Text 6.
History of the United States of America.
The history of the United States is not long but amazing and full of dramatic events.
Scientists believe that the first people appeared on the American continent 25000 years ago. They could come from Asia using the land bridge between North America and Asia. Later, the natural bridge was covered with water and thus the Bering Strait appeared. So the continents were isolated and the migration stopped.
Modern Europeans knew nothing about the American continent till the 15th century when Christopher Columbus discovered it.
Columbus was an Italian sailor. His life-time dream was to find a new way to India. The Spanish government gave him money and on August 3, 1492, with three little ships called Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria Columbus sailed westwards.
It was a very difficult voyage but on October 12, 1492, the ships reached an island not far from the coast of North America.
Until the end of his life Columbus thought that the islands and the mainland were part of India. That’s why they were called West Indies and the natives – “Indians”.
In 1957 an ancient Vikings’ map was found in London. To their astonishment scientists saw that Vikings knew about America and visited it long before Columbus.
Brave sailors from northern Europe Eric the Red and his son Leif Ericson sailed to American continent and even lived there for some time. But quarrels with native tribes made them abandon the land. As time went on people forgot about those lands and a long time passed before the white men came there again.
In 1966 the US Congress has declared Leif Ericson to be the discoverer of the New World. Since then on October, 9 Americans celebrate Leif Ericson’s Day. However it doesn’t abolish Columbus Day, which is on October, 12. But now it is devoted to the rediscovery and exploration of America.
Christopher Columbus made four voyages to America. He understood that the land was extremely rich. Many people followed Columbus and went to the New World in search of money, freedom, happiness or adventures. They settled there and made their fortune because they could find gold, silver and other metals.
Spain, France and England were interested in the discovery of the New World because at that time they were the strongest powers of the world and wanted new territories and riches.
For some time after its discovery America was called the New World. Later, however, it was decided to name the New World after Amerigo Vespucci. He made three voyages to America and proved that the land discovered by Columbus was not India but the new continent.
The first English colonists came to America in the late 16th century, but most of them went back home. Only at the beginning of the 17th century Englishmen established several colonies and called them New England.
It happened in 1620 when some English families (about 100 people) left England on board the ship called Mayflower and sailed to America. These people were called Pilgrims. They wanted to find a place where they could worship as they wanted.
The Pilgrims settled in present-day Massachusetts. They called their settlement Plymouth. They arrived when it was already winter. The weather was cold and people didn’t have enough to eat. The first winter was really difficult especially for children and women. Many people died from the cold but the colony survived. In spite of all the difficulties they lived through the winter. Friendly Indians taught them how to survive in the wilderness. They showed the colonists how to grow corn, how to catch fish with a spear and where to hunt deer. They also taught them that they could make the soil rich by burying fish in the earth. In spring things went better. The settlers built good houses and gathered a good harvest in autumn. To give thanks, they invited their friends – Indians – to a great feast. They celebrated it in October, 1621. Since that time Thanksgiving Day has been a national holiday in the United States of America. It is observed on the fourth Thursday of November.
Other ships came with more settlers, new colonies were established. The country had everything necessary for life and the colonies became richer and stronger. But they were ruled by England and paid duty on different things.
At the end of the 17th century (in 1775) the colonies started the War of Independence. It lasted eight years, from 1775 to 1781. After March 1776, the city of Boston was never again touched by fighting. Yet no other city played as important a role in the struggle for independence. It was events in Boston that led to the revolution.
In the 1760s, England passed laws that imposed taxes on the colonists and limited their rights. Bostonians strongly objected. Riots in 1768 led to the occupation of Boston by British soldiers. From there, problems grew. In 1770, an angry crowd threw snowballs (evidently filled with stones and ice) at some soldiers. The soldiers then fired into the crowd, killing five men; this event became known as the Bostonian Massacre. In 1773, to protest a new tax, Bostonians, dressed as Indians, threw 400 crates of British tea into the Boston Harbor. In response to the Boston Tea Party, Britain closed the harbor. This response was a severe one, since Boston depended on trade.
The first shots were fired in April 1775, in the nearby town of Lexington.
In 1776 the Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson. Thirteen colonies (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia) declared themselves free and independent of England. This day (July, 4) is considered to be the birthday of the American nation.
After the end of the War of Independence in 1783, 16 states were formed and they chose George Washington as their first President. At present there are 50 stars on the American flag, symbolizing 50 US states.
The democracy that was spreading in the first half of the 1800s was not shared by black Americans. Most blacks were slaves. Under the system of slavery, people were bought and sold as if they were objects, not human beings. When the slaves arrived in the United States from Africa, they were sold at public auctions. Very often families were divided up to be sold to different owners. Little children were sometimes taken from their mothers. Slaves belonged to their owners. They had no rights under the law. They worked from early morning till late at night, and sometimes at night, too.
In 1808 Congress outlawed the slave trade with Africa. But the system of slavery continued for nearly 60 years after this. Slavery was the basis for the South’s economy; it was also what, more than anything, made the South different from the rest of the country.
By 1830 all the Northern states had outlawed slavery. In the South, however, the rich planters needed much slave labor on their huge plantations, so the Southern states remained slave states.
More and more people in America began to understand that slavery was shameful, that there should be no place for slavery in a democratic society. The election of 1860 showed that the United States was a divided country. Abraham Lincoln won the national election and became President. The Northern states were on his side. The South was against him. On February 4, 1861, the Southern states formed the Confederate States of America. Lincoln didn’t agree to the division of the country. He said that it was his constitutional duty as President to keep the nation united. Lincoln didn’t want a war. But soon he saw that there was no choice. April 12, 1861, was the beginning of a civil war – a war between people of the same nation, the war between the North and the South. It lasted four years. More Americans died in this war than in all other wars combined. The North had certain great advantages over the South. It had a larger population and most of the country’s factories and banks. But it had the more difficult task – conquest rather than defense. Also, many of the nation’s top military leaders were from Southern states and joined the Southern cause.
When the war was finally ended in 1865, the South had been devastated. The most important long-term effect of the war was the end of slavery. Black Americans were made citizens and were given the right to vote.
Some Major Dates of American History.
1000 Leif Ericson sails to the east coast of North America.
1492 October 12. Christopher Columbus lands in the Bahamas.
1607 Colonists establish first permanent English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia.
1620 Mayflower ship with Pilgrims on board sails to America.
1621 The first Thanksgiving Day is celebrated.
1636 October 28. America’s first college, Harvard, is founded at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1774 September 5. First Continental Congress opens in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1775 April 19. First shots of the American War of Independence are fired at Lexington, Massachusetts.
1776 July 4. The 13 colonies sign the Declaration of Independence.
1787 May 25. Constitutional Convention meets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to revise Articles of Confederation. New Constitution is adopted by delegates on September 17.
1791 First 10 Amendments, the Bill of Rights, are added to the US Constitution.
1812 War of 1812 against Britain begins. The United States wins series of naval victories, but fails in attempts to invade Canada. British burn Capitol and White House in August 1814.
1860 Abraham Lincoln is elected 16th president.
December 20. South Carolina, followed by six other southern states, secedes from Union in reaction to election of Lincoln, who opposes extension of slavery into western territories. These states organize the Confederate States of America.
1861 April 12. First guns are fired in Civil War at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, over question of southern states’ right to secede from the Union.
1863 January 1. President Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation granting freedom to slaves in southern states.
1865 April 9. The last Confederate forces are surrendered in a farmhouse near Appomattox. The Civil War is over.
1867 Territory of Alaska is purchased from Russia.
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