Early United States history

The United States has existed longer as an independent country than most other countries in the world. Thousands of years after Native Americans settled the continent, the British established Thirteen Colonies along the Atlantic coast. These colonies declared independence in 1776, and were recognized by their mother country as independent in 1783. From there, the fledgling republic set out to expand across the North American continent, until it nearly tore itself apart.

This article starts with the first European settlement in the 1500s. It covers the colonial era, the American Revolution, and the early republic up until the outbreak of civil war in 1861.

Following the first voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492, the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire were the first Europeans to claim land in the New World. Saint Augustine, Florida was founded by the Spaniards in 1513; it is the oldest continuously-occupied Euro-American settlement in what's now the United States. These powers focused on colonies south of the U.S., so after a century, European settlements in today's continental United States were few and far between. The Spaniards did expand into what is now New Mexico in the 1600s, founding Santa Fe.

By the late 1500s, Iberian control of the New World was becoming tenuous. England, the Netherlands and France rushed to colonize the islands of the Caribbean, which was seen as prime land for slave-based plantations. In 1586, Sir Walter Raleigh tries to establish a British colony at Roanoke Island, in what would later become North Carolina. This is now known as the "lost colony", as all the colonists soon disappeared without a trace. It is possible that the colonists joined the local Native American tribe, but no-one really knows what happened for sure.

• 35.936944-75.7088891 Roanoke. Site of one of the earliest attempts at a British colony in North America.  
• 29.89461-81.314362 St. Augustine, Florida. The oldest surviving European settlement in the United States.  
• 35.6916-105.937383 Santa Fe, New Mexico (off map). The capital of New Mexico has its Spanish Plaza at its center, featuring the 17th-century Palace of the Governors, with its history museum.  (updated Apr 2015)

English colonization of North America began in earnest in the 17th century. Raleigh founded Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, the first lasting British colony in what is now the U.S. In 1620, religious pilgrims founded the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, quickly followed by Salem and Boston.

With the success of Jamestown, Plymouth and Massachusetts, the British colonized the rest of the Atlantic coast in short order, resulting in 13 colonies, corresponding to the current states along the Atlantic from Georgia to New Hampshire. Lord Baltimore, turning away from his mostly unsuccessful investments in Newfoundland, started the first colony in Maryland in 1634. Charles Town, now Charleston, South Carolina, is founded in 1670 and quickly becomes a major port city. Philadelphia was founded in 1682.

Other powers tried their hand at colonizing the mainland. The Dutch founded Nieuw Amsterdam in 1625 as part of New Netherland (Dutch: Nieuw-Nederland), which encompassed most of what's now New York State. Britain conquered New Netherland in 1664, renaming both the colony and the city after the Duke of York. Throughout this period, conflicts with indigenous peoples were frequent as Europeans expanded into their territory.

The New World was a side theater for acting out conflicts amongst the European powers. The French and Indian War from 1754-1763 was the North American theater of the Seven Year's War. The French lost Quebec and other colonies in what is now Canada to Britain, and the British expelled French-speaking Acadians from Atlantic Canada; many went to the remaining French colony of Louisiana. This war saw the emergence of many of the future American independence heroes.

In many old towns across America, historic buildings and objects still remain.

• 41.95833-70.667784 Plymouth, Massachusetts. The place where the Puritan "Pilgrims" landed in 1620, and the site of the original Thanksgiving holiday. The oldest surviving colony in New England.  
• 42.51944-70.896675 Salem, Massachusetts. Among other things, known for the Salem Witch Trials.  
• 42.61583-70.661946 Gloucester, Massachusetts. The oldest seaport in the United States.  
• 41.4901-71.31287 Newport, Rhode Island. Long ago one of America's largest cities, its 19th-century decline had the fringe benefit of leaving its colonial character intact.  
• 40.719-74.0028 New York, New York. Originally a Dutch colony, named Nieuw Amsterdam.  
• 38.9767-76.4899349 Annapolis, Maryland. A colonial port city with many preserved buildings.  
• 37.270833-76.70694410 Williamsburg, Virginia. Includes the Jamestown settlement, the first British colony to survive in what's now the United States; Colonial Williamsburg; and other preserved relics from the colonial and revolutionary periods.  (updated Apr 2015)
• 37.03-76.3452811 Hampton, Virginia. The Fort Monroe National Monument.  
• 32.78121-79.9315412 Charleston, South Carolina. This charming city has a neighborhood with a large number of well-preserved antebellum (that is, pre-Civil War) mansions. Many houses in other parts of town are elegant and of some age, too.  (updated Apr 2015)
• 32.08097-81.0907713 Savannah, Georgia. Founded in 1733. Captured by the British during the Revolutionary War.  

• Braddock Expedition

The struggle for American independence began in the 1760s, in the aftermath of the French and Indian War. The Revolution began in earnest in 1775, with the 1776 Declaration of Independence seen as a defining moment and the birth of the nation. The American Revolutionary War, also known as the "War of Independence", continued until the colonists achieved victory in 1783.

• 42.360278-71.05777814 Boston, Massachusetts. Much of the prelude to the War of Independence happened here, such as the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre.  
  • Freedom Trail — A major tourist draw of significant historical sites in Boston. These 17 locations spread over 2.5 mi (4.0 km) are crucial to understanding revolutionary era America.
• 42.460278-71.34944415 Concord, Massachusetts. One of the first battlefields of the War of Independence has been commemorated with the Minute Man National Historical Park.  
• 39.952778-75.16361116 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The capital of the Union during the Revolution, where the Declaration of Independence was drafted and signed. Independence National Historic Park features the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall (home of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution) and other buildings from this period.  
• 40.309444-74.88055617 Titusville, New Jersey. General George Washington crossed the Delaware River here in 1776 to enter Pennsylvania, launching the first campaign of the Continental Army.  
• 43.858333-73.45416718 Fort Ticonderoga, New York. This fort was captured by Ethan Allen’s Patriots under cover of darkness in 1776 as part of a siege.  
• 40.094722-75.37805619 Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The camp where Washington trained the Continental Army into a fighting force over the winter of 1777-1778.  
• 38.679194-87.53559420 George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, Indiana. Commemorates the capture of Fort Sackville from British forces in 1779. This allowed George Rogers Clark to march to the Mississippi River.  
• Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route. A 680-mile (1,090 km) National Historic Trail which describes a Continental Army campaign in 1781. Washington, Rochambeau (dispatched by French King Louis XVI) and their staffs arrived in Williamsburg on September 14, gathering the troops and supplies to begin the siege at Yorktown, which came to be the last major land battle of the war.
• 40.7966-74.477321 Morristown, New Jersey. The First Presbyterian Church was a hospital for soldiers.  
• 44.743729-65.51890722 Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia (Canada). Faced a total of 13 attacks during its long history, including a raid during the American Revolution. After the war, it became home to United Empire Loyalist settlers.  

The current constitution entered into force in 1789 and the "Bill of Rights" was passed the same year, entering into force in 1793. The Bill of Rights is the second oldest declaration of civil and human rights to acquire force of law and the oldest one to still be in force unaltered and uninterrupted.

• 40.91667-74.1719423 Paterson, New Jersey. "The Silk City" was the nation's first planned industrial city.  
• 38.90092-77.0244624 Washington, D.C.. Founded in 1800, this city contains many artifacts from the Independence era  

The British restricted colonial settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains. With the British out, the new nation aggressively expanded westward. With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the U.S. bought France's remaining colonies in North America. President Jefferson commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore what is to become nearly 30% of the modern country.

By the 1840s, a land rush sent settlers westward to Oregon's Willamette Valley. Frontier settlers in what is now Texas provoke a conflict that becomes the 1846-1848 Mexican-American War, which results in the conquest of much of the southwest. The very next year, the 1849 California gold rush sent starry-eyed prospectors westward. Meanwhile, in 1830 the first scheduled passenger rail service departed Charleston under steam power. By 1869, a Last Spike will join coast to coast.

• 40.454167-78.54027825 Allegheny Portage Railroad, Pennsylvania (near Altoona). A railroad, operating 1834 to 1854, which became an early gateway between the Atlantic and the Midwest. Contains the first American railroad tunnel.  
• 29.425556-98.48611126 The Alamo, San Antonio, Texas (off map). Considered to be hallowed ground and the Shrine of Texas Liberty, the Alamo is a former mission which was also the site of the Battle of the Alamo (1836). Admission is free, although donations are appreciated. Revenues from an adjacent gift shop fund the historic preservation efforts.  
• 38.575278-121.48611127 Sacramento, California. Founded during the 1849 gold rush. Old Sacramento is well preserved.  

• Erie Canal
• Trail of Tears

With the Napoleonic Wars raging in Europe, perhaps colonial powers of the era could be kept distracted for long enough for the U.S. to attempt an invasion of Canada?

• Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail, between Baltimore and Washington, commemorates the War of 1812.
• 40.506056-86.84466728 Tippecanoe Battlefield Park, near Lafayette, Indiana. The 1811 battle between the U.S. and the Shawnee forced the Shawnee to flee to Canada seeking British support, one of the principal causes of the war to erupt one year later.  
• The Niagara Peninsula was a key battleground. Various installations directly on the Canada-U.S. international boundary date to this era, or were constructed in the immediate aftermath of this conflict.
  • 44.230264-76.45968129 Fort Henry, Kingston, Ontario (Canada). One of multiple fortifications which, along with the Rideau Canal to Ottawa, form Kingston's only UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site. The current Fort Henry (built 1832-37) replaces an earlier fortification of the same name constructed during the War of 1812. Because of its strategic location controlling access between the eastern Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River, Kingston has a long military history. Its principal adversaries circa-1812 were U.S. fortifications at Sackets Harbor and Oswego, directly across Lake Ontario.  
  • 43.638889-79.40361130 Fort York National Historic Site, Toronto, Ontario (Canada). The current Fort York replaces fortifications destroyed by a U.S. attack in the Battle of York in 1813, in which 2700 men with 85 cannons defeated 750 British-Canadians and natives. Infamously, retreating British Commander Major General Sir Roger Sheaffe ignited the fort’s gunpowder magazine, killing or wounding 250 Americans in a devastating explosion. Over the next six days, American forces occupied York, looting and burning public buildings. In retaliation the British attacked Washington, DC and burned the White House.  
• 39.263333-76.5831 Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland. Defensive installation for the city of Baltimore, famous for defending Baltimore Harbor against a British attack on September 13–14, 1814. Francis Scott Key wrote the U.S. national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, describing the battle in music.  
• 32.3264-64.833332 Ireland Island, Bermuda (UK). Established in 1809 as a British naval base, it supplied British ships in the War of 1812 and the American Civil War.  
• 29.9456-89.961733 Chalmette Battlefield (Battle of New Orleans), Chalmette, Louisiana. The war ended on December 24, 1814. Word travelled slowly in this era, leaving one last battle to be fought over control of the Mississippi River on January 8, 1815, before the armies learned of the treaty. Andrew Jackson won this battle for the U.S.  

Southern states allowed slavery throughout this period, while northern states increasingly ended the practice. This became a central tension within the young nation. In an attempt by abolitionists to repatriate freed slaves to Africa, Liberia, the first overseas colonial possession of the United States, was founded in 1822 for the settlement of freed African-American slaves. Liberia eventually declares independence in 1847. By 1850, a nascent Underground Railroad proposes Canada as the promised land, after the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act enables abduction and capture of runaway slaves - and in some cases even unlucky free blacks who couldn't prove their freedom - nationwide.

• 32.777222-79.9334 Old Slave Mart, Charleston, South Carolina. One of the few surviving buildings in the United States where slaves were traded. It has been converted to a museum.  
• 30.039167-90.65055635 Whitney Plantation, Edgard, Louisiana. A former sugarcane and rice plantation that was home to numerous African-American slaves. It has been converted to a museum with a focus on slavery, with a memorial to the numerous slaves that perished here.  
• 30.027222-90.64055636 Evergreen Plantation, Edgard, Louisiana. The Evergreen Plantation is still an active sugarcane plantation. The plantation is open for tours, and the slave cabins dating back to the antebellum period survive and can be viewed on the tour.  
• 33.920556-80.34472237 Ellison House, Sumter, South Carolina. Home of William Ellison, who had been a slave named "April" before he was freed in 1816 and changed his name. After gaining his freedom, Ellison would grow to become a successful plantation owner in his own right and the richest black person in South Carolina, and would even end up owning many slaves himself.  
• 35.149444-96.49444438 Seminole Nation Museum, Wewoka, Oklahoma. Museum dedicated to the Seminole tribe of Native Americans, who were among the slave-owning tribes forced out of their traditional homelands during the Trail of Tears. The museum also contains exhibits about the Seminole-owned slaves, who were granted tribal citizenship after they were freed.  

• Black Belt — the southern plantation region, with many important locations in African-American history
• Black Heritage Trail — This trail covers ten sites important in American black history scattered throughout Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood.
• Underground Railroad — A network of escape routes to Canada.

• El Camino Real
• From Plymouth to Hampton Roads showcases historical destinations along the northern Atlantic coast
• From St. Augustine to Hampton Roads showcases historical destinations along the southern Atlantic coast
• American Industry Tour begins with the antebellum industries of the Northeast.
• Touring Shaker country

• Amish and Mennonites
• Early modern Europe
• In the footsteps of explorers