The Linguistic Culture-6 (Fight for Independence) (Старые лекции в ворде)

Lecture 7

War for Independence. American Revolution

By the middle of the 18P^th century North America was no longer a serious of isolated imperial outposts inhabited by Englishmen. By 1750 there were thirteen British colonies, competing with the French ones. In 1749 the French sent an expedition down the Ohio River to claim the land in the Mississippi basin for Luis XV. The British government responded by organizing an elaborate offensive against the French. The Seven Years’ War ended in the expulsion of France from North America and stirred a wave of patriotism among the English population in America. Colonials cheered when the Treaty of Paris (1763) gave England control over all of North America east of the Mississippi.

After the French war Great Britain rose to the heights of national power and prestige. At the same time the costly seven-year struggle severely strained Britain’s treasury and pointed up glaring differences of interests between England and Americans who felt much less dependent on the mother country. The colonies had become quite different and no longer wanted to be seen as extensions of England. The controversy between England and the colonies after 1763 revolved around the laws affecting the settlement of the West, colonial trade, currency, taxes, courts of justice and legislative assembly.

The British Prime Minister George Granville was determined to make the American colonies realize their obligations to the Empire. He introduced a series of new administrative and financial programs for America: the Quartering Act (1765) demanded colonials to furnish shelter and provisions for the English troops. The Currency Act of 1764 extended an earlier edict against making colonial money legal. A New Sugar and Molasses Act in 1764 put a duty on the goods shipped to the colonies. Besides sugar taxes were put upon silk and wine. In 1765 Stamp Act laid taxes on all printed items such as paper, licenses, newspapers, playing cards and even college diplomas. To show that the tax had been paid, a stamp seller put a stamp on the paper.

The answer in colonies was boycott against the importation of British goods. The first political action - the Congress toward Stamp Act took place in New York. After more than two weeks of debate at the Congress the representatives of nine colonies issued a declaration of rights and grievances that stated that colonies could be taxed constitutionally only by their own legislatures. In 1766 an Organization “Sons of Liberty” was created in New York, and together with other organizations it broadened the base of the resistance movement. They urged citizens not to buy imported goods. Even American women, who had traditionally remained outside of politics, joined the resistance movement. In towns throughout America young women calling themselves Daughters of Liberation sat publicly at their spinning wheels all day boycotting English cloth, eating only American food and drinking American herbal tea.

In March 1770 British redcoats who had been sent to enforce certain British Acts clashed with colonial civilians. Five men were killed and six wounded. The incident was later known as “The Boston massacre When the uproar in America reached Britain, the British Parliament repealed all the duties except the tea tax, but most basic sources of discontent remained.. The Americans felt angry upon the presence of unnecessary troops, the English courts and customs officers.

The East India Company, finding itself in critical financial state, appealed to the British government and was given a monopoly on all tea exported to North America. When three ships loaded with tea came into the port of Boston in December 16, 1773 American colonists refused to pay the tax and unload the tea. Instead at night a group of 60 men disguised as Indians boarded the ships and dumped the cargo of three hundred forty two chests into the water of the harbor This event came into American history under the name “The Boston Tea Party”. British King George and Parliament condemned the “Tea Party” as an act of vandalism and advocated legal measures to bring the insurgent colonists into line. Punitive measures were taken. The newly adopted British laws-called by the colonists “Coercive Acts’- closed the port of Boston until the cost of the lost tea was paid for. New British officials were appointed in American colonies, and many more British troops were stationed there.

But the resistance of the colonists continued to grow. In 1774 Americans established so-called Committees of Correspondence, which sent delegates to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Delegates from 12 colonies except Georgia wrote to King George asking to reopen Boston Harbor. American lawyers Thomas Jefferson and James Wilson worked out the rights of Americans and their own legislation. King George did not answer the letter and sent more warships to America. American patriots called on Americans to take up arms to defend their rights. In April 1775 the British regulars at Lexington and Concord (near Boston) were met by armed American volunteers (so-called militia). Their first skirmished proclaimed the beginning of American War for Independence.

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. 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 ближе. 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.