USA Introduction
Mickey Mouse, Miami Vice, Sleepless in Seattle… thanks to cinema and TV we all have impressions of the United States of America. Yet nothing can prepare you for your first glimpse of Manhattan’s unforgettable skyline, your first ride in a yellow cab, the ubiquitous hamburger joints, the vast expanses of prairie, the sweet strains of New Orleans jazz or the neon-lit excesses of Las Vegas.
The USA is a huge country to explore, with 50 states to choose from, flanked by two oceans and covering an incredibly varied terrain. For five centuries, since the ‘New World’ discoveries of Christopher Columbus, people from every corner of the globe have come here in search of ‘the American Dream’. Between them, they have created the richest, most powerful country on earth, and a fascinating melting pot of cultures and traditions.
Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in North America in 1492, the continent was inhabited by peoples thought to have been descended from nomadic Mongolian tribes who had travelled across the Barents Sea. The first wave of European settlers, mainly English, French and Dutch, crossed the Atlantic in the 17th century and colonised the Eastern Seaboard. The restrictions on political rights and the punitive taxation which the British government imposed on the American colonists led to the American War of Independence (1775–1783), with the Declaration of Independence being signed in 1776. The outcome was a humiliating defeat for the English King, George III. The American Constitution born of this victory has been imitated by many other countries.
By 1853, the boundaries of the United States were, with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii, as they are today. Economic activity in the southern States centred on plantation agriculture dependent on slavery. Attempts by liberally inclined Republicans, led by Abraham Lincoln, to end slavery were fiercely opposed. The election of Lincoln to the presidency in 1861 precipitated a political crisis in which seven southern States (joined later by three others) seceded from the Union, leading to the American Civil War. The more powerful and better equipped Union forces prevailed over the rebel Confederacy after four years of fighting. After the war, the country entered a period of consolidation, building up an industrial economy and settling the vast interior region of America known as the Midwest.
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001, which claimed over 3000 lives, made for a defining moment in American history. The impact on the American people and its body politic was immense. The country demanded action, and President George W Bush immediately despatched a substantial force to tackle and destroy the perpetrators: the al-Qaeda movement headed by Osama Bin Laden and its hosts, the Taleban regime in Afghanistan. The Taleban were brought down within weeks. Some senior al-Qaeda personnel were captured, including Kahlid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged organiser of ‘9/11’, but others, including Bin Laden himself, eluded capture.
The Bush administration now turned its sights upon the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. With support from Britain and others, the Americans sought to use Saddam’s possession of ‘weapons of mass destruction’ – a phrase encompassing nuclear, chemical and biological armaments – to justify an invasion of Iraq. This was completed in March 2003 after three weeks of fighting. However, no weapons of mass destruction have been found, a fact which has since caused some political embarrassment for Bush and his allies. The Iraq campaign was an undoubted military success. Most of the leading figures from Iraq’s brutal Ba’athist regime were captured, including Saddam Hussein himself, or killed. But American and allied forces have since been confronted by a dogged insurgency which, using paramilitary tactics, has claimed hundreds of soldiers’ lives and continues to destabilise efforts to rebuild Iraq according to the American blueprint.
More recently, the country suffered from changes in the major weather patterns. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused widespread damage in the states of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Communications and the transport infrastructure were badly affected. There were a number of casualties. Some infrastructure damages are still being repaired but most tourist parts of the states are now ready for visitors.
The USA is a huge country to explore, with 50 states to choose from, flanked by two oceans and covering an incredibly varied terrain. For five centuries, since the ‘New World’ discoveries of Christopher Columbus, people from every corner of the globe have come here in search of ‘the American Dream’. Between them, they have created the richest, most powerful country on earth, and a fascinating melting pot of cultures and traditions.
Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in North America in 1492, the continent was inhabited by peoples thought to have been descended from nomadic Mongolian tribes who had travelled across the Barents Sea. The first wave of European settlers, mainly English, French and Dutch, crossed the Atlantic in the 17th century and colonised the Eastern Seaboard. The restrictions on political rights and the punitive taxation which the British government imposed on the American colonists led to the American War of Independence (1775–1783), with the Declaration of Independence being signed in 1776. The outcome was a humiliating defeat for the English King, George III. The American Constitution born of this victory has been imitated by many other countries.
By 1853, the boundaries of the United States were, with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii, as they are today. Economic activity in the southern States centred on plantation agriculture dependent on slavery. Attempts by liberally inclined Republicans, led by Abraham Lincoln, to end slavery were fiercely opposed. The election of Lincoln to the presidency in 1861 precipitated a political crisis in which seven southern States (joined later by three others) seceded from the Union, leading to the American Civil War. The more powerful and better equipped Union forces prevailed over the rebel Confederacy after four years of fighting. After the war, the country entered a period of consolidation, building up an industrial economy and settling the vast interior region of America known as the Midwest.
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001, which claimed over 3000 lives, made for a defining moment in American history. The impact on the American people and its body politic was immense. The country demanded action, and President George W Bush immediately despatched a substantial force to tackle and destroy the perpetrators: the al-Qaeda movement headed by Osama Bin Laden and its hosts, the Taleban regime in Afghanistan. The Taleban were brought down within weeks. Some senior al-Qaeda personnel were captured, including Kahlid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged organiser of ‘9/11’, but others, including Bin Laden himself, eluded capture.
The Bush administration now turned its sights upon the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. With support from Britain and others, the Americans sought to use Saddam’s possession of ‘weapons of mass destruction’ – a phrase encompassing nuclear, chemical and biological armaments – to justify an invasion of Iraq. This was completed in March 2003 after three weeks of fighting. However, no weapons of mass destruction have been found, a fact which has since caused some political embarrassment for Bush and his allies. The Iraq campaign was an undoubted military success. Most of the leading figures from Iraq’s brutal Ba’athist regime were captured, including Saddam Hussein himself, or killed. But American and allied forces have since been confronted by a dogged insurgency which, using paramilitary tactics, has claimed hundreds of soldiers’ lives and continues to destabilise efforts to rebuild Iraq according to the American blueprint.
More recently, the country suffered from changes in the major weather patterns. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused widespread damage in the states of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Communications and the transport infrastructure were badly affected. There were a number of casualties. Some infrastructure damages are still being repaired but most tourist parts of the states are now ready for visitors.
Teresa Fisher