United States of America

The **United States of America** (**U.S.A.** or **USA**), commonly known as the **United States** (**U.S.** or **US**) or **America**, is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The capital is Washington, D.C.

## History

### Foundation

The nation was founded by thirteen colonies of Britain located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their independence from Great Britain and the formation of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, the first successful colonial war of independence. A federal convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791.

### 19th Century

Throughout the 19th century, the United States expanded its territory across North America, coming into conflict with Mexico in the Mexican–American War and forcefully displacing Native American tribes. American expansionism also fueled tensions over African slavery and ultimately led to the American Civil War. The Union won the war over the defeated Confederate States in April 1865 and prohibited slavery under the Thirteenth Amendment. However, Black Americans faced racial segregation and prejudice, especially in the southern American states.

### 20th Century

By the early 20th century, the United States emerged as a global economic and military power driven by the Industrial Revolution, urbanization and an unprecedented influx of immigrants, and rapid settlement and development of the American Old West. The United States participated in World War I in 1917 and ensured Allied victory. The 1920s saw the women's rights movement, mass communication, and a period of prosperity. The so-called Roaring Twenties ended with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression. After the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the American government enacted Roosevelt's New Deal programs. It is during this time that the first superheroes, known as "mystery men," appear. The premier superhero team of this era was the Justice Society of America.

#### World War II

The United States remained neutral during the outbreak of World War II until the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, prompting the United States to join the Allies against the Axis powers. After the Allied victory in Europe against Nazi Germany, the United States developed its first nuclear weapon. It used them to destroy the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, causing Japan, the last Axis nation, to surrender. As a result, America emerged from the post-World War II era as a global power and competed against the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

#### Civil Rights Movement

In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum that ended racial segregation, allowed laws that made discrimination illegal and provided federal oversight to guarantee voting rights. However, American society was also polarized by American intervention in the Vietnam War, culminating in anti-war and anti-draft protests and fueling the growth of the counterculture movement.

#### Cold War

Throughout the Cold War, the United States developed a containment policy toward expanding communist influence. America and its Soviet rival engaged in proxy wars but avoided direct military conflict. The United States was also involved in the Space Race and became the first nation to land a man on the Moon. Because of anti-communist sentiment in the United States, various American people were accused of being communists or communist sympathizers. They became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before government agencies. Superheroes were also treated with suspicions, leading to the Justice Society and others retiring. The so-called "Red Scare" began to decline in the late 1950s after changed public sentiment and the anti-communist trial verdicts were overturned or declared unconstitutional.

Under the presidency of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, America abandoned its containment policy and developed a hawkish approach to the Cold War. However, relations between the United States and the Soviet Union began to thaw, and both countries agreed to eliminate the number of nuclear missiles in their arsenals. This eventually led to the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

### 21st Century

The United States of contemporary times is a highly developed country and has a post-industrial economy. American society is ethnically and racially diverse due to large-scale immigration from many different countries. The country hosts many superheroes, such as the Justice League of America, the revived Justice Society of America, and the Teen Titans.

## External Links

* United States of America on DC Database
* United States of America on Wikipedia