History of the usa in brief

European nations came to the Americas to increase their wealth and broaden their influence over world affairs. The Spanish were among the first Europeans to explore the New World and the first to settle in what is now the United States.

By 1650, however, England had established a dominant presence on the Atlantic coast. The first colony was founded at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. Many of the people who settled in the New World came to escape religious persecution. The Pilgrims, founders of Plymouth, Massachusetts, arrived in 1620. In both Virginia and Massachusetts, the colonists flourished with some assistance from Native Americans. New World grains such as corn kept the colonists from starving while, in Virginia, tobacco provided a valuable cash crop. By the early 1700s enslaved Africans made up a growing percentage of the colonial population. By 1770, more than 2 million people lived and worked in Great Britain's 13 North American colonies.

Defending the Colonies against attack by the French and others had cost the British a great deal of money. As a result, the British had very high taxes in their country. They thus decided to shift some of their financial burden to the colonists. The Stamp Act of 1765, which taxed all legal documents, newspapers and other documents, was met with a great uproar in the Colonies. In 1766, this tax was repealed, but it was just the beginning of the problems between the colonists and the British. The Boston Tea Party in 1773 was an act of revolt against the British and their tax on tea in the Colonies.

Tensions such as these eventually led to the writing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. A year earlier, the War of Independence, also known as the American Revolution, began. When the British finally surrendered on October 19, 1781, Americans were officially independent of Britain and set about establishing their own government.

During this time, Americans established their government and two parties emerged--the Federalists and the Republicans. Americans had a lot to deal with during this period. They had to struggle with the need to increase taxes to pay for the American Revolution as well as deal with the French Revolution which divided American support between France and Britain. Under President Jefferson, the country expanded westward with the purchase of the Louisiana territory and the Lewis and Clark expedition. The War of 1812 against Britain, sometimes called the Second War of American Independence, lasted three years. After the war, a mood of nationalism existed as people focused on events and issues at home. However, troubles were brewing, particularly on the topic of slavery.

Conflict over issues of how much control the federal government should have over the states, industrialization, trade, and especially slavery had increased tension between Northern and Southern states. After Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, 11 Southern states seceded (or withdrew) from the Union and set up an independent government--the Confederate States of America. These events led to the outbreak of the Civil War--a brutal, bloody, four-year conflict that left the South defeated and ended slavery at the cost of more than half a million lives.

After the North defeated the South in the Civil War, politicians faced the task of putting the divided country back together. There was great debate about how severely the former Confederate states should be punished for leaving the Union. With the assassination of President Lincoln in 1865, it was up to President Andrew Johnson to try to reunite former enemies. The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 laid out the process for readmitting Southern states into the Union. The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) provided former slaves with national citizenship, and the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) granted black men the right to vote. These were only the first steps, however, toward reconstructing the fragmented nation.

In the 1890s, the belief that Americans should avoid getting involved with other countries was slowly fading. Because of its rapid economic and social growth, the U.S. had become a major world power. So when Cuban rebels began a violent revolution against Spanish rule in 1895, and a mysterious explosion sunk the U.S.S. Maine in the Havana harbor, the U.S. entered into what diplomat John Hay called "a splendid little war" with Spain. Although the Spanish-American War ended relatively soon, issues over ownership of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and the Hawaiian islands also had to be resolved.

Foreign affairs (relationships with other countries) took up a great deal of President Woodrow Wilson's attention. In Europe, there was the outbreak of World War I, also known as the Great War, in 1914, and in Mexico, there was the Mexican Revolution. Although at first Americans did not want to get involved, they supported the Allies in their fight against Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey. Finally, the U.S. entered the war in 1917. The war concluded in 1918 and the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919. The Allied Powers of the U.S., Great Britain, Japan, Italy, Russia, France, Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro had been victorious.

VOCABULARY

Ex. 3. Give the synonyms for the following:

help, protect, especially, result in, murder for political or economic reasons, quick, start a war with smb.

Ex. 4. Give the Russian-English equivalents of the following:

исследовать, основатель, процветать, порабощать, в результате чего-л., сдаться (капитулировать), покупка (приобретение), покончить с рабством, гражданство, предоставить право голоса, вмешиваться во что-л., поддерживать

Ex. 5. Give the English-Russian equivalents of the following:

broaden their influence, settle in, established a dominant presence, kept the colonists from starving, valuable cash crop., to shift some of their financial burden to the colonists, legal documents, with a great uproar, act of revolt, mood of nationalism, troubles were brewing, seceded (or withdrew), outbreak of the Civil War, reconstructing the fragmented nation, “splendid little war”, also had to be resolved, Allied Powers

COMPREHENSION CHECK

Ex. 6. Put the following events in their chronological order:

1. The Stamp Act, which taxed all legal documents, newspapers and other documents, was met with a great uproar in the Colonies.

2. Cuban rebels began a violent revolution against Spanish rule and a mysterious explosion sunk the U.S.S.

3. The Civil War was brutal, bloody, four-year conflict that left the South defeated and ended slavery at the cost of more than half a million lives.

4. The Louisiana territory was purchased.

5. The Pilgrims, founders of Plymouth, arrived in Massachusetts.

6. Although at first Americans did not want to get involved, they supported the Allies in their fight against Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey.

7. England established a dominant presence on the Atlantic coast.

8. Southern states seceded from the Union and set up an independent government.

9. The Boston Tea Party was an act of revolt against the British and their tax on tea in the Colonies.

10. The Fifteenth Amendment granted black men the right to vote.