The American Journey: Reconstruction to the Present

Chapter/Prologue 1: A Nation Is Born

Chapter Overviews

Many of the first Americans may have walked across a land bridge connecting Siberia and Alaska, while others may have paddled in boats down the Pacific Coast. They spread throughout the Americas and developed highly organized societies. Around the same time, in other parts of the world, a new age of discovery and exploration dawned. By the 1400s, Europeans had developed the technology, financing, and attitudes necessary to begin overseas voyages of exploration. Exploration led to empire building. Throughout the 1600s and 1700s, the English founded settlements along the Atlantic coast of North America. These colonies eventually thrived economically.

Life in the colonies was different for different groups. Upper-class white men ran much of society. Women could not vote, but they were full partners in running farms and sometimes businesses. Enslaved persons became property with no legal protection. Native Americans suffered from battles with colonists over land and from epidemics of European diseases.

Relations between Britain and the colonies deteriorated due to Britain's tightening controls and unpopular laws. In 1776 the colonists issued the Declaration of Independence, which formally notified the world that the colonies were "free and independent States." During the War for Independence, the Americans carried out a long struggle against a larger British force. With the help of France, the colonists achieved a stunning victory over Great Britain.

In the wake of independence, the colonies developed a plan-the Articles of Confederation-to unite them. Because of these problems caused by the weak national government established by the Articles, a bold group of leaders met during the summer of 1787 and drafted a new plan of government-the Constitution. The Constitution established a powerful two-house Congress, a strong chief executive, and a national judicial system.