INTRODUCTION À LA CIVILISATION AMÉRICAINE - en anglais

INTRODUCTION A LA CIVILISATION AMERICAINE

1. I. The United States: Presentation (2,5 sessions)

1. The United States: Facts & figures

- Map of the United States: Description

- Location: American continent between 2 oceans; between 2 countries= 9 629 048 Square kilometres (4th Nation).

- Real meaning (States that are United) “50”: 48 (adjacent)+2 (Alaska & Hawaii)

- Capital city: Washington DC (District of Columbia between Virginia and Maryland [federal district with 4 institutional buildings: White house, Capitol, Supreme Court, Fed+ national mall and library of congress]; not part of the 50 states), 177 square kilometres, big cities and their importance.

- Population in 2008: 305 million (3rd for its population); most diverse population (ethnicity; culture). First for GDP.

- Historical landmarks & unrests (meaning Revolution): 1776 (1783;1787;1791); 1865; 1954

1. b. The United States of America: denomination and symbols

- 1492 Starting points (but should be 20 000 before JC)

- Named by Thomas Paine in 1776 (the United States of America, America, United States, US, States)

- The 13 first colonies (map)

- Is the United States a dream? Do you believe there is an American Dream? What is your vision of the American dream (The three symbols: flag, currency)

- The important political figures through history: Georges Washington, Lincoln Abraham, J.F Kennedy & Johnson, Obama

- The American dream through Artist and Pop stars ( From John Wayne to PDD)

1. II. History of the United States (2,5 sessions)

Def. : - A civilisation is an advanced stage of human development marked by high level of art science and social and political organisation.

- Studying a civilisation: Is to study the mechanism of a given society and its organisation.

CL: Taking all this into consideration: - US History is composed of two periods (Pre-Columbus & After Columbus) - The second period has 3 landmarks.

1. Before the 13 colonies: way of life of the Indians and treaties

Pre-Columbus period:

- Native Americans

- Native Americans: travelled from Asia to present America about 20 000 years earlier crossing the Bering strait (a land bridge at the time)

- Mistakenly called Indians (today native Americans)

- Way of life: organised in tribes and confederation of tribes; traded among themselves (mainly exchanges with no currency: to barter); little contact with people from other continent or even South America. Their economic system and civilisation was destroyed by Europeans.

Vikings

- By the year 1000 while most European society was still firmly based on agriculture and land ownership.

- Africans (see the statues and names of some of the cereals, vegetables and fruits, and Muslim Moors who ruled Spain for 700 years starting in 711 and accompanied Christopher Columbus in his discovery.

Christopher Columbus

- A discovery for the Europeans: Their new world.

- Other European sailors explored the region without settling there

- American wilderness offered early explorers little glory at the time, so most did not stay.

First European settlements:

- New England. 1st English settlement: James Town in present day State of Virginia= Starting point of European colonisation.

- Reasons for settling: - persecutions of pious pilgrims (Massachusetts). – Business ventures (Virginia. CL: Piety and business went hand in hand. It helps us understand part of US culture today.

- English success in Colonising: - Political implications were enormous. – the king provided each project with a charter or grant conferring economic rights as well as political and judicial authority. ¬-Use of charter companies (because of lack of profits investors turned over their colonial charters to settlers).

Economy in the first colonies:

- Trapping and trading furs

- Fishing (Massachusetts)

- Small self-sufficient farms.

CL: Luxury imported in return for tobacco, rice; indigo (blue dye) exports.

Economic evolution:

- Development of supportive industries as colonies grow: Sawmills, grits-mills, shipyards.

- By 18th C. regional pattern of development had become clear. New England Colonies relied on ship-building and sailing to generate wealth; plantation in Maryland, Virginia, and tobacco Carolina; while New Jersey shipped general crops and furs.

CL: Living standards higher than in England, and with the withdrawal of English investors, the field was open to entrepreneurs among the colonists.

1. The US revolution and the War of independence: different events= 1st landmark

- 1763 Treaty of Paris & Proclamation Act: End 7 years French war (with Indians and French). There is bigger territory that requires more regulation. The Crown tries to contain the expansion. – London refuses to give the Indian lands West of the Appalachians (Indians are now in reserves).- Taxes go up after French war and US subjects not represented in English parliament (Expenses for colonial defence to be paid by Americans). – New troops sent to US because of revolution mood

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