History of United States

Mississippian culture, 800 CE–1600 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Mississippian period is an archaeological cultural era in the history of the Southern United States and adjacent areas of the Eastern Woodlands spanning the end of the 10th century to the 16th century. The Mississippians were characterized by theocratic governance, population centers, and the predominance of maize agriculture. Founded in 1050, the city of Cahokia likely had a population of at least 22,400 at its peak around 1124.

Seat of power: Cahokia

Thirteen Colonies, 1607–1776 Draft, not yet reviewed

The first of the colonies, Virginia, was established at Jamestown in 1607. Between 1625 and 1775, the colonial population grew from 2 thousand to 2.4 million, largely displacing the region's Native Americans. Late 18th century conflicts with the British government over taxes and rights led to the American Revolution, in which the Thirteen Colonies joined for the first time to form the Continental Congress and raised the Continental Army, declaring independence in 1776.

Seat of power: Philadelphia

Antebellum, 1789–1861 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from France nearly doubled the territory of the United States. The Erie Canal accelerated the settlement of the Great Lakes region, the westward expansion of the United States, and the economic ascendancy of New York state. Dispute with Mexico over Texas led to the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). Beginning with South Carolina, 11 slave-state governments voted to secede from the United States in 1860–1861, joining to create the Confederate States of America.

Seat of power: Washington, D.C.

Rulers

• George Washington, President of the United States, 1789–1797
• John Adams, President of the United States, 1797–1801
• Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States, 1801–1809
• James Madison, President of the United States, 1809–1817
• James Monroe, President of the United States, 1817–1825
• John Quincy Adams, President of the United States, 1825–1829
• Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, 1829–1837
• Martin Van Buren, President of the United States, 1837–1841
• John Tyler, President of the United States, 1841–1845
• William Henry Harrison, President of the United States, 1841–1841
• James K. Polk, President of the United States, 1845–1849
• Zachary Taylor, President of the United States, 1849–1850
• Millard Fillmore, President of the United States, 1850–1853
• Franklin Pierce, President of the United States, 1853–1857
• James Buchanan, President of the United States, 1857–1861

Reconstruction Era, 1863–1877 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Reconstruction era, often simply called Reconstruction, was a period in United States history that followed the American Civil War (1861–1865) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the abolition of slavery and federal control over, and reintegration of, the former Confederate States into the United States. Three amendments were added to the United States Constitution to grant citizenship and equal civil rights to the newly freed slaves. To circumvent these, former Confederate states imposed poll taxes and literacy tests and sought to intimidate and control the Black population and discourage or prevent them from voting.

Seat of power: Washington, D.C.

Rulers

• Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, 1861–1865
• Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, 1865–1869
• Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, 1869–1877

Gilded Age, 1870–1900 Draft, not yet reviewed

In United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. The rapid expansion of industrialization led to real wage growth of 40% from 1860 to 1890, spreading across the expanding labor force. Railroads were the major growth industry, with the factory system, oil, mining, and finance increasing in importance. The Gilded Age was also an era of visible poverty.

Seat of power: Washington, D.C.

Rulers

• Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, 1869–1877
• Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States, 1877–1881
• Chester A. Arthur, President of the United States, 1881–1885
• James A. Garfield, President of the United States, 1881–1881
• Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, 1885–1889
• Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States, 1889–1893
• Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, 1893–1897
• William McKinley, President of the United States, 1897–1901

Progressive Era, 1897–1920 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) was a period in the United States characterized by multiple social and political reform efforts. To revitalize democracy, progressives established direct primary elections, direct election of senators (rather than by state legislatures), initiatives and referendums, and women's suffrage (which was promoted to advance democracy and bring the presumed moral influence of women into politics). Progressives also targeted monopolies, which they worked to regulate through trustbusting and antitrust laws with the goal of promoting fair competition, and advocated new government agencies focused on regulation of industry.

Seat of power: Washington, D.C.

Rulers

• William McKinley, President of the United States, 1897–1901
• Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, 1901–1909
• William Howard Taft, President of the United States, 1909–1913
• Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, 1913–1921

the United States of America, 1920 to today Draft, not yet reviewed

The United States entered World War I alongside the Allies in 1917, helping to turn the tide against the Central Powers. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 had triggered the Great Depression, to which President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded with the New Deal plan of "reform, recovery and relief". The Fall of Communism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union from 1989 to 1991 marked the end of the Cold War and left the United States as the world's sole superpower.

Seat of power: Washington, D.C.

Rulers

• Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, 1913–1921
• Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States, 1923–1929
• Herbert Hoover, President of the United States, 1929–1933
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States, 1933–1945
• Harry S. Truman, President of the United States, 1945–1953
• Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States, 1953–1961
• Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States, 1963–1969
• Richard Nixon, President of the United States, 1969–1974
• Jimmy Carter, President of the United States, 1977–1981
• Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, 1981–1989
• George H. W. Bush, President of the United States, 1989–1993
• Bill Clinton, President of the United States, 1993–2001
• George W. Bush, President of the United States, 2001–2009
• Barack Obama, President of the United States, 2009–2017
• Donald Trump, President of the United States, 2025–2029