Topic - USA (2)

Tallinn English College
Topic
The United States of America
Tallinn
2007
1. Introduction
The United States of America’s territory is over 3.7 million square miles (over 9.6 million km²) and population more than 300 million people. The capital city is Washington D.C. Although the United States has no official language at the federal level, English is the de facto national language. English is the most common language for daily interaction among both native and non-native speakers. Spanish is the second language. The largest city is the New York City. The Government is Federal constitutional republic  and the president is George W. Bush .
2. Geographical position
The United States of America is located on the continent of North America. It has borders with two countries – Mexico and Canada . There are also the Atlantic Ocean , the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico surrounding the big country . There are 50 states in America. Most of the people live in towns. The biggest state is Alaska ; next by size are California , Alaska and Montana . Six states - Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts are called New England . They are all small states in the USA that lie in the north- east . The first colony of immigrants settled down in Virginia , in the eastern part of the USA.
3. Relief
The USA is situated in the central part of the North American continent. Its western coast is washed by the Pacific Ocean and its eastern coast is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and in the south its coast is washed by the Gulf of Mexico. The coastline is even . There are no big islands belonging to the USA except the Hawaiian Islands which lie halfway the continents of America and Asia . The biggest peninsulas are the Florida Peninsula and Alaska.
4. Land Regions
Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains are a vast system of North American mountains, partly in Canada , but mostly in the United States, forming a zone, from 100 to 300 miles wide , running from the island of Newfoundland some 150 miles south-westward to central Alabama in the United States.
The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a broad mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 4800 km. The Rocky Mountain System within the United States is a United States physiographic region . Though part of the Pacific Cordillera, they are not to be confused with the Pacific Coast Ranges which are located immediately adjacent to the Pacific coast. The Rocky Mountains are a great place for holidays – for walking , climbing, fishing , hunting or skiing . The only big city in the Rockies is Denver.
Lakes
The Great Lakes are a group of five large lakes in North America. They are the largest group of fresh water lakes on Earth. They are sometimes called the inland seas. There are:
1. Lake Superior (the largest and deepest)
2. Lake Michigan (the only one entirely in USA)
3. Lake Huron
4. Lake Erie (smallest and most shallow)
5. Lake Ontario (much lower elevation than the rest ).
The Great Lakes between the USA and Canada are joined together by rivers and canals. The lakes are connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the St. Lawrence River and to the Hudson River by a canal . Between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie is Niagara Falls (51 m). Another large lake in the USA is Great Salt Lake. It is saltier than the sea.
Rivers
The Mississippi river is the major river of North America and the United States. It flows from north-western Minnesota south to the Gulf of Mexico. It is a significant transportation artery and when combined with its major tributaries (the Missouri and the Ohio rivers) it becomes the third largest river system in the world (at 6,236 km). The western tributaries are the Red River, the Arkansas and the Missouri. The eastern tributaries are the Tennessee and the Ohio. Its name means the Father of Waters in the Red Indian . Together with its tributaries it forms 20,000 km of navigable waterways.
The Colorado River is a river in the south-western United States, approximately 1450 miles long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The natural course of the river flows into the Gulf of California, but the heavy use of the river as an irrigation source for the Imperial Valley has desiccated the lower course of the river in Mexico such that it no longer consistently reaches the sea.
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 1049 km long and is located in the south-eastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names . The river has been dammed numerous times , primarily by Tennessee Valley Authority projects .
The Ohio River is the largest tributary by volume of the Mississippi River. It is approximately 1,579 km long and is located in the eastern United States. The river had great significance in the history of the Native Americans. It was a primary transportation route during the westward expansion of the early U.S. It flows through or along the border of six states, and its watershed encompasses 14 states, including many of the states of the south eastern U.S. through its largest tributary, the Tennessee River. During the eighteenth century , it was the southern boundary of the Northwest Territory, thus serving as the border between free and slave territory.
Other
The Great Plains is the board expanse of prairie and steppe which lies east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada.
Grand Canyon created by Colorado River cutting a channel over millions of years , is about 227 miles long, and attains a depth of more than a mile. Nearly two billion years of Earth’s history has been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut through layer after of sediment as the Colorado Plateaus have uplifted.
5. Climate
Due to its large size and wide range of geographic features , the United States contains examples of nearly every global climate. The climate is temperate in most areas , tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida, polar in Alaska, semiarid in the Great Plains west of the 100th meridian, Mediterranean in coastal California and arid in the Great Basins. Its comparatively generous climate contributed (in part) to the country’s rise as a world power , with infrequent severe drought in the major agricultural regions, a general lack of widespread flooding, and a mainly temperate climate that receives adequate precipitation.
6. Animals , plants , agriculture
Animals
The moose ranges throughout the northern US. In the eastern forests live elks , black bears, deer, foxes, raccoons, skunks and squirrels. Along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico live large and more colorful birds such as pelicans and flamingos. Alligators can also be found there. Bison ( buffalo ) exists now only in protected areas. In the western areas live elk, deer, bighorn sheep , mountain goats and a small number of brown bears. The Kodiak bear , the largest carnivore found in North America, is found in Alaska.
Plants
The vegetation of Northern Alaska consists of lichens, mosses, low shrubs and flowering plants. In the southern part of Alaska grow conifers, spruces and firs. Around the Great Lakes and New England are mixed forests of pines, maples, elms , birches, oaks etc. Along the Gulf of Mexico grow magnolia, red and black gum, cypress and mangrove. In the west grow forests of sequoia. In the NW grow conifers – firs, hemlocks, cedars, spruces and pines.
Agriculture
Agriculture is a major industry in the United States and the country is a net exporter of food. Corn , turkeys, tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts, and sunflower seeds constitute some of the major holdovers from the agricultural endowment of the Americas . In the U.S., farms spread from the colonies westward along with the settlers . In cooler regions, wheat was often the crop of choice when lands were newly settled, leading to a "wheat frontier" that moved westward over the course of years. Also very common in the antebellum Midwest was farming corn while raising hogs, complementing each other especially since it was difficult to get grain to market before the canals and railroads. After the "wheat frontier" had passed through an area, more diversified farms including dairy cattle generally took its place. Warmer regions saw plantings of cotton and herds of beef cattle. In the early colonial south, raising tobacco and cotton was common, especially through the use of slave labour until the Civil War. In the northeast, slaves were used in agriculture until the early 19th century. In the Midwest, slavery was prohibited by the Freedom Ordinance of 1787.
Nowadays less than 2% of the population is engaged in agriculture. Large stretches of level or gently rolling land , especially in the Midwest provide ideal conditions for large- scale agriculture. The farms have narrow specialization, are very well mechanized and have high productivity. Besides providing its own people with food, the US has sent much food to other countries.
Dairy cattle are bred mainly in the eastern part, beef cattle in the prairies . Poultry farms are near big cities. Vegetables and potatoes are grown all over the country. Fruits are grown mainly in Florida and California, citruses in California. Wheat is grown in the prairies.
7. Population
The United States is an urbanized nation , with 80.6 percent of its population residing in cities and suburbs. The mean population centre of the US has consistently shifted westward and southward, with California and Texas currently the most populous states. According to Californians for Population Stabilization, U.S. population growth is now the highest among developed countries and exceeds that of China . Births, supplemented by immigration , help to offset the aging population. The total fertility rate in the United States estimated for 2007 is 2.09, which is roughly the replacement level for industrialized countries. The total U.S. population crossed the 100 million mark around 1915, the 200 million mark in 1967, and the 300 million mark in 2006 (On Tuesday, October, 17). The U.S. population more than tripled during the 20th - a growth rate of about 1.3 percent a year - from about 76 million in 1900 to 281 million in 2000. This is unlike most European countries, especially Germany , Russia , Italy and Greece , whose populations are slowly declining, and whose fertility rates are below replacement. The current population according to the U.S Census Bureau is 303,026,362 as of 2nd October 2007. This is based on the 2000 census and national population estimates.
8. Natives
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes , states and ethnic groups and, many of which are still enduring as political communities. The European colonization of the Americas nearly destroyed the populations and cultures of the Native Americans. During the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries , their populations were ravaged by conflicts with European explorers and colonists, disease , displacement, enslavement as well as internal warfare . Scholars now believe that, among the various contributing factors, epidemic disease was the overwhelming cause of the population decline of the American natives. In the sixteenth century, Spaniards and other Europeans brought horses to the Americas. Some of these animals escaped and began to breed and increase their numbers in the wild . Ironically, the horse had originally evolved in the Americas, but the early American horse became game for the earliest humans and became extinct about 7,000 BC, just after the end of the last ice age. The re-introduction of the horse had a profound impact on Native American culture in the Great Plains of North America. As a new mode of travel the horse made it possible for some tribes to greatly expand their territories, exchange goods with neighboring tribes, and more easily capture game.
In the nineteenth century, the incessant Westward expansion of the US forced large numbers of Native Americans to resettle further west. Under President Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which authorized the President to conduct treaties to exchange Native American land east of the Mississippi River for lands west of the river. As many as 100,000 Native Americans eventually relocated in the West as a result of this.
9. Culture
The culture of the United States is a Western culture, and has been developing since long before the United States became a country. Its chief early influence was British culture, due to colonial ties with the British that spread the English language, legal system and other cultural inheritances. Other important influences came from other parts of Europe , especially countries from which large numbers immigrated such as Ireland , Germany, Poland , and Italy; the Native American people; Africa, especially the western part, from which came the ancestors of most African Americans; and young groups of immigrants. American culture also has shared influence on the cultures of its neighbours in the New World.
Music
Rock and roll, country, rhythm and blues , jazz, and hip hop are among the country's most internationally renowned genres . Since the beginning of the 20th century, popular recorded music from the United States has become increasingly known across the world, to the point where some forms of American popular music are listened almost everywhere .
Folk music in the United States is varied across the country's numerous ethnic groups. The Native American tribes each play their own varieties of folk music, most of it spiritual in nature . African American music includes blues and gospel ; descendants of West African music brought to the Americas by slaves and mixed with Western European music. During the colonial era, English, French and Spanish styles and instruments were brought to the Americas. By the early 20th century, the United States had become a major centre for folk music from around the world, including polka , Ukrainian and Polish fiddling, Ashkenazi Jewish klezmer and several kinds of Latin music.
The United States has produced many of the most popular musicians and composers in the modern world. Beginning with the birth of recorded music, American performers have continued to lead the field of popular music.
Now there are very different types of music in America: jazz, blues, gospel, pop, rock, punk , soul , R&B, country, hip hop, rap, metal etc.
Some famous American musicians are and have been Elvis Presley, Scott Joplin, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner , Mariah Carey, Usher , Beyonce, The Beatles , Led Zeppelin , The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath,
Food
Some describe American cuisine as the result of each immigrant community simply making use of whatever they could grow in their new home, or incorporating America's native plants and game animals in traditional recipes.
Similarly , while some dishes considered typically American may have their origins in other countries, American cooks and chefs have substantially altered them over the years, to the degree that the dish as now enjoyed the world over may even be considered archetypically American. Hot dogs and hamburgers are both based on traditional German dishes, brought over to America by German immigrants to the United States, but in their modern, popular form they are so altered that they can be reasonably considered American dishes.
10. Sports
Sports in the United States, as in other countries, are an important part of the national culture. However , the sporting culture of the U.S. is different from that of many other countries, especially those in Europe. The most popular sports are American football , baseball , basketball, ice hockey and soccer .
American football (known simply as "football" in the U.S) attracts more television viewers than baseball; however, National Football League teams play only 16 regular - season games each year, so baseball is the runaway leader in ticket sales. The 32- team National Football League (NFL) is the most popular and only major professional American football league. Its championship game, the Super Bowl, is watched by nearly half of US television households. Additional millions also watch college football throughout the autumn months. Among the sport 's all time greatest players are Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, John Elway, Barry Sanders , Walter Payton, Brett Favre, and Emmett Smith.
11. Economy
The United States has a capitalist mixed economy which is fueled by abundant natural resources, well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity. According to the International Monetary Fund, the United States GDP of more than $13 trillion constitutes 20% of the gross world product. The largest national GDP in the world, it was slightly larger than the combined GDP of the European Union at purchasing power parity in 2006. The country ranks eighth in the world in nominal GDP per capita . The United States is the largest importer of goods. Canada, China, Mexico, Japan , and Germany are its top trading partners. The leading export commodity is electrical machinery, while vehicles constitute the leading import . The U.S. national debt is the world's largest; in 2005, it was 23 percent of the global total.
In 2005, 155 million persons were employed with earnings, of whom 80 percent worked in full -time jobs. The majority , 79 percent, were employed in the service sector. With approximately 15.5 million people, health care and social assistance is the leading field of employment .[79] About 12 percent of American workers are unionized, compared to 30 percent in Western Europe. The U.S. ranks number one in the ease of hiring and firing workers, according to the World Bank Americans tend to work considerably more hours annually than workers in other developed nations, taking fewer and shorter vacations.
12. Biggest cities
Seattle is the largest city in the state of Washington. It has been inhabited by humans for 4000 years. Major events in Seattle's history include the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, which destroyed the central business district but took no lives . In Seattle the climate is mild though it rains all the time. Living is very cheap, because government pays a lot. Five largest companies are in Seattle and there’s also highest percentage of college graduators because schools try to have a racial balance .
Los Angeles is often abbreviated L.A. and also called the city of ( lost ) angels . People are known as Angelenos. It is the largest city in California and 2nd largest in USA. The Los Angeles coastal area was inhabited by the Tongva (or Gabrieleños), Chumash, and earlier Native American nations for thousands of years. The first Europeans to arrive came in 1542 , led by Juan Cabrillo, a Portuguese explorer who claimed the area for the Spanish Empire but did not stay . During the cold rush , Europeans took over the city. Los Angeles is very rich in plants.
Chicago is in the state of Ellenois, there are three million people and it is the 3rd most popular city. The name “Chicago” comes from the French world shikaakwa. Chicago is the centre of transportation, industry, politics , culture, medicine and education. It was the best sports city in 2006 and the most popular sport there is baseball and the most famous baseball team is Chicago Cubs. City is also a great shopping centre and it has been the gangsters centre.
Dallas is a city in Texas. Dallas was founded in 1841 and formally incorporated as a city on 2 February 1856 . The city is known globally as a centre for telecommunications, computer technology , banking, and transportation. It is the core of the largest inland metropolitan area in the United States and lacks any navigable link to the sea - Dallas's prominence despite this comes from its historical importance as a centre for the oil and cotton industries, its position along numerous railroad lines, and its powerful industrial and financial tycoons.
San Francisco was founded in 1776 by Spanish settlers. There was a gold rush in San Francisco and a period of rapid growth. There are about 700,000 people living there now. City is famous for its hills and the world-famous Golden Gate Bridge . There are many parks where people like to spend time. The climate is mild; the highest temperature has been 39 degrees.
Miami is the city in Florida with 8,000 people. Miami is famous for its beautiful beaches . And also that all old people move there because it’s the cheapest place to live. There is very diverse society – many Spanish, Latin and Mexican people also.
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the state of Nevada , United States, the seat of Clark County , and an internationally known vacation, shopping, entertainment, and gambling destination. It was established in 1905 and officially became a city in 1911. It is the largest U.S. city founded in the 20th century. When The Mirage, the first Mega resort , opened in 1989, it started a movement of people and construction away from downtown Las Vegas to the Las Vegas Strip . This resulted in a drop in tourism from which the downtown area is still trying to recover. However, The Strip is often what people mean when they say they are going to Las Vegas. Many of the largest hotel, casino and resort properties in the world are located on The Strip - certainly the newer ones are.
Washington D.C. – the capital of United States.
When the settlers of America broke away from Britain in 1776 and founded the United States, they decided to build a new capital city. It was George Washington who selected a patch of land for the capital at the mouth of the Potomac River. The task of planning was given to a French officer. He marked first the sites for the great parliament building - the Capitol - and the residence for the President - the White House. Wide streets running north and south and east and west broke up from the Capitol and the White House. Parks were laid out later and trees planted along the streets. It is an unusual city. It is a district – the District of Columbia or D. C. The capital got its name after the first president of the United States - George Washington.
The White House is the home and official residence of the President of the United States of America. The original building was started in 1792. It was built of sand stone , painted white. There are 132 rooms now. The white House includes the private living quarters of the president and his family together with the President’s office, cabinet room , library, state dining room, diplomatic reception room, map room and staff quarters. There are numerous monuments in Washington, D.C. The Washington Memorial is a high building built between 1848 and 1885 in honour of the first president of the United States. The Jefferson Memorial was built in memory of Thomas Jefferson who wrote the declaration of Independence. Inside the Lincoln Memorial there is the statue of Lincoln and two wall paintings with symbols of freedom and justice. On two huge stone tablets one can read some of Lincoln’s important speeches.
13. History
For thousands of years America was unknown to Europe. In 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered it while trying to reach India. He didn’t stay and in the sixteenth century the first Europeans to settle in America were the Spanish, the English and the French.
The first village founded by the English settlers was in Virginia in 1607. It was called Jamestown. In 1620 a new group of British settlers reached Plymouth, Massachusetts, called ’Pilgrims’ due to their strong belief in religion . They became farmers and businessmen who coped with the Indians and in 1621 had a big dinner to thank the Indians as they had helped them to survive the hard winter . That day is now known as Thanksgiving and is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in America. More and more people arrived . Over a time settlers from many other countries joined the English in America – the French, the Spaniards and the Dutch . Africans were first brought to Virginia in 1619.
By 1770 there were thirteen British colonies in America who weren’t pleased with their lives because they had to pay high taxes. In 1773, the ’ Boston Tea Party ’ took place and it made the British mad, so in 1775 the War of Independence started. The Americans were led by George Washington who in 1788 became the country’s first president. On the 4th of July , 1776 the Declaration of Independence was written and that day is now celebrated as the Day of Independence. The war ended in 1788 and during the time following it, the Americans bought large pieces of land from foreign countries to themselves, creating a big country.
By 1860 America was a big country but there was a big difference between the free North and the slavery South. The biggest problem was the issue of slaves and due to that the Civil War broke out in 1861. President Abraham Lincoln tried hard to unite the country again . Though both sides were strong, the North had more men, more factories and stronger leaders. In 1865 the South accepted the loss. Lincoln was shot in 1865 and the next president wasn’t strong enough to unite the country, so problems weren’t solved. During the 19th century many people went to live in the west. To people of today the West comes to us through fun cowboys who in reality were hard- working men. They disappeared when the government gave them land and from 1862 to 1900 they became farmers. The farms that in the beginning were lonely were brought together by the railway built in 1869. At the beginning of the 19th century many settlers came to America, in search for a better life. By the middle of the 19th century there were already 34 states in the USA.
The United States grew to be one of the great powers of the world. The nation fought in the First World War. After the war women got the right to vote for the first time.
In 1929 the Great Depression began with the stock market crash. Banks , factories and farms shut down and many Americans were unemployed. In 1941 the United States entered the Second World War when Japan attacked the Hawaiian Islands. The war ended in 1945 when the USA dropped the first atomic bombs, and the world entered the Nuclear Age. Today about 30 million of 260 million Americans are black. When they were freed after the Civil War, the Southerners were angry at them and showed a lot of prejudice . Some of them formed the Ku Klux Klan who beat and murdered black people. Until in 1870 the blacks didn’t have civil rights or the right to vote. In the 20th century many blacks travelled to the North but even there they were treated differently and until 1954 black kids had to go to separate schools. In the 1950s a black churchman by the name Martin Luther King started to fight for black people and said that they were equal to white people. After 1963 when he held his famous speech “I have a dream ...“, in 1964 the blacks were given same rights as the white. In 1968 King was murdered.
The 1950s are known as the time of Cold War because of the competition with the Soviet Union. After that in the 1960s and 1970s the Americans fought in the Korean and in the Vietnam War, and in the1990s in the Gulf War and now they are fighting in Iraq.
14. Government
Constitution
The United States Constitution is the supreme legal document in the American system, and serves as a social contract for the people of the United States, regulating their affairs through government chosen by and populated by the people. All laws and procedures of both state and federal governments are subject to review, and any law ruled by the judicial branch to be in violation of the Constitution is overturned. The Constitution is a living document as it can be amended by a variety of methods, all of which require the approval of an overwhelming majority of the states. The Constitution has been amended 27 times, the last time in 1992.
Government
The government of the USA is composed of three coordinate branches: the executive , legislative and the judicial. All the three branches are equal. The executive power is vested in the president, who holds office for a term of four year. At the moment George W. Bush is the president. The president is elected together with a vice -president and will take his place when the president dies or resigns in office. The president of the USA lives in the White House (at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue) Washington, D.C. while he holds office. The president’s responsibility is to see that all laws are enforced, to be the head of the executive branch and to be the commander in Chief of the armed forces. The Legislative branch - Congress - consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are a hundred people in the Senate (two from each state) and their term is for 6 year. 435 people are in the House of Representatives and their term lasts for 2 years. They act in the Capitol Building and their responsibility is to make laws and decide how to spend money .
At the head of the Judicial branch is the Supreme Court, which has nine judges who serve for life. The head of the judges is the Chief Justice. Their responsibility is to explain the meaning of the laws. The leading parties in America are the Democrats and the Republicans but there are also other smaller parties.
President
The President is elected on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of a leap year and takes office at noon on January 20. The President is not elected directly, but by an Electoral College. The Electors who actually choose the President are now completely pledged in advance to one person and their names have almost entirely disappeared from the ballot papers to be replaced by the names of the candidates themselves. The candidates who win the most votes within a state receive all its Electoral College votes, no matter how small the majority. Presidential candidates are selected by their respective party’s national conventions in the summer of each election year. The delegates attending that convention are associated with a particular candidate and are normally chosen either at state conventions of party member or at state primary elections held in the preceding month . In a closed primary only registered party members can vote, while in an open primary any voter can participate.
15. Symbols
* The Flag
The United States flag has 13 stripes. Seven are red and 6 are white. It also has 50 white stars on a blue background. The stripes represent the original 13 colonies. The 50 stars represent the 50 states in the U.S. The first U.S. flag was designed in 1777. The flag has been changed many times since then. New stars are added each time new states join the union.
* The Statue Of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a huge sculpture that is located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. This monument was a gift to the USA from the people of France in recognition of the French-American alliance during the American Revolution . The hollow copper statue was built in France – it was finished in July, 1884. It was brought to the USA in 350 pieces on a French ship called “Isere” (In June, 1995). The statue was re- assembled in the USA and was completed on October 28, 1886 . There are 354 steps inside the statue and its pedestal. There are 25 viewing windows in the crown . The seven rays of Liberty’s crown symbolize the seven seas and seven continents of the world. Liberty holds a tablet in her left hand that reads “July 4, 1776” (In Roman numerals), Independence Day.
* The Seal of the President
The Seal of the president of the USA is based upon the Great Seal of the USA. The presidential seal pictures an American bald eagle holding a ribbon in its beak; the ribbon has the motto of the USA “E PLURIBUS UNUM,” meaning “Out of many, one.” The eagle is holding an olive branch with 13 olives and 13 leaves symbolizing peace in one foot and 13 arrows which symbolize the acceptance of the need to go to war to protect the county.
The shield in front of the eagle has 13 red and white stripes representing the original 13 colonies with a blue bar above it which symbolized the uniting of the 13 colonies and represents the congress. Above the eagle there are 13 white clouds, 13 white stars, and many tiny stars. 50 white stars surround the eagle in a circle. The first president who used the presidential seal was Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880.
* Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell is a huge bronze bell that symbolizes freedom in the USA. This historic bell is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The bell was originally cast in 1752 in London. It was commissioned for the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall)
The bell first cracked during a test ringing. Then it was recast twice. Then the restored bell rang to announce important events in early American history, including Presidential elections and deaths. And the bell cracked again in 1835 while being rung at the funeral of John Marshall, the 4th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
* Mt. Rushmore
Mt. Rushmore National Memorial is a huge mountain sculpture of four US Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln located near Keystone, South Dakota. There four presidents were chosen to represent the founding , growth and preservation of the USA. The work was designed by John Gutzon Borglum from 1871-1941.
Construction began in 1927 with 400 stone workers. Funding was provided by donations and Federal Government. It took 14 years to finish the project – work was done for only about 6 years. The monument was completed in 1941.
16. Conclusion
The United States is the world’s third or fourth largest nation by area, before or after the People’s Republic of China. The country is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse nations, a leader in many fields of life, such as economy, education, science , human development and medicine. It is also home to many endangered species and to such which cannot be found anywhere else in the world than in the US. With a long history of democracy, the United States stands for human rights and freedom of speech all over the world.