V. State whether the following statements are true or false. Correct the false ones
1. After the passing of the first Reconstruction Act the South was divided into two military districts, each under a major general.
2. The first branch of the Ku Klux Klan was established in Pulaski, Tennessee, in May, 1866.
3. Most of the leaders were former members of the Radical Republicans and the first Grand Wizard was Nathan Forrest.
4. Klansmen were wearing masks, black cardboard hats and draped in black sheets, tortured and killed black Americans and sympathetic whites.
5. The main objective of white supremacy organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, the White Brotherhood, the Men of Justice, the Constitutional Union Guards and the Knights of the White Camellia was to stop black people from voting.
7. The Klan has a constitution and bylaws, which provides, among other things, that each member shall furnish himself with a violin, a Ku Klux emblem and a signal instrument.
8. The operations of the Klan are executed in the night and are invariably directed against members of the Republican Party.
9. After the conviction of the Klan leader, James Brown, for second-degree murder, and evidence of corruption by other members such as the governor of Indiana and the mayor of Indianapolis, membership fell to around 10,000.
10. On 17th May, 2013, the FBI announced that the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing had been carried out by the Ku Klux Klan splinter group, the Cahaba Boys.
VI. Solve the crossword.
Down:
1) What was established by Congress on 3rd March, 1865?
2) What unofficial name had each member of the society?
3) Name the president who vetoed the attempts by Congress to extend the powers of the Freemen's Bureau.
4) Name the national legislative power with the great number of Radical Republicans.
5) The most terrible act doing by Klansman to black people
8) Method of terrorizing the local black population.
Across:
6) At the 1866 what the first Act passed?
7) Klan leader, second degree murder.
9) What unions were created to protect black groups?
10) The major attribute of Ku Klux Klan society?
VII. Imagine that you are a teacher of History at a British school. What interesting facts about the Ku Klux Klan through 19th – 21st centuries can you impart to your pupils? Make use of additional sources of information.
Seminar N 4
George Washington
2. The 9/11 Tragedy
George Washington
George Washington, also called Father of His Country was born on February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland county, Virginia. He was an American general and commander in chief of the colonial armies in the American Revolution (1775–83) and subsequently first president of the United States (1789–97).
Washington’s father, Augustine Washington, had gone to school in England, tasted seafaring life, and then settled down to manage his growing Virginia estates. His mother was Mary Ball, whom Augustine, a widower, had married early the previous year. Little is known of George Washington’s early childhood, spent largely on the Ferry Farm on the Rappahannock River, opposite Fredericksburg, Virginia. Mason L. Weems’s stories of the hatchet and cherry tree and of young Washington’s repugnance to fighting are apocryphal efforts to fill a manifest gap. He attended school irregularly from his 7th to his 15th year, first with the local church sexton and later with a schoolmaster named Williams. He was fairly well trained in practical mathematics—gauging and such trigonometry as was useful in surveying. He studied geography, possibly had a little Latin, and certainly read some of The Spectator and other English classics.
In the year 1749, aided by Lord Fairfax, Washington received an appointment as official surveyor of Culpeper county, and for more than two years he was kept almost constantly busy. Surveying not only in Culpeper but also in Frederick and Augusta counties, he made journeys far beyond the Tidewater region into the western wilderness. Coupled with Lawrence’s ventures in land, it also gave him an interest in western development that endured throughout his life. In 1752 Lord Fairfax determined to take up his final residence in the Shenandoah Valley and settled there in a log hunting lodge, which he called Greenway Court after a Kentish manor of his family’s. There Washington was sometimes entertained and had access to a small library that Fairfax had begun accumulating at Oxford.
The years 1751–52 marked a turning point in Washington’s life, for they placed him in control of Mount Vernon. Lawrence, the elder brother, stricken by tuberculosis, went to Barbados in 1751 for his health, taking George along. From this sole journey beyond the present borders of the United States, Washington returned with the light scars of an attack of smallpox. In July of the next year, Lawrence died, making George executor and residuary heir of his estate should his daughter, Sarah, die without issue. She died within two months. Washington at age 20 became head of one of the best Virginia estates. His greatest pride in later days was to be regarded as the first farmer of the land.
Washington started his military career as an aide in one of Virginia's four districts. The Governor of Virginia sent him on a mission with dispatches warning the French at Fort Le Boeuf against taking more British land in the greater Ohio Valley. When Washington returned with the expected negative answer, he was named Lieutenant Colonel. As a twenty-two-year-old, Washington won acknowledgement in the French and Indian War (1754-63). By the time he was 23, Washington had become a full colonel and was appointed Commander and Chief of the Virginia Militia. He became known for his written accounts of military situations from recruiting to desertion.
In 1758, Washington returned to Virginia where he renovated Mount Vernon and married a widow with two children. His marriage to Martha Dandridge Custis was a fruitful and happy union. From 1759-1774, he served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. It was during this time that the colonies started to have serious problems with England. Washington became a delegate to the Continental Congress of 1774-75, where he functioned as a peacemaker and politician. By June of 1775, Washington was the unanimous choice for Commander in Chief of the Continental Army.
For the next 20 years the main background of Washington’s life was the work and society of Mount Vernon. He gave assiduous attention to the rotation of crops, fertilization of the soil, and the management of livestock. He had to manage the 18 slaves that came with the estate and others he bought later; by 1760 he had paid taxes on 49 slaves—though he strongly disapproved of the institution and hoped for some mode of abolishing it. At the time of his death, more than 300 slaves were housed in the quarters on his property. In his will, he bequeathed the slaves in his possession to his wife and ordered that upon her death they be set free, declaring also that the young, the aged, and the infirm among them “shall be comfortably clothed & fed by my heirs.” Still, this accounted for only about half the slaves on his property. The other half, owned by his wife, were entailed to the Custis estate, so that on her death they were destined to pass to her heirs. However, she freed all the slaves in 1800 after his death.
During the Revolutionary War, performed honorably, known especially for his perseverance. After his famous crossing of the Delaware River, he surprised the British in Trenton and forced them out of Trenton. He then led another successful attack against the British in Princeton, New Jersey. Washington's victories encouraged 8,000 men to join the Continental Army. Even though his army grew in size, Howe defeated Washington at Brandywine Creek and again at Germantown. These reversals forced Washington to retreat to Valley Forge, where his army spent a long, hard winter.
During the difficult winter, the Continental Congress grew tired of Washington's constant requests for supplies. Because of this, he reached out to France for troops and supplies. In the spring of 1778 good news came; France decided to send money, troops, and a fleet. With the support of the French, Washington's mainly untrained and untested forces eventually went on to defeat the British. He led his forces to victory at the Battle of Yorktown, Virginia. This was the decisive battle of the American Revolution. Lord Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781.
After the American Revolution, an armed revolt in Massachusetts made it apparent that a stronger government was needed. The Constitutional Convention was held to deal with the problem. Washington was chosen president of the convention and he played an important role in getting the Constitution ratified.
After the Constitution was ratified, Washington unanimously won the presidential election and took the oath of office in New York on April 30, 1789. At the time he was elected President, there were no established political parties in the United States. During Washington's first term, the White House was built, but he was the only President who never lived there. A two party political system was created because of a disagreement between Washington and Thomas Jefferson regarding the support of France during the French and English War.
Washington was unanimously reelected in 1793. During his first term he had appointed Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of Treasury. During his second term, Hamilton sponsored a tax on Whiskey. Irate grain farmers, who considered the tax an attack upon their liberty, revolted in what was called the Whiskey Rebellion. Washington called out 15,000 members of a nearby militia and quickly put the rebellion down. He successfully met the first real test of the federal government's rights and powers.
After serving eight years as President of the United States, Washington grew tired of political battles. He declined to run for a third term. He chose to retire to his beloved Mount Vernon. By his first wife, Jane Butler, he had four children. By his second wife, Mary Ball, he had six. Historically Washington is a much-loved figure. Eulogizing Washington after his death on December 14, 1799, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia praised him as "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
I. Answer the following questions:
1)When and where was George Washington born?
2)Where did George Washington spend his childhood?
3)What subjects did he study?
4)What is a Greenway Court and who created it?
5)Who was stricken by tuberculosis? Did he or she recover?
6)At what age did G. Washington become a full colonel?
7)What happened in 1758 in Virginia?
8)Who was freed after President’s death?
9)When did France decide to send money, troops, and a fleet to help the US?
10)What was the decisive battle of the American Revolution?
11)When was G.Washington elected the President?What political system was created? Why?
12)Who was the Secretary of Treasury in G. Washington’s Government??
13)What do you know about Whiskey Rebellion?
14)How many terms did G. Washington serve as a president?
15)How many children did G. Washington have?
II. Complete the following sentences:
1.George Washington, also called……….
2.He attended school ………..
3.Lawrence, the elder brother ………….
4.Washington at age 20………..
5.As a twenty-two-year-old………
6.Washington became a delegate……….
7.Then, more than 300 slaves………
8.With the support of the French………
9.During Washington's first term……..
10.After serving eight years……...
III. Choose the correct variant:
1. Where and when was George Washington born?
AJanuary, 12, 1735 in Westmoreland county, Virginia;
B February, 22, 1732 in Westmoreland county, Virginia;
CDecember, 14, 1799 in United States.
2. At what age was G. Washington appointed colonel, Commander and Chief of the Virginia Militia?
A 21;
B 27;
C 23.
3. George Washington married to....
A Margaret of Anjou;
B Elizabeth of York;
C Martha Dandridge Custis.
4. When did his wife, Martha, free all the slaves?
A 1799;
B 1806;
C 1800.