14 The United States of America

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The United States of America includes 50 semiautonomous states. 48 states are situated in the southern part of North America and lie between the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. Alaska is situated in the North and lies between the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. Hawaii lies in the Mid-Pacific.

Its neighbours are Canada in the north, Mexico in the south. The United States of America also administers 14 territories, made up mostly of Pacific islands.

The United States is the third largest country in the world in both size, and population. It is approximately half the size of Russia. Its population is about 300 million people and total area is about 10 million sq. km. The capital is Washington D.C. (District of Columbia).

Symbols of the country

The US flag, nicknamed the "Stars and Stripes", has 13 stripes of red and white, representing the original 13 colonies of the new nation. The blue square in the upper left corner contains 50 white stars, standing for the 50 states. Symbols of the USA: Include the American flag and the Great Seal. The eagle holds an olive branch and arrows, symbolizing a desire for peace but the ability to wage war. The reverse side bears the eye of Providence representing God and a pyramid dated 1776.

History

• 1492 - Christopher Columbus discovered America

• 1607 - 1st colony founded at Jamestown

• 1620 - In 1620 the ship named Mayflower brought 102 English men, women and children to the north-east coast where they founded the colony called Plymouth. They were members of a religion sect called Pilgrim Fathers, but in winter about one half of them died. The next year in October 1621 they celebrated good harvest and the day of celebrations they called Thanksgiving Day. During the 17th century many colonists settled in the country. From these settlements became the 13 colonies under British rule.

• 1773 - Well known is the War of Independence It started, when British government started to charge new taxes on the imported goods (for example: sugar, coffee, textiles etc.) to cover the costs of the war against France. The colonists refused to pay taxes, so British soldiers were sent to Boston. In 1773 a group of patriots, dressed as Indians, threw the cargo of British tea into the Boston Harbour. This event is known as Boston Tea Party. In 1775 the war between England and American colonist began. Later George Washington took over the command of American army. The Continental Congress began to work as a national government and on July 4th, 1776 they agreed on the Declaration of Independence written mainly by Thomas Jefferson.

• The war of Independence lasted till 1783, when Britain signed the peace treaty and recognized the U.S. The day of Independence is celebrated on the 4th July.

• 19th century - Civil War - Negroes first came to America from Africa as slaves. They worked on the cotton fields of south. Northern states wanted to abolish slavery but southern economy was based on large plantations where slaves were used to grow cotton, rice and tobacco. About 60 years of never disputes lead to the Civil War between the North and the South. It was the worst episode in American history. It started after Abraham Lincoln was elected president. The North won in April 1865. Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865 short after the end of the war. The war had two main good results – it put an end to slavery which was abolished in 1865 and it also decided that America was a single and indivisible. Nation. This war however took more American lives than any other war conflict (635,000 dead)

• Abraham Lincoln – the most important person in the north – the Emancipation proclamation = the document which made slaves in the South free

• 20th century – the USA took part in the WW I and WW II

• After the war there was a period of prosperity (nicknamed the Jazz Age, the Roaring Twenties) – it ended with Black Thursday (October 24th, 1929, the start of the stock market crash) marking the beginning of the Great Depression (lasted till the end of 1930s) = the period of serious problems in economy and society)