13. Who the Britons are

The geographical situation of Great Britain has produced a certain insular spirit among its inhabitants. The Britons believe that their own community is the centre of the world. The British look on foreigners with contempt and think that nothing is as well done elsewhere as in their own country. The British people have also been known as superior, snobbish, aloof, hypocritical and unsociable.

Nowadays the ordinary Briton are friendly and sociable. There are indeed two nations, with different outlooks and characters, in Britain: the rich and the poor.

Englishmen are rather conservative, they love familiar things. They don’t like introduction of something new and unknown into their lives.

Britain is supposed to be the land of law and order.

The Britons are practical and realistic. They are not romantic at all.

The English sense and feeling for privacy is great. England is the land of brick fences and stone walls, of hedges, of thick draperies at all the windows.

English people rarely shake hands except when being introduced to someone for the first time.

Snobbery is not common in England today.

The British people are careful about almost everything. Their lawns, flower beds, and trees are always in order.

The British are devoted to animals. Animals are protected by law.

Most people in Britain work a five-day week, from Monday to Friday; schools, colleges and universities are also closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

Light activities on Sunday mid-mornings of the most British people are gardening, washing the car, shelling peas or chopping mint for Sunday lunch, or taking their dog for a walk.

Another most popular pre-lunch activity is a visit to a “pub”, where Englishmen go to drink beer.

14. The most important event in the history of the usa

In 1492 Christopher Columbus landed on one of the Bahamas Islands, and Portuguese colonists started to settle there. The Spaniards conquered most of Latin and Central America, and founded some settlements in North America.

The first British colony was Jamestown in Virginia, founded in 1607. But the settlements of English Puritans in New England are better known. Because of religious disputes some families of English Puritans decided to look for a better life and religious freedom on the new continent. One of these groups crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the ship “Mayflower” and settled in Plymouth in 1620.

Roman Catholics settled in Maryland and Quakers in Pennsylvania, where German farmers joined them. The Swedes settled in Delaware. African slaves were first brought to Virginia in 1619. The Dutch founded New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. So in this way America developed into a melting pot of nations and cultures.

By 1733 English settlers occupied 13 colonies along the Atlantic Ocean coast. The French controlled Canada and Louisiana. In 1763 as a result of the Seven Years War between England and France, Canada all the territory east of the Mississippi River became English.

Conflicts between the colonies and England increased. New taxes on sugar, coffee and textile were introduced and the colonies started to protest.

In 1775 colonist leaders gathered in Philadelphia and formed the Continental Congress. It started to function as a national government. George Washington became the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and navy. After several years of fighting, the British government asked for peace. And in 1783 the independence of the USA was recognized.

After long and detailed discussions in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, two important documents were adopted - the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Constitution of the United States (1778).