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22 History in Brief
History in Brief
The Declaration of Independence in 1776 was a glorious event that shaped the United States of America—a nation that had earlier been shaped by various settlers from diverse origins who had called the New World their home.
TTfTTTfPre-Columbian Period
Hunters and nomads who crossed the Bering Land Bridge thought to have connected Asia and North America
first set foot in the United States about 30,000 to 34,000 years ago. Their first major activities on the land were foraging, agriculture (including irrigation) and primary village life associated with clan orientation and communal approaches.
Arrival of Europeans
The first Europeans to reach North America were the Icelandic Vikings, in about the year AD 1000. In 1492, the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus, acting on behalf of the Spanish crown, sailed west from Europe and landed on one of the islands in the Bahamas, off the southeast coast of North America (near Cuba). In 40 years, Spanish influence became strongly established in Central and South America. While the Spanish were pushing up from the south, the northern portion of the present-day United States
was slowly being revealed through the journeys of men such as Giovanni da Verrazano, a Florentine who sailed for the French and made landfall in North Carolina in 1524, then sailed north along the Atlantic coast past what is now New York Harbor.
The Colonial Period
The colonization of the United States exhibits a rich past and Americans’ willingness to embrace other cultures. When the floodgates of emigration from Europe to North America were opened, English arrived to build the first English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. Early settlements followed in New England, the Middle Colonies and the Southern Colonies. In 1620, Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower and founded Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts.
In 1681, William Penn, a wealthy Quaker, received a large tract of land, which became known as Pennsylvania, and recruited immigrants, among them many religious dissenters. This became home to the first German community in Pennsylvania. Colonization was so swift such that by 1733, thirteen English colonies had been established along the Atlantic coast. Colonists came to America for various purposes—to seek freedom from oppression, to practice their religion, for adventure or for profit, all of which were denied to them in their home countries. Time and again, America stands as a symbol of hope and promise.
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