Part One
GEOGRAPHY
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Lecture 1:
NATURAL REGIONS
1. The U.S.A is situated in the central part of the North American
continent. Its western coast is washed by the Pacific Ocean and its
eastern coast by the Atlantic Ocean.
2. The area of the U.S.A is over nine million square kilometres.
3. The continental part of the U.S.A consists of two highland regions
and two lowland regions. The highland regions are the Appalachian
Mountains in the east, and the Cordillera in the west. The highest
peak in the Applachian Mountains is 2,037 metres high. The
highest peak of the Cordillera in the U.S.A is 4,418 metres.
4. Between the Cordillera and the Appalachian Mountains are the
central lowlands, which are called the prairie, and the eastern
lowlands, called the Mississippi valley.
5. The five Great lakes, between the U.S.A and Canada, are joined
together by short rivers or canals, and the Saint Lawrence River
joins them to the Atlantic Ocean. In the west of the U.S.A there is
another lake called the Great Salt lake.
6. The main rivers of the U.S.A are the Mississippi, which flows into
the Gulf of Mexico, the Colorado and the Columbia, which flow into
the Pacific Ocean, the Saint Lawrence River and the Hudson River,
which flow into the Atlantic Ocean.
7. The U.S.A is a very large country, so it has several different climatic
regions. The coldest regions are in the north and norlh-east where
much snow falls in winter. The south has a subtropical climate. Hot
winds blowing from the Gulf of Mexico often bring typhoons. The
climate along the Pacific coast is much warmer than that of the
Atlantic coast. The region around the Great Lakes is known for its
changeable weather.
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REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Where is the United States situated?
2. What does the continental part of the U.S.A consist of?
3. Which rivers flow into the Atlatic Ocean and which ones find their
way into the Pacific Ocean?
Lecture 2:
A TRIP FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO
NEW YORK
1. The U.S.A is a country of great differences. There are high
mountains and flat prairies in it, tropical heat and arctic cold.
2. If you want to go from San Francisco to New York by train, you
must ride more than three thousand miles. It takes three days and
nights. In California, where you begin your trip, the climate is
usually mild all year. In the south of the country is the famous fruit
growing area. In California, oranges, grapefruit and lemons, as well
as many other fruits and vegetables, are sent all over the United
States and to other parts of the world.
3. Soon the train leaves those green plains and goes up into the Sierra
Nevada mountains covered with snow. Here and there you can see
clear mountain lakes. As the train goes east you cross the Sait Lake
desert.
4. For miles and miles you will see nothing but salt and salt. Flat
plains covered with short dry grass go for miles and miles. This is
sheep and cattle country, the land of the cowboys. As you cross it,
you may want to know where the people of America are. From time
to time you may see a few cattle on the plain or the wagon of a
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cowboy, but most of the country is empty.
5. As the train crosses Nebraska, you leave the empty country and
enter the rich farming region of America. Nebraska has many
golden wheat fields. In Iowa wheat and corn are important
products. After two days, the train arrives in Chicago, the second
largest city in the United States.
6. Then you cross Pennsylvania and New Jersey - the richest industrial
states of the country and at last arrive in New York, the largest city
in the U.S.A. The trip will not show you all of America, of course.
Each region has its own characteristics. There are many large and
modern cities, but a great territory of the country are large plains
with farm-houses and small towns. The usual town in any part of
the United States has its “main street” with the same types of
shops and markets selling the same products. So many America
towns have the same look.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is California famous for?
2. What part of the U.S. is the land of the cowboys?
3. What are the richest industrial states of the U.S.A?
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Lecture 3:
THE MAIN GEOGRAPHICAL
AREAS FROM THE ATLANTIC TO
THE PACIFIC
I. NEW ENGLAND
1. New England includes six states: Maine - New Hampshire Vermont - Massachusetts - Rhode Island - Connecticut.
2. New England is highly industrial, but it also has many fields, woods,
and small towns.
3. New England is the part of the United States that is most like “old”
England.
n. NEW YORK CITY
1. Manhattan is an island just 13 miles long and 2 miles wide.
2. It is the centre of American finance, advertising, art, theatre,
publishing, fashion - and much more.
3. The borough of Manhattan is one of the most exciting cities in the
world.
4. New York attracts people from all over the world. New York .was
always a city of immigrants. It still is.
ĨỊ1
5. New York’s other boroughs are Brooklyn - Queens - the Bronx, and
Staten Island.
6. Brooklyn alone has so many people that if it were a separate city, it
would be the fourth largest in the United States!
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III. THE MID-ATLANTIC REGIONS
1. The Mid-Atlantic region is by no means uniform: Geographically,
historically, and economically, the Mid-Atlantic states are quite
different from one another: New York State borders on Canada and
has cold winters; Maryland State has much in common with the
American South.
2. The Mid-Atlantic regions plays an important role in the United
States. Its cities include’WASHINGTON, DC, the nation’s capital,
and NEW YORK CITY, the nation’s financial centre.
3. Not surprisingly, the Mid-Atlantic region is densely populated.
Although the region is relatively small, nearly one in every ten
Americans lives there.
IV. THE SOUTH
1. The South is economically, historically, and culturally a distinct
region.
2. With its warm climate and rich soil, it soon developed an economy
based on export crops like cotton. These were grown on farms
worked by slaves from Africa.
3. Conflicts between the North and the South, especially over slavery,
led in 1861 to the Civil War.
4. In the last few decades, the South has become more industrial and
urban than in the past. Some parts of the South are among the
fastest-growing areas in the country.
5. But the South also preserves its traditions - for example, its
emphasis on good cooking and its slower, more hospitable way of
life.
V. THE MIDWEST
1. The Midwest is a large, economically important region. It contains
major industrial cities and much of America’s farmland.
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2. Geographically, the Midwest can be divided into three smaller
regions: The northern Great Lakes area has many hills, lakes, and
forests. South of that is the prairie area, which is flat alid has good
soil for farming. To the West is the Great Plains area, which,
although also farmed, is far drier than the prairie.
VI. THE SOUTHWEST
1. The Southwest is characterized by geographical and cultural variety.
2. Geographically, the region ranges from humid lands in eastern
Texas to drier prairies in Oklahoma and Texas to mountains and
deserts in Arizona and New Mexico.
3. Culturally, the region is home to many Indians and Hispanics, as
well as the “Anglos” (ie., other Americans). The population of the
state of New Mexico, for example, is about 10 percent Indian, 40
percent Hispanic, and 50 percent “Anglo”.
4. The Southwestern states are rich in minerals. Livestock raising is
also an important part of the Southwest’s economy.
vn. THE ROCKY MOUTAIN REGION
1. The mountain region has plains and . even deserts. But its main
geographic feature is the Rocky Mountains. These mountains stretch
from Alaska to northern Mexico and include many smaller ranges.
2. The Rockies are among the earth’s youngest mountains. Because
they are young, they are not worn down. They have steep slopes
and many peaks and valleys. The mountains give the region
spectacular scenery - and they limit economic development.
3. The region has some of the least populated states in the nation.
Denver, Colorado State, is its only large city. The government owns
much of the land - 66 percent in the case of Utah.
4. Mining, ranching, and farming are important to the region’s
economy. Tourism is also important. (
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VIII. THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND ALASKA
1. This region is known for its natural beauty - a beauty that is fairly
tame in Oregon and Washington States and much more wild in
Alaska.
2. There are mountains, forests, and rugged coastlines. The outdoors
play an important role in people’s lifestyles, which tend to be casual
and informal.
3. In the economic hard times of the early 1990s, these states were
among the few that were not experiencing difficulties.
4. Alaska was doing well because of its oil, while Oregon and
Washington were doing well because they are centres of trade with
Asia.
5. Manufacturing and agriculture are also important in Oregon and
Washington; lumber (wood) and fishing are important to all three
states.
X. CALIFORNIA AND HAWAH STATES
1. These two states are grouped together mainly because they are
relatively near each other: California, although 2,500 miles from
Hawaii, is the closest state to Hawaii.
2. California is the most populated of the states and one of the largest.
3. The eight islands of Hawaii are together one of the smallest, least
populated states.
4. The two states do have a few things in common: culturally diverse
populations, and lots of sun and sand.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Cite the main features of New England.
2. What are the characteristics of the South?
3. What do you know about the Midwest?
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Lecture 4:
POPULATION & MAIN CITIES
1. The population of the U.S.A is more than 236 million people. Most
of the people live in towns.
2. In the country there are 26.5 million Black people and about 1
million Indians, many of whom live in reservations.
3. Besides the people from Mexico and the South American countries,
there are also people who have come to the U.S.A from Europe and
Asia.
4. The life of most coloured people is very difficult in the U.S.A because
of race discrimination. Many other Americans live in poverty, too.
They live in city slums and country shacks. They have little hope of
a better future. There are millions who are not able to get work.
***
5. The capital of the U.S.A, as you know, of course, is Washington in
the district of Columbia (D.C.). It is an administrative city without
much industry. The American capital has many famous monuments
on its streets and squares. One of them is the Abraham Lincoln
memorial. Abraham Lincoln’s traditions live in the struggle of all
progressive American people. That is why many demonstrations for
peace, for jobs, and for a better life are held near the Lincoln
memorial.
***
6. New York is the largest city and port in the United States. It is the
financial and business centre of the capitalist world. New York is a
city of social contrasts. Not very far from some of the city’s famous
sky-crapers there are slum-streets of broken-down houses where the
poor of the city live.
***
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7. There are a lot of other large cities in the U.S.A.
Boston is one of the first towns which were built on the Atlantic
coast of America. It is an important port and a financial and
cultural centre. It has three universities.
Chicago is one of the biggest industrial cities in the U.S.A and
the second largest after New York.
Philadelphia, near the east coast, produces agricultural machines
and locomotives. Light industry is highly developed here.
Philadelphia is an important cultural centre with many fine
buildings and a university.
Detroit, in the Great Lakes region, is a port and one of the
biggest centres of the automobile industry.
San Francisco, on the Pacific Coast, is a big port and ship
building centre.
Los Angeles, in California, is an important centre of many
modern industries. Not far from Los Angeles is Hollywood, the
centre of the US film business.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Write about the population and the people of the U.S.A.
2. What is the capital of the U.S.A? Write what you know about it.
3. Name some large cities in the U.S.A and give their special features.
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Lecture 5:
WASHINGTON
1. Washington, the capital of the United States, is situated on the
Potomac River in the District of Columbia. The district is a piece of
land ten miles square and it does not belong to any one state but to
all the states. The district is named in honour of Columbus, the
discoverer of America.
2. The Capital owes very much to the first president of the United
States, George Washington. It was Washington who chose the place
for the; District and laid in 1790 the corner-stone of the Capitol,
where Congress sits.
3. Washington is not the largest city in the United States; it is not as
large as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit or Los Angeles.
It has a population of 900,000 people.
4. Washington is a one-industry town. That industry is goverment. It
does not produce anything, except very much scrap paper. Every day
twenty-five railway cars leave Washington loaded with scrap paper.
5. Washington has many historical places. The largest and tallest
among the buildings is the Capitol with its great Hall of
Representatives and Senate Chamber. There are no sky-scrapers in
Washington because no other building must be taller than the
Capitol.
6. The White House is the President’s residence. All American
presidents except George Washington (The White House was not
yet built in his time), had lived in the White House. It was built in
1799. It is a two-storied white building. In 1814, during the war
with England, the White House was burnt down. After the war the
charred remains of the building were whitewashed, so as not to
spoil the view. Since that time the residence of the American
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presidents has been always painted white.
7. Not far from the Capitol is the Washington Monument, which looks
like a very big pencil. It rises 160 metres and is hollow inside. A
special lift brings visitors to the top in 70 seconds, from where they
can enjoy a view of the city.
8. The Jefferson Memorial was built in memory of the third president
of the U.S.A, Thomas Jefferson, who was also the author of the
Declaration of Independence. The Memorial is surrounded by
cherry-trees.
9. The Lincoln Memorial is devoted to the memory of the sixteenth
president of the United States, the author of the Emancipation
Proclamation, which gave freedom to Negro slaves in America.
10. On the other bank of the Potomac lies the Arlington National
Cemetery, where president Kennedy was buried. American soldiers
and officers, who died in World Wars I and II and in the Viet Nam
war, are buried there also but Negro Soldiers and officers are buried
in another place.
11. The population of Washington is 70 percent Negro, but the Negroes
do not live in the central parts of the city, they live in the Negro
ghettoes which are outside the centre.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Where is Washington located?
2. Write about some historical places here.
3. Cite the history of the White House.
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Lecture 6.
NEW YORK
1. New York is the largest city in the world and the biggest seaport. It
is the money-centre of the United States.
2. New York is situated in the North-east of the U.S.A in the State of
New York or the Empire State.
3. In comparison with such ancient historical cities as Rome, Moscow,
London or Paris, New York is quite young. It was founded in 1613
by Dutch settlers. A Dutchman, Peter Minuit, bought Manhattan
Island from the Indians for 24 dollars and a barrel of rum. The
Americans say that this was the best business deal ever made in
New York. In 1613 the Dutch had built only four small houses in
Manhattan. New Amsterdam was the first name of the city. After
the English had taken over the city in 1626 it was renamed New
York after the Duke of York who was commander of the English
army.
4. During the war for independence New York was an important
political centre, and for five years from 1785 till 1790, the Capital
of the U.S.A.
5. The population of New York numbers 8 million people, together with
the population of its suburbs it comes to 16 million people (1970).
6. It is a multi-national city, the people that live in it speak seventyfive different languages.
7. Manhattan: is the name of an island which forms the heart of New
York. The island is 13 miles long, 2 miles wide, and lies at the
mouth of the Hudson River. The population of Manhattan is about
two million people. Here is the heart of America’s business and
culture, the city of skycrapers of Broadway, of Wall Street, which is
the centre of American money business. The street got its name in
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the old days when one of the Dutch governors of New Amsterdam
built a wall across Manhattan to protect the colonists from the
Indians. The wall was later broken down but the name remained.
8. Harlem - the largest Negro ghetto is also in Manhattan. The houses
are old and dirty; there are few schools and few hospitals. Very
many Negroes are out of work because a coloured person in the
U.S.A is “the last to be hired and the first to be fired”. Like other
capitalist cities New York is a city of deep social contrasts.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Where is New York situated? Give its first name.
2. Point out the special features you know about New York.
3. Describe Harlem and contrast it with Manhattan.
Lecture 7:
NEW YORK, THE CITY OF THE
YELLOW DEVIL
1. New York, the largest city in the U.S.A, is a city of great contrasts.
Side by side with wealth and comfort, poverty and race
discrimination can be found here.
2. New York has a population of over eight million people.
3. In New York City, there are representatives of nearly all the world’s
national groups, and when you walk in the streets and avenues of
Manhattan you can hear practically every language in the world.
4. In the city of New York, alone, there are more than one million
Negroes. They mostly live in Harlem, the poorest district of New
York.
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5. Early in the morning, factory workers, dockers and builders go to
work. Work is going on under the ground, on the ground and high
above the ground on the walls of the sky-crapers; every morning
men clean the windows of these great buildings.
6. By eight o’clock in the morning, the New York streets are crowded
with clerks and office employees. When they start their work, there
is nobody in the streets, only those who have no work, no future.
7. It is not easy to find work in New York. A man in need takes up any
job he finds, even the most badly paid one. But very many New
Yorkers have no work at all.
8. New York’s harbour is the finest and largest in the world- Every
year a great number of big ships from all countries come up to the
docks. New Yorkers helped to build twelve railroads which carry
goods and people to and from all parts of the country. In this way
they made New York one of the greatest ports in the world.
9. When more business offices were needed, skyscrapers were built.
When better communications were needed, bridges, subways and
roads were built. When planes became an inportant of the public
transport system, great airports were built. But the federal
government in Washington does little to help New York to solve its
many problems. While millions and millions of dollars are spent on
military needs, there is no money for public services, for housing.
Many apartment houses in New York are old, the rooms are small
and dark. In summer these houses are very hot, in winter they are
often cold. Living conditions in such apartment houses are very bad.
There is ho place for children to play.
10. When Maxim Gorky visited New York in 1906, he called it the City
of the Yellow Devil, the city of gold. The Yellow Devil, the power of
money, enslaves the people of America today as it did in Gorky’s
time.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Why is New York a city of great contrast?
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2. State the reasons why New York’s harbour is one of the greatest
ports in the world.
3. What is meant by “New York, the City of the Yellow Devil”?
Lecture 8:
CHICAGO
1. Chicago is the second largest city in the United States. It is in state
Illinois. The population of the city numbers about 4 million,
together with the population of the suburbs it comes up to over 6
million people. Over 800,000 of them are Negroes. Chicago is often
called “the most American” of all American cities and towns, and
the second largest (after New York) industrial centre. It lies on the
banks of Lake Michigan.
2. Chicago is not a very old city. It was founded in 1848, when the first
English settlements appeared on the territory of present day
Chicago. The city has quickly grown in the last 125 years due to the
great number of newcomers.
3. Like New York and other large American cities, Chicago has two
different parts: the centre, with its skycrapers and rich and
comfortable houses on the Golden shore of Lake Michigan, and the
districts where the workers live in old and blackened one - and twostoried houses.
4. Chicago is the country’s greatest railway centre where thirty-eight
railroads meet. It also has the largest stockyards in the country and
the largest corn market.
5. The idea of May Day - the international day of labour and of men’s
solidarity - was born here, in Chicago, in 1886 during the worker’s
struggle for the eight-hour working day.
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6. On May 1, 1886, the Chicago workers came to Hay Market Square
and called a strike in support of the eight-hour working day. When
the police came the workers organized a mass demonstration of
protest. The police opened fire and killed and wounded many
workers. In memory of this day the first of May was proclaimed the
day of International solidarity of the world protetariat.
7. Chicago was also the place where the American communist party
was organized in 1920.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. State the location and population of Chicago.
2. Where was the idea of May Day born?
3. When and where was the American Communist Party organized?
Lecture 9:
SAN FRANCISCO
1. The city of San Francisco was itself a result of the Gold Rush.
2. It is a romantic and liberal city. It is surrounded on three sides by
water. It is famous for its bridges, fog, and fog horns. It has 40
hills. It is famous for its cable cars and for its bright houses
clinging to the hills.
3. San Francisco also has a.reputation as an intellectual, liberal, and
slightly crazy city - a city where new and different ideas' can be
explored: In the mid-1960s, it gave rise to hippies. The college
protests that swept America in the late 1960s also began in San
Francisco, at the university of California, Berkeley which is always
known for academic excellence and student protest.
4. It also has Chinatown, the largest Chinese neighbourhood, outside
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Asia.
5. Don’t leave San Francisco without seeing the structure that has
become its symbol - THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE. This beautiful
orange suspension bridge, which opened in 1937, goes between San
Francisco and Marin County to its north.
6. The bridge was first proposed in 1869 by Norton and it took
twentieth-century technology and the engineering genius of a man
named Joseph Strauss to bring the Golden Gate Bridge into
existence.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Why can we say that San Francisco is a romantic and liberal city?
2. What is it famous for in the field of education and ideas?
3. What is the symbol of the city? Describe something about it.
Lecture 10:
THE AMERICAN ECONOMY
1. The United States economy is based on the free enterprise system:
Private businesses compete against one another with relatively
little interference from the government.
2. Since the depression of the 1930s, when the economy essentially
collapsed, laws have been made giving the government a more
active role in economic and other matters.
3. Until the second half of the last century, the US. was a mainly
agricultural nation. The Civil War (1861-1865) helped stimulate
industry. In the years that followed, industrialization transformed
the country, although many areas, especially the South, remained
mainly agricultural and rural.
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4. In the 1950s and 1960s, the US economy grew quickly. Many
companies moved to the South and Southwest, and these areas
experienced change and growth.
5. Then, in the mid-1970s, economic growth began to slow down.
6. Just as there had been a shift from agriculture to industry, there is
now a shift from industry to services. Services are provided by
hospitals, banks, law firms, hotels and restaurants, and so on. In
recent years, most new jobs have been service jobs.
7. The U.S. is a large country and is rich in natural resources. It is a
leading producer of fuel - of oil, natural gas, and coal. It is also a
leading producer of many other minerals. The U.S. grows wheat,
com, and other crops and raises many cows, pigs, and chickens.
8. However, the U.S. is also a major consumer of resources. This means
that it must import much of the fuel it uses.
9. Not surprisingly, international trade is important to the U.S. Major
exports include machinery and high-technology equipment,
chemicals, cars, aircraft, and grains. Major 'imports include
machinery and telecommunications equipment, oil, cars, metals and
chemicals.
10. Today, the US faces some major economic challenges. One is
increasing its productivity, or the efficiency of the labor force.
Another is to train people to fill new kinds of jobs when the country
shifts from manufacturing to services.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. When did the U.S. economy grow rapidly?
2. What are some of the U.S. major imports and exports?
3. What major economic challenges is the U.S. facing now?
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Lecture 11:
INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE
1. The U.S.A is a highly developed industrial country, and its
agriculture is highly mechanized.
2. Coal is found in many parts of the country: in the Cordillera
Mountains, in the state of Kansas, in the east near Birmingham
and Pittsburgh. The state of Illinois is especially rich in coal.
3. Iron is mined near the Great Lakes and in other areas. The U.S.A
has rich oil-fields in California, Texas, Alaska and other regions. It
holds first place in the capitalist world for oil and natural gas.
■t * *
4. The heavy industries are for the most part in the Middle West, in
the region of the Great Lakes, around Detroit and Chicago, in the
north-eastern states and near Birmingham.
5. The automobile industry and all kinds of machine-buildings are
highly developed especially in and near Detroit, in California and in
the areas of heavy industry.
6. Ship-building is developed along the Atlantic coast and also in San
Francisco and Seattle on the Pacific coast.
7. The textile industry is concentrated in the north-east in Boston and
other cities; but it is especially well developed in the South, where
much cotton is grown, in the Mississippi valley.
8. The U.S.A has a highly developed railway system. It also has the
best system of roads in the capitalist world. The Great Lakes and
the rivers, especially the Saint Lawrence River and the Mississippi,
are used for transport.
* ĨỈÍ $
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9. American agriculture produces more food products than any other
capitalist country. Much of it is exported. But prices are kept high,
and there are many people in the country who don’t have enough to
eat.
10. In the Middle West very much grain is grown. Fresh fruit and
vegetables come all the year round from the southern regions,
especially Florida, from California and South-western states.
11. The highlands in the west of the country are famous for their
cattle-farming.
Poultry-farming and vegetable-growing are
concentrated in the country-side near the big cities.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. State what you know about the United States’ natural resources and
its industry.
2. What city is the most famous for heavy industry?
3. What regions are noted for their grain-growing and cattle-farming?
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Part Two
HISTORY
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Lecture 12:
THEHISTORICALBACKGROUMD
The history of the United States falls into four main phases:
I. FROM COLONIAL STATUS TO INDEPENDENCE
(1607-1783)
1. Settlement:
• Early in the 17th century many European nations began to look west
ward to the New World.
• In 1607, the first English settlement was made in Virginia.
® Seven years later, the Dutch established themselves on Manhattan
Island.
« In 1620, the “Pilgrim Fathers” fleeing from religious persecution in
England, landed in Massachusetts.
s. Expansion:
• Gradually the Thirteen Colonies were settled by the English.
® The French, meanwhile, had established a chain of forts and trading
posts stretching from the Great Lakes down the Mississippi Valley
to New Orleans.
3. Revolution:
o In 1775, Americans in the Thirteen Colonies revolted against British
rule.
• In 1783, the defeated British recognized the independence of the
U.S.A.
• In 1789, George Washington became the first President of the new
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republic, which then stretched as far as the Mississippi River.
II. THE CONQUEST OE THE CONTINENT
(1783-1890)
1. New Lands
o In 1803, the vast territory then called Louisiana was purchased.
« In 1819 Spain sold Florida to the young republic.
• In 1845 Texas, an area larger than France, was annexed, for political
reasons.
• In 1848: after the war with Mexico, a large block of land in the West
was acquired.
2. The Settlement
• The settlement of this new territory continued gradually towards the
west.
• By 1890, the whole continent was settled.
in. EXPLOITATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES
(1850-1914)
0 As more of the continent was settled, Americans began to realize the
enormous natural wealth of their country.
0 The Gold Rush (1848) was followed, a decade later, by an oil rush.
• The development of the railways made it easier to transport coal and
iron, and after the Civil War (1861-65) industrialization proceeded
at a rapid pace.
® By 1900, the U.S. had become the world’s greatest producer of food
and raw materials, and the world’s greatest manufacturer. In these
years fabulous fortunes were made.
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IV. WORLD POWER AND RESPONSIBILITY (1917)
The US came into the First World War in 1917 and the Second
World War in 1941. Thereafter the U.S.A gave its full support to the
United Nations, and assumed the responsibilities of a world power.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Which are the four main phases into which the history of the U.S.
can be said to fall?
2. What important events happened in America in 1775, 1783 and
1789?
3. Sum up in a few words the economic and industrial expansion of the
US before 1900.
Lecture 13:
OUTSTANDING DATES IN THE
HISTORY
1492: Christopher Columbus landed in America.
1607: The first permament British settlement at Jamestown, Virginia.
1620: The “Pilgrim Fathers” landed in Massachusetts.
1774: Representatives of the British colonies called to the first
Continental Congress to discuss what action they should take
against Britain.
1775: The Revolutionary War against Britain broke out.
1776: The Declaration of the Independence of the U.S.A was adopted
in Philadelphia, July 4.
1783: Great Britain and the United States signed a peace treaty in
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