User:AlveolarLateralFricative/sandbox

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This whole sentence should be bold. This whole sentence should have italics. Leave this part alone but put the last four words in bold. Now put the first three words of this sentence in italics. Make this whole sentence bold and italics. Put italics on the names of books and bold the names of individuals: What Color Is Your Parachute? Janet Jackson. Green Eggs and Ham. King Tut. Bhagavad Gita. Madonna.

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, and consists of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Colonial period
After a period of exploration by people from various European countries, Spanish, Dutch, English, French, Swedish, and Portuguese settlements were established.

Spanish colonization
Spanish explorers were the first Europeans to arrive in what is now the United States with Christopher Columbus' second expedition, which reached Puerto Rico on November 19, 1493

Dutch colonization
New Netherland was the 17th century Dutch colony centered on New York City and the Hudson River Valley, where they traded furs with the Native Americans to the north and were a barrier to Yankee expansion from New England.

French colonization
New France was the area colonized by France from 1534 to 1763.

British colonization
The first successful English colony was established in 1607, on the James River at Jamestown.

Political integration and autonomy
Following Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America, King George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 with the goal of organizing the new North American empire and stabilizing relations with the native Indians.

Formation of the United States of America (1776–1789)
The Thirteen Colonies began a rebellion against British rule in 1775 and proclaimed their independence in 1776 as the United States of America.

Early national era (1789–1849)
George Washington—a renowned hero of the American Revolutionary War, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and president of the Constitutional Convention—became the first President of the United States under the new Constitution in 1789.

War with Britain
In response to multiple grievances, the Congress declared war on Britain in 1812.

Abolitionist movement
After 1840 the growing abolitionist movement redefined itself as a crusade against the sin of slave ownership.

Compromise of 1850
The issue of slavery in the new territories was seemingly settled by the Compromise of 1850 brokered by Whig Henry Clay and Democrat Stephen Douglas.

Secession
After Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 election, eleven Southern states seceded from the union between late 1860 and 1861, establishing a new government, the Confederate States of America, on February 8, 1861.

Civil war begins
The Civil War began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

Casualties
Based on 1860 census figures, about 8% of all white males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including about 6% in the North and approximately 18% in the South, establishing the American Civil War as the deadliest war in American history.