Historical background

In the 17th— 18th centuries there were founded a number of col­onies in America. At the beginning the Portuguese and Spaniards occupied the rich gold and silver fields of south America. The Dutch and the French began the colonization of North America. The Dutch created their own colony around the Hudson River. They called it New Netherlands. The French occupied the territory which is Canada today and the land around it. They called it Louisi­ana [Лиш'жпэ].

England played a very important role in the colonization of North America. The first England settlement was made at Jamestown in 1607. In 1620 a large group of Englishmen landed their ship, the Mayflower, near Cape Cod and founded the colony of Plymouth ['р1нпэв]. It is from these two centres, that the English settlements developed. The war of 1972 — 1674 between the English and the Dutch made New Netherlands an English colony. This made almost the whole Atlantic coast English. During the seven year war (1756 — 1763) England took Canada from France and Florida from Spain.

After that a vast territory of land was under the English rule. Alongside with the wars between different nationalities of set­tlers there was a struggle against the native inhabitants, the Indian tribes. The extermination of the Indian people was one of the first manifestations of the appearence of the American "civilization".

There was little artistic literature in the colonial period. Eng­lishmen who came to America were not from the intellectual cir­cles in England.

Literature was the privilege of the clergy. They wrote mostly in the form of religious sermons, journals, letters and diaries. Early colonial literature cannot be regarded national American litera­ture. It did not reflect the life, ideas and thoughts of the simple people.

Vocabulary

cape [keip] n мыс Portuguese [, po:tju'gi:z] n португалец
extermination [eks,t3:mrneijbn] n ис- the Portuguese португальцы

требление sermon ['S3:m3n] n проповедь

manifestation [,mEenifes'teiJbn] n об- Spaniard ['spaenjad] n испанец

наружение the Spaniards испанцы

Netherlands ['nedgbndz] n Нидерланды

Questions and Tasks

1. When were a number of colonies in America founded?

2. What countries took part in the colonization of North America?

3. What role did England play in the colonization of North America?

4. When was the first English settlement made?

5. Where did a large group of Englishmen land their ship, the Mayflower?

6. When was New Netherlands made an English colony?

7. Explain how a vast territory of land became under the English rule.

8. Characterize American litrature in the colonial period.

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