the United States|vigilante violence]], sparking [[Anti-lynching movement|national movements]] against these abuses.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Tarr2009-112|[110]]]</sup>
=== Industrialization ===
Main articles: [[Economic history of the United States]] and [[Technological and industrial history of the United States]]
[[Ellis Island]] in [[New York City]] was a major gateway for European[[Immigration to the United States|immigration]].
In the North, urbanization and an unprecedented [[Immigration to the United States#History|influx of immigrants]] from Southern and Eastern Europe supplied a surplus of labor for the country's industrialization and transformed its culture.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Powell2009qwet-113|[111]]]</sup> National infrastructure including [[First Transcontinental Telegraph|telegraph]] and [[First Transcontinental Railroad|transcontinental railroads]] spurred economic growth and greater settlement and development of the[[American frontier|American Old West]]. The later invention of [[Incandescent light bulb|electric light]] and the [[telephone]] would also affect communication and urban life.<sup>[[United States#cite note-114|[112]]]</sup>
The end of the [[American Indian Wars|Indian Wars]] further expanded acreage under mechanical cultivation, increasing surpluses for international markets.<sup>[[United States#cite note-115|[113]]]</sup> Mainland expansion was completed by the [[Alaska Purchase|purchase of Alaska]] from [[Russian Empire|Russia]] in 1867.<sup>[[United States#cite note-116|[114]]]</sup> In 1893, pro-American elements in Hawaii [[Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii|overthrew]] the [[Kingdom of Hawaii|monarchy]] and formed the [[Republic of Hawaii]], which the U.S.[[Territory of Hawaii|annexed]] in 1898. [[Puerto Rico]], [[Guam]], and the [[Philippines]] were ceded by Spain in the same year, following the [[Spanish–American War]].<sup>[[United States#cite note-117|[115]]]</sup>
[[Gilded Age|Rapid economic development]] at the end of the 19th century produced many prominent industrialists, and the U.S. economy became the world's largest.<sup>[[United States#cite note-118|[116]]]</sup> Dramatic changes were accompanied by social unrest and the rise of [[People's Party (United States)|populist]], [[History of the socialist movement in the United States|socialist]], and [[Anarchism in the United States|anarchist]] movements.<sup>[[United States#cite note-119|[117]]]</sup> This period eventually ended with the advent of the [[Progressive Era]], which saw significant reforms in many societal areas, including [[women's suffrage]], [[Prohibition in the United States|alcohol prohibition]], regulation of consumer goods, greater [[United States antitrust law|antitrust measures]] to ensure competition and attention to worker conditions.
=== World War I, Great Depression, and World War II ===
Further information: [[World War I]], [[Great Depression]], and [[World War II]]
U.S. troops approaching [[Omaha Beach]] in 1944
The United States remained neutral from the outbreak of [[World War I]], in 1914, until 1917 when it joined the war as an "associated power", alongside the formal [[Allies of World War I]], helping to turn the tide against the [[Central Powers]]. In 1919, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] took a leading diplomatic role at the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]] and advocated strongly for the U.S. to join the [[League of Nations]]. However, the Senate refused to approve this, and did not ratify the [[Treaty of Versailles]] that established the League of Nations.<sup>[[United States#cite note-autogenerated418-120|[118]]]</sup>
In 1920, the women's rights movement won passage of a [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|constitutional amendment]] granting [[Women's suffrage in the United States|women's suffrage]].<sup>[[United States#cite note-voris-121|[119]]]</sup> The 1920s and 1930s saw the rise of [[radio]] for [[mass communication]] and the invention of early [[television]].<sup>[[United States#cite note-122|[120]]]</sup> The prosperity of the [[Roaring Twenties]] ended with the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929]] and the onset of the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]]. After his election as president in 1932, [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] responded with the [[New Deal]], which included the establishment of the [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] system.<sup>[[United States#cite note-123|[121]]]</sup>The [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] of millions of African Americans out of the American South began before World War I and extended through the 1960s;<sup>[[United States#cite note-124|[122]]]</sup> whereas the [[Dust Bowl]] of the mid-1930s impoverished many farming communities and spurred a new wave of western migration.<sup>[[United States#cite note-125|[123]]]</sup>
At first effectively neutral during [[Military history of the United States during World War II|World War II]] while Germany conquered much of continental Europe, the United States began supplying material to the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] in March 1941 through the [[Lend-Lease]] program. On December 7, 1941, the [[Empire of Japan]] launched a surprise [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], prompting the United States to join the Allies against the [[Axis powers]].<sup>[[United States#cite note-Pearl Harbor-126|[124]]]</sup> During the war, the United States was referred as one of the "[[Four Policemen]]"<sup>[[United States#cite note-127|[125]]]</sup> of Allies power who met to plan the postwar world, along with Britain, the Soviet Union and China.<sup>[[United States#cite note-FOOTNOTEHoopesBrinkley1997100-128|[126]]][[United States#cite note-FOOTNOTEGaddis197225-129|[127]]]</sup> Though the nation lost more than 400,000 soldiers,<sup>[[United States#cite note-130|[128]]]</sup> it emerged [[World War II casualties#Human losses by country|relatively undamaged]] from the war with even greater economic and military influence.<sup>[[United States#cite note-131|[129]]]</sup>
The United States played a leading role in the [[Bretton Woods Conference|Bretton Woods]] and [[Yalta Conference|Yalta]] conferences with the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allies, which signed agreements on new international financial institutions and Europe's postwar reorganization. As an [[Victory in Europe Day|Allied victory was won in Europe]], a 1945 [[United Nations Conference on International Organization|international conference]] held in [[San Francisco]] produced the [[United Nations Charter]], which became active after the war.<sup>[[United States#cite note-132|[130]]]</sup> The United States developed the [[Manhattan Project|first nuclear weapons]] and used them on Japan; the Japanese [[Surrender of Japan|surrendered]] on September 2, ending World War II.<sup>[[United States#cite note-133|[131]]]</sup>
=== Cold War and civil rights era ===
Main articles: [[History of the United States (1945–64)]], [[History of the United States (1964–80)]], and [[History of the United States (1980–91)]]
U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]] at his ''[[Tear down this wall!]]'' speech in[[Berlin]] (Germany) on June 12, 1987. The [[Iron Curtain]] of Europe manifested the division of the world's superpowers during the [[Cold War]].
After World War II the United States and the [[Soviet Union]] jockeyed for power during what is known as the [[Cold War]], driven by an ideological divide between [[capitalism]] and[[communism]]<sup>[[United States#cite note-WaggAndrews2012-134|[132]]]</sup> and, according to the school of [[geopolitics]], a divide between the maritime Atlantic and the continental Eurasian camps. They dominated the military affairs of[[Europe]], with the U.S. and its [[NATO]] allies on one side and the USSR and its [[Warsaw Pact]] allies on the other. The U.S. [[Containment|developed a policy of containment]] towards the expansion of communist influence. While the U.S. and Soviet Union engaged in [[Proxy war|proxy wars]] and developed powerful nuclear arsenals, the two countries avoided direct military conflict.
The U.S. often opposed [[Third World]] movements that it viewed as Soviet-sponsored. American troops fought communist [[People's Liberation Army|Chinese]] and [[North Korea|North Korean]] forces in the [[Korean War]] of 1950–53.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Proxy-135|[133]]]</sup> The Soviet Union's 1957 launch of the [[Sputnik 1|first artificial satellite]] and its 1961 launch of the [[Vostok 1|first manned spaceflight]] initiated a "[[Space Race]]" in which the United States became the first nation to [[Apollo 11|land a man on the moon]] in 1969.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Proxy-135|[133]]]</sup> A proxy war in Southeast Asia eventually evolved into full American participation, as the [[Vietnam War]].
At home, the U.S. experienced [[Post–World War II economic expansion|sustained economic expansion]] and a [[Post–World War II baby boom|rapid growth of its population]] and middle class. Construction of an [[Interstate Highway System]] transformed the nation's infrastructure over the following decades. Millions moved from farms and [[Inner city|inner cities]] to large [[Suburb|suburban]] housing developments.<sup>[[United States#cite note-136|[134]]][[United States#cite note-IntHighways-137|[135]]]</sup> In 1959 [[Hawaii]] became the 50th and last U.S. state added to the country.<sup>[[United States#cite note-Lightner2004-138|[136]]]</sup> A growing [[African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)|civil rights movement]] used [[nonviolence]] to confront segregation and discrimination, with [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]<nowiki/>becoming a prominent leader and figurehead. A combination of court decisions and legislation, culminating in the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], sought to end racial discrimination.<sup>[[United States#cite note-139|[137]]][[United States#cite note-140|[138]]][[United States#cite note-141|[139]]]</sup> Meanwhile, a [[Counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture movement]] grew which was fueled by [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|opposition to the Vietnam war]], [[black nationalism]], and the [[sexual revolution]]. The launch of a "[[War on Poverty]]" expanded entitlements and welfare spending.<sup>[[United States#cite note-142|[140]]]</sup>
The 1970s and early 1980s saw the onset of [[stagflation]]. After his election in 1980, President [[Ronald Reagan]] responded to economic stagnation with [[Reaganomics|free-market oriented reforms]]. Following the collapse of [[détente]], he abandoned "containment" and initiated the more aggressive "[[rollback]]" strategy towards the USSR.<sup>[[United States#cite note-143|[141]]][[United States#cite note-144|[142]]][[United States#cite note-145|[143]]][[United States#cite note-146|[144]]][[United States#cite note-147|[145]]]</sup> After a surge in female labor participation over the previous decade, by 1985 the majority of women aged 16 and over were employed.<sup>[[United States#cite note-148|[146]]]</sup>
The late 1980s brought a "[[Cold War (1985–91)|thaw]]" in relations with the USSR, and [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|its collapse]] in 1991 finally ended the Cold War.<sup>[[United States#cite note-149|[147]]][[United States#cite note-150|[148]]][[United States#cite note-151|[149]]][[United States#cite note-152|[150]]]</sup> This brought about [[unipolarity]]<sup>[[United States#cite note-153|[151]]]</sup> with the U.S. unchallenged as the world's dominant superpower. The concept of [[Pax Americana]], which had appeared in the post-World War II period, gained wide popularity as a term for the post-Cold War [[New world order (politics)|new world order.]]
=== Contemporary history ===
Main article: [[History of the United States (1991–present)]]
The former [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] in [[Lower Manhattan]] during [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001
[[One World Trade Center]], built in its place
After the Cold War, the 1990s saw the [[1990s United States boom|longest economic expansion]] in modern U.S. history, ending in 2001.<sup>[[United States#cite note-154|[152]]]</sup> Originating in [[ARPANET|U.S. defense networks]], the[[Internet]] spread to international academic networks, and then to the public in the 1990s, greatly affecting the global economy, society, and culture.<sup>[[United States#cite note-155|[153]]]</sup>On [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001]], [[Al-Qaeda]] terrorists struck the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] in New York City and [[the Pentagon]] near Washington, D.C., killing nearly 3,000 people.<sup>[[United States#cite note-156|[154]]]</sup> In response, the United States launched the [[War on Terror]], which included [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|war in Afghanistan]] and the 2003–11 [[Iraq War]].<sup>[[United States#cite note-157|[155]]][[United States#cite note-158|[156]]]</sup>
Beginning in 1994, the U.S. entered into the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] (NAFTA), linking 450 million people producing $17 trillion worth of goods and services. The goal of the agreement was to eliminate trade and investment barriers among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico by January 1, 2008; trade among the partners has soared since the agreement went into force.<sup>[[United States#cite note-159|[157]]]</sup>
[[Barack Obama]], the first [[African American]],<sup>[[United States#cite note-160|[158]]]</sup> and [[Multiracial American|multiracial]]<sup>[[United States#cite note-161|[159]]]</sup> president, was elected in 2008 amid the [[Great Recession]],<sup>[[United States#cite note-162|[160]]]</sup> which began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009.<sup>[[United States#cite note-163|[161]]]</sup>
== Politika ==
| 