Economic history of the United States
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The economic history of the United
States has its roots in European settlements
in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The
American colonies progressed from margin-
ally successful colonial economies to 13
small,
independent
farming
economies,
which joined together in 1776 to form the
United States of America. In 230 years the
United States grew to a huge, integrated, in-
dustrialized economy that makes up over a
quarter of the world economy. The main
causes were a large unified market, a
supportive political-legal system, vast areas
of highly productive farmlands, vast natural
resources (especially timber, coal and oil),
and an entrepreneurial spirit and commit-
ment to investing in material and human cap-
ital. The economy has maintained high
wages, attracting immigrants by the millions
from all over the world. Technological and in-
dustrial factors played a major role.
Pre-colonial
While they traded among themselves, Native
Americans had little contact outside the
Americas before European settlers began ar-
riving. Their economic systems, for example
the economy of the Iroquois, involved various
combinations of hunting and gathering and
agriculture. Native American economies
were profoundly altered by the arrival of
Europeans and the resulting arrival of dis-
ease, influx of European goods, business rela-
tions with the Europeans regarding the fur
trade, acquisition of firearms, engagement in
wars, loss of land, and confinement to rese