History English 1

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Unit 1

United States of America (1000-1900)


The history of the United States began with the settlement of Indigenous people
before 15,000 BC. Numerous cultures formed.
The arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 started the European colonization of the Americas.
Most colonies formed after 1600.
How was America discovered?
The goals of colonization

Mercantilism Freedom from religious persecution


Early colonial failures
Anonymous Portuguese explorers were the first Europeans to map the eastern seaboard of
America from New York to Florida, as documented in the Cantino planisphere of 1502.
*In teams, make a timeline of the Old American territories.
English colonies
The British colonization of the Americas began in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia, and reached its
peak when colonies had been established throughout the Americas.
Three types of colonies were established in the English overseas possessions in America of the
17th century and continued into the British Empire at the height of its power in the 18th century.

New England
*Watch the video and comment about it.
The largest conflicts between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century were King
Philip's War in New England and the Yamasee War in South Carolina.
New England was initially settled primarily by Puritans. The Pilgrims established a settlement in 1620 at
Plymouth Colony, which was followed by the establishment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.
In 1681, William Penn, a wealthy Quaker, received a large tract of land, which became known as
Pennsylvania. The first German community was established in Pennsylvania in 1683. By 1733, thirteen
English colonies had been established along the Atlantic Coast.
Few colonists could finance the cost of passage and in some cases, they came as indentured servants.
In other cases, the expenses of transportation and maintenance were paid by colonizing agencies. The
first African slaves were brought to Virginia in 1619. By the 1660s, however, Africans were brought to
America in shackles for a lifetime of involuntary servitude.
Society in the middle colonies was more varied and cosmopolitan than in New England. By the end
of the 18th century, 30,000 people lived in Philadelphia, representing many languages, creeds and
trades.
By the early 18th century, colonial legislatures held two significant powers: the right to vote on taxes
and expenditures, and the right to initiate legislation rather than merely act on proposals of the
governor.
The Kingdom of Great Britain acquired the French colony of Acadia in 1713 and then Canada and the
Spanish colony of Florida in 1763.
American Revolution
*Answer the questions

1) What country did the American colonies rebel against?


2) How many of the American Colonies were a part of the revolution?
3) What year did the Revolutionary War begin?
4) What was the main reason that the American Colonies rebelled and fought for their
independence?
5) What year did the United States issue the Declaration of Independence?
6) Which European country became a major ally to the United States during the Revolutionary War?
7) Who was the first President of the United States?
American Revolution
Until the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, few colonists in British North America objected to their
place in the British Empire. Colonists in British America reaped many benefits from the British
imperial system and bore few costs for those benefits. Indeed, until the early 1760s, the British
mostly left their American colonies alone.
The first shots of what would become the war for American independence were fired in April 1775.
For some months before that clash at Lexington and Concord, patriots had been gathering arms
and powder and had been training to fight the British if that became necessary.
In June 1775, the Continental Congress created, on paper, a Continental Army and appointed
George Washington as Commander. Washington's first task, when he arrived in Boston to take
charge of the ragtag militia assembled there, was to create an army in fact.
During the first two years of the Revolutionary War, most of the fighting between the patriots and
British took place in the north. At first, the British generally had their way because of their far superior
sea power.
The Declaration of Independence was drafted largely by Thomas Jefferson and presented by the
committee; it was unanimously adopted by the entire Congress on July 4 1776, and each of the
colonies became independent and sovereign.
Patriot forces, commanded by General Horatio Gates, achieved a significant victory at Saratoga, New
York, in October 1777. Within months, this victory induced France to sign treaties of alliance and
commerce with the United States. In retrospect, French involvement was the turning point of the war,
although that was not obvious at the time.
Yorktown was a signal victory for the patriots, but two years of sporadic warfare, continued military
preparations, and diplomatic negotiations still lay ahead. The Americans and British signed a
preliminary peace treaty on November 30, 1782; they signed the final treaty, known as the Peace of
Paris, on September 10, 1783.
*Make a concept map about the American Constitution.
Constitution of the United States of America
Constitution of the United States of America, the fundamental law of the U.S. federal system of government
and a landmark document of the Western world. The oldest written national constitution in use, the
Constitution defines the principal organs of government and their jurisdictions and the basic rights of
citizens.
Constitutional Convention
The Constitution was written during the summer of 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by 55
delegates to a Constitutional Convention that was called ostensibly to amend the Articles of
Confederation (1781–89), the country’s first written constitution.
In addition, some delegates from Northern states sought to abolish slavery or, failing that, to make
representation dependent on the size of a state’s free population. At the same time, some Southern
delegates threatened to abandon the convention if their demands to keep slavery and the slave trade
legal and to count slaves for representation purposes were not met.
The Great Compromise, as it came to be known, created a bicameral legislature with a Senate, in which
all states would be equally represented, and a House of Representatives.
Because ratification in many states was contingent on the promised addition of a Bill of Rights,
Congress proposed 12 amendments in September 1789; 10 were ratified by the states, and their
adoption was certified on December 15, 1791.
The events of the years 1781 to 1787, including the national government’s inability to act during Shays’s
Rebellion (1786–87) in Massachusetts, showed that the Articles were unworkable because they
deprived the national government of many essential powers, including direct taxation and the ability to
regulate interstate commerce. It was hoped that the new Constitution would remedy this problem.
Civil Liberties And The Bill Of Rights
The federal government is obliged by many constitutional provisions to respect the individual citizen’s
basic rights. Some civil liberties were specified in the original document, notably in the provisions
guaranteeing the writ of habeas corpus and trial by jury in criminal cases and forbidding bills of attainder
and ex post facto laws.
Although the Bill of Rights is a broad expression of individual civil liberties, the ambiguous wording of
many of its provisions—such as the Second Amendment’s right “to keep and bear arms” and the
Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishments”—has been a source of
constitutional controversy and intense political debate.
The Fourteenth Amendment
After the American Civil War, three new constitutional amendments were adopted: the Thirteenth
(1865), which abolished slavery; the Fourteenth (1868), which granted citizenship to former slaves;
and the Fifteenth (1870), which guaranteed former male slaves the right to vote.
The Constitution As A Living Document
Twenty-seven amendments have been added to the Constitution since 1789. In addition to those
mentioned above, other far-reaching amendments include the Sixteenth (1913), which allowed
Congress to impose an income tax; the Seventeenth (1913), which provided for direct election of
senators; the Nineteenth (1920), which mandated woman suffrage; and the Twenty-sixth (1971), which
granted suffrage to citizens 18 years of age and older.
Unit 2

Prehistory and transition (3000 B.C.)


Transition
English is the language of international relations, of negotiations and of science; and it is not
surprising, considering that this language is a unique mixture of several ancient and modern
languages.
English language origins
The history of the English language usually begins to be related from the arrival of three Germanic
tribes to the British Isles, around the year 500 B. C.

These three tribes were known as Anglos, Saxons and Jutes, who crossed the North Sea from what is
now known as Denmark and northern Germany.
The earliest inhabitants of Britain about which anything is known are the Celts (the name from the
Greek keltoi meaning "barbarian"), also known as Britons, who probably started to move into the area
sometime after 800 BC.
Despite their dominance in Britain at an early formative stage of its development, the Celts have
actually had very little impact on the English language

Many British place names have Celtic origins, including Kent, York, London, Dover, Thames, Avon, Trent,
Severn, Cornwall and many more.
The Romans first entered Britain in 55 BC under Julius Caesar, although they did not begin a permanent
occupation until 43 AD, when Emperor Claudius sent a much better prepared force to subjugate the
fierce British Celts.
Although this first invasion had a profound effect on the culture, religion, geography, architecture and
social behaviour of Britain, the linguistic legacy of the Romans’ time in Britain was, like that of the Celts,
surprisingly limited.

win (wine) ancor (anchor) munt (mountain)


butere (butter) belt (belt) straet (street)
caese (cheese) sacc (sack) wic (village)
piper (pepper) catte (cat) mil (mile)
candel (candle) plante (plant) port (harbour)
cetel (kettle) rosa (rose) weall (wall)
disc (dish) cest (chest)
cycene (kitchen) pund (pound)
*Watch the video and make a contrast chart about the prehistoric English and the birth of the
language.

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