The United States of America

Ø 1) What comes first to your mind when you hear “the United States of America”? Have you, your friends or relatives been to the United States? What was the most memorable impression of the country?

The United States of America (the USA) is a large country stretching across the middle of North America. In 1620, a group of people left England for America. They had decided to make homes for themselves in the new land across the ocean. They hoped they would have a better life there. After a stormy voyage across the Atlantic, their small ship, the “Mayflower, ” reached the shores of the new land. Those early settlers built their first colonies and began to explore the new country which they called New England. As their settlements were called “colonies, ” the people were called “colonists.” Soon more and more European settlers came and more colonies were formed.

The American colonies grew bigger and bigger, they pros­pered, but they were for a long time ruled by England, and all the riches of the new country belonged to England. In 1776 the thirteen young American colonies united and began a war against England for freedom and independence, which was called the War of Independence. They won and a new nation was born which became the United States of America. July 4, 1776 is still celebrated as “the birthday” of the American nation, and is called Independence Day.

The leaders of the new state decided they would form a republic which would have no king but would have a President, who was to be chosen every four years. George Washington (1732 - 1799), who had led the Americans in the war, became the first President. He is now called “the Father of the United States.”

The new country was explored. Endless plains, great mountains and deserts were discovered. Settlers from all the countries of Europe moved to the West until the nation reached from the Atlantic to the Pacific. One by one new states were added to the first thirteen.

Today the USA consists of 50 states. The capital is Washington D.C.

The citizens and many other residents of the United States refer to themselves and each other as Americans, and to their country as the United States or America.

While to many foreigners “Yankees” is synonymous with the American people, Americans almost always use the term for the sports team, for New Englanders, New Yorkers, or with reference to those living in the northeastern U.S. in contrast to Southerners.

“The US” (the “U.S.”) or “the USA” (“the U.S.A.”) or “the U. S. of A.” are casual, short-hand terms. The official name of the nation, the “United States of America, ” is very formal and is most often used in formal government documents, pledges, or ceremonies, but not in colloquial conversations. It is more common to hear the shortened phrase “United States.”

Ø 2) Look through the text and find:

a) the date when the first people from Europe came to America,

b) the name of their ship,

c) the date when the war between England and the American colonies began,

d) the date of Independence Day,

e) the name of the first president of the USA,

f) the number of states in the USA,

g) the name of the capital,

h) different names of the country.