, commonly known as the United States

History

Main articles: History of the United States, Timeline of United States history, American business history, Economic history of the United States, and Labor history of the United States

Indigenous peoples and pre-Columbian history

Further information: Native Americans in the United States and Pre-Columbian era

The Cliff Palace, built by ancient Native American Puebloans around 1190 AD

It has been generally accepted that the first inhabitants of North America migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 12,000 years ago; however, increasing evidence suggests an even earlier arrival. After crossing the land bridge, the first Americans moved southward along the Pacific coast^[ and through an interior ice-free corridor between the Cordilleran and Laurentide ice sheets.^[50] The Clovis culture appeared around 11,000 BC, and is considered to be an ancestor of most of the later indigenous cultures of the Americas.The Clovis culture was believed to represent the first human settlement of the Americas. Over the years, more and more evidence has advanced the idea of "pre-Clovis" cultures including tools dating back about 15,550 years ago. It is likely these represent the first of three major waves of migrations into North America.Over time, indigenous cultures in North America grew increasingly complex, and some, such as the pre-Columbian Mississippian culture in the southeast, developed advanced agriculture, grand architecture, and state-level societies.The Mississippian culture flourished in the south from 800 to 1600 AD, extending from the Mexican border down through Florida.Its city state Cahokia is considered the largest, most complex pre-Columbian archaeological site in the modern-day United States.In the Four Corners region, Ancestral Puebloans culture developed as the culmination of centuries of agricultural experimentation, which produced greater dependence on farming.

A Native American Lecroy Point flint arrowhead, 9000-7000 BC

Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the United States are credited to the Pueblos: Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, and Taos Pueblo. The earthworks constructed by Native Americans of the Poverty Point culture in northeastern Louisiana have also been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. In the southern Great Lakes region, the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee) was established at some point between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. Most prominent along the Atlantic cost were the Algonquian tribes, who practiced hunting and trapping, along with limited cultivation. The date of the first settlements of the Hawaiian Islands is a topic of continuing debate.Archaeological evidence seems to indicate a settlement as early as 124 AD.^[