Group

United States of America (US, USA) (Philadelphia PA)

State Defunct 1776 CE – 1789 CE Capital Philadelphia Philadelphia Pennsylvania United States

Paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago.

European colonization began in the sixteenth century.

The United States emerges from thirteen British colonies along the East Coast.

Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the Seven Years' War lead to the American Revolution, which begins in 1775.

The American Revolutionary War is the first successful colonial war of independence against a European power.

Americans have developed an ideology of "republicanism" asserting that government rests on the will of the people as expressed in their local legislatures.

They demand their rights as Englishmen and "no taxation without representation".

The British insist on administering the empire through Parliament, and the conflict escalates into war.

Following the passage of the Lee Resolution, on July 2, 1776, which is the actual vote for independence, the Second Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence on July 4, which proclaims, in a long preamble, that humanity is created equal in their unalienable rights and that those rights are not being protected by Great Britain, and declares, in the words of the resolution, that the Thirteen Colonies are independent states and have no allegiance to the British crown in the United States.

The fourth day of July is celebrated annually as Independence Day.

In 1777, the Articles of Confederation establish a weak government that operates until 1789.

Britain recognizes the independence of the United States following their defeat at Yorktown in 1781.

The war ends in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power.

In the peace treaty of 1783, American sovereignty is recognized from the Atlantic coast west to the Mississippi River.

This effectively doubles the size of the colonies, now able to stretch west past the Proclamation Line to the Mississippi River.

This land is organized into territories, then states, though there remains some conflict with the sea-to-sea grants claimed by some of the original colonies.

In time, these grants will be ceded to the federal government

Nationalists lead the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 in writing the United States Constitution, ratified in state conventions in 1788.

The current constitution is adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, adopted in 1781, are felt to have provided inadequate federal powers.

Member Cities

Moran, J. (n.d.). United States of America (US, USA) (Philadelphia PA). History Atlas. Retrieved 18 September 2026, from https://www.historyatlas.com/groups/united-states-of-america-usa-philadelphia-pa/

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