The Ultimate US War History

The war history of the United States spans a period of over two centuries. During the course of those years, the United States grew from an alliance of thirteen British colonies without a professional military to the world's sole remaining superpower of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Until the Constitutional Convention, the military presence in what became known as the United States was organized by each U.S. state as a voluntary or conscripted militia. Since 1789, the United States Constitution has provided authority for the Congress to levy taxes and to raise a navy and national militia. 

Federal legislation eventually led to the modern nationalized system of military in the country. Historically, the amount of money the U.S. government spends on the military has often been a politically contentious issue.

As of 2008, the U.S. military consisted of an Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps under the command of the United States Department of Defense. There also is the United States Coast Guard, which is controlled by the Department of Homeland Security. The President of the United States is the commander in chief of each branch of the armed forces. 

In addition, each state has a national guard commanded by the state's governor and coordinated by the National Guard Bureau. The President of the United States has the authority during national emergencies to assume control of individual state National Guard units.

• US Biographies
• US War History
  • Colonial Wars (1620–1774)
  • American Revolution (1775–1783)
  • Early US Period (1783–1815)
  • Continental Expansion (1816–1860)
  • American Indian Wars
  • Civil War (1861–1865)
  • Post-Civil War era (1865–1917)
  • Spanish-American War (1898)
  • Philippine-American War (1899-1913)
  • Banana Wars
  • The Boxer Rebellion
  • World War I (1917-1918)
    • Russian Revolution
    • Neutrality Acts
  • World War II (1941-1945)
  • Cold War (1945–1991)
    • Postwar Military Reorganization (1947)
    • Korean War
    • Lebanon crisis of 1958
    • Bay of Pigs Invasion
    • Dominican Intervention
    • Vietnam War
    • Tehran hostage rescue
    • Grenada
    • Beirut
    • Panama
  • Post-Cold War era (1991–2001)
    • Gulf War
    • Somalia
    • Yugoslavia
  • War on Terrorism (2001–present)
    • Afghanistan
    • Philippines
    • Liberia
    • Iraq