- Introduction & Quick Facts
- Relief
- The Interior Lowlands and their
upland fringes
- The Appalachian Mountain system
- The Western Intermontane Region
- Climate
- The bioclimatic regions
- The Humid–Arid Transition
- Settlement patterns
- Rural settlement
- Early models of land allocation
- Creating the national domain
- Distribution
of rural lands
- Regional small-town patterns
- The rural–urban transition
- Weakening of the agrarian ideal
- Impact of the motor
vehicle
- Reversal of the classic rural dominance
- Urban settlement
- Classic patterns of siting and growth
- New factors in municipal development
- The new look of the metropolitan area
- Individual and collective character of cities
- Traditional regions of the United States
- The hierarchy of culture areas
- The newer culture areas
- The problem of “the
West”
- Ethnic distribution
- Ethnic European Americans
- Agriculture, forestry, and
fishing
- State and local
government
- The visual arts and postmodernism
- Colonial America to 1763
- Settlement
- The Carolinas and Georgia
- The growth of provincial power
- Land, labour, and independence
- Cultural and religious development
- From a city on a hill to the Great Awakening
- Colonial America, England, and the wider world
- The Native American response
- The American Revolution and the early federal republic
- Prelude to revolution
- Constitutional differences with Britain
- The American Revolutionary War
- Foundations of the American republic
- Problems before the Second Continental Congress
- The Constitutional Convention
- The United States from 1789 to 1816
- The Federalist administration and the formation of parties
- The Jeffersonian Republicans in power
- Madison as president and the War of 1812
- The Indian-American problem
- The United States from 1816 to 1850
- The Era of Mixed Feelings
- Effects of the War of 1812
- The economy
- Transportation revolution
- Beginnings of industrialization
- Social developments
- Birth of American Culture
- Cities
- Education and the role of
women
- Jacksonian democracy
- The democratization of politics
- An age of reform
- Support of reform movements
- Religious-inspired reform
- Expansionism and political crisis at midcentury
- Attitudes toward expansionism
- The Civil War
- Prelude to war, 1850–60
- A decade of political crises
- Polarization over slavery
- Secession and the politics of the Civil War, 1860–65
- The political course of the war
- Moves toward emancipation
- Sectional dissatisfaction
- Reconstruction and the New South, 1865–1900
- Reconstruction, 1865–77
- Reconstruction under Abraham Lincoln
- Reconstruction under Andrew Johnson
- The South during Reconstruction
- The Ulysses S. Grant administrations, 1869–77
- The New South, 1877–90
- The era of conservative domination, 1877–90
- Booker T.
Washington and the Atlanta Compromise
- The transformation of American society, 1865–1900
- National expansion
- The West
- The expansion of the railroads
- Industrialization of the U.S. economy
- The growth of industry
- The dispersion of industry
- National politics
- The Rutherford B. Hayes administration
- The administrations of James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur
- Grover Cleveland’s first term
- The surplus and the tariff
- The Interstate Commerce Act
- The Benjamin Harrison administration
- The Sherman Antitrust Act
- Imperialism, the Progressive
era, and the rise to world power, 1896–1920
- American imperialism
- The Open Door in the Far East
- Building the
Panama Canal and American domination in the Caribbean
- The Progressive era
- The character and variety of the Progressive movement
- Reform in state governments
- Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive movement
- Republican troubles under William Howard Taft
- The Republican insurgents
- The New Freedom and its transformation
- The rise to world power
- Woodrow Wilson and the Mexican Revolution
- The struggle for neutrality
- Loans and supplies for the Allies
- The United States enters the Great War
- America’s role in the war
- Wilson’s vision of a new world order
- The Paris Peace Conference and the Versailles Treaty
- The fight over the treaty and the election of 1920
- The United States from 1920 to 1945
- The postwar Republican administrations
- The New
Deal
- The second
New Deal and the Supreme Court
- The culmination of the New Deal
- An assessment of the New Deal
- World War II
- The United States at war
- Social
consequences of the war
- The new U.S. role in world affairs
- The United States since 1945
- The peak Cold War years, 1945–60
- The Truman Doctrine and containment
- Postwar domestic reorganization
- Peace, growth, and prosperity
- An assessment of the
postwar era
- The Kennedy and Johnson administrations
- The civil rights movement
- Latino and Native American activism
- The 1970s
- The Richard M. Nixon administration
- The Gerald R. Ford administration
- The Jimmy Carter administration
- The
late 20th century
- The Ronald Reagan administration
- The George H.W. Bush administration
- The Bill Clinton administration
- The 21st century
- The George W. Bush
administration
- The Barack Obama administration
- First term
- Election and inauguration
- Tackling the “Great Recession,” the “Party of No,” and the emergence of the Tea Party movement
- Negotiating health care reform
- Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
- Deepwater Horizon oil spill
- Military de-escalation in Iraq and escalation in Afghanistan
- The 2010 midterm elections
- WikiLeaks, the “Afghan War Diary,” and the “Iraq War Log”
- The repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the ratification of START, and the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords
- The Arab Spring, intervention in Libya, and the killing of Osama bin Laden
- The failed “grand bargain”
- Raising the debt ceiling, capping spending, and the efforts of the “super committee”
- Occupy Wall Street, withdrawal from Iraq, and slow economic recovery
- Deportation policy changes, the immigration law ruling, and sustaining Obamacare’s
“individual mandate”
- The 2012 presidential campaign, a fluctuating economy, and the approaching “fiscal cliff”
- The Benghazi attack and Superstorm Sandy
- Second Term
- The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
- “Sequester” cuts, the Benghazi furor, and Susan Rice on the hot seat
- The IRS scandal, the Justice Department’s AP phone records seizure, and Edward Snowden’s leaks
- Removal of Mohammed Morsi, Obama’s “red line” in Syria, and chemical weapons
- The decision not to respond militarily in Syria
- The 2013 government shutdown
- The Iran nuclear deal, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, and the Ukraine crisis
- The rise of ISIL (ISIS), the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap, and imposition of stricter carbon emission
standards
- The child migrant border surge, air strikes on ISIL (ISIS), and the 2014 midterm elections
- Normalizing relations
with Cuba, the USA FREEDOM Act, and the Office of Personnel Management data breach
- The Ferguson police shooting, the death of Freddie Gray, and the Charleston church shooting
- Same-sex marriage and Obamacare Supreme Court rulings and final agreement on the Iran nuclear deal
- New climate regulations, the Keystone XL pipeline, and intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- The
Merrick Garland nomination and Supreme Court rulings on public unions, affirmative action, and abortion
- The Orlando nightclub shooting, the shooting of Dallas police officers, and the shootings in Baton Rouge
- The Donald Trump administration
- The campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination
- The campaign for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination
- Hillary Clinton’s private e-mail server, Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood tape, and the 2016 general election campaign
- Trump’s victory and Russian interference in the presidential election
- “America First,” the Women’s Marches, Trump on Twitter, and “fake news”
- Scuttling U.S. participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, reconsidering the Keystone XL pipeline, and withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement
- ICE
enforcement and removal operations
- Pursuing “repeal and replacement” of Obamacare
- John McCain’s opposition and the failure of “skinny repeal”
- Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, the air strike on Syria, and threatening Kim Jong-Un with “fire and fury”
- Violence in Charlottesville, the dismissal of Steve Bannon, the resignation of Michael Flynn, and the investigation of possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign
- Jeff Session’s recusal, James Comey’s
firing, and Robert Mueller’s appointment as special counsel
- Hurricanes Harvey and Maria and the mass shootings in Las Vegas, Parkland, and Santa Fe
- The #MeToo movement, the Alabama
U.S. Senate special election, and the Trump tax cut
- Withdrawing from the Iran nuclear agreement, Trump-Trudeau conflict at the G7 summit, and imposing tariffs
- The Trump-Kim 2018
summit, “zero tolerance,” and separation of immigrant families
- The Supreme Court decision upholding the travel ban, its ruling on Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, No. 16-1466, and the retirement of Anthony Kennedy
- The indictment of Paul Manafort, the guilty pleas of Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos, and indictments of Russian intelligence officers
- Trump’s European trip and the Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin
- The USMCA trade agreement, the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford, and the Supreme Court confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh
- Central American migrant caravans, the pipe-bomb mailings, and the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
- The 2018 midterm elections
- The 2018–19 government shutdown
- Sessions’s resignation, choosing a new attorney general, and the ongoing Mueller investigation
- The impeachment of Donald Trump
- The killing of George Floyd and nationwide racial injustice protests
- The Joe Biden administration
- The COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the Delta and Omicron variants, and the American Rescue Plan Act
- Economic recovery, the American Rescue Plan Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the failure of Build Back Better
- Stalled voting rights legislation, the fate of the filibuster, and the appointment of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court
- Foreign affairs: U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
- The Buffalo and Uvalde shootings, overturning Roe v. Wade, and the January 6 attack hearings
More - More Articles On This Topic
- Additional Reading
- Contributors
- Article History
What were the main reasons the American colonists broke away from Britain?
The colonists fought the British because they wanted to be free from Britain. They fought the British because of unfair taxes. They fought because they didn't have self-government. When the American colonies formed, they were part of Britain.
What were the reasons for tension between the British and American colonists?
Britain's debt from the French and Indian War led it to try to consolidate control over its colonies and raise revenue through direct taxation (e.g., Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, Tea Act, and Intolerable Acts), generating tensions between Great Britain and its North American colonies.
What events led to the separation of the colonies from Great Britain?
On April 19, 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord initiated armed conflict between Great Britain and the 13 North American colonies (the nucleus of the future United States of America). At that time few of the colonists consciously desired to separate from Britain.
How did the great war for empire change the relationship between England and its American colonies?
The Great War changed the relationship between England and American colonies because England wanted the debt from beating the French in the Great War paid off by the colonies with taxes. The British began trying to control the colonies more closely for money.
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