United States¶

Area

North America

In 1776, thirteen British colonies on the eastern seaboard of North America declared independence from Britain who was having none of it. This set the American Revolutionary War into full swing, which lasted for about seven years, eventually blooming into a full-scale international war. In the end, it was the first successful colonial war of independence. One of the greatest things about the formation of the United States of America is it Constitution, crafted by Enlightenment-informed free-thinkers the likes of which politics sorely misses today. It is the oldest (and shortest) written constitution still in use in the world.

Throughout the 19^th century, the United States acquired territory from many sources and did not acquire some that it tried to get (like Canada). By the 1860s, disputes between the agriculture-based southern states and the industrial north led to the American Civil War which raged for five years and ended with the north victorious, slavery abolished, and the country in one piece.

Up until the end of the 20^th century, the US grew in power and influence, eventually becoming the only superpower on the planet. For every $100 in world-wide military spending, $40 of it is spent by the US. What the 21^st century (and beyond) will bring is anybody's guess.

United States on Wikipedia