North America (Landrover Alternity)

The continent of North America is comprised of three governing entities: Canada, Québec, and the United States. The redefinition of the Western Hemisphere of 2011 indicates that due to various confusion over time, the country of Mexico is considered as a part of Central America. fifty-four contiguous states and provinces of Canada with the remaining two non-contiguous US states ( Alaska and Hawai'i) are all geographically part of North America. The contiguous US shares its northern border along the 49th parallel (Cascadia excepted) mainly along the St. Lawrence River and the southern border with Mexico.

Pre-1775
Christopher Columbus' discovery of the modern day Bahamian island of San Salvador in October 1492 was followed by dozens of expeditions over the next hundred and twenty-five years to the New World, or America, as named after the Italian mapmaker Amerigo Vespucci in 1507. John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) is credited with the discovery of continental North America in June 1497, approximately five-hundred years ago. Columbus himself would make another three voyages to the modern-day Caribbean before his death in 1506. In April 1513, Juan Ponce de León (sailing for Ferdinand II of Aragon) landed in modern day Florida, most likely at St. Augustine, while in 1624, Giovanni da Verrazzano (sailing for Francis I of France) explored the Atlantic coast of the Carolinas.

In 1756, the French and Indian War erupted as the result of clashing British and French colonial interests in North America, and as the overseas extension of Europe's Seven Year's War. In 1763, Quebec fell to British troops and the French garrisons of North America surrendered, ending the war and giving Britain control of all France's North American territory, in addition to French cession of the Louisiana Territory to the Spanish for the next forty years.

American Revolution (1775-1783)
The close of the French and Indian War in 1763 signaled the beginning of an era of change in the North American colonies. Britain's Thirteen Colonies of the Eastern Seaboard began to grow restless as the British government overseas imposed, one after the other, laws that seemingly violated the American colonists' rights as citizens of Great Britain.

Independence and Constitution (1783 & 1787)
On September 3, 1783, Britain officially declared the US a free and sovereign nation with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, ceding control of all land east of the Mississippi and south of the St. Lawrence Rivers. Ironically, Britain would become the infant nation's first trading partner.

War of 1812 (1812-1815)
Main Article: War of 1812 (1812-1815)

First Mexican-American War (1846-1848)
Main Article: First Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

Civil War (1861-1865)
Main Article: American Civil War (1861-1865)

Second Mexican-American War (1877-1879)
Main Article: Second Mexican-American War (1877-1879)

World War I (1914-1918)
Main Article: World War I (1914-1918)

World War II (1941-1946)
Main Article: World War II (1938-1946)

Cold War (1948-1991)
Main Article: Cold War (1948-1991)

Korean War (1950-1952)
Main Article: Korean War (1950-1952)

Second Indochina War (1955-1970)
Main Article: Second Indochina War (1955-1970)

Indonesian War (1972-1979)
Main Article: Indonesian War (1972-1979)