The Linguistic Culture-2 (british media) (1157941), страница 9
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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.
The discovery of gold in California in 1848 set off the famous “Gold Rush”. “Gold Rush” or “Gold Fever”, dramatically described by famous American writer Jack London, occupies a special place in the USA history. The influence of it both on the region and on the whole nation was enormous. After the news about the gold in California had spread, over 80,000 Americans as well as thousands of foreigners streamed to the West with hope to get rich quickly Some of the new arrivals traveled to the port of San Francisco. Others traveled overland, enduring a lot of hardships. In the following seven years the influx of newcomers continued and by 1856 the state already numbered 300,000.Almost all of them tried to make their fortunes by mining gold and thousands of miners lived in camps separated from their loved ones, alone in vast and hostile wilderness. Very many of such fortune-seekers died because of difficult conditions and illnesses. Law and order were constantly broken down there. Even if a miner “struck it rich” (had success) there were always those who tried to take the gold away: gamblers, outlaws, thieves, and saloon keepers. 
Yet there were some who made fortune by selling goods to the miners. A German businessman Levi Strauss bought strong denim canvas and used it to make pants for the miners. Some people turned to agriculture and manufacturing in California. Farmers raised foodstuff to sell to the miners and settlers on their way west. Most of the farmers there were Mormons, who built new towns and grew corn and fruit on large irrigated fields of Southern California where the latest harvesting technology was used. The gold rush helped to change California from a frontier area into a state. In 1850 California became the31 American stat
The Civil War
While the nation was growing and developing, the situation with the Native Americans and black slaves was getting even more complex. The American Revolution gave great impetus to the movement to end slavery by granting freedom to those blacks who served in the armed forces. Following the American Revolution a number of states abolished slavery, and its opponents hoped that emancipation would gradually spread to other areas of the country. But although many northerners opposed slavery, most of them rejected immediate efforts to eradicate it. Age-old prejudices against the Indians and blacks prevented the “white” Americans from considering them as their equals and very many Americans still believed that blacks were basically more inferior than whites. Besides by the Constitution the issue about slavery was left in the hands of the State legislature and Federal Government had no right to abolish it. When Eli Whitney in 1793 invented the machine cleaning cotton of its seeds, the productivity of slave-labor in cotton-growing increased by 50 times and slavery came to be regarded as the mainstay economics in many Southern states. The increased importance of cotton for the South strengthened the hold of slavery in this region.
In 1820 by the Missouri Compromise Act slavery was tacitly allowed south of 36^30’ but not north of it, but a special Bill in 1854 virtually repealed the Missouri Compromise. The new Fugitive Law compelled the northerners to assist in capturing slaves who had escaped from their owners in the South
The new Republican Party, which sprang up in 1854, with Abraham Lincoln as one of its chief founders, demanded that slavery be kept within old boundaries set out in 1820. Tremendously important in awakening the nation’s consciousness was Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” (1852), 300 000 copies of which were sold within the first year and which was soon translated into dozens of foreign languages. Frederick Douglas’s autobiography, a poignant account of slave life, was also sold in numerous copies. Later Douglass edited his own newspaper, consistently urging militant action to bring about the abolition of slavery in the USA.
In 1854 the Republican Party became associated with the name of Abraham Lincoln. The revival of slave controversy stirred him deeply. “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong”, he stated with the clarity and simplicity of expression for which he later became famous. He was convinced that America could not be divided and said “A home divided against himself cannot stand. I believe this Government cannot endure permanently, half slave, half free”.
In November 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected the sixteenth president of the USA. “Honest Abe”, was a shrewd politician and a person of strong principles who offered good antislavery credentials. His votes were drawn only from the Northern States. A few days after A. Lincoln’s election the South Carolina convention voted for secession. By February 1861 many other southern states: Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas followed the lead. In February the congress of seceded states formed the Confederate States of America and announced slavery as the corner – stone of their constitution.
In April 1861 the civil war between the North and the South actually began. Although abolition of slavery was to be one of its problems, the war was fought not only to destroy slavery but first of all to preserve the union. When the Civil war broke out, the North could expect an easy victory. It had superiority in material resources and more than double the population of the South (20.7 million against 9 million, of which 3,5 were blacks).On the other hand, the South was in some respects very favorably placed for resisting invasion from the North. The country abounded in strong positions for defense, which could be held by a relatively small force while the northerners had to advance long distances, thus exposing their lines of communication to attack. As soldiers, the Southerners started with certain superiority for most of them were accustomed to fighting as a normal and suitable occupation for men. Besides among their leaders there were two men of great military talent – generals Jackson and Lee, while the Northerners lacked such brilliant officers. During the first stages of the war the Union Armies had a lot of failures. But Lincoln himself read books on strategy, scanned military maps, and outlined plans of campaigns. And his determination soon began to be widely felt and appreciated by common people. The belief that he could be trusted spread quickly and at the end the Northern army acted as an emancipating crusade.
Lincoln’s greatness of mind and heart were unexcelled. In his famous Gettysburg Address (1863) Lincoln made public his great plans of reconstructing the country on a new, more democratic basis: “The great task remains before us – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”.
. Since 1862 the blacks were allowed to join the Northern army and by the end of the war one Northern soldier in eight was black. commanded by white officers. Soon the segregated troops proved themselves in battle: 38,000 were killed, a rate of loss 40 times higher than among white troops.
In the summer of 1863 General Grant of the North won several decisive battles and cut Tennessee and Arkansas. In a series of fierce battles he lost 60,000 but gained his objectives, destroying everything on its way that might help the Southerners continue the fight.
In 1864 Abraham Lincoln was unanimously renominated President. He gave the closest attention to the final military phase of the war, visiting the army. .On April 3, 1865, Grant and Lee had to recognize the futility of further resistance. The confederate soldiers laid down their arms and were allowed to return to their homes in peace.
The war lasted four years and cost the nation 600,000 lives but the concept of an indissoluble union won universal acceptance. A more technically advanced and productive economic system resulted from the war.
The war forced the Government to proclaim emancipation for slave-soldiers fighting for the Union. In 1865 it was followed by the antislavery amendment to the Constitution making slavery illegal throughout the whole country. Lincoln’s part in this matter was undoubtedly central and the liberation of American slaves will be always associated with his name.
On April 14, 1865 during a theatrical performance in Washington, Lincoln was lethally wounded by a southern conspirator John Booth and early next morning he died. The feat of Abraham Lincoln’s life is best summed up in the following lines from the poem by Walt Whitman dedicated to the memory of this great American:
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