The Independence War

Word Combinations

to establish a settlement to levy a tax

to found a colony to suspend legislature

a key occurrence to repeal duties

to assume a mature form to state the rights and grievances

a rapid population growth to set up a committee

a distressed area to grant a monopoly

indentured servitude to execute a design

to squat on land to pass punitive measures

rove one’s circumstances dramatically to bring somebody into line

After the elimination of France in Northern America, the British wanted to reorganize their empire and establish a suitable defense against the return of French armies or the attacks of Indian tribes.

Besides they considered colonial commerce as the property of the mother-country and thought it could be taxed or restricted without taking advice of the colonial legislatures.

The British government took a series of measures that set the States astir (1764 Revenue Act increasing taxes on sugar imported into America; 1765 Stamp Act obliging the colonies to buy from the British government stamps to be placed on legal documents and newspapers).

All these measures were followed by riots, boycotting of English goods and cancelling of British orders.

In 1770 there was a clash between the British troops and Boston inhabitants (Boston Massacre), as a result of it the "redcoats" (as British soldiers were nick-named) were withdrawn out of Boston. A period of calm was to last three years.

In 1773 a Tea Act giving the East India Company a privileged position in the American market was passed. The answer was the famous Tea Party when Boston merchants disguised in Indians and led by Samuel Adams threw the tea cargo of the East India ships into the sea. The British government closed the port of Boston and took other measures to punish Massachusetts.

In order to support Boston and Massachusetts a Continental Congress convened at Philadelphia in 1774.

The representatives denied the British Parliament (where colonies were not represented) the right of levying taxes. Everywhere militia were organized and weapons collected. In 1775 British troops and colonial militia clashed at Lexington and the first shots were exchanged. It was the beginning of the war. A second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia. It appointed George Washington Commander-in-Chief of the Continental army and voted Independence.

The Declaration of Independence (1776) was drafted by Thomas Jefferson. The war lasted from 1775 to 1781.

In the end England recognized the independence of the 13 colonies and granted them a large territory between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River.

From a dispute over taxation, the conflict had become a war for Independence and for the rights of Man. It had brought a new nation into the world (USA, Self-Portrait).

A decade prior to their defeat of the Spanish Armada, the English made their first demands on the American territory. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was empowered by the royal government to set out for America. But his expedition was scattered by a storm. It was bound to be unsuccessful from the start as the boat was too light for the trans-Atlantic passage. His brother, Sir Walter Raleigh was equally devoted to the task. His first expedition to America in 1584 brought back glowing reports of the coast of Virginia. But his second expedition in 1585 sent to plant a new dependent territory returned in discouragement; a third – disappeared from history. But he remained until his death a strong supporter of English expansion.

From the time the Declaration of Independence was signed France had not been neutral. The government had been eager for reprisal against England ever since the defeat of France in 1763. Moreover, enthusiasm for the American cause was high: the French intellectual world was itself in revolt against feudalism.

The surrender of English general John Burgoyne in October 1777 signaled that the war had actually come to an end. Another attempt of the British to discipline the American subjects failed. Benjamin Franklin secured treaties of commerce and alliance with France.

In 1778, the British were forced to evacuate Philadelphia because of threatened action by the French fleet. During the same year, in the Ohio valley, they suffered a series of setbacks. What at first seemed a rebellion which was easy to put down turned out to be a long and devastating war concluded in 1783 by the treaty between France with Great Britain? The peace settlement acknowledged the freedom and sovereignty of the 13 states without any terms. The Congress was to recommend to the states that they restore the confiscated property of the loyalists.

The American Revolution took thousands of human lives but the patriots were unbending.

In order to fight inflationary pressures, the Roosevelt administration introduced a number of constraining measures, such as, for example, tax withholding which imposed heavy taxes on the wealthy.

Although at the time of World War II (according to a Senate committee report) 20 million people “dwelt constantly in a borderland between subsistence and privation”, the US Administration refused to cancel or stop for a time the previous legislation and grant them an across-the-board wage hike, because it could increase inflationary pressures.

The capital is Washington, D.C. The country’s motto is “In God We Trust”.

The United States of America is a federation of states (now there are 50 states) which was established by the Constitution in 1787. Each state has its own government and its own capital city.

The flag of the U.S.A., popularly called “the Stars and Stripes and Old Glory”, was adopted in 1777. It consists of 13 horizontal stripes, alternately red and white, equal to the number of the original states with a blue union marked with white stars equal in number to 50 states today. The red stripes proclaim liberty, the field of blue stands for loyalty.

The coat-of-arms of the U.S. represents an eagle with wings outspread, holding a bundle of rods – the symbol of administering – in the left claw and an olive twig – the emblem of love – in the right claw.

The motto on the coat-of-arms is “E Pluribus Unum” (“One out of many” in Latin).

It was in 1812 that the nickname of the U.S. “Uncle Sam” appeared. Uncle Sam Wilson of New York supplied beef to the U.S. Army during the war of 1812 stamping his barrels with the letters “U.S.”. This beef became known to the army as Uncle Sam’s and later this familiar name became associated with the U.S. Government.

Словарь

established by the Constitution	- образована на основании Конституции
“the Stars and Stripes and Old Glory”	- «звезды, полоски и древняя слава» (описание флага США)
stripe	- полоска
alternately	- чередуясь, через одну
proclaim	- провозглашать
courage	- храбрость
liberty	- свобода
loyalty	- верность, преданность
coat-of-arms	- герб
eagle	- орел
wings outspread	- распростертые крылья
bundle of rods	- пучок розог
administering	- управление
claw	- клюв
olive twig	- оливковая ветвь
motto	- надпись (на гербе)

Дата добавления: 2014-01-11