Short History of US Wars-- Part 1

From the Jan. 6, 2011, Chicago Tribune.

Along with the other stuff about US wars that I have had earlier this month, the Tribune also gave a short history of US Wars which is useful.

AMERICAN REVOLUTION: (Began April 19, 1775) Tension built between Britain and its 13 colonies in the 1770s as the British government cracked down on laws and taxes. The Americans won key battles, allied with France and eventually won independence.

WAR OF 1812: (War declared June 18, 1812) The cause of this war centered on control of shipping, and there was a large group, both citizens and members of Congress, opposed from the start. A peace treaty signed in 1814 called for everything to be exactly as it was before the war.


MEXICAN WAR: (War declared May 13, 1846) This war was fought for territory, and by the end, the United States gained more than 525,000 square miles in what is now parts of California, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Arizona. The war had its roots in fighting for control over Texas.

CIVIL WAR: (Began April 12, 1861) Before the Civil War, the nation was made up of 19 free states and 15 where slavery was allowed, the conflict at the root of the war. The war began when Southern troops attacker Fort Sumter in South Carolina and ended, essentially, with Lee's Confederate surrender in Virginia. More died from disease than combat.

Short and To the Point. --DaCoot