3.1. Early Explorations. The First Europeans in America

 The term New World – newly discovered and unsettled – is used in contrast with Old World, which was for the people of Europe known world of written historical records and literatures.

Before Columbus several flourishing civilizations had existed there for centuries. The earliest inhabitants of America may have arrived over 25,000 years before Columbus in the place what is now Nevada. When the climate began to warm up they ranged the entire New World. And by 1492 (the time Columbus reached the New World) the American civilization had reached a level of culture which included personal wealth, fine buildings, religions.

The Vikings under Leif Ericson were the first Europeans who landed on the coast of North America in 1000.

People tried to find a rout (a western sea rout) to Asia (India) because even a single ship with Asian goods could make a fortune.

Christopher Columbus, an Italian navigator in the service of Spain, on October, 12 in 1492 landed on one of the Bahama Islands and named it San Salvador («божественное спaсение»). He returned three times and discovered Cuba, Haity, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and other islands of the West Indies. He called the people of the Islands Indians; he thought he had discovered India.

Martin Waldseemuller, a German geographer, was the 1 mapmaker who called the New World “America” in 1507, by name of Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian navigator who explored the northern and eastern coasts of South America in 1499. 

In 1758 Sir Francis Drake, English navigator and admiral, landed on the California coast. In 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh, English explorer and writer, landed in Virginia.

Answer the questions:

1. Where may the earliest inhabitants of America have arrived?

2. Who were the first Europeans in America?

3. What places did the land on?

   3.2. America in the XVII th. – XVIII th. cc.

   For the years English ships sailed along the coast of the Eastern U.S. (what is now). In 1607 the first permanent English colony appeared – Jamestown, for King James I of England. The ruling of the colony belonged to the Virginia Company which did not give the colonists freedom to do what they wanted. In 1624 the English king took control of the colony. A governor ruled the colony in the king’s name, but the settlers elected their representatives to help make laws for the colony.

   The Virginia Company brought the poor men and those who hoped for better life to the New World, where these people sold themselves into bondage to the merchants and landowners.

   The first settlers who came to America for religious reasons were the Pilgrims. On September, 6 1620 the 180-ton ship Mayflower, carrying the Pilgrim Fathers to their new life, left England (Plymouth). There were 102 passengers, the Separatists or members of the radical wing of the Puritan movement. On November, 10 they arrived to Massachusetts and called their colony Plymouth. They suffered and nearly half of them died. But the Indians helped them. And in November 1621 the Pilgrims had a lot of food and invited the Indian to thank them, it was the first Thanksgiving in America.

   A few years later the Catholics landed in America in 1634. They called their colony Maryland after Queen Mary, England’s last Catholic Ruler.

   The Europeans captured the territories from the Indians and formed 13 colonies along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhod Island, South Carolina and Virginia.

    Southern plantations depended on slavery. By 1750 there were more slaves than free people in South Carolina. The slaves worked hard; if they could run away they were severely punished. There were the plantations of rice, tobacco and indigo. People who could not pay debts were put in prison and could stay there for years unless their families or friends could pay their bills.

   The war started in 1754 between Britain and France for controlling Canada and the Ohio Valley. The French came to America and in 1752 began to build forts, started 2 cities on the Mississippi River: St. Louis and New Orleans. They came to America to find furs and become rich, to help the Indians to become Catholics. This war was called the French and Indian War because Indians helped both sides to fight. George Washington, a young colonel of Virginia, helped the English soldiers. They fought for many years and England won the war.

   But the problem of paying for the war expenses made Parliament to pass the law – the Stamp Act – to raise money (it was necessary to buy the stamps and use them on newspapers, business papers, calendars) in 1764. The colonies refused, having written “America does not belong to Britain. America belongs to itself.” (Thomas Paine). In March 1770 some British soldiers killed several colonists in Boston. The Patriots (those who were against British Control), in 1773, dressed up like Indians went to the harbour, boarded 3 British ships, seized the tea chests and dumped their contents into the water, to protest against the tax on tea when buying it from Britain. That raid became known as the Boston Tea Party. The other colonies supported Boston’s Patriots.

      In 1774 the Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia (a meeting of the colonies). It decided to stop all trade with Britain. That meant an open conflict. Fighting broke out. The American Revolution began in 1775. On July, 1776 the members of the Continental Congress issued the paper which is now called the Declaration of Independence (the colonies are free and independent states). It was now written by Thomas Jefferson (the 3^rd president); Ben Franklin (his face is on $100 banknote) helped him.

    George Washington became commander of the American forces. After 1779 free blacks and slaves were allowed to join the army. The Patriots won. Great Britain agreed that 13 colonies would be independent. The new nation was called The United States. In each state a new plan of government was written. The plans were called constitutions.

   The new Constitution was accepted including 10 amendments (a Bill of Rights; among those were freedom of speech and freedom of religion). On April, 30 in 1789 George Washington took an oath of office as the first President of the United States. Federalists and Republicans were the first American political parties. John Adams won the election of 1796 and became the 2^nd president.

Answer the questions:

1. Where and when did the first English company appear?

2. Who were the first European settlers in America?

3. What colonies were there formed?

4. Who worked in the Southern plantations?

5. Why was the war of 1754 called the French and Indian War?

6. What event is known as the Boston Tea Party?

7. When did the American Revolution begin?

8. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

9. When was the new nation called the United States?

     3.3. America in XIX c.

     In 1801 Thomas Jefferson became the 3^rd President (the Republican). At that time Napoleon was the ruler of France; was fighting many wars in Europe and needed money. He sold Louisiana and New Orleans to the United States for $15 mln. So, the U.S. doubled its size in 1803. In this year the war had broken out between France and Great Britain. In 1812 the U.S. declared war on Great Britain and in 1814 they decided to stop fighting. Nothing changed.

   Andrew Jackson became the president of the United States in 1828. The period from 1812 till 1845 (Jackson died) is characterized by fighting the Americans and the Cherokee Indians against the Greek Indians living in the South.

  In 1821 Mexico became a free country. Texas broke away from Mexico; in 1836 the leaders of Texas wrote a Declaration of Independence (the Texas Revolution). In 1845 Texas became the 28^th state in the U.S. In 1846 a war started between the U.S. and Mexico. In 1848 it was over, the Rio Grand was the line between the U.S. and Mexico. 15 mln. $ were given for this land by the U.S.

   In 1859 Oregon became a state. Oregon had lots of trees for building new houses and good land for farming. Thousands of Americans moved west (1848s). In 1848 a “gold rush” began in California. It became a state in 1850.

After the Mexican War and American’s moving to the West, people from the South wanted to start new plantations there and to bring their slaves. The Northern states did not want slavery in the West. The North and South began to quarrel. The North made their products expensive and made the South pay extra money, or a tax, for the European goods.

   In 1860 Abe Lincoln became the president of the U.S. and prohibited slavery. The Civil War began on April 12, 1861. The South did not want to be a part of the Union and started a new country called the Confederate States of America. Robert E. Lee was the leader of the Confederate army. President Lincoln was the leader of the Union. In April, 9 1865 the war was over. A few days after it, Lincoln was shot in the head at the Ford Theatre.

The late 1800’s are characterized by the last Indian Wars (1870 – 1890) and the growth of big business which is connected with the inventions of a telephone, a light bulb, etc., the company General Electric, steel industry (Andrew Carnegie’s steel empire), oil business (John D. Rockefeller got control of most of the country’s oil business).  

Answer the questions:

1. Who were the American presidents in XIX c.?

2. What new states appeared during this period?

3. What wars were there in XIX c.?

4. When did the Civil War begin?

5. Why did these wars start?

6. What are the late 1800’s characterized by?

    3.4. America in the first half of the XX c.

    Theodore Roosevelt became President in 1901, one of the most popular Presidents in American History. To show America’s naval power, he sent sixteen battleships on a trip around the world. He sometimes sent warships and marines to small countries to Latin America to protect American property according to the Monroe Doctrine, which had been issued by President Monroe in1823 as a warning to Europe not to start any new colonies in Latin America.

   One idea Theodore Roosevelt had for expanding American power was to build a canal through the narrow land that connects North and South Americas in order the United States Navy could move more easily between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In 1914 the work was complete, and the Panama Canal was open to ship traffic.

    In the 1920’s America became a nation on wheels. The most popular car was Model T, made by Henry Ford. More people due to so called plan “buying on time” were able to buy expensive goods. Electric ovens were new in the 1920’s.The first radio stations began broadcasting.

    In 1929, American business ran into trouble – the stock market crashed, banks and companies went out of business, industries cut down production, jobs were hard to find, wages lowered considerably, farm families lost their land. The situation was so bad and lasted so long that the 1930’s are called the Great Depression.

    In 1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President. He promised Americans a New Deal – new plans to end the Depression. By 1936 there had been started dozens of programs to create new jobs and help people make a new start. So, Roosevelt easily won election to a second term as President. In 1940 he was elected to a third term, which broke the old tradition that limited a President to two terms in office.

   On December 7, 1941 Japanese airplanes attacked an American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This was the largest single-day loss in U.S. Navy History. This attack brought the United States into World War II, and Congress declared war on Japan, Germany, and Italy.

   After the victory of the Soviet Union over Hitler’s troops in Europe (the Nazi Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945), the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet People was finished. But Japan did not surrender and in the summer of 1945 American airplanes dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It led to Hirohito’s formal surrender on 2 September 1945.

  A cold war started between the U.S. and the USSR almost as soon as WW II ended because of disagreement over what should happen to the countries of Eastern Europe. New types of weapons and new forms of using them were invented, and both the United States and the Soviet Union built up a tremendous supply of powerful armaments. This contest became known as the arms race. In April 1949 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created because of fear of Communism as one of the reasons.

Answer the questions:

1. Who were the presidents of America in the first half of the XX c.?

2. What main events took place in this period of time?