American History

Native Americans
In 1498, still looking for a western route to the continent of Asia, Columbus
finally landed on the mainland of America. Convinced he had landed
somewhere on the coast of India, he decided to call the natives “Indians”.
He described them as “tall, friendly and handsome, with beautiful voices”.
It is estimated that there were nearly two million Indians when the first
Europeans landed on the American continent. By the beginning of the 19th
century, more than half were gone, and the survivors were fighting for
their lives against the white invaders.

The Puritans
Between 1607 and 1650 some 90,000 Puritans settled in the New World.
Around 70,000 of them were English. The others came from Sweden,
Holland and the German states. These Puritans, so-called because they
wanted to purify the Protestant Church, left Europe to escape persecution.
The Mayflower was the name of the ship which brought the first 101
English Puritans to the New World in 1620. The trip took over two months
and during the voyage one person died and two were born. The Mayflower
left from Plymouth, in England, and arrived on the American coast far to
the north of Jamestown.

The Slave Trade

A Dutch ship arrived in Jamestown as early as 1620 with twenty men from
the west coast of Africa. By 1776, black slaves working in cotton and
tobacco fields represented a fifth of the total population.

The Thirteen Colonies

Little by little thirteen colonies were founded and came under British rule.
Not all the settlers were English, nor were they all Puritans. Some came to
make their fortune, and others were convicts who were transported to the
colonies.

The War of Independence

By 1775, the population of the American colonies had reached 2,600,000.
However, there were many problems with England. War broke out and
George Washington became commander-in-chief of the colonists’ army.
On July 4th, 1776, the American Declaration of Independence stated that
the colonies were separating from Great Britain. After a long and hard war,
a peace treaty was signed with Britain and George Washington was
inaugurated as first President of the United States.

The Civil War

In 1861 the American Civil War broke out when eleven southern states
rejected the anti-slavery views of President Lincoln and the northern states
and announced they were an independent nation. In 1865 the South was
defeated but a few days later Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by a
madman.

Gold!
In 1848 gold was discovered in California and the Gold Rush started.
People left their homes, families, farms, shops and factories to go to
California. They travelled in wagon trains across the continent and then
dug for gold. They were called Forty-niners because the year was 1849,
and in just a few months the population of San Francisco jumped from less
than 1,000 to 25,000.