7) Expand on the basic values of the American nation. Explain their importance. The "frontier heritage*, the heroes. What is political correctness? Refer to examples in language.

8) The territorial expansion of the USA in the first half of the 19^lh century. The growing antagonism between the North and the South, the violation of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and its consequences.

These were complicated years due to the wars in Europe when Britain and France were locked in bitter conflict for hegemony. The USA also became involved in an undeclared naval war with France. In 1801 Thomas Jefferson was elected president which made it possible to come to terms with France. In 1803 Napoleon, knowing that another war with Great Britain was impending, resolved to improve the financial position of his country by selling the huge territory of Louisiana located to the west of the Mississippi River to the United States for 15 million dollars. As a result of this deal, the United States extended-its territory as far west as the Rocky Mountains. This was a major purchase with far reaching consequences that affected the development of the whole country. The Louisiana purchase comprised 2,6 million square kilometers of land together with the port of New Orleans, a territory which would become the nation's heartland and one of the world's great granaries.

However, American life was characterized by a growing conflict between the Northern and Southern states. The words of the Declaration of Independence — "that all men are created equal" — meant nothing for millions of black people who were slaves.

By 1850, when the total population of the country exceeded twenty-three million, the total number of slaves was 3,200,000. In South Carolina and Mississippi they exceeded the whites in number; in Louisiana they nearly equaled the whites, and in Alabama they were roughly half of the population. Moreover,

most of the slaves were owned by three or four thousand families who lived on the best lands and enjoyed immense wealth and power. There was a growing rift between the free labour economy of the Northern states and the slave-based plantation economy of the South. No wonder the issue always came up issue always came up when new territories entered the American Union as states. In 1808 the opponents of slavery scored a major victory when Congress outlawed the importation of slaves. However, the southern slave owners, through their influence in the higher circles of power, stubbornly opposed any move which could endanger the tremendous wealth gained from the large cotton, rice, tobacco and sugar plantations.

In 1820, Southern and Northern politicians disputed the issue of whether slavery would be legal in the new western territories. Congress agreed on a compromise: slavery was permitted in the new southern state of Missouri and the Arkansas territory, but it was banned everywhere west and north of Missouri. However, the Missouri Compromise did not solve the sectional conflict, and later developments showed that Congress quite soon forgot about its decision.

Meanwhile, thousands of Americans had been settling in Texas, then a part of Mexico. But the Mexican regime was inefficient, corrupt and oppressive under the rule of a dictator. The American settlers rebelled in 1835 and set up an independent republic

which was later, in 1845, annexed by the United States. War followed between the two countries with Mexico suffering full defeat, and forced to surrender for $15 million an enormous territory — most of what is today California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado, which various writers qualified as immoral aggression. The western expansion was furthered in 1846 when the USA settled a long-standing border dispute with Canada taking over the southern half of the Oregon Country — the present states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Thus America became a truly continental power, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. With the discovery of gold in California in 1848, thousands of settlers poured into the territory and this led to an intensive colonization of the west. These developments once again raised the question: would the new territories be

free or become slave states? In 1850.Congress responded by passing another compromise: California was admitted as a free state, while the inhabitants of Utah and New Mexico territories were to decide the issue for themselves. This led to violent clashes

between the opponents and supporters of slavery and broadened the rift within the American Union. Congress also passed the Fugitive Slave Act which permitted Southerners to recapture slaves who had escaped to the free states. This was done under the pressure of the rich slave owners who tried to ban the antislavery movement (known as the abolitionist movement) that had emerged in the early 1830s. One phase of this antislavery movement involved helping slaves escape to safe refuges in the North or over the border into Canada. An elaborate network of secret routes was established known as the "Underground Railroad". In Ohio alone, it is estimated that from 1830 to 1860 no fewer than 40,000 slaves were helped to freedom. In 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe published "Uncle Tom's Cabin", a powerful anti-slavery novel which caused a sensation and converted many readers to the abolitionist movement. More than 300,000 copies were sold the first year.

In 1854 the old issue of slavery in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska was renewed and the quarrel became more bitter. Under the terms of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the entire region was closed to slavery. However, Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois persuaded Congress to allow the inhabitants of the territories to resolve the slavery issue within their own borders and this led to violent clashes between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers. Moreover, in 1857 the Supreme Court passed a decision which denied blacks the rights of American citizens and legalized slavery in the western territories. The country was dramatically moving towards Civil War. In 1858, when Senator Douglas ran for reelection to Congress, he was challenged by Abraham Lincoln and the newly formed Republican party. In a series of historic debates with Douglas, which was followed by the whole nation, he demanded a halt to the spread of slavery.