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5. CALIFORNIA
California's history is unique. It has been shaped, in part, by its geography. California has four main regions. The temperate coastal region, the Central Valley, once an inland sea, the desert, and the mountain region. The imposing Sierra Nevadas caused California to develop in relative isolation from the rest of the nation. After Americans began to settle in California in large numbers during the nineteenth century, it would usually be weeks before news would arrive from the East.
Four flags have flown in earnest over California. Russia, Spain, Mexico, and the United States.
The name "California" came from a knightly romance book that was published in 1510. It was about an island paradise near the Indies where beautiful Queen Califia ruled over a country of beautiful black Amazons with lots of pearls and gold. Men were only allowed there one day a year to help perpetuate the race. Cortez's men thought they found the island in 1535, because they found pearls. Later, Francisco de Ulloa found that the island was really a peninsula.
The first settlers to arrive in California after the Native Americans were Spanish, and later Mexican. Russia had some small settlements for the purpose of whaling and fur trapping in Northern California, but Russia didn't attempt to colonize the area except in very isolated areas. Spanish priests were sent to California to covert the Indians to Christianity. Spain hoped to make the California native population into good Spaniards, loyal to Spain. Spain was becoming alarmed that the Russians and English were encroaching on lands claimed by Spain.
The fight for California began almost 500 years ago with Queen Elizabeth I. She sent Sir Francis Drake to harass and raid the Spanish galleons. England was beginning to realize the value of California. England did not want Spain claiming more land in the new world, upsetting the balance of power between the super powers of the time. Tensions were already high between Spain and England. Henry VIII, Elizabeth's father, had divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, a Spanish princess. In order to accomplish the divorce, England severed ties with Catholicism and Henry had instituted protestantism as the State religion. Henry and Jane Seymore's son had assumed the throne after Henry's death and continued Henry's policies. But when Edward the IV died at the age of 16, Mary I came to the throne. She was the daughter of Henry and his first wife, Catherine. Her ties to both Spain and Catholicism were strong. Elizabeth was suspected of plotting to overthrow Mary and was imprisoned in the Tower. After "bloody Mary" died and Elizabeth I became monarch, the power struggle between catholics and protestants did not end. Eventually, Elizabeth had Mary, Queen of Scots, executed for treason. Mary was her greatest threat to the throne since Mary claimed it as her right by way of England's ties with the French throne. Even though Mary had abdicated her rights, she still remained a threat to Elizabeth since Spain and France could use Mary as a cause to move against England. With the death of Mary Queen of Scots, England had secured protestantism and Elizabeth's reign, but was short on allies. In order to build new European allies, England had to remain a power to be reckoned with. Spanish settlement along the west coast of North America could bolster Spanish power. This was the last thing England wanted.
Prior to the Gold Rush, settlers very slowly filtered into California until 1848 when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill. Suddenly, people from all over the world looking to strike it rich flooded through San Francisco. They traveled up the Sacramento River to the gold fields. The Gold Rush was devastating to the Native Americans in the area and depleted many natural resources. What is now San Francisco was once a redwood forest. Whole native tribes were scattered or destroyed. In some areas there were bounties on Indians. The California tribes still have a rich culture and heritage, but the nineteenth century was a period of great loss for all native tribes in the area.
It was this discovery of gold that hastened California's statehood. On September 9, 1850, President Fillmore officially made California the thirty-first state.
One thing that helped ease California's isolation was the telegraph. By 1861, telegraph lines stretched across the country. Unfortunately, buffalo on the plains often knocked down the poles, leaving California isolated again until the line was fixed.
California offered a lot to the nation. The rich Central Valley eventually became known as the breadbasket of the world. California's mild climate allowed for year-round farming and fruits and vegetables could be grown in California that would grow in very few other places. The Chinese eventually prospered, despite extreme prejudice and jealousy over their success, by growing fruits and vegetables, which were an important part of their diet. The Chinese eventually started their own town in the Central Valley which remains to this day. The town has some descendants of these original Chinese immigrants.
Eventually, the railroads carried California produce to the East. California's exotic produce was in great demand in the East. Ice cars, the precursors to the refrigerated cars of today, began in response to the demand for California produce. Agriculture was responsible for generating great wealth in the state. Agriculture is still a major industry today.
6. NEW JERSEY.
New Jersey gave the world both football and baseball, as well as Thomas Nast's Democratic donkey, the Republican elephant, and Santa Claus. It was the home to at least three of the most important inventors in American history.
It was here that Thomas A. Edison invented the electric light bulb, Samuel F. B. Morse the electric telegraph, and John P. Holland the submarine.
Washington's famed crossing of the Delaware brought his forces to the Jersey shore. The state became the "pathway of the Revolution" and suffered through four major battles. New Jersey leads the nation in many areas of manufacture and science and has long proven it is more than a convenient route from North to South. Here is the brif history of the state:
Claims greatest variety of manufactured products.
Major glass manufacturing center.
Leader in flag manufacture.
Chemistry industry leader.
The national jewelry center-Newark.
World's first four-lane highway, constructed between Elizabeth and Newark.
First U.S. charter for a railroad.
Explorers John Cabot in 1497 and Giovanni de Verrizano in 1524 sailed past what is now the Jersey shore.
The first record of a European on New Jersey soil belongs to Henry Hudson, in 1609.
By 1618 the Dutch had set up a trading post at Bergen.
New Sweden was organized on the lower Delaware in 1638.
Federal Writers' Project, New Jersey
Johan Printz ("Big Tub"), a 7-foot giant of 400 pounds, took control of the Swedish settlement in 1643.
In 1664, England took over the colony and the city of Elizabeth was founded.
New Jersey became a crown colony in 1702, under the governor of New York.
In 1738, New Jersey got its own government.
William Franklin, son of Benjamin Franklin, became governor in 1763.
Dissatisfaction with the crown led to the little-known New Jersey "tea party" on December 22, 1774.
After the Declaration of Independence, a provincial Congress took control and arrested Governor Franklin.
After the Revolution reached New Jersey, the state endured four major battles and 90 minor skirmishes, becoming known as the .pathway of the Revolution."
General George Washington and his armies crossed and re-crossed New Jersey flour times.
Washington made his famed crossing of the Delaware River to the Jersey shore, and his victory at the Battle of Trenton at Christmas time, 1776, gave hope to the American cause.
By the close of the Revolution, 17,000 New Jersey men had fought for the new country, and New Jersey became known as the Garden State for supplying war provisions.
In 1783, Princeton was the temporary capital of the new country.
New Jersey became the third state on December 18, 1787.
The new state constitution of 1844 granted many new rights, and slaves gained a degree of freedom in 1846.
The nation's first intercollegiate football game was played at New Brunswick in 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton. Rutgers won.
Opposition to the power of big business brought reforms in the period 1911-1913, under Governor Woodrow Wilson.
Spurred by the inventions of Thomas Edison in New Jersey, the state reigned as motion picture capital of the world until about 1916.
During World War I, the state led in shipbuilding and production of artillery shells, and Hoboken became the major embarkation point of the war.
The Miss America contest began at Atlantic City in 1921.
The great George Washington Bridge was opened in 1931, and Bergen County became "the bedroom of New York.
The days of the passenger dirigible came to an end at Lakehurst with the spectacular destruction of the Hindenburg in 1937.
In World War 11, New Jersey was predominant in production of airplane engines and warships, among other war material; and Camp Gilmer was a major debarkation center.
During the 1940s and 1950s, a series of hurricanes -induding Diane, Donna, and Hazel-took many lives and destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of property.
The great Meadowlands development opened in 1976 with games of major league teams.
The 1980s were notable for the resumption of large-scale gambling at Atlantic City.
In 1991, New Jersey terminated ocean dumping.
There are alot of other interesting and exciting states of America but as there is a limint of place we explored just a few of them.
Список литературы
A Pioneer's Search for an Ideal Home, Judson, Phoebe Goodell,
Understanding USA, Jack Williams
History USA, Daniel Boorstin
Для подготовки данной работы были использованы материалы с сайта http://www.easyschool.ru/
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