about_the_usa

14 Module 2A / Famous Presidents

Abraham Lincoln grew up in Kentucky in a log cabin. 3. He couldn’t go to school, so he taught himself. He became a lawyer. Friends called him “Honest Abe.” As a delegate from Illinois, he served in Congress from 1847

to 1849. Lincoln was against slavery and gave some famous speeches about his ideas when he was running for the Senate.

In 1861 Abraham Lincoln became the sixteenth President of the United States. He wanted the states of the Union to work together as one country, but he had to lead the North against the South in the Civil War. Some people thought that Lincoln was too strong as President be­ cause he used power that the Constitution did not give him.

President Lincoln freed the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation. He had a plan to bring the South back into the Union after the Civil War, but he couldn’t carry out the plan because he was assassinated. In 1865 an actor named John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln.

John F. Kennedy was President for only three years, 4. from 1961 to 1963, but his personality and ideas

changed America. He was both the first Roman Catholic and the youngest President in the history of the coun­ try. He set clear goals for America. For example, he promised that the United States would land a man on the moon before 1970.

Kennedy supported the ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr. and fought for civil rights, fair housing, and programs to stop poverty. He asked Congress for more money for education and medical care for elderly people.

Kennedy was against Communism. For example, when the Soviet Union put missiles in Cuba, he sent U.S. ships to surround the island. But he believed that the best way to fight Communism was not by sending armies but by attacking poverty and injustice. He organized the Alliance for Progress to help the countries of Latin America. He started the Peace Corps and sent Americans to over sixty countries in Africa, Asia, and South America. These young volunteers worked and lived with the people, built schools, and taught farmers more modern methods.

Kennedy was a man for the future. He worked to stop the testing of nuclear weapons. But on November 22, 1963, he was assassinated.

UNIT 2 / Americans 15

B Which President is each sentence about? Write the first initial of his last name on the line.

W = Washington J = Jefferson L = Lincoln K = Kennedy

1. J This farmer and lawyer from Virginia was also a scientist, an inventor, a philosopher, and an architect, and he knew many languages.

2.The colonists trusted this farmer from the colony of Virginia because he did not want power for himself.

3.This young Roman Catholic was President for only three years because he was assas­ sinated in 1963.

4.He served as a military leader in the fight of the colonists for independence from

British rule.

5.This honest man taught himself and became a lawyer and a Congressman from Illinois.

6.He was against slavery but wanted the states of the North and South to work to­ gether as a nation.

7.Many of his ideas (for example, about equality, “the consent of the governed,” free press, and free speech) are basic principles of the government of the United States.

8.He was an Ambassador, Secretary of State, and Vice President before he became the third President of the United States.

9.He was a man for the future, and one of his goals was to land a man on the moon before 1970.

10.As the sixteenth President, he used power that was not given by the Constitution when he led the northern states in the Civil War.

11.He did not think the United States should have strong ties to other nations.

12.He bought the Louisiana Territory for the United States from France.

13.He is often called “the Father of Our Country.”

14.His Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves, but he was assassinated before he could bring the South back into the Union.

15.He supported civil rights, fair housing, and programs to stop poverty, and he wanted more money for education and medical care for elderly people.

16.He tried to stop Communism with the Alliance for Progress and the Peace Corps and was against nuclear weapons.

18 Module 2B / The History of Immigration

C Work in pairs. Look only at this page. Your partner will tell you some important facts about immigration history. Num­ ber them 1-5 in correct time order.

American slave traders captured black Africans and forced them to work on plantations in the United States.

By the time of the American Revolution, there were also many immigrants from Scotland, Ireland, France, Holland, Germany, Sweden, and Poland. Most of these settlers were Protestants.

The English were the largest immigrant group to settle in North America. They were farmers, fishermen, and traders.

The Spanish settled mainly in the Southwest, especially California. They were managers, priests, and soldiers.

1 There were about twenty-five million “native Americans” (Indians) living in North and South America.

D Now tell your partner these facts about immigration history in order.

UNIT 2 / Americans 19

E Tell some important facts about immigration history. You can use these pictures for ideas.

F Changes in Immigration

The history of the United States is the history of immigration. Before 1880, the United States welcomed immigrants from all countries. Because Americans were moving west, factories in the East needed new workers. Most of these immigrants came from northern and western Europe, so they looked like born Americans, and their cultures were similar. The talents, spirit, and hard work of millions of immigrants built American farms, industry, and cities.

But then Americans began to worry about the influence and power of large groups of immi­ grants from cultures very different from their own. In the next century, the U.S. government passed many immigration acts. Before World War II, these laws limited immigration, especially from non-European nations. But after the war, new acts made it easier for refugees and immi­ grants to come to the United States.

G Write T for true or F for false. Correct the false sentences.

1.The United States passed many laws to limit immigration before 1880.

2.Many European immigrants came to work in the factories in the East.

3.America needed the talents, spirit, and hard work of immigrants to grow.

4.Born Americans probably accept immigrants from similar cultures more easily than immigrants from very different ones.

5.America welcomed immigration before World War II, but after the war, new laws made it harder for refugees to come to the United States.

20 Module 2B / The History of Immigration

H Immigration Law

I Make sentences about the information in H. You can use this sentence pattern.

EXAMPLE: In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited the Chinese from entering the country.