14. The most important event in the history of the usa

About A.D. 1000, a party of Icelandic Vikings under the command of Leif Ericson sailed to the eastern coast of North America. They landed at the place they called Vinland and established some settlements. But their stay at this land was not long. The Vikings soon sailed back to their cold country and lost contact with the new continent.

In 1492 Christopher Columbus landed on one of the Bahamas Islands, and Portuguese colonists started to settle there. The Spaniards conquered most of Latin and Central America, and founded some settlements in North America: St. Augustine in Florida, Santa Fe in New Mexico and San Diego in California.

The first successful British colony was Jamestown in Virginia, founded in 1607. But the settlements of English Puritans in New England are better known. Because of religious disputes some families of English Puritans decided to look for a better life and religious freedom on the new continent. One of these groups crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the ship “Mayflower” and settled in Plymouth in 1620.

They hoped to build “a city upon a hill” – an ideal community. Other strict believers settled in the Boston area, while more tolerant Puritans moved to Rhode Island. Roman Catholics settled in Maryland and Quakers in Pennsylvania, where German farmers joined them. The Swedes settled in Delaware, and also African slaves were first brought to Virginia in 1619. The Dutch founded New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. So in this way America developed into a melting pot of nations and cultures.

By 1733 English settlers occupied 13 colonies along the Atlantic Ocean coast. The French controlled Canada and Louisiana. In 1763 as a result of the Seven Years War between England and France, Canada and all the territory east of the Mississippi River became English.

Conflicts between the colonies and England increased. New taxes on sugar, coffee and textile were introduced and the colonies started to protest. They were afraid that these new taxes would make trade more difficult, and England would use its soldiers to forcefully take away from the colonists the civil liberties they enjoyed. And in fact, when the colonies refused to obey the orders of the British Empire, English soldiers were sent to Boston.

In 1773 a group of American patriots responded to the tea tax by staging the Boston Tea Party. Disguised as Indians they boarded three British merchant ships and dumped all the tea that was on them into Boston Harbor. The British government closed the port of Boston to shipping, limiting the independence of the Massachusetts colonial government. Colonies began to store weapons and ammunitions and organize their own military units - militias. In 1775 colonist leaders gathered in Philadelphia and formed the Continental Congress, which started to function as a national government. George Washington became the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and navy. After several years of fighting, the British government asked for peace. And in 1783 the independence of the USA was recognized.

After lengthy and detailed discussions in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, two important documents were adopted - the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Constitution of the United States (1778).

There were a lot of presidents in USA: Washington, George (1789-97), Pierce, Franklin, Lincoln, Abraham, Roosevelt, Franklin D. Truman, Harry, Eisenhower, Dwight, Kennedy, John F., Johnson, Lyndon, Nixon, Richard, Ford, Gerald, Carter, Jimmy, Reagan, Ronald, Bush, George H.W., Clinton, William J., Bush, George W. (2001- ). Now, the president of the USA is …