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The United States of America (commonly referred to as America) was founded in 1776 by [[George Washington]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], and the other [[Founding Fathers]] and formally established as the United States by the ratification of the [[U.S. Constitution]] in 1788. Since the presidency of [[John Quincy Adams]] the United States has been governed by one of two [[political parties]] in a [[republic]] increasingly tending towards [[democracy]] as the [[franchise]] has expanded. The younger of the two existing major parties, the [[Republican Party]], was created in 1854. Between independence in 1776 and ratification of the [[Constitution]] in 1788, the United States' governing documents included the [[Articles of Confederation]] and the [[Declaration of Independence]] itself.
The [[Declaration of Independence]] acknowledges the existence of a God when it refers to "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" and says all men "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights," though the latter statement was made by [[Thomas Jefferson]], whose religious beliefs are notoriously unclear. Conservatives argue that most of the Founding Fathers were Christians and that, explicitly or not, the United States was founded upon the principles and ideals of Christianity. However, the freedom of religion (stating that the government cannot interfere in the conduct of religious groups) is a fundamental aspect of the [[First Amendment]] to the Constitution. This [[Free Exercise Clause]] of the Amendment began increasingly to be tested and interpreted by the [[judiciary]] in the late 19th century as a result of the increasing population of religious [[minorities]] in the United States. At that time, the most significant minorities were probably the [[Mormons]], the [[Roman Catholics]], and the [[Jews]].
==Geography==
In 1783, when the [[Peace of Paris]] concluded hostilities against [[Great Britain]], the former [[colonial power]], the United States' ''Italic text''taxable''Italic text'' population totalled some three million [[citizens]] and [[slaves]] living on slightly less than one million square miles of land. An unknown number of [[Native Americans]] also lived in the western part of the United States, which was then bordered on the west by the [[Mississippi River]], on the north by [[Lake Superior]], [[Lake Huron]], [[Lake Erie]] and [[Lake Ontario]], on the east by the [[Atlantic Ocean]], and on the south by [[Florida]], then controlled by [[Spain]]. The land border with [[Canada]] was not clarified until the [[Rush-Bagot Agreement]] of 1816.
The majority of the taxable population lived in the thirteen original [[states]]. In alphabetical order they are [[Connecticut]], [[Delaware]], [[Georgia]], [[Maryland]], [[Massachusetts]], [[New Hampshire]], [[New Jersey]], [[New York]], [[North Carolina]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Rhode Island]], [[South Carolina]] and [[Virginia]]. The remainder of the 1783 territory was eventually organized as the states of [[Ohio]], [[Indiana]], [[Michigan]], [[Illinois]], [[Wisconsin]], [[Kentucky]], [[Tennessee]], [[Mississippi]] and [[Alabama]]. Two additional states were added during the first fifty years by [[secession]] from existing states: [[Vermont]] from New York, and [[Maine]] from Massachusetts. After that, the legality of [[secession]] became an issue.
In 1803, [[French]] emperor [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] took advantage of a lull in his war with Great Britain to sell the [[Louisiana Territory]] to the United States, more than doubling the nation's land area. This territory would later be organized as the states of [[Minnesota]], [[North Dakota]], [[South Dakota]], [[Montana]], [[Wyoming]], [[Nebraska]], [[Iowa]], [[Missouri]], [[Arkansas]], [[Kansas]], [[Oklahoma]], and [[Louisiana]] proper.
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:United States History]]
The United States of America (commonly referred to as America) was founded in 1776 by [[George Washington]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], and the other [[Founding Fathers]] and formally established as the United States by the ratification of the [[U.S. Constitution]] in 1788. Since the presidency of [[John Quincy Adams]] the United States has been governed by one of two [[political parties]] in a [[republic]] increasingly tending towards [[democracy]] as the [[franchise]] has expanded. The younger of the two existing major parties, the [[Republican Party]], was created in 1854. Between independence in 1776 and ratification of the [[Constitution]] in 1788, the United States' governing documents included the [[Articles of Confederation]] and the [[Declaration of Independence]] itself.
The [[Declaration of Independence]] acknowledges the existence of a God when it refers to "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" and says all men "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights," though the latter statement was made by [[Thomas Jefferson]], whose religious beliefs are notoriously unclear. Conservatives argue that most of the Founding Fathers were Christians and that, explicitly or not, the United States was founded upon the principles and ideals of Christianity. However, the freedom of religion (stating that the government cannot interfere in the conduct of religious groups) is a fundamental aspect of the [[First Amendment]] to the Constitution. This [[Free Exercise Clause]] of the Amendment began increasingly to be tested and interpreted by the [[judiciary]] in the late 19th century as a result of the increasing population of religious [[minorities]] in the United States. At that time, the most significant minorities were probably the [[Mormons]], the [[Roman Catholics]], and the [[Jews]].
==Geography==
In 1783, when the [[Peace of Paris]] concluded hostilities against [[Great Britain]], the former [[colonial power]], the United States' ''Italic text''taxable''Italic text'' population totalled some three million [[citizens]] and [[slaves]] living on slightly less than one million square miles of land. An unknown number of [[Native Americans]] also lived in the western part of the United States, which was then bordered on the west by the [[Mississippi River]], on the north by [[Lake Superior]], [[Lake Huron]], [[Lake Erie]] and [[Lake Ontario]], on the east by the [[Atlantic Ocean]], and on the south by [[Florida]], then controlled by [[Spain]]. The land border with [[Canada]] was not clarified until the [[Rush-Bagot Agreement]] of 1816.
The majority of the taxable population lived in the thirteen original [[states]]. In alphabetical order they are [[Connecticut]], [[Delaware]], [[Georgia]], [[Maryland]], [[Massachusetts]], [[New Hampshire]], [[New Jersey]], [[New York]], [[North Carolina]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Rhode Island]], [[South Carolina]] and [[Virginia]]. The remainder of the 1783 territory was eventually organized as the states of [[Ohio]], [[Indiana]], [[Michigan]], [[Illinois]], [[Wisconsin]], [[Kentucky]], [[Tennessee]], [[Mississippi]] and [[Alabama]]. Two additional states were added during the first fifty years by [[secession]] from existing states: [[Vermont]] from New York, and [[Maine]] from Massachusetts. After that, the legality of [[secession]] became an issue.
In 1803, [[French]] emperor [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] took advantage of a lull in his war with Great Britain to sell the [[Louisiana Territory]] to the United States, more than doubling the nation's land area. This territory would later be organized as the states of [[Minnesota]], [[North Dakota]], [[South Dakota]], [[Montana]], [[Wyoming]], [[Nebraska]], [[Iowa]], [[Missouri]], [[Arkansas]], [[Kansas]], [[Oklahoma]], and [[Louisiana]] proper.
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:United States History]]