<P> The history of the United States began with the settlement of Indigenous people before 15,000 BC . Numerous cultures formed . The arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 started the European colonization of the Americas . Most colonies formed after 1600 . By the 1770s , thirteen British colonies contained 2.5 million people along the Atlantic coast east of the Appalachian Mountains . After defeating France , the British government imposed a series of new taxes after 1765 , rejecting the colonists ' argument that new taxes needed their approval ( see Stamp Act 1765 ) . Tax resistance , especially the Boston Tea Party ( 1773 ) , led to punitive laws by Parliament designed to end self - government in Massachusetts . </P>
<P> The history of the United States began with the settlement of Indigenous people before 15,000 BC . Numerous cultures formed . The arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 started the European colonization of the Americas . Most colonies formed after 1600 . By the 1770s , thirteen British colonies contained 2.5 million people along the Atlantic coast east of the Appalachian Mountains . After defeating France , the British government imposed a series of new taxes after 1765 , rejecting the colonists ' argument that new taxes needed their approval ( see Stamp Act 1765 ) . Tax resistance , especially the Boston Tea Party ( 1773 ) , led to punitive laws by Parliament designed to end self - government in Massachusetts . </P>
what was the united states called before it was the united states
what was the united states called before it was the united states
thirteen British colonies
thirteen British colonies