- the former 13 colonies now became states. The constitution was adopted in 1789. It was the first time the most democratic constitution in the world.

FROM THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE TO THE CIVIL WAR, 1783-1861
This period in American history can be characterised as the period of territorial expansion.
The U.S. expanded westwards and the colonisation of the whole American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific was completed.
Louisiana, the vast territory stretching from the Middle West to the Gulf of Mexico, was bought by the U.S. from the French under Napoleon for about 15 mio. dollars. This transaction was called the ‘LOUISIANA PURCHASE’ in 1803.
Florida was bought from Spain, it was the purchase by force of arms in 1819. Texas was annexed by the U.S. in 1845. In 1846 the Americans in this war entered Oregon Territory and the whole Pacific coast to the north of California was joined to the U.S..
In the Mexican War (1846-48) the Americans conquered over a half of Mexico's territory (the present states of California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico).

THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865
The Civil War was caused by the face that there existed two antagonistic economic and the social systems in the U.S.: the capitalistic system in the North and the slave system in the South.
For capitalism to develop freely and to expand rapidly it was necessary to abolish slavery and break the political power of the southern planters.
Disputes between the North and the South arose with the territorial expansion of the U.S. westwards the northerners wanted all the new territories to be free, while the southerners wanted to introduce slavery into them.
In 1854 the northern capitalists founded a new political party, the Republican Party.
The Republicans won the presidential election in 1860 and Lincoln became President. But before he took the office, 11 southern states secluded from the Union and formed the confederate states of America. Jefferson Davis was elected President of the southern Confederacy.
The North was stronger in population and industrial resources. 23 states had 23 mio. Inhabitants. 11 states in the South had 9 mio. people, including 4 mio. slaves. The South enjoyed the support of the British ruling class because American cotton was needed in the U.S..
Lincoln Abolished Slavery On Jan. 1st 1863. (The Emancipation Proclamation)
It meant freedom to all slaves. End of the Civil War was on April 9th 1865 - 215,000 people died.