The Pilgrim Fathers and the colonies
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.
The American Revolution
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.
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.
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.
The Civil War
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.
The Gold Rush
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.
The first World War (WW1)
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.
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.
Roosevelt and the New Deal
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.
The second World War (WW2)
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.
Martin Luther King
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.
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.
The American Revolution
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.
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.
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.
The Civil War
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.
The Gold Rush
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.
The first World War (WW1)
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.
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.
Roosevelt and the New Deal
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.
The second World War (WW2)
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.
Martin Luther King
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.
