Wikibooks: US History/European History

• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/US_History/European_History

The peoples of Europe have had a tremendous effect on the development of the United States throughout the course of U.S. history. Europeans discovered and colonized the North American continent and even after they lost political control over its territory their influence has predominated due to a common language social ideals and culture. Therefore when endeavoring to understand the history of the United States it is helpful to briefly describe their European origin. = Greece and Rome = =Ancient Greece= See also [[Ancient History/Greece]] The first significant civilizations of Europe formed in the second millennium BCE. By 800 BCE various Greek city states sharing a language and a culture based on slavery pioneered novel political cultures. In the Greek city of Athens by about 500 BCE the male citizens who owned land began to elect their leaders. These elections by the minority of a minority represent the first democracy in the world. Other states in Greece experimented with other forms of rule as in the totalitarian state of Sparta. These polities existed side by side sometimes warring with each other at one time combining against an invading army from Persia. Ancient Athens is known for its literary achievements in drama history and personal narrative. The individual city states did not usually see themselves as a single entity. (The conqueror Alexander the Great who called himself a Greek actually was a native of the non Greek state of Macedon.) The city states of Greece became provinces of the Roman Empire in 27 BCE. =Rome= See also [[Danish seamen painted mid 12th century. File Christian krohg leiv eriksson.jpg A painting depicting Leif Erikson spotting land in North America. File Authentic Viking recreation.jpg A recreation of a viking village in Newfoundland. = The Great Famine and Black Death = The Little Ice Age led to European famines in the years 1315 1317 and in 1321. In the year 1318 sheep and cattle began to die of a contagious disease. Farmers could not support the growing population. And then in ...