The Birth of America (Part Ⅱ)

More than 40 thousand years ago, Indian ancestors arrived in North America through Asia, and then to Central America and South America; When Columbus arrived in what he thought was the New World, about 30 million Indians lived in America.

About 654.38+500,000 Indians live in the United States and Canada. The composition of these indigenous people is very different in heredity, language and society. It is estimated that in the15th century, there were at least 400 unrelated and distinctive cultural forms in the north of the Rio Grande, with various body types and language families.

About 10 thousand years ago, another group of Asians moved to northern North America, which became the Eskimos. The first white people to come to America may be vikings. Some people think that they went to the east coast of North America before 1000 years ago.

Second, the colonial period.

1607, a colonial group of about 100 people established Jamestown in Schabik Beach, which was the first permanent colony established by Britain in North America. In the next 150 years, many colonists came in and settled in the coastal areas, most of them came from Britain, and some came from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy and other countries.

European immigrants killed Indians on a large scale, plundered their property and occupied Indian land on a large scale.

1620, 165438+ 10. In October, the first pilgrims sailed into Plymouth Harbor in New England by may flower. In order to build a civil autonomous society different from Europe, they signed an extremely important political contract, the Mayflower Convention, which laid the foundation for the United States.

1In the middle of the 8th century, 13 British colonies gradually formed, with their own government and parliament under the supreme sovereignty of Britain. Due to the differences in climate and geographical environment, these 13 colonies have different economic forms, political systems and concepts.

Third, the war of independence.

/kloc-In the middle of the 0/8th century, there was a rift between the British colonies in the United States and Britain. With the continuous expansion of the colony, they gradually realized the seriousness of the development of the situation, thus sprouting the idea of independence. 1773, Boston Tea Party, dumping by anti-British colonists.

1774, 13 representatives of three states gathered in Philadelphia to hold the first continental congress, hoping to solve the problem peacefully with Britain. But the British king insisted that the colony must unconditionally submit to the British king and accept punishment. 1775, the war was ignited in Lexington, Massachusetts, and the North American War of Independence broke out.

1776 On July 4th, the Second Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia, which formed the "Continental Army" with George Washington as the commander in chief, and adopted the Declaration of Independence, officially announcing the establishment of the United States of America. This day (July 4th) is also regarded as National Day by the United States.

1778 In February, Benjamin Franklin successfully persuaded the Bourbon dynasty, which led to the signing of a military alliance treaty between France and the United States, and France officially recognized the United States. France, Spain and the Netherlands went to war.

178 1 year, the battle of Yorktown was a complete victory, and the US military won a decisive victory. Since then, except for several battles at sea and sporadic battles on land, the war on the North American continent has basically stopped.

1787, a federal conference was held in Philadelphia, during which Washington was promoted to chairman. The meeting decided that the national government has the power to levy taxes, mint coins, adjust commerce, declare war and conclude treaties, and at the same time adopt Montesquieu's principle of separation of powers, and the three institutions of legislation, administration and justice check and balance each other.

1812-1815 years, Britain invaded the newly established United States again, which is known as the Second American War of Independence. After the war, American States became more United.

geography

The topography of the United States is varied, especially in the west. There are coastal plains on the east coast, which are wide in the south and narrow in the north. There are no coastal plains in northern New Jersey, but there are some glacial sedimentary plains in Long Island and other places.

Behind the coastal plain is a hilly area with undulating terrain, extending all the way to the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina and New Hampshire, with an altitude of 1, 830 meters.

To the west of the Appalachian Mountains is the inner plain of the Midwest of the United States, which is relatively flat. The Great Lakes and the Mississippi River Basin, the fourth largest river in the world, are also located here. To the west of the Mississippi River, the topography of the internal plain began to rise, and finally it entered the great plain with a vast area and few topographical features in the central United States.

In the west of the Great Plains, there is the majestic Rocky Mountains, which bisects the American mainland from south to north, with the highest peak of 4,270 meters in Colorado. In the past, volcanic activity in the Rocky Mountains was frequent. Today, there is only one area left (the super volcano in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming-probably the largest volcano in the world).

There is a plateau inland basin-great basin in the west of the Rocky Mountains. There are a large number of mountains, salt plains and valleys in this area, and the desert between them is called the Great Basin Desert, which is the largest desert in North America. The Sierra Nevada itself has rugged canyons. In the southwest of great basin, there is Death Valley below sea level, which is also one of the lowest areas in the western hemisphere.

To the north of great basin and to the east of Cascade Mountains is the Colombian Plateau, where there is a large-scale igneous rock area, which is the largest flood basalt area on the earth. In the Sierra Nevada to the west of the washbasin, there is Mount Whitney (4418m), the highest elevation in the United States.

The Colorado Plateau, which flows through the Colorado River, is located in the center of the four corners of the state. The plateau spans Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. The plateau covers an area of 337,000 square kilometers, with an average elevation of 600 to 3,870 meters, and there are strongly eroded sandstone belts. These red clay plateaus are also home to several national parks, including Bryce, Grand Canyon and Zain.

On the Pacific coast are the Pacific Coast Mountains and Cascade Mountains, which run across the United States from south to north.

There are also many mountains in Alaska, including Mount Dinali at an altitude of 665,438+094 meters in North America, and there are also many volcanoes on the Aleutian Islands in the west and south of Alaska.

Hawaii is a tropical volcanic island group, with a distribution area of more than 2,400 kilometers, consisting of six large islands and other small islands.

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