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00:00America is the richest and most powerful country in history, but America's rise to
00:04number one was actually quite unexpected. In fact, most of North America was ignored
00:09for more than a hundred years after it was discovered. Here's a map that was made right
00:14before Christopher Columbus discovered America. The Vikings said they had discovered an island
00:18somewhere over here, but no one realized that it was actually a continent. So Columbus believed
00:24that he could find a trade route to Asia by sailing west. But actually he found some islands
00:29in the Caribbean Sea. Columbus didn't find the spices he was expecting, but he still believed
00:33that he was close to India. So he called the natives Indians, got some goodies and took them back to
00:38the
00:38king and queen of Spain. Hey your majesties, I just got back from Asia. Great, where are the spices?
00:46Well, uh, we haven't found the spices yet, but they've got lots and lots of gold. Now you're talking
00:53Columbus. Go back, tell them all to be Christians, and bring back that gold. A few years before
00:59Columbus claimed the West Indies for Spain, the Portuguese had discovered that they could reach
01:04Asia by sailing around Africa. So Spain and Portugal drew a line right down the middle of the map,
01:09and they agreed that all the non-Christian lands on this side of the line would belong to Portugal,
01:14and everything on the other side would belong to Spain. So the Portuguese sailed to Asia and built a
01:19huge trading empire, and the Spanish got busy conquering their half of the world. All of the
01:25interesting parts of the Americas were down here, where there was lots of gold, silver, and people.
01:30So that's where the Spanish went. Actually, the Spanish also sent an expedition into North America
01:36in 1539, but they didn't find gold and silver, so they mostly ignored all these useless lands up here
01:42in North America. The English actually sent an explorer to North America while the Spanish were still
01:47exploring the islands in the Caribbean. That was 16 years before the Spanish discovered Florida.
01:52But after that, the English waited almost a hundred years before they tried to colonize America.
01:58England's first colony was established at Roanoke, North Carolina in 1585. But the same year,
02:03England got busy fighting a war with Spain, and that colony mysteriously disappeared. So they tried
02:09again at Jamestown, and this time it worked. Next to the pilgrims arrived in Plymouth. The pilgrims were
02:15strict Christians who outlawed bad stuff like gambling and celebrating Christmas. Soon lots
02:20and lots of people were coming to America, and before long the east coast was covered with British
02:25colonies. Meanwhile, the French were busy claiming all the land in the middle of North America.
02:30Now it's 1754, and it's time for a war to figure out who really owns what in America. New France
02:36has a
02:37population of about 60,000 people, so they team up with some Indian tribes to help them fight. That's why
02:43it's
02:43called the French and Indian War. The British colonies have a population of more than a million people,
02:48and they also team up with some Indian tribes. Who do you think won? That's right, the British
02:53beat the French. At the same time, there was also a big war back in Europe, and when it was
02:58over,
02:59it was time to redraw the map. France gave half of Louisiana to Spain before the war was over to
03:04make
03:04sure Britain didn't get it. Then after the war, France had to give the other half of Louisiana to Britain.
03:10France also had to give Canada to Britain. Now Britain had lots of land in America, but Britain
03:15had also spent lots of money on the war, and now they needed money. Hey colonies, you know that
03:21expensive war we helped you win? Yeah, thanks for the help. Sure, no problem. By the way, we're going
03:28to start collecting lots and lots of taxes to pay for all the help we give you. What? You never
03:34help us.
03:34We're the ones who are always helping you. And how can you tax us if we don't get to vote?
03:40The colonists weren't happy with the new taxes, and the disagreement turned into a fight,
03:45and from a fight, into a revolution. On the 4th of July, 1776, the Americans declared their independence
03:52from Great Britain. And that was the beginning of the United States of America, right? Not quite.
03:58It would be five more years before the Americans won their war of independence. And after they had won
04:04their freedom, they had a new problem. The government they had created was a complete mess. The 13 colonies
04:10had essentially become 13 independent countries that were only united in name. The new nation was failing,
04:16and it was failing fast. So the Founding Fathers wrote a new constitution and created an entirely new
04:22federal government that actually worked. The new constitution became official when nine states
04:27had ratified it. And in 1789, George Washington was elected the first President of the United States.
04:34But the USA was only this big, and all the land over here belonged to Spain. So how did America
04:40get more
04:40land? Well, over in France, a guy named Napoleon seized power and started conquering Europe. Napoleon also
04:47wanted to build an empire in America. So he made a deal with Spain that would give Louisiana back to
04:52France. But the Americans needed to use the Mississippi River to send goods to and from other places. And
04:58they were afraid of what Napoleon might do if he controlled the river. So America asked France to sell New
05:04Orleans to them. You know my plans for a great empire in North America. But now I must invade Britain.
05:12We can build our empire in America after we defeat the British. But if the Americans discover our plans
05:19for America, they will support Britain, which could be fatal. But if we sell Louisiana to the Americans,
05:27they will be our friends forever, and Britain will be ours. It would be foolish to sell our largest
05:33territory, and the Americans only want New Orleans. Enough! I've made up my mind. We will sell it all. The
05:41money
05:41will fund our war with Britain. And so America bought Louisiana for 15 million dollars. America had
05:48just doubled in size. And that was good because America's population was also almost doubling every
05:5420 years. In those days, the average American family had seven children, and all those kids needed
06:00some place to live. So lots of Americans moved west, where there was lots and lots of unclaimed land.
06:06Does anyone own this land? Of course not. Great, because now it's mine. But these lands,
06:14my hunting grounds, that's not proper English. You're supposed to say these lands were my hunting
06:20grounds. Hmm? In 1819, America bought Florida from Spain and agreed that this line right here would be
06:27the border between the United States and New Spain. Just two years later, Mexico won its independence from
06:33Spain, and America had a new neighbor. The northern territories of Mexico were sparsely populated and
06:38difficult to control, so the Mexican government invited Americans to settle in Texas. These settlers
06:44quickly outnumbered the Mexicans, and before long the Texans broke free from Mexico and created their own
06:49independent republic. Yee-haw! We want to join the USA. Do you have slaves? Yes, we do, and we're proud
07:00of it.
07:01Sorry, we don't need any more slave states. Hey guys, I'm President Now, and this is ours.
07:09In 1845, the United States changed its mind and let the Republic of Texas join the Union. Disputes over
07:15the border of Texas led to a war with Mexico. At the end of the war, the United States paid
07:19Mexico $15
07:20million and took the northern parts of Mexico that President Polk wanted. Just five years later,
07:25the United States also bought another piece of land from Mexico for $10 million. Meanwhile,
07:31the British agreed to let the Americans have all of the Oregon territory below this line,
07:35as long as the British could have everything above the line. And so, in just 50 years of great luck
07:41and one ugly war with Mexico, America now stretched from sea to sea. And now there was nowhere left
07:47to expand, unless...
07:50Hello, Uncle Sam. I found an island in the middle of the ocean. Can I claim it for the US?
07:56Hmm, we might need that for World War II. Does anyone live there? No, sir. Is it covered in bird
08:04droppings?
08:04Yes, sir. Congratulations, son. You're standing on US soil. Actually, sir, I wouldn't call this soil.
08:13By the way, the Guano Island Act is still a law, so if you're tired of paying way too much
08:17for rent,
08:18go find yourself an island to occupy. Wow, everything is great. Right after the Americans got California,
08:25word spread that gold had been discovered, and lots and lots of people rushed to California to help
08:29dig up the gold. Up in the Oregon territory, there was lots of free farmland. America was thriving,
08:35and there was peace on all sides. But there was a big problem on the inside, and that was the
08:41problem
08:41of slavery. In northern states, slavery was illegal, and many considered it to be a great evil that must
08:48be stopped. In the south, slavery was an important part of the economy. The Americans had been arguing about
08:55slavery for decades, but everything came to a head when Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860.
09:02Many people in the south believed that Lincoln would abolish slavery, so most of the slave states
09:07separated from the United States and made their own country. That led to a big civil war,
09:13lots of people died, the north won, the slaves were freed, and the United States was united again.
09:20I'm sorry to hear about the assassination of President Lincoln. Yeah, another assassin tried
09:26to kill me on the same night, but I survived the stabbing. That's terrible. I mean, it's terrible
09:32that you were stabbed, but I'm glad that you survived. By the way, the Tsar wants America to have Alaska.
09:39How much can you pay for it? I think we could do five million, maybe 5.5 million, but not
09:45more.
09:45How about 7 million? Sure. Great. I have approval for 7 million. We can make the treaty tomorrow.
09:55Can we do it tonight? I should have asked for more money. Great. Now America has another huge chunk
10:01of land. Now it just needs a few tropical islands. Hey, look at that. Some American businessmen have
10:08taken control of the Hawaiian islands and they're asking the United States to annex them. But the
10:13President of the United States said no. He believed that America must be a just and law-abiding nation
10:19that never misuses its great power to take advantage of the weak. But others feared that if America
10:25didn't get involved in the affairs of Hawaii, another great power like Germany or Japan would come and
10:30take the islands and use them as a base to attack America in a future war. Should America mind its
10:36own
10:36business? Or should it mind its own interests? America's policy of staying out of other nations'
10:41conflicts was about to be tested because something was brewing in Cuba and it wasn't coffee. Cuba was
10:47in the middle of a war for independence. Almost all of Spain's other colonies had already won their
10:52independence from Spain after the American and French revolutions. But Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the
10:57Philippines were still colonies of Spain. The Cuban war for independence was constantly in American
11:03newspapers and most Americans sympathized with the revolutionaries. In 1898, after an American warship
11:09sank in a mysterious explosion, the U.S. told Spain to leave Cuba or else. Spain responded by declaring war
11:17on the United States. Then the U.S. quickly captured Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, effectively
11:23bringing an end to what remained of the Spanish Empire that Christopher Columbus had begun. During the
11:28Spanish-American war, the U.S. also annexed Hawaii, which was becoming an important naval base. After the
11:35war, the president was shot, and so the young and energetic Theodore Roosevelt unexpectedly became president.
11:41Hey Columbia, we want to build a canal right here. Sure, just pay us 10 million dollars. It's a deal.
11:51Actually, we changed our mind. You can't build a canal. What? But we made a deal. Sorry.
11:59Hey, Panama, welcome to the Club of Countries. We want to build a canal right here. Sure, go ahead.
12:07While Roosevelt was president, he built up the second largest navy in the world and used this
12:13powerful navy to influence global politics. The Americans finished building the Panama Canal in 1914,
12:19allowing the powerful U.S. Navy to quickly move between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. America had
12:26become a world power, and World War I had just begun. If you want me to make more videos like
12:32this,
12:33please subscribe to let me know and be sure to watch the next video right here. If you want to
12:37learn more
12:38about American history, I'll leave notes and clarifications in the description. See you next time.
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