Answer: Pacific Fur Company mogul John Jacob Astor establishes Fort Astoria, the first permanent US settlement on the Pacific Coast. He later becomes the country's first millionaire. Hudson's Bay Company establishes Fort Vancouver, which becomes the most prominent European presence in the Northwest. During the Civil War, the country was divided between the North (Union States) and the South (Confederate States).
Ideas in the constitution came from several different Enlightenment thinkers. Montesquieu's ideas were also used in the US constitution. Montesquieu believed in the separation of power with checks and balances. Checks and balances are put in place to ensure that no one branch of government has too much power.
