On the Rise of the United States of America.doc

Introduction The United States of America is now a great nation with a land area of 962.9 square kilometres and a total population of over 314 million. The United States is the third-largest by both land area and population. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multi-cultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. It is known to us that the US is such a sole superpower in the world. But how does it grow into this. In this article, Im going to make a brief introduction of the big events happened in its short history of about 240 years and discuss their contributions to the rise and development of the US, followed by the conclusion of the reasons in a different view. 1.Pre-Columbian Period and Colonial Times About 500 years ago, the land now called American Continent was once the home of Indian people who came from eastern Siberia and might belong to the Mongoloid people. The aboriginal people there cultivated their own unique cultures and customs with their perspiration and inherent passion, living a happy and peaceful life. With Christopher Columbus arrival in 1492, everything was changed from then on. In 1492, while under contract to Spanish crown, Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus discovered several Caribbean islands and made first contact with the indigenous people. On April 2, 1513, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León landed on what he called La Florida - the first documented European arrival on what would become the U.S. Mainland. Spanish settlements in the region were followed by ones in the present-day southwestern United States. French fur traders established outposts of New France around the Great Lakes; France eventually claimed much of the North American interior, down to the Gulf of Mexico. The first successful English settlements were the Virginia Colony in Jamestown in 1607 and the Pilgrims Plymouth Colony in 1620. 41 persons of the Pilgrims signed a document named Mayflower