sod that, although financial stuff is important if you can afford to go the states and pay 30k-40k$ a year on then finances dosn't seem to be problem for you.
You've got to know these things,
your Priority at university is the Course, completing your degree as much as other people seem to be in groups, active and uni and seem really comfortable but you don't know anything about them, they could be doing doss courses easy modules, post grads, repeat year, it doesn't really matter.
You will only gain satisfication from the course if you put the effort in that means attending classes, tutorials, and doing the reading. Interacting with your faculty/department profs and lecturers. If you did put serious thought into picking history to study at university, you obviously had some interest in it.
Colleges in US give you that flexibility of an extra year to decide what you want to do, and mixing and matching similar to joint degrees exists (eg double majors/minors), but its also means taking up an extra year, your degree has no focus, effectively it gives you the extra year to doss and have fun take it easy.
If that whole frat/campus and possibly possibly better climate, and Americana lifetstyle has its appeal,
You have to decide if you're just buying yourself more time to have fun and live the 1st year life,
but know that if you want to get a degree you will have to put in the time yourself studying and learning in the library