The American people represent the United States of America, a Modern Age civilization in Civilization VII.
The Americans' civilization ability is Frontier Expansion, which grants 100 
Gold every time a 
Resource is improved. Their associated 
Wonder is the Statue of Liberty, and their unique components are as follows:
Unique Units: Marine (military), Prospector (civilian)- Unique Buildings: Steel Mill, Railyard
- Unique Quarter: Industrial Park
- Unique Civics: Yankee Ingenuity, Captains of Industry, Wartime Manufacturing
- Traditions: Gold Rush, Robber Baron, Lend-Lease
Intro[]
Built on steam, on iron, and on a vision that looks relentlessly ahead, America surges forward. The brave new world unrolls from factory assembly lines, on rail tracks that extend across the plains, and in the eyes of each immigrant who sets foot upon its shores. Come, and dream anew, under the stars and stripes.
Tips and hints[]
The Prospector Unique Civilian can claim Land Resource tiles outside your borders, up to 5 tiles away from a City Center. The tiles don't even have to be adjacent to your borders.
Strategy[]
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Civilopedia entry[]
The Thirteen Colonies of early America were not inevitable – they were products of their time and place. Whether or not the eastern coast of North America would become a British domain remained uncertain when the English landed in 1607. Britain initially faced competition with other European powers. The Spanish had a mission near Jamestown, but that was wiped out by Powhatans just a couple of years before the English arrived. The French held Quebec. And Caribbean colonialism had been in full swing for a century. Indigenous powers also existed. The Haudenosaunee had a sophisticated confederacy in the upstate New York region, built and expanded in reaction to colonial contact. Likewise, the Powhatans maintained a loose confederacy in the central Virginia area. These indigenous groups remained formidable foes to the expansionist European presence. They had a keen command of guerrilla tactics, overwhelming numbers, knowledge of the terrain, and very quickly learned to use guns and horses.
And yet, within a century, North America's European-centric future seemed inevitable. The early English presence in the U.S. was heavily influenced by Protestantism and Lockean notions of property, which unified religion and production. One could summarize early United States philosophy as follows: This world is God’s world. Thus, by working the land, we fill our role as agents of God and use what God has chosen for us to use. The original inhabitants of the land are people who do not work the land. They do not make use of what God provides, and so it is natural that they disappear to make way for us.
As time wore on, this notion was stripped of religious meaning, formed the backbone of Manifest Destiny, and provided the rationale for stories that discredited indigenous innovations before European arrival. The expansion of European diseases also contributed to this sense of Manifest Destiny.
The colonies were not homogenous. The Southern colonies were plantation estates much like other English colonies in the Caribbean, built to mass-produce cash crops via the enslavement of Africans kidnapped by slave traders. In contrast, New England was the home of Puritans who conceived of an omnipresent God who commanded diligent labor and austerity from his followers. Pennsylvania was a land grant to a colonial-era venture capitalist. Maryland would be a home for Catholics. Georgia was a penal colony, and so on. Eventually, Virginian plantation elites and New England intelligentsia came together over conflicts about the colonies’ role in a larger British empire. Could the British crown limit the colonies' westward expansion and negotiate with the indigenous powers on behalf of Americans? Could the colonies freely trade with other European powers in the region – especially Britain’s rivals? Were the colonies merely sources of raw materials to fuel English industry, or were they a part of the British nation, complete with voting rights? Wealthy colonists saw themselves as the latter, but the crown saw them as the former. Conflict was inevitable.
An independent United States posed a threat to England, and the British Empire sought to curb their colonies’ expansionist dreams. In this, they had allies: namely, the Haudenosaunee and other powerful indigenous groups. The British also employed this strategy of leveraging indigenous people against rowdy colonies in places like Burma, India, and Arabia. In addition, Britain offered freedom to any enslaved person willing to fight against the Americans. They would lose in this gamble in the New World, but Britain's allies would come out worst of all.
The War of Independence established the first real postcolonial state in the world – though it eventually became a colonizing power of its own. This new nation was several things at once. It was a creole state where New World-born Europeans ruled. It was an Enlightenment state, where notions of natural rights inherent to any man held sway over historical privilege. It was an anti-theocratic state. Despite the Puritan nature of New England, and the Catholic nature of Maryland, the United States sought to distance itself from the wars of religion looming over Europe. Anyone could practice anything they desired, so long as they did not infringe upon the rights of others.
The States began by sorting out some fundamental questions – should they be separate countries, with their own currencies? Should they have a strong central government or a weak one? The Articles of Confederation suggested the latter. Afterward, the Constitution suggested the former. The Constitution won out.
Still, another conflict loomed. The Southern states had been established like Caribbean plantations – factories for producing cotton and tobacco (and indigo) off the backs of slave labor, for the benefit of wealthy owners. The Northern states had their ethos; in the 1800s, this focused on the development of heavy industries powered by European immigration. As the rest of the world tilted towards emancipation and industry gained the upper hand, the South lost ground. It sought to secure its position by encouraging new Western states to replicate its economic model, which relied on enslaved people. The North opposed this, and this conflict eventually erupted into the Civil War. When the war ended, the South had been transformed and slavery had ended.
The later 19th century was a time of robber barons, railroad tycoons, and wars against the Plains Indians as America moved ever westward. Gold discoveries in California, the purchase of the central part of the U.S.A., and the cession of the Spanish territories further increased the size of the country. By the end of the century, the U.S.A. had annexed Hawaii and the Philippines, defeated the Plains Indians in the center of the country, reneged on multiple treaties with indigenous populations, and settled into the borders that, more or less, exist today. The early 20th century was a time of unchecked industry, mass migration to the country, shocking poverty, and equally shocking wealth. The country had moved from tricorn hats to hoop skirts to “The Jungle” to “The Great Gatsby” in a century and a half.
The United States' inherent ideals transformed the world. The country was an inspiration for the French Revolution and the Vietnamese Revolution. Furthermore, it was a proving ground for democratic nations and republics (though it was far from the first). It can be seen as a place that privileges economic freedom above all, conflicting with states that focused on social or labor freedom even as it conflicted with authoritarian states and absolute monarchies. This was a country where capital, not citizenry nor monarchy, reigned supreme. This ideology took a dark turn during the Cold War, and earlier in Latin America, the Philippines, and Hawaii when the interests of capital became antithetical to democratic interests (indeed, corporate ownership of media is why the USA lags behind many countries when it comes to issues such as freedom of the press). In this way, as in many others, America is an ongoing experiment on the ideal relationship between citizenry and government.
Cities[]
Trivia[]
- The American civilization's symbol is a shield with three stars and stripes on it, modeled after the coat of arms of the United States.
- The American civilization ability refers to the expansion of the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific (or "from sea to shining sea") from the 18th century to the 20th century, fueled by the ideology of manifest destiny.
- The American background art depicts an entrenched battle scene from the American Revolutionary War.
Soundtrack[]
| Original Track | № | Based on | Credits | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Colonial America (Modern Age)" | 37 | Chester March to Boston |
Composed by Geoff Knorr Performed by FILMharmonic Orchestra, Prague |
5:01 |
Gallery[]
.jpg "American city in-game (Civ7).jpg (6.88 MB)")
.png "Marine in-game (Civ7).png (884 KB)")
.png "Industrial Park in-game (Civ7).png (908 KB)")
.png "Statue of Liberty in-game (Civ7).png (3.78 MB)")
.png "American Background (Civ7).png (1.52 MB)")
Videos[]
See also[]
- American in other games
External links[]
| Civilization VII Civilizations [edit] | |
|---|---|
| Antiquity | |
| Exploration | |
| Modern | |
| 1 Requires DLC | |