2015-05-26
1040
The average density is 30 people per 1 square km.
RMore than 50% of the population is concentrated in the industrial North-East (380 people per 1 square km)/
RThe average density along the Pacific coast is over 30 people per 1 square km.
RIn the areas around the Great Lakes the density is lower and decreases to the North-west. In Nebraska and Dakota its 7 people per 1 square km.
RIn Cordillera states it ranges from 2 people to 12 people per square km.
!!!!!!The lowest density of population is in Alaska cause its less than 1 person per 1 square km.
The Urban population is 75% and rural is 25%
As of 2012 6 leading states with the greatest population:
1) California more than 37 million
2) Texas more than 25 mil.
3) NEW YORK almost 20 mil
4) Florida almost 19 mil
5) Pennsylvania almost 12 mil
6) Illinois almost 12 mil
The top cities:
1) NYC 8.5 mil, 2) LA 4 mil 3) Chicago 3 mil 4) Houston 2,3 mil 5) Phoenix 1.6 mil
6) Philadelphia 1.6 mil
The age of population:
15-64 years 68%
0-14 20%
65 and over – 12%
Birth rate as of 2012: 13.68 births/1000 people
Life expectancy: 75 years for males, 80 for females
Religions 52% Protestants, 24% Roman Catholics. 2% Mormons
The USA doesn’t have an official language. Only 23 states have laws recognizing English as the official language
82% of the population speaks English 10% Spanish 3% Asian
6. By the middle of the 18th century the English settlers had occupied 13 colonies along the Atlantic Coast. Before the events of the Revolutionary war began to unfold the colonists viewed themselves as British citizens.
All colonies had a tradition of representative government (elected by the people – white landowners who had the right to vote)
The English kind appointed the colonial governors, but they ruled in cooperation with an elected assembly (Ассамблея – законодат. орган). Each colony had its own colonial assembly. Quite often the governors ignored the opinion of the assembly which led to conflicts and confrontation.
Ⅰ After the British had won the Seven Years’ war (1756-63) all the territory east of the Mississippi River was theirs and the colonists wanted to settle there but the British feared it would provoke a war with the Native Americans and they couldn’t afford another war so The British government passed the Proclamation of 1773 denying the colonists the right to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. This angered the colonists.
Ⅱ Britain was in debt after the war (as we all know wars are expensive) and they thought they could get the money from the colonists by introducing 1) The Quartering Act which forced the colonists to feed and house British soldiers 2) The Stamp Act which stated that special stamps were to be attached to all printed documents and the colonists had to pay taxes. 3) Then the Tea Act was introduced and taxes on imported goods.
They were not upset about the taxes but about the fact that they had no representative in Parliament, that the taxes were introduced without their agreement saying that they could be taxed only by their own colonial assemblies. “No taxation without representation” – was their most popular demand. As a result of great opposition the British government abolished/repealed the Stamp Act. But there was still the Tea Act. The cost of the tea throughout the colonies was less than tea from anywhere else. 3 pence a pound. It wasn’t the price of tea it was the principle of it: they were being taxed without representation. So in December 1773 the Sons of liberty (- a group of patriots, radicals, opposed to the British government) dressed as Indians boarded 3 British Ships and dumped all the tea overboard. It was a protest against the tea tax. These events are knows as the “Boston Tea party”. So the British government passed a series of acts known as “The intolerable acts”. One of them was the Boston Port Act which closed the port of Boston to all outside trade. Colonies started to unite after the British government’s actions.
Ⅲ In September 1774 the First Continental Congress was convened (созван) - a group of delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies met in Philadelphia. They urged the colonists to boycott British trade and to collect and store arms and organize units of militias.
Ⅳ On April 19th, 1775 – 700 British soldiers were sent in Boston to the town of Concord to seize arms stored by the colonists. At the village of Lexington the British troops encountered 70 minutemen/militiamen (they were ready to fight in a minute) [militiamen – patriots/volunteers who were given weapons to defend the colonists against the British army] each colony had its own militia.
Paul Revere (ри’вир) was the one who warned the militia about the arrival of the British troops. By 5 in the morning 60 militia men lined up. They faced off against hundreds of well-armed and highly experienced British soldiers. It was the birth of a nation. No one knows who fired the first shot but it’s the “shot heard round the world”. A major exchange of fire took place leaving 8 patriots dead and 10 wounded. After the Red Coats arrived at Concord they wanted to raid the militia’s arms stash but the rebels had got there first and hid everything. The British took Lexington and Concord but on their way back to Boston (A 20-mile march back to Boston) they were attacked by hundreds of militiamen. 250 British soldiers were killed and wounded. The Americans lost 93 men.
Ⅴ In May 1775 the second Continental Congress took place in Philadelphia and began to act as a national government. It organized the Continental Army and Navy under the command of George Washington, a rich farmer from Virginia and a veteran of the Seven Years’ war. Thomas Jefferson, an outstanding democrat of Virginia, drafted A Declaration of Independence, which was adopted by the Congress on July 4, 1776. The document proclaimed the independence of the 13 American colonies from Britain, + “all men are created equal”, + have a god given right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”
Comparing the armies:
The continental army/the American Army:
1)Untrained, inexperienced 2) ill-equipped, no ammunition, no uniforms, they didn’t have shoes 3) no supplies 4) small in number
+ The military leadership! George Washington was commander in chief
+ Their passion! They were fighting for something!
And the British didn’t really have the reason to fight
The British army:
1)Experienced and trained, 2) professional soldiers, 3) better equipped, proper weapons, supplies, uniforms, 4) large army 5) loyalists supported the British
-The leadership was poor
-Miles from home with no actually reason to fight
-Didn’t know the land
►At first the war did not go well for the Americans. They suffered a heavy defeat in NY after 2 days. The British lost 377, the Americans - 1407 people.
►So George Washington knew he needed to do something to change the situation:
A pep talk by George Washington Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called "the crisis": “These are the times that try men's souls” which G.W. read to the American army before the battles of Trenton and Princeton. And the Americans WON THESE 2 BATTLES.
The British hired German soldiers known as “The hessians”. The American army caught them off guard when they attacked them on Christmas night in Trenton, NJ. The American army captured many prisoners: 868 without losing a single American. Then they captured 300 more in Princeton.
►George Washington changes the strategy. We need to fight a “defensive” war, to outlast the British, we don’t need to win every battle we just need to avoid a crushing defeat!
His plan was to tire the British out, to wear them out/down!
êBritain’s strategy was to cut off New England by controlling the Hudson River because the revolution had started there and most patriots lived there!
In October 1777 The British army suffered a heavy defeat at Saratoga in Northern NY and surrendered. Saratoga was the turning point of the war! France entered the war as an American ally. Britain failed for 2 reasons: it took too long to get the British troops there and The Americans so it happened had more people there, some British soldiers chased George Washington who was playing “hide and seek”. Saratoga was the turning point of the war! France entered the war as an American ally.
►The war heads South. Then British moved south where many of the loyalists lived! The American army started to use hit and run tactics, so they attacked and ran+ The British didn’t know the land! So the British decided to get some rest at a small port town called Yorktown. Big mistake! The Americans surrounded them on land, the French on sea and the war was over. The cost of victory: over 25,000 Americans died of disease, in battles, as prisoners.
In September of 1783 – Britain recognized the independence of the US by signing the Treaty of Paris. All the territory south of Canada and east of the Mississippi River formed the USA. Florida was returned to Spain.
The war had a world wide impact!!!!!!!The French revolution was inspired by the American Revolution. It set a series of revolutions around the world! In 1787 the American Constitution was drawn up in Philadelphia with its 26 amendments. George Washington became the 1st president of the USA. The capital (Philadelphia) was moved to Washington
7. The frontier heritage - the remains of the life on the frontier that the Americans still have a connection to, the remains of an era that are instilled in American people, that are part of their ideals and values. The widespread ownership of guns in the US proves the influence of the frontier tradition on American life.
The frontier consisted of the unsettled regions of the US in the western part of the country. The eastern part was more settled, more cultivated, therefore the life on the western part was considered to be more adventurous (gold and silver rush), primitive, purer and more difficult. The frontiersman depended on himself to build his own house, to hunt, to look after the farm, to make his own clothes. So people viewed the frontiersmen as heroes because of their physical strength, toughness and courage. So 2 types of heroes singled out: the one that struggles against the wilderness and the forces of nature and the one that fights with other men for control of the lands. Daniel Boone is the perfect example of a hero of the first type. He stayed in the wilderness for 2 years struggling against the dangers of nature and hostile Indians. When was captured by the Indians, they were so impressed with his strength and skills that made him a member of their tribe. But he managed to escape. He was a hero mostly because he was brave. Examples of the second type are cattlemen (скотоводы, пастухи) and cowboys (смотрели за скотом). They fought against farmers, outlaws, criminals, Indians for control of the remaining lands. There were no laws therefore much violence. The frontier became known as “the Wild West”. The hero of this period was a fighter who could win in a fist-fight or a in a gun-fight, he is a defender of good against evil (Jesse James). The adventures of the hero of the Wild West became the main theme of an endless number of American cowboy films. But the idea of what a hero is supposed to be has changed. But still in America more than 40 million people own guns which can be easily bought in the USA. The widespread ownership of guns in the US proves the influence of the frontier tradition on American life.
The frontier also influenced the development of a sense of optimism in the Americans. Frontiersmen showed that we can overcome all difficulties and obstacles with inventiveness and willingness.
Political Correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts, and, as purported by the term, doing so to an excessive extent.
Instead of black people, we say African-American, Indian= Native Americans, to old people we refer as senior citizens. An invalid is physically disabled.
The basic American Values are:
Freedom - we all created equal an we should have control over his or her destiny, the first settlers limited the power of government, forbade the titles of nobility, separated the church from the state. + freedom of speech, press and religion.
But there was black slavery and discrimination
Individualism – people are encouraged to have an opinion, to develop their own goals, to make the decision for themselves, be self-reliant, independent, self-sufficient, responsible for their lives.
Materialism, material wealth, achievement – Americans are materialistic. Money is valued because it shows self-achievement, accomplishment. Being “self-made man” is valuable. Americans like people who came from rags to riches, winners that came from nowhere.
Work ethic – any action is considered to be better than no action, failure in people’s minds is connected with character defects. People in America tend to associate themselves with their professions.
Patriotism – Americans love their country and believe that America is the greatest country in the world.
The American dream - is faith in a better future, in happiness which is achieved through hard work.
Time – is a notion of great importance. “Time is money”. Americans try to make the best use of their time, they can be sometimes leave even if its rude, they are mad when people are late. This philosophy enables Americans to be productive and efficient.
Directness – they speak openly and frankly about things they like or dislike. They do it in a constructive manner so they don’t offend people.
Competition – Americans believe that competition reveals the best features in any person.
8.
►1803- Napoleon sold the huge territory of Louisiana located to the west of the Mississippi River to the USA for 15 million bucks.
The territory of the USA extended as far as the Rocky Mountains.
►British and French warships harassed Americans merchant ships, British naval officers often forced American sailors into British Naval service.
In 1812 The US declared war on Britain over this issue. The American army tried to invade British Canada but was unsuccessful and to retaliate The British invaded and burned Washington D.C. and the president’s official residence in August of 1814. Later the house was restored and painted white.
In December of 1814 they agreed on a compromise and in 1818 established the eastern sector of the border along the 49th parallel.
►In 1819 The USA took Florida over from Spain.
Americans had been settling in Texas, then a part of Mexico. The Texans didn’t want to be under the rule of a dictator so they rebelled/revolted in 1835 and set up an independent republic, the Republic of Texas which in 1845 was annexed by the USA.
War followed between the 2 countries with Mexico suffering a full defeat, and forced to sell an enormous territory – most of what is today California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado to the US for 15 million bucks.
►In 1846 The USA settled a dispute with Canada and took over the southern half of the Oregon Country – the present states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
►With the discovery of gold in 1848 an intensive colonization of the west started.
ⅠThere was a growing rift between the free labor economy of the Northern states and the slave-based plantation economy of the South. The north was industrial and the South was agricultural. Some slave-owners questioned whether slavery was profitable or not. They thought it might be cheaper to hire free labor than to take care of the slaves. In the South there were many plantation-owners and even for them it wasn’t always profitable until the invention of the “ cotton gin” a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, a job that otherwise must be performed by hand.It was invented by Eli Whitney.
North was rapidly industrializing
using new machines and interchangeable parts
factories produced farm machinery, clothing, sewing machines
the American system of manufacturing, industry created jobs
Immigrants came to the USA
a booming market economy was transforming the North
South - agriculture was the main source of wealth and jobs
long growing season, rich soil produced rice, tobacco and cotton
Big plantation-owners with many slaves dominated the south
Economically, socially and politically
many Americans believed that slavery would die out on its own because it wasn’t profitable
but then was the invention of the cotton gin
the south became world major supplier of cotton
cotton production dominated the southern
economy
some the plantation-owners needed a lot of land, large and cheap labor force
The cheapest was the enslaved Africans
►In 1808 Congress banned the importation of slaves.P But the southern slave-owners through their influence in the higher circles of power opposed any move that could endanger their wealth.
There was a dispute over illegality of slavery in the new western territories.
►In 1820 The Missouri compromise - slavery was permitted in the new southern state of Missouri and the Arkansas territory but it was banned west and north of Missouri.
After the Mexican-American war the question of slavery in the new territories was raised once again.
The abolitionist movement – the antislavery movement emerged in the 1830s. People from this movement helped the slaves to escape to the free states and over the border into Canada. There was even the “Underground railroad” – a network of secret routes. A great novel “Uncle Tom’s cabin” inspired many people to participate in this movement.
►In 1850 – Texas was added as a slave state and California as a compromise was added as a free state.
►While the inhabitants of Utah and New Mexico territories were to decide the issue for themselves.
►In 1850 Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act which permitted southerns to recapture slaves who had escaped to the free states.
►The large area of Kansas and Nebraska in the very centre of the century remained inhabited by Indians. In 1854 Congress permitted the settlement of American citizens on this territory. Congress allowed inhabitants of Kansas and Nebraska to solve the question of slavery within these territories themselves WHICH WAS AGAINST THE MISSORI COMPROMISE!!!!!!!!!. Because under the terms of the Missouri compromise of 1820 the entire region was closed to slavery. But Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois was the opponent of Abraham Lincoln and the idea of free slaves sp he persuaded Congress to resolve the slavery issue within their own borders. As a result of such decision there were violent clashes between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers.
►These clashes spread to other parts of the country and in 1859 in Virginia John Brown tried to raise a revolt of the black slaves.
►In 1857 the Supreme Court passed a decision which denied blacks the rights of American citizens and legalized slavery in the southern territories.
9. In 1819 22 states composed the US.
11 were free and the other 11 were slave states. As the US expanded westward the country’s physical growth came to endanger its very existence. During the 1820s new states were being admitted to the union in pairs: one slave state and one free but could that balance be maintained?
As the territories from the Louisiana Purchase (1803) were organized into states the question of whether they should be slave-free or not was raised once again. Missouri’s petition for entrance as a slave state in 1819 would have broken the balance.
So the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was that Congress admitted Maine as a free state and allowed slavery in Missouri BUT prohibit slavery everywhere else north of Missouri southern border. The Missouri compromise held the nation together.
In 1845 Texas joined the Union as a slave state after it was annexed by the USA.
From 1846-1848 The Mexican-American war took place over the annexation of Texas which was then a part of Mexico. Mexico suffered full defeat and was forced to sell an enormous territory – most of what is today California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico for 15 million bucks.
In 1850, when California came up for statehood another compromise had to be hammered out. So thanks to Henry Clay California entered the Union as a free state and the South got a new Fugitive Slave Act which gave slave-owners the right to recapture slaves who had run away to the free states.
UTAH AND NEW MEXICO WERE TO DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES OF THE MATTER.
Kansas and Nebraska were the next territories up for statehood. In 1854 Stephen Douglas introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act which was the violation of the Missouri compromise because under the terms of the Missouri Compromise the entire region was closed to slavery. But Douglas persuaded Congress to allow the inhabitants of the territories to resolve the slavery issue within their own borders.
1852 – Uncle Tom’s cabin by Harriet Stowe inspired many people to fight against slavery.
In 1854 the Republican Party was formed in the North and Lincoln became a leading figure in this party.
In 1857 The Supreme court ruled against Missouri slave named Dred Scott in his petition for freedom. Back in 1830s Dred Scott’s master had taken him to live in Illinois which was a free state but didn’t free him. According to the Missouri Compromise of 1820 slavery could not exist in free territories but the supreme court ruled against him because he was his master’s property and he wasn’t a citizen, he didn’t have any rights.
In 1859 John Brown tried to raise a rebellion in Virginia that would spread through the South. He was executed.
In 1860 the Republican Party wins the presidents race because the Democratic Party was split in 2!
In 1861 when Abraham Lincoln became the president of the US South Carolina decided to secede (си’сид) from the union.
On April 12, 1861 the southerners opened fire on the Federal Troops stationed at Ford Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, SC.
NORTH
23 STATES, 22 MILLION PEOPLE
THE NETWORK OF RAILWAYS, the industrial capacity
---they had to conquer, to invade where the south had to fight a defensive war
SOUTH
11 states 9 million people
Experienced military leaders, superb soldiers,
When President Lincoln requested volunteer armies from each state to put down the revolt it caused 4 MORE STATES TO SECEDE AND JOINED THE future CONFEDERACY. Then Lincoln ordered a naval blockade of harbors of the confederacy.
These 5 states were eventually joined by the other southern states. 11 states proclaimed themselves an independent nation – the confederate states of America or Confederacy.
The southern army won some battles at the beginning of the war but soon the whole situation changed.
Virginia’s 1st battle of BULL RUN /First Manassas 16 Jul 1861 Confederates won
Battle of Shiloh 6 Apr 1862 - Union won
The Second battle of Bull Run 28 Aug 1862 Confederates won
Seven Days Battle 25 Jun 1862 5 miles till Richmond
Confederates won due to McClellan waiting too long and got attacked
The Battle of Antietam 17 Sep 1862 Union won due to more troop arriving which forced the Confederates to retreat
On January 1, 1863 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which granted freedom to all slaves in the states still controlled by the Confederacy.
+ Negroes now could enlist/enroll and fight on the side of the union. By the end of the war 200, 000 Negroes signed up.
The Battle of Chancellorsville - the Confederates won but they lost Thomas Jackson.
The Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863.The union army won.
Gettysburg address is the most famous political speech in American history.
Then The Northern army soon took control of the Mississippi Valley and cut the confederacy in 2.
In 1864, the union army under General Sherman marched across Georgia laying the whole territory to waste. Meanwhile General Grant defeated Lee’s forces in Virginia. On April 2, 1865 Lee was forced to give up Richmond, the Confederate capital and on April 9, 1865 he surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court.
There were 600,000 dead on both sides.
Lincoln was killed 5 days later by John Booth.
The war put an end to slavery, which was abolished by the 13th amendment to the constitution in 1865.and the USA became a united nation again.
10. Часть 1. The Civil War served as an incentive for great progress in the development of industry, trade and agriculture. Even though the southern states were economically destroyed and devastated after the war they later were reconstructed. The abolition (отмена) of slavery did not ensure equality for the former slaves. There were opponents of slavery in Congress but President James Johnson was pro-slavery and all their attempts failed. But they were able to press forward its program of “Reconstruction”. It was a reform of southern states (until 1877): cities rose from ruins, railroads tracks were laid, new roads and bridges were rebuilt, old factories reopened, the rise of iron, tobacco and textile industries! BUT! The South remained rural and agricultural with the majority of southern staying on their farms. They didn’t have money to pay wages to the Negroes and The Negroes didn’t have money to rent farms that is why the share-crop system originated. The farmer provided the Negroes with the necessary tools and housing and the Negroes received 1/3 of the crop. But this system made the Negroes even more dependent on the white landowners.
1)By 1870 many southern blacks were elected to state legislatures and to the Congress. And these state governments did much to improve education, develop social services and protect civil rights.
C“Reconstruction” wasn’t just about restoring the southern states, it was more about putting an end to slavery.
Reconstruction was opposed by most southern whites, some of whom formed a terrorist organization called the Ku Klux Klan. The Klansmen murdered many blacks. It had a name of a “Lynch law” which meant the murder of a Negro without trial and it was practiced on a wide scale.
By 1872 the federal government had suppressed the Klan and the whites continued to use violence to control their state governments.
Reconstruction came to an end in 1877 when new constitutions had been ratified →southern blacks became “second class citizens”. There was racial segregation (изоляция) in schools, hospitals, trains and so on.
2) The 1st transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869
The end of the Civil War gave a powerful incentive to industrial activity: coal, iron ore were mined, steel was forged (ковать), rails were laid, houses were built, cotton cloth was woven (ткать). The industrial revolution started.
The number of manufacturing establishment increased rapidly.
3)Important inventions were made: the telephone by Alexander Bell, the electric bulb by Thomas Edison, motion picture, the skyscraper was developed, local telephone networks appeared in many towns and cities.
4)In 1893 Henry Ford carried out trials of the 1st car of his own design. Mechanization was to reach near-perfection on Henry Ford’s assembly lines (линия поточной сборки)
5)At the end of the 19th century capitalism entered a new stage of development known as imperialism. The trusts (Тресты – монополистические объединения предприятий, ранее принадлежавших различных предпринимателям в один комплекс производственных хозяйств) were the most widespread forms of monopoly which were formed in all branches of production. The USA became a country of trusts. These trusts swallowed up previously independent companies with their enterprise (предприятие). The US Steel corporation formed in 1901was the largest corporation in the world.
Trusts established monopoly control over some industries and some of them were powerful enough to dictate policies to state and federal legislatures. So that is why the government tried to BAN trusts.
Часть 2. The Monroe Doctrine
Napoleon’s conquest of Spain in 1808 caused the Latin Americans to rise in revolt (восстание) against the Spanish colonizers(поселенцы) in Latin America. A vast territory (from Argentina and Chile in the south to Mexico and California in the north) had won independence from the mother country. In 1822 President James Monroe recognized their independence as new countries.
Russia, Prussia and Austria formed the Holy Alliance to protect their colonies and territories from revolution (because they didn’t want them to become independent or smth else). But when the Alliance announced its intention of restoring former colonies to Spain (Spain lost Florida in the Seven Years’ war between Britain and France because in this war Spain supported France but France was defeated!France relinquished(уступать, сдавать тер-ю)all of Canada and the ter. of Louisiana) and Russia to consolidate (укрепить) its hold to the South of Alaska.
President James Monroe DECLARED in 1823 that the USA would not tolerate any further extension of European domination in the Americas and that the western hemisphere(полушарие) was within the special interests of the USA and any action taken by any European power would be regarded “as manifestation of an unfriendly disposition towards the US”
Часть 3.American Expansion at the end of the 19th century.
1)in 1867 the US purchased Alaska together with adjacent islands from Russia.
+Alaska is rich in natural resources
+enhanced the strategic position of the US in the Pacific
2) the seizure(захват)by the US of the Hawaiian Islands 1898 together with the priceless Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
3) The US was interested in Spanish colonies, especially in Cuba in whose economy the Americans had invested a great deal of capital. The local population was opposed to the corrupt and tyrannical Spanish administration. In Cuba the national-liberation was uprising and the independence movement in another Spanish colony – The Philippines Ewith the population wanting independence the US though it’s a great opportunity to intervene.
!!!!After the American battleship Maine was blown up in Havana Harbor in 1898 under mysterious circumstances → the US declared war on Spain
The Spanish-American war and its results
The war lasted 10 weeks, Spain lost this war, under the peace treaty signed in Paris the US a nnexed (включила в состав) Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.
+Spain relinquished (уступила) its domination of Cuba.
4)In 1993 the US obtained an excellent site for a military base at Guantanamo Bay which is held by the US to this very day.
5) The US was also interested in the new insular(островной) possessions and the Panama gateway.
The US was interested in the Panama Canal because it could solve the problem of quickly transferring the American navy from one ocean to another.
But: The Panama isthmus (соединяет две части, переешек - исмэс) belonged to Colombia→in 1903 the Roosevelt administration supported a revolt against Columbia and send a cruiser to help the rebels.
The US quickly recognized the independence of the newly formed Republic of Panama which signed a treaty with the USA granting the latter exclusive rights to dig a canal across the isthmus.
It was a 10-mile zone (the Canal zone) – this canal furthered American hegemony(господство) in the Caribbean.
11. The 1st attempt to establish a new government was the Articles of Confederation(1777-1787). It was the 1st constitution. But the problem with it was that the government had very limited power and proved to be insufficient. It had only one legislative branch (Congress with 13 members representing the 13 states and each state had 1 vote. To pass a law they needed 9 votes.), the government couldn’t impose taxes, couldn’t regulate trade between states and so on.
Confederation – is an alliance of independent states. So the individual states retained their sovereignty and had all the power while the national government had none.
On May 25, 1787 delegates from 12 states (except Rhode Island) met at a Constitutional Convention to revise the Articles of Confederation but decided to draft a new constitution and a strong central government. It was ratified only in 1789 as they needed 9 states to vote on it.
In 1787 the process of creating a new government wasn’t easy as delegates from the large states argued with those from the small states about representation in the national legislature. They came up with the Great Compromise (Connecticut) eventually. ---Congress was divided in 2 houses: House of representation in which the representation is based on population. The more people you have the more votes you get. And The Senate in which every state gets 2 votes or 2 senators as the point of is equality.
The Constitution set up a federal system with a strong central government. A Federal system is one in which power is divided between a central authority and states.
Under the Constitution, power was divided among the 3 branches of the national government: legislative (the Congress), executive (the President) and judicial (The Supreme Court). These 3 powers established a so-called system of checks and balances. This system gives each branch the means to restrain the other 2.
The Constitution provided the election of a national leader, or president. In 1789 George Washington became the 1st president of the US. It also provided that federal laws would be made only by a Congress consisting of representatives elected by the people.
The constitution set up a national court system headed by a Supreme.
