The history of the United States has been an experiment in democracy for more than 200 years. Issues that were addressed in the early years continue to be addressed and resolved today: big government versus small government, individual rights versus group rights, unfettered capitalism versus regulated commerce and labor, engagement with the world versus isolationism. The expectations for American democracy have always been high, and the reality has sometimes been disappointing. Yet the nation has grown and prospered, through a continual process of adaptation and compromise.

The first confirmed European landing in present-day United States territory was by Christopher Columbus, who visited Puerto Rico on November 19, 1493. Florida was home to the earliest European colonies on the mainland; of these colonies only St. Augustine which was founded by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés in 1565 remains.

Tensions between American colonials and the British during the revolutionary period of the 1760s and 1770s led to open warfare 1775-1781.

George Washington commanded the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) as the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.As new territories were being incorporated, the nation was divided over the issue of states' rights, the role of the federal government, and — by the 1820s — the expansion of slavery, which had been legal in all thirteen colonies but was rarer in the north, where it was abolished by 1804. The Northern states were opposed to the expansion of slavery whereas the Southern states saw the opposition as an attack on their way of life, since their economy was dependent on slave labor.greece greek guide rhodes rhodos holidays vacation rhodos

The failure to permanently resolve these issues led to the Civil War, following the secession of many slave states in the South to form the Confederate States of America after the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln. The 1865 Union victory in the Civil War effectively ended slavery and settled the question of whether a state had the right to secede. The event was a major turning point in American history and resulted in an increase in federal power.

The United States is a federal constitutional republic with Washington DC its federal capital.

The United States of America is a country of the western hemisphere, comprising fifty states and several territories. Forty-eight contiguous states lie in central North America between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bounded on land by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south; Alaska is in the northwest of the continent with Canada to its east, and Hawaii is in the mid-Pacific.greece greek guide rhodes rhodos
kos holidays vacation greek guide greece guides

The total area of the United States is 3,679,192 square miles (9,529,063 square kilometres), making it the fourth largest country in the world in area (after Russia, Canada, and China). Outlying territories and other politically associated areas in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea add approximately 4,000 square miles to this figure. hotels greece greek travel guide rhodes rhodos rodos kos guide hotel

The major characteristic of the United States is probably its great variety. Its physical environment ranges from the Arctic to the subtropical, from the moist rain forest to the arid desert, from the rugged mountain peak to the flat prairie.
Vast plains, mountain ranges, deserts, soaring skyscrapers, stunning coastlines, impressive national parks and a thriving cultural scene; the United States has it all, plus some.greece greek guide hotels holidays vacation rhodes rhodos rodos kos cos guide travel guide to rhodos