The USA is a very big country. It lies between Canada
and Mexico and between the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. There are 50
states in the USA, including Alaska and Hawaii which are separated from the
rest of the states.
The USA is a Federal Republic. The head of state is the President who lives and works in the White House in Washington D.C.
The first settlers came from Europe nearly 70
years later. In the 17th Century, there were settlers from France, the
Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Great Britain. In the 18th Century, African slaves
arrived to work in the plantations where they grew cotton and tobacco.
The first 13 colonies were part of the British
Empire but wanted to be independent: so there was the American Revolution (1775-1783).
The colonies won the war and founded the USA. 1776- Declaration of Indipendence. George Washington became the
first President in 1789.
The first colonies were on the East Coast. Pioneers travelled west and took
the land from the Native Americans through wars and mass killings. Then
the Natives were segregated into small reservations. For more than 30 years the US Army and the Natives fought
each other, but the Natives lost their land.
In the 19th Century, gold was discovered in
California. A lot of people from all over the world went to live there to work
in the railways and mines. In the South of the USA, there were big farms, and the
owners used slaves in the plantations. The northern States were against
slavery, so the states in the South wanted to be independent. There was the American Civil War (1861-1865). Slavery in the USA became illegal.The northern States won the war and slavery was
abolished, but in the South racial segregation remained for many years.
Immigrants arrived in the USA from all over the world until the 20th Century. The immigrants brought their national traditions in the USA and they were all mixed together in a multicultural nation. This is why the USA was called the great melting pot.