- •1. The geographical position of the usa, its climate, the major rivers, lakes, mountain rangers, some general information about the country.
- •2. Discovery of America. American Indians.
- •3. The European exploration of the North American continent (Spanish, Dutch, French, German territories)
- •4. The first English settlements in North America.
- •5. The war of independence: its reasons and results
- •6. Territorial Expansion of the usa.
- •7. The Civil War: reasons, economic and social results.
- •8. The War of Independence and the Civil War: differences and similarities.
- •9. The First Half of the 20th Century.
- •10. The Great Depression and the Presidency of Franklin d. Roosevelt.
- •11. The us home and foreign policy after wwii.
- •12. The usa in the modern world
- •13. The American Constitution, the Bill of Rights.
- •14. The structure of the Federal Government. The system of checks and balances.
- •15. The Congress of the us. Supreme legislative body.
- •16. President as the head of the Executive power, the us administration.
- •17. The Presidential Elections.
- •18. The North-East
- •19. The Midwest
- •20. The South
- •21. West
- •22. Education in the usa.
- •23.The usa as a multiethnic society.
- •24. Speak on one of the American Presidents.
- •25. American Culture.
5. The war of independence: its reasons and results
Reasons:
1 England was busy with wars against France, so the king of England allowed the 13 American colonies a large amount of self-government.
2 In 1763 the war ended and England one control over most of the colonies of NA .But by this time the colonists felt they were Americans .They often traded with other countries ,they felt strong ,they didn’t need the mother-country for protection in wars any more. They were used to freedom and self-government.
3 But the English needed the colonies for economic reasons .They were buying goods from the colonies at lower prices and selling manufactured products at hire prices .They were also charging high taxes on American trade with other countries. England put new taxes on the colonies such as the Stamp act, taxes on printed material (1765).
4 Strict laws made life difficult for the colonists; they could send their products only on their ships. They could send some goods only to England .The colonists were not free to settle the west of Appalachian Mountains and they had to allow British soldiers to live in their homes. The colonists were especially angry about the taxation without representation. They had to pay high taxes, but couldn’t send delegates to England to vote on them, in 1773 England passed the Tea –act (taxes on imported tea).
Against the duty of Tea taxes a party of about 50 citizens of Boston was organized. They disguised as Indians, attacked 3 English ships with Tea and burst open the chests of tea and emptied it into the sea. This event is known in American history as the Boston Tea party .It was the first open act of violence against the English, which heralded the coming of the revolution.
Following the Boston Tea party in 1774 the first continental congress met in Philadelphia , the congress of representatives of all the English colonies of the American continent (except Georgia). It was the first unofficial American government .Arms were being brought illegally and American patriots organized secret military training to prepare the people for armed resistance.
The following year in 1775 the first shorts of war were fired at Lexington, when the red coats were trying to seize an illegal store of arms at Concord. The patriots learned all the British soldiers’ plans to seize the colonial supplies, they were ready for the coming British. The news of the battle at Concord spread around the country and gave the colonies a hope again .It was evident that they could resist England. The War of Independence began with a victorious battle of the colonies against British troops at Lexington and Concord.
Within a few weeks the last royal governments were being overthrown all over the country and the 2d continental congress met again in Philadelphia. But this time as an openly rebellious body which organized the American troops about Boston. The American continental army had appointed George Washington to take command. On the July the 4th in 1776 Congress adopted and proclaimed the Declaration of Independence. The author of this document was Tomas Jefferson, a democratic minded patriot. Thus the war which had began as a war for the rights of Englishman became in a little more than a year a war of Independence.
In the first years of the war Washington’s army suffered several defeats, the American soldiers lacked discipline and military training, the quality of officers was poor, there were financial difficulties. The separate colonies distrusted Congress, were jealous at one another .It was impossible to set up a strong central government .The Americans had practically no navy. But despite these drawbacks they had some advantages: they fought in their vast and populated land; their army was revolutionary, with a fighting spirit. On the other hand English fought 3000 miles from home, it was expensive to transport men and supply, proper strategic management of the English force was impossible.
Results: In 1777 the Americans achieved the 1st great victory of the War at Saratoga. It was a turning point in the whole course of the war. The North was placed under American control .Another direct result of Saratoga was alliance with France, which brought money and supplies, and the navy. Spain and Holland also began to support the Americans .The War continued in the south, here the Americans suffered many defeats, but they won the last battle, which was decisive. The war was practically over but the King George 3 refused to acknowledge the defeat for another 2 years. The peace treaty was finally signed in 1783 .In this year Britain recognized the independence of the USA (13 colonies) .And to the nation all the country between the Atlantic coast and Mississippi. The constitution that was adopted in 1789 was at that time the most democratic constitution in the world.