20 Билет The fight for freedom.

Some people began to speak out against slavery. These men and women were called abolitionists. William Lloyd Garrison became one of the first leaders in the movement to free the slaves. In 1831 he started a newspaper called the Liberator. He also started a group called the American Anti-Slavery Society. The most famous leader was Frederick Douglass. He was an ex-slave. He published an abolitionist newspaper called the North Star. Some slaves refused to work and escaped to the North of Canada. Many abolitionists secretly banded together to form an underground railroad (a place where slaves could hide as they made their way north). One of the most famous conductors was Harriet Tubman. She risked her life many times to lead more than 300 slaves to freedom. Some slaves escaped on their own. A Kentucky woman named Eliza made one of the most daring escapes.

21 Билет Civil War 1863 The American Civil

It was a war fought between northern and southern states of the USA. A group of states in the southern U S ("the South") wanted to be independent, while the northern US ("the North") wanted to keep the US as one country. The war was won by the North. In the South ("slave states"), most African-Americans were slaves. The North had decided to make laws to say no one could own another person.

Also, a large part of land belonging to the US in the west was not yet divided into states. This land was divided into territories and there were few non-Native American that lived there. Unlike the states, the territories weren’t political. Each South and North wanted these territories. Abraham Lincoln was from the North, and when he ran for President he said that any territory that wanted to become a new state should not be a slave state.

When Lincoln became the new President, many of the slave states decided to leave the USA, and ended up forming a new country, the Confederate States of America, with a capital in Richmond, VA. Also, soon after the war, several constitutional amendments were made by the US government. Slavery was ended, and it was claimed that all people born in the US are citizens with equal rights that cannot be taken away unless they do something against the law. The 15th Amendment says that people in the US cannot be kept from voting because of their race.

22 Билет a Rush to California.

Westward movement, the populating (by Europeans) of the mainland of United States, a process that began shortly after the first colonial settlements were established along the Atlantic coast. The first British settlers in the New World stayed close to the Atlantic, their lifeline to needed supplies from England. By the 1630s, however, Massachusetts Bay colonists were pushing into the Connecticut River valley. Resistance from the French and the Indians slowed the westward movement, yet by the 1750s northern American colonists had occupied most of New England.

On January 24, 1848, a man named John Marshall found a gold mine in the sawmill in northern California. The sawmill belonged to an American named John Sutter. They tried to keep the discovery secret, but the news spread quickly. Thousands of people rushed to California in 1849. People traveled over the land in wagons from all of the states & countries. Hundreds of ships also left ports in Europe, Asia & South America - By the end of 1849 more than 700 ships with 45.000 people on board. San Francisco grew from a village of 1000 people to a city of 25000 in a few months. Mining camps grew even faster. The city of Sacramento started out as a mining camp on Sutter’s land, before the rush there were only 4 houses, after that => 10000 people. The gold seekers rushed to the rivers & mountains near Sutter’s mill & started to search some gold. Within 10 years 500$ mill. were found. Most of seekers returned home, others stayed at California & built their farms. By the 1849 over 100000 people were living in California. It became a state the following year.