United States

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The United States of America, commonly known as the U.S., is a diverse and multicultural country in North America. Initially inhabited by Indigenous peoples, the land that now comprises the United States was colonized by Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries. The United States declared independence from Great Britain in 1776 and fought a successful war for its freedom. In the centuries since, the country has seen many changes and advancements, including the abolition of slavery, the expansion of voting rights, and significant technological and economic growth. However, the United States has also grappled with systemic racism, economic inequality, and political divisions. The country has played a major role in global affairs, including world wars and the Cold War, and remains a global superpower today.

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The U.S. states

The United States has 50 states:

United States history

The geographical region which constitutes the United States today has been populated for thousands of years by various Amerindian peoples. Some of these were extremely sophisticated societies such as the Mississippi Culture and Woodland Culture. These native peoples, living between the Appalachian Mountains in the east and the Great Plains in the west built complex mound cities such as Cahokia and Etowah where thousands of people lived in elevated urban centers.^[1]

The first European contact with what is now the East Coast of the US came in the 1490s, but it was not until the early seventeenth century that the English and Dutch began establishing the first sustained colonies here, while the Spanish had nominal control over Florida. Eventually, the English won out over the Dutch, seizing their colony of New Amsterdam in the middle of the seventeenth century and renaming it New York. From there the English developed a string of Thirteen Colonies running from Vermont in the north to Georgia in the south.^[2]

As with all early modern European colonies in the Americas and elsewhere, eventually the settlers in the Thirteen Colonies began to develop their own identity and to resent excessive intervention in their affairs by the British government back in England. They revolted in the mid-1770s against heavy taxation and a lack of political representation. The American War of Independence would quickly result in the Declaration of Independence in 1776, but the war between the Patriots, as they were termed, and the British dragged on for many years until the independence of the United States of America was recognized through the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

Following independence, the nascent United States, which was still largely restricted to the East Coast, began expanding westwards rapidly. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from France brought a vast range of land into American possession, stretching from Louisiana in the south to the Dakotas and Montana and the modern-day states of Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma.^[3] By the 1830s the southern shores of the Great Lakes were emerging as a major part of the new nation. Then the American-Mexican War of 1846 to 1848 brought the region corresponding to modern-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California into US ownership.^[4] A gold rush began in California in 1848 just as that war ended, beginning the migration of what eventually became millions of people to the American West, even as European migration from countries like Ireland and Italy to cities like New York and Boston in the east reached new heights.

America emerged in the twentieth century as the world’s foremost economic power, eclipsing Britain. Yet it remained an isolationist power, unwilling to become involved in the incessant squabbles of the European powers. It was only reluctantly that it entered into both the First and Second World Wars. In the aftermath of the second conflict it had little option but to take up the mantle of challenging the Soviet Union for global supremacy. In the process, it became the world’s only superpower in the late twentieth century, but its time in the sun was brief as the rise of emerging powers like China and India is leading to a new multipolar world order in the twenty-first century.^[5]

See also: United States history

United States geography

The United States is the world’s fourth largest country. As a result, it has a massively varied geography. For instance, the region along the East Coast is largely temperate and productive agricultural land, though growing warmer the further south towards Georgia and Florida one heads. To the west the Appalachian Mountains and the Great Appalachian Valley form a barrier which separates the East Coast from the great river valley region beyond, where the Mississippi River, the Ohio River and others dominate the central parts of the US. Further west again the river valleys are replaced by the Great Plains, stretching from the Dakotas in the north to the west into Montana, and south towards Texas, what we often call the Midwest. A further massive mountain range in the shape of the Rocky Mountains lies to the west of the Great Plains, before these recede as one reaches the West Coast. Yet there are great variances even within these areas, with Washington State in the north of the West Coast being one of the wettest parts of the country, while parts of California to the south have almost desert-like conditions.^[6]

Historically, the great population centers of the United States lay on the East Coast where cities like Boston, New York and Philadelphia were being developed from the seventeenth century onwards. Chicago became a major city on the southern shores of the Great Lakes in the first half of the eighteenth century. Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle all developed quickly from the 1850s onwards. A more modern development is the emergence of a string of huge urban centers along the Sun Belt in the south in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas in particular.^[7]

See also: United States geography

Researching family history in the United States

The primary repository for the housing of family history and genealogical records in the United States such as censuses and other population data is the National Archives and Records Administration. The National Archives are headquartered in College Park, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. The archives also have numerous branches throughout the country. Other pertinent records are housed in major libraries such as New York Public Library, while some are inevitably in private keeping or in the primary source archives of some of America’s leading universities. For instance, if one wishes to try to track a family member who attended Harvard University, the country’s first university established in 1636, as early as the seventeenth century they would have to consult Harvard’s own admission records.^[8]

While the bulk of the records for studying US family history and genealogy are to be found within the United States in the National Archives and other federal repositories, there are many records for the country during the colonial, pre-1776 era found outside of America. These are primarily located amongst the Colonial series of papers in the National Archives of the United Kingdom in London. This collection contains extensive records for the history of the Thirteen Colonies under British rule between the first establishment of Jamestown in 1607 through to the end of the American War of Independence in 1783.^[9]

Ethnicities in the United States

The United States has a diverse population made up of people from a huge variety of ethnic backgrounds. While the majority of modern-day Americans descend from European immigrants with English, Scandinavian, North and West European, Iberian, and East European ethnicities being most common, the original inhabitants of the United States were Native American. The country is also home to significant minorities from every other continent, especially Africa, South and Central America, and Asia. Each of these ethnic groups has contributed to the cultural fabric of the United States, and their unique histories, traditions, and customs continue to be celebrated and passed down through generations.

American Surnames

American surnames can provide valuable clues for those researching their family history. The tradition of using surnames in the United States dates back to the early colonial period, and many surnames have been passed down through generations. American surnames often reflect the country's diverse cultural heritage, with names of English, Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, and other European origins being common. For example, the surname "Smith" is of English origin, and the surname "González" is of Spanish origin. Surnames may also be derived from ethnic or cultural backgrounds outside of Europe, such as African or Native American names. Tracing the origins and meanings of American surnames can provide insight into a family's history, and help connect individuals to their ancestral roots.

Examples of different American surnames include: Smith, Johnson, Garcia, Brown, Davis, Rodriguez, Wilson, and Lee.

Explore more about the United States

United States immigration records records collection at MyHeritage
United States Census and voter lists records collection at MyHeritage
United States Public records collection at MyHeritage
Birth, marriage and death records in the United States collection at MyHeritage
Census records in the United States collection at MyHeritage
Government, Land, Court & Wills in United States records collection at MyHeritage
Directories, Guides & References in the United States records collection at MyHeritage
Newspaper records in the United States collection at MyHeritage
Military records in the United States collection at MyHeritage
Learning More about American Female Ancestors Prior to 1850 at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
Bridging the Gap: Finding Ancestors in the United States between 1780 and 1840 at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
US Genealogy for Australians at Legacy Family Tree Webinars

References

↑ Metropolitan Life on the Mississippi. Washington Post
↑ Timeline: British colonial America. Oxford Reference
↑ How the Louisiana Purchase Changed the World. Smithsonian Magazine
↑ Mexican-American War. History Channel
↑ Jervis, Robert. America and the Twentieth Century: Continuity and Change. Diplomatic History, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Spring 1999), pp. 219-238
↑ United States (US) Geography. CountryReports
↑ 30 Most Populous US Metropolitan Areas 1790-2010. American Business History Center
↑ U.S. National Archives
↑ American and West Indian colonies before 1782. The National Archives

[1] Metropolitan Life on the Mississippi. Washington Post

[2] Timeline: British colonial America. Oxford Reference

[3] How the Louisiana Purchase Changed the World. Smithsonian Magazine

[4] Mexican-American War. History Channel

[5] Jervis, Robert. America and the Twentieth Century: Continuity and Change. Diplomatic History, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Spring 1999), pp. 219-238

[6] United States (US) Geography. CountryReports

[7] 30 Most Populous US Metropolitan Areas 1790-2010. American Business History Center

[8] U.S. National Archives

[9] American and West Indian colonies before 1782. The National Archives

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