Lectures of The Linguistic Culture, страница 8

The Second Continental Congress, which also convened in Philadelphia, authorized an American army and appointed a young Virginian planter George Washington as its .commander-in-chief. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence from the British rule. This famous document drafted by Thomas Jefferson maintained that all men were created equal and proclaimed their rights for life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. The Declaration of Independence was signed in so-called Independence on the wall of which there is still the famous Liberty Bell, which told the people outside about the historical decisions. Independence was inevitable. Many Americans were ready to die for colonial rights, singing the words from John Dickinson’s “Liberty Song”: “Come, join hand in hand, brave Americans, all, and rouse your hearts”.

The war for Independence lasted for six years and was hard to win. In Great Britain at that time there lived 9 million people, in the American colonies – less than 3 million, 20 percent of which were slaves. Britain had the world’s greatest navy and a strong army. The rag-tag groups of irregulars seemed no match for England’s military might. Americans had only an ill trained militia and no navy. Yet they had one great advantage – they were fighting at home and for freedom. The colonial militia’s successes around Boston in the spring 1775 had contributed to the American myth that British regulars were less effective than the colonials’ volunteers. At the same time the British government and its generals made the fatal mistake of underestimating Washington’ ragged army seriously. As the war progressed, discipline and experience appeared and though the colonists lost many battles, they learned that they could be beaten but they could not be subdued .The overwhelming triumph of the Americans at Saratoga in October 1777 decided the Revolution. Besides France seeking the revenge to Britain had secretly provided assistance to the rebellious colonies, dispensing goods and finances through a trading company headed by French author Pierre Caron de Beaumarchais.

After the decisive victory of the colonial army at Yorktown in 1781 the British finally laid down their arms. In 1783 the ultimate peace treaty was signed in Paris. Britain recognized American independence and agreed to withdraw all its troops from the American soil. An American flag was raised. The 13 states joined together into a confederation. The citizens of the new country began to call themselves “Americans” and a new nation was born Congress also worked out a system of adding new states to the original ones.

One of the first tasks facing Americans was the creation of new political institutions to exercise the governmental authority seized from Great Britain. In 1787 a nation-wide meeting (named Convention) in Philadelphia adopted a new Constitution. It established a legislature of two Houses, the House of Representatives in which the places were assigned according to the population and filled by popular vote, and the Senate where every state was to send two members appointed by state legislature. Centralized executive power was to be effected by Federal Government headed by a President with wide jurisdiction over home and foreign affairs. During January and February 1789 elections took place in the states and soon the new congressmen gathered in New York, the temporary capital. George Washington was unanimously elected the first President of the United States of America.

In 1791 ten amendments were added to the Constitution, known as the “Bill of Rights”, according to which the Federal government guarantees freedom of speech, press, or religion. Yet it is necessary to note that the American Constitution, the first in the world to recognize the rights of white citizens, at the same time confirmed the black people’s slavery. The brutality of the slavery obviously conflicted with the proclaimed ideals of American democracy.

1. Answer the questions.

1. What was the main reason of British – French war?

2. What consequences had the victory of Britain on the relations between American colonies and their mother country?

1. What series of British actions led to the American war for independence?

2. What role did “The Boston Massacre” and the Boston “Tea Party” play in the revolutionary movement?

3. What was the main idea of the “Declaration of Independence” drafted by Thomas Jefferson?

4. How did the revolutionary events develop after the “Declaration of Independence” had been adopted?

5. Which great advantage did American militia have over British soldiers?

6. What were the very first steps of Philadelphia Convention after the decisive victory of the American colonial army?

7. When was the very first president of the USA elected?

2. Find English equivalent to the Russian ones:

Основные события; начало войны; одержать победу; подавить восстание; облагать налогами; приостановить деятельность законодательного органа; отменить пошлины; осуществить план; провести карательные меры; созвать конгресс; провести в жизнь закон; прекратить наступательные операции; предоставить безоговорочную независимость.

3. Render the texts in English:

А) Разрыв колоний с метрополией был предопределен с самого начала, так как ориентация на автономность возникла очень быстро…

Еще задолго до революции в Северной Америке сложилась особая духовная атмосфера, поражавшая прибывших за океан европейцев. Это ощущение свободы и больших возможностей для самореализации личности стало важнейшей основой для складывания американской нации. Американская революция, устранившая слабые ростки феодализма в колониях и порвавшая с диктатом метрополий, открыла в конце 18 в. путь для быстрого наращивания потенциала модернизации. Почему же произошло американское чудо? Некоторые исследователи склонны объяснять это тем, что первыми поселенцами были по преимуществу пуритане - носители капиталистического духа. Действительно, преследуемые на родине, английские кальвинисты переселялись в Америку целыми общинами и на первых порах сыграли роль своего рода стержня в экономической, политической и культурной жизни колоний. Но не менее важными были и другие факторы: колонисты принесли с собой демократические традиции, которые веками вырабатывала английская парламентская система.

(Хачатурян В.М.”История мировых цивилизаций”)

Б) К концу 18 в. в Американских колониях сложилась очень напряженная и противоречивая обстановка. К этому времени англичане попытались установить более строгий режим в своих колониях. Это вызвало решительный протест американцев. Введение закона о Гербовом сборе вызвала к жизни новые формы демократического движения. В конце 1765-начале 1766 гг. возникла революционная организация «Сыновья свободы». Они организовали бойкот английских товаров, что привело к провалу закона о Гербовом сборе. Это был новый этап политической борьбы. В мае 1773 г. английский парламент принял так называемый «Чайный закон». Протест против Чайного закона вылился в инцидент, известный в истории страны как «Бостонское чаепитие».

Между тем разрыв с Англией, вооруженное столкновение становились все более неотвратимыми. Первые вооруженные столкновения между английскими войсками и американскими силами произошли в Ленсингтоне и Конкорде. Три недели спустя после этих событий, 10 мая 1775 г. в Филадельфии открылся Континентальный конгресс. На нем было принято решение о создании регулярной армии. Главнокомандующим был назначен молодой плантатор Джордж Вашингтон.

Историческая наука рассматривает Американскую революцию как революцию, в которой борьба за освобождение от колониальной зависимости переплелась с борьбой за экономические и политические преобразования. Американская революция оказалась тесно связанной с процессом формирования новой нации.

В) Исключительная личность в Американской истории. Джордж Вашингтон.

Среди героев Америки нет человека, равного Дж. Вашингтону(1732-99). Неутомимый и энергичный вождь, он казался гигантом даже среди той группы окружавших его людей, которых называют создателями и «отцами» США. По словам одного из его современников, Джордж Вашингтон был «первым на войне, первым в мирной жизни и первым в сердцах своих соотечественников.

Вашингтон стяжал бессмертие, сыграв в истории США три важных роли: он командовал Континентальной армией, которая в ходе революционной войны завоевала стране независимость от Великобритании; он был председателем Конвента, который в 1787 году выработал Конституцию США; он был избран первым президентом США и определил форму и стиль правления нового государства.

До 1775 г, когда Вашингтон был избран главнокомандующим Континентальной армией, он занимался главным образом управлением своего поместья в штате Вирджиния, Он также был членом Вирджинской ассамблеи – законодательного органа самоуправления в колонии. Еще ранее он был военным и во время войны с французами и индейскими племенами командовал Вирджинскими силами, находясь в подчинении британскому командованию. Историк и биограф Джемс Флекснер в предисловии к своей книге «Вашингтон - исключительная личность» пишет, что когда он начал изучать жизнь Вашингтона, перед ним предстал «человек, которому, как и другим, свойственно было ошибаться, человек из плоти и крови, сильный духом, а вовсе не мраморная статуя. Безусловно, он был и великим, и хорошим человеком. Во всей мировой истории немногие из обладающих такой властью так мудро и благоразумно пользовались ею на благо своих соотечественников.

4. Discussion problems:

1. The situation before the Revolution.

2. The significance of the American Revolution for the thirteen colonies that becаme Independent.

3. Historical personalities of the period.

PART IV. Formation of American Nation

Read and translate the following words and word-combinations:

Trappers political turmoil

to develop a distinctive identify to strike it rich

to endure a lot of hardships a fortune-seeker

on the grounds a corner-stone

the land-hungry pioneers to raise foodstuff to sell

to make a fortune tacitly

to repeal to offer antislavery credentials

to set up abolitionist societies to secede-secession

to give impetus to deny suffrage

martial law to endorse suffrage

under legislation to be intimidated

to pardon the rebels the plight

The Independence was extremely important for the formation of American state. The leaders of the new nation believed in their country’s uniqueness. The classical republican heritage of Greece and Rome provided a constant source of imitation. The names “president”, “Congress”, and “Senate” were derived from Latin roots. American writers, artists and architects revived neoclassical style. The capitol building in the newly - built republican center of Washington exemplified this style.

Establishment of a firm economic base was another aim of national development. Much attention was paid to the rapid growth in the production of many items such as tools, firearms, paper, cloth, iron and others. Iron manufacture in Pennsylvania became the basis of the industrial economy. The shortage of labor caused development of mechanization of the operations and the growth of machine technology. The construction of the first railroads was begun

Congress worked out a system of adding new states to the original 13 ones. It was decided that when the population of any area grew to 60 thousand this area could become a state Thus five new states were formed from North-west territory: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Thomas Jefferson became the third president of the United States in 1801 and began to look to the West of the continent to provide land for growing agrarian population. He foresaw the day when Americans would expand to the Pacific coast. In 1798 Spain granted Americans access to the Mississippi and to the port at New Orleans. In 1803 he bought 828,000 square miles (2, 144, 000 square kilometers) of French land west of the Mississippi. This deal became known as the Louisiana Purchase, which included the present-day states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota.

T. Jefferson also asked the USA Congress to allocate appropriate funds for the expedition to the Northwest and exploration of the Missouri River and its tributaries. In 1804, President Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore and map the territory, and to find a water route for boats from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. The explorers, guided by an Indian woman Sacagawea, traveled by boat and on horseback from the Mississippi River westward to Oregon and the Pacific Ocean.

In spite of the War of 1812 which the USA fought on the side of France against Britain the American government continued to take steps to expand the territory available for white settlement on the northern frontier. In 1817 federal government had Indian tribes in Ohio sell their lands and migrate farther west. In the following years many Indian nations, recognizing the futility of resistance, signed over their territories and left. White settlers rushed westward, and five new western states joined the Union. The US government encouraged people to settle in the territory of Oregon, so that it could claim the land as part of the United States.

The annexation of Texas (the 28-th American state) in 1845 brought ranching into American life. Americans moved across Indiana and Illinois and into the plains as trappers, traders and adventurers, acquiring herds of horses and cattle. This began the range cattle industry in Kansas and Nebraska, which supplied beef and fresh horses to immigrants going west, and also fed mining camps and railroad crews.

Fleeing from political turmoil or economic distress at home over 4 million immigrants entered the United States from the 1840s to1880s.The first organized group of American settlers came to California in 1841 .In 1848, after the end of the Mexican War; Mexico ceded California to its powerful neighbor. By mid-century the United States extended its power from the Atlantic to the Pacific, pushing aside all Indian nations and conquering its neighbors.