A brief history of the USA (A1 level)

3.  The first English settlement was made at Jamestown,
Virginia, in 1607. Desire for religious freedom was the
reason that led the Pilgrim Fathers to leave England , in
order to escape from the religious persecution of James I
Stuart. On board the "Mayflower" they landed in in New
England in 1620.
 Life in the new colony was hard and half of the Pilgrim
Fathers died during the first winter. Yet they were helped
by some Native Americans who taught them how to grow
corn and have a good harvest.
 Hence the celebration of Thanksgiving, that originally
lasted three days. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of
November throughout the States.

4.  The colonists advocated the principle of "no taxation
without representation". Yet the British government
still declared its right to tax the colonies and the king
George III had no intention of negotiating. So war
broke out in 1775. The colonists were poor and badly
organised, since the army was largely composed of
volunteer farmers.
 In 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed
on July 4th: this marked the birth of the USA.

5. The Boston Tea Party
In order to protest against the tax on
tea, a group pf colonists boarded a ship
in Boston harbour and threw all its
cargo of tea onto the water. This event,
ironically called the “Boston Tea Party”,
was the beginning of the revolution.
War broke out in 1775 with George
Washington as commander-in-chief of
the American forces.

6. All men are
created equal.
They have a right
to life, liberty and
the pursuit of
happiness.

7.  In 1776 the representatives of the colonies issued the
Declaration of Independence.
 In 1783 with the Treaty of Versailles the colonies gained
independence from Great Britain.
 Yet the British Empire found a new land to conquer:
India.

8. All the thirteen colonies were
located on the Atlantic coast.
Delaware
Pennsyvania
New Jersey
Georgia
Connecticut
Massachusetts
Maryland
South Carolina
New Hampshire
Virginia
New York
North Carolina
Rhode Island

10. The original flag had only 13 stars to
represent the first colonies.
There are 50 stars in the flag today to
represent the 50 states.

11. In 1860 the slavery question divided
America. The new President Lincoln was
against slavery and his party wanted to
abolish it, but the Southern States did not
agree and separated from the Union, thus
creating a Confederation (South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and
Texas). In 1861 the Civil War began. The
industrialised North had a better and larger
army and defeated the South. Slavery was
finally abolished with the Emancipation
Proclamation, that freed 3 million slaves.

12. The “western fever” began in C19 and
led the pioneers to leave their farms in
the East in search of better and cheaper
land. This movement westwards was
also a story of violence against the
Indians. The pioneers introduced
irrigation and crops in the great
American desert. The Mormons were
able to transform the area of the Salt
Lake Desert into a prosperous
community. Then they reached
California. After the discovery of gold in
1848, a real flood of immigrants went
there in the hope of finding great
wealth.

13. President Wilson hesitated at first, but
the Usa entered the conflict in 1917 after
the sinking of the passenger ship
“Lusitania”, in order to grant peace and
democracy in the world. As it was
necessary to supply the allied countries,
with food and equipment, the war
period saw a considerable increase in the
national output.

14. In the first 20 years of C20
over twelve million
immigrants arrived in
America, mainly from Italy,
Ireland and Central Europe.
All of them passed through
Ellis Island, an immigration
station in upper New York Bay,
where they were inspected
before entering the country.
These decades were a period of
economic development, but
also of confusion and
Prohibition.

15.  After the crash of New York Stock Exchange in 1929, all
the world entered a period of serious economic crisis.
When Roosevelt was elected in 1933, his first concern
was to put an end to depression by means of a
programme of reforms called the “New Deal”.
 He created new jobs advocating the buiding of new
schools, airports and highways.
 He provided insurance against sickness and old age.
 Public housing projects were started.

16.  During the second world war, the country reached new
levels of prosperity, as a consequence of the necessity
for American industry to supply the Allies.
 But the fall of France, the entry of Italy into the war
and the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbour changed
American opinion.
 The USA joined the Allies in 1941. Roosevelt died in
1945 and the final act of the war was conducted by
Truman.

17. The attack on Pearl Harbour (the
Hawaii operation as it was called) was
meant as a preventive action in order to
keep the American fleet from
influencing the war in Asia.
This attack came as a profound shock to
American people. Domestic support for
isolationism disappeared and the USA
took an active part in the war.

18.  A great defender of black people, M.L. King was a
clergyman and a leader in the African-American civil
rights movement. In 1963, during the march on
Washington, he delivered the famous speech “I have a
dream”. One year later he received the Nobel Prize for
peace, for his work to end racial segregation and
discrimination through civil disobedience and non-
violent means.
 He was assassinated in 1968.

20.  Io ho sempre davanti a me un sogno. E’ un sogno
profondamente radicato nel sogno americano, che un
giorno questa nazione si leverà in piedi e vivrà fino in
fondo il senso delle sue convinzioni: noi riteniamo
ovvia questa verità, che tutti gli uomini sono creati
uguali.
Io ho davanti a me un sogno, che un giorno sulle
rosse colline della Georgia i figli di coloro che un
tempo furono schiavi e i figli di coloro che un tempo
possedettero schiavi, sapranno sedere insieme al tavolo
della fratellanza.

21.  Io ho davanti a me un sogno, che un giorno perfino
lo stato del Mississippi, uno stato colmo dell’arroganza
dell’ingiustizia, colmo dell’arroganza dell’oppressione,
si trasformerà in un’oasi di libertà e giustizia.
Io ho davanti a me un sogno, che i miei quattro figli
piccoli vivranno un giorno in una nazione nella quale
non saranno giudicati per il colore della loro pelle, ma
per le qualità del loro carattere. Ho davanti a me un
sogno, oggi!

22. In 2009 the first black
American president
was elected, Barack
Obama.
In the picture, Mount
Rushmore,
representing four
previous presidents:
George Washington,
Thomas Jefferson,
Abraham Lincoln and
Theodor Roosevelt.
Thedreamwas
fulfilled

23.  Green day “21 guns”
 Conosci il valore di ciò per cui lotti
Quando non vale la pena di morire ?
Ti toglie il fiato
e senti che stai soffocando ?
il peso del dolore supera l'orgoglio ?
E cerchi un posto per nasconderti?
Qualcuno ha spezzato il tuo cuore?
sei in rovina
Uno, 21 colpi
deponi le armi
Rinuncia alla lotta
Uno, 21 colpi
Alza le mani al cielo
tu ed io

24.  Quando sei alla fine della strada
Ed hai perso il controllo di tutto
Ed i tuoi pensieri ti opprimono
Quando la ragione trasforma la tua anima
La tua fede marcia su vetri infranti
E la sbornia non passa
Nulla viene eretto per durare
sei a pezzi
Uno, 21 colpi
deponi le armi
Rinuncia alla lotta
Uno, 21 colpi
Alza le mani al cielo
tu ed io

25.  Hai provato a vivere con le tue forze
Quando bruciasti completamente la casa e la dimora ?
Sei rimasto in piedi troppo vicino al fuoco?
Come un bugiardo che cerca il perdono da una pietra
Quando è il momento di vivere e lasciar morire
E non hai un'altra possibilità
Qualcosa è morto in questo cuore
sei a pezzi.
Uno, 21 colpi,
deponi le armi
Rinuncia alla lotta
Uno, 21 colpi
Alza le mani al cielo
tu ed io.