Week 1. 1.

THE FIRST AMERICANS

One Friday morning, August 3, 1412, an Italian adventurer named Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain to find a new way from Europe to Asia. His aim was to open up a shorter route between the two continents. In Asia he intended to load his three small ships with silks, spices and gold and sail back to Europe a rich man. Columbus first sailed south to the Canary Islands. Then he turned west across the unknown waters of the midAtlantic Ocean. Ten weeks after leaving Spain on the morning of October 12, he stepped ashore on the beach of a low sandy island. He named he island Sail Salvador Holy Savior. Columbus believed that he had landed in the Indies, a group of islands close to the mainland of India. For this reason he called the friendly, brown-skinned people who greeted him "los Indios" - Indians. In fact, he had reached islands off the shores of a new continent. Europeans would soon name the new continent America, but for many years they went on calling its inhabitants Indians. Only recently have these first Americans been described more accurately as "native Americans" or Amerindians. There were many different groups of Amerindians. The Pueblo people of present day Arizona and New Mexico were the best organized of the Amerindian farming peoples. They lived in groups of villages, or in towns. Irrigation made them successful as farmers. Long before Europeans came to America the Pueblo were building networks of canals across the deserts to bring water to their fields. In one desert valley modern archaeologists have traced canals and ditches which enabled the Pueblo to irrigate 250.000 acres of farmland. A people called the Apache were the neighbors of the Pueblo. The Apache never became settled farmers. They wandered the deserts and mountains in small bands, hunting deer and gathering wild plants, nuts and roots. They also obtained food by raiding their Pueblo neighbors and stealing it. The Apache were fierce and warlike, and they were much feared by the Pueblo. The Iroquois were a group of tribes-a nation -, who lived far away from the Pueblo and the Apache in the thick woods of northeastern North America. The Iroquois were skilled farmers, hunters and fishermen. The Iroquois were fierce warriors. They were as feared by their neighbors as Apache. From boyhood on, male Iroquois were taught to fear neither pain nor death. Bravery in battle was the surest way for a warrior to win respect and a high position in his tribe. Many miles to the west, on the vast plains of grass that stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, there was another warrior nation. This group called themselves Dakota, which means "allies." But they were better known by the name which other Amerindians gave to them- Sioux, which means "enemies. The Sioux grew no crops and built no houses. For food, for shelter and for clothing they depended upon the buffalo. Millions of large, slow-moving animals wandered across the western grasslands in vast herds. When the buffalo moved, the Sioux moved, so everything the Sioux owned was designed to be carried easily. Within hours they could take down the tepees, the conical buffalo-skin tents that were their homes, and move off after the buffalo. They even carried fire from one camp to the next. A hot ember would be scaled inside a buffalo horn filled with rotted wood. The Sioux Creation In 1933 a Sioux Chief named Luther Standing Bear wrote down some of the ancient legends of his people. This one tells how the Sioux people began: "Our legends tell us that it was hundreds and perhaps thousands of years ago that the first man sprang from the soil in the great plains. The story says that one morning long ago a lone man awoke, face to the sun, emerging from the soil. Only his head was visible, the rest of his body not yet being shaped. The man looked about, but saw no mountains, no rivers, no forests. There was nothing but soft and quaking mud, for the earth itself was still young. Up and up the man drew himself until he freed his body from the clinging soil. At last he stood upon the earth, but it was not solid, and his first few steps were slow and uncertain. Bur the sun shone and the men kept his face turned toward it. In time the rays of the sun hardened the face of the earth and strengthened the man and he ran and leaped about, a free and joyous creature. From this man sprang the Dakota nation and, so far as we know, our people have been born and have died upon this plain; and no people have shared it with us until the coming of the European. So this land of the great plains is claimed by the Dakotas as their very own."

EXPLORERS FROM EUROPE

It was the Spanish who began the lasting European occupation of America. When Columbus returned to Spain he took back with him some jewelry that he had obtained in America. This jewelry was important because it was made of gold. In the next fifty years thousands of treasure-hungry Spanish adventurers crossed the Atlantic Ocean to search for more of the precious metal. It was lust for gold that led Hernan Cortes to conquer the Aztecs in the I520s. The Aztecs were wealthy, city-building Amerindian people who lived in what is today Mexico. In the 1530s the same lust for gold caused Francisco Pizarro to attack the equally wealthy empire of the Incas of Peru. A stream of looted treasure began to flow across the Atlantic to Spain from new empire built up by such conquerors conquistadores" - in Central and South America. Between 1539 and 1543 Hernando de Sore and Francisco

Coronado working separately, explored much of the southern part of what is now the United States. The journeys men such as de Sore and Coronado gave Spain a claim to a large amount of land in North America. In 1565 Spanish settlers founded Sr. Augustine on the coast of present-day Florida. In 1609 other settlers founded Santa Fe in New Mexico. The growing wealth of Spain made other European nations envious. They became eager to share the Riches of the New World. In 1497 King I Henry VII of England hired all Italian seaman named John Cabot to explore the new lands and to look again for the passage to Asia. In later years English government used them to support their claims to own most of the east coast of North America. The French also sent explorers to North America. The French explorer, a fisherman from Normandy named Jacques Cartier, discovered the St. Lawrence River. He returned to France and reported that the forests lining the rivers shores were full of fur- bearing animals and that its waters were full of fish. He gave France a claim to what would later become Canada. Claiming that you owned land in the New World was one thing. Actually making it yours was something quite different. Europeans could only do this by establishing settlements of their own people. By the seventeenth century plenty of people in Europe were ready to settle in America. Some hoped to become rich by doing so. Others hoped to find safety from religious or political persecution. In the hundred years after 1600 Europeans set up many colonies in North America for reasons like these.

Why is America called America"

Why did European geographers give the name America to the lands that Columbus discovered? Why did they not name them instead after Columbus? The reason is that to the end of his life Columbus believed that his discoveries were part of Asia. The man who did most to correct this mistaken idea was Amerigo Vespucci. Vespucci was an Italian sailor from the city of Florence. During the late 1490s he wrote some letters in which he described two voyages of exploration that he had made along the coasts of South America. He was sure, he wrote, that the coasts were part of a new continent. Some years later Vespuccis letters were read by a German scholar who was revising an old geography of the world. The letters convinced the scholar that Vespucci was correct, and that the lands beyond the Atlantic were a new continent.

To honor Vespucci the scholar named them America, using the feminine form of Vespuccis first name as the other continents had female names.

PURITAN NEW ENGLAND

"Pilgrims" are people who make a journey for religious reasons. But for Americans the word has a special meaning. To them it means a small group of English men and women who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1620. The group's members came to be called the Pilgrims because they went to America to find religious freedom. Sometimes Americans call them the Pilgrim Fathers, because they see them as the most important of the founders of the future United States of America. The Europe that the Pilgrims left behind them was torn by religious quarrels. For more than a thousand years Roman Catholic Christianity had been the religion o f most of its people. By the sixteenth century, however, some Europeans began to doubt the teachings of the Catholic Church. Early in the century a German monk named Martin Luther quarreled with these leaders. He claimed that individual human beings did not need the Pope or the priests of the Catholic Church to enable them to speak to God. A few years later a French lawyer named John Calvin put forward similar ideas. Calvin claimed that each individual was directly and personally responsible to God. Because they protested against the teachings and customs of the Catholic Church they were called Protestants. At that time in most countries people were expected to have the same religion as their ruler. This was the case in England. In the I530s the English king, Henry VIII, formed a national church with himself as its head. In the later years of the sixteenth century many English people believed that this Church of England was still too much like the Catholic Church. Such people wanted the Church of England to become more plain and simple, or "pure. Because of this they were called Puritans. The ideas of John Calvin appealed particularly strongly to them. When James I became King of England in 1603 he warned the Puritans that he would drive them from the land if they did not accept his ideas on religion. His bishops began fining the Puritans and putting them in prison. To escape this persecution, a small group of them left England and went to Holland. Holland was the only country in Europe whose government allowed religious freedom at this time. The people of Holland welcomed the little group of exiles. But the Puritans never felt at home there. After much thought and much prayer they decided to move again. Some of them- the Pilgrims - decided to go to America. On September 16, 1620, the Pilgrims left the English port of Plymouth and headed for America. They were accompanied by a number of other emigrants they called "Strangers."

The Pilgrims' ship was an old trading vessel, the Mayflower. For years the Mayflower had carried wine across the narrow seas between France and England. Now it faced a much more dangerous voyage. For sixty-five days the Mayflower battled through the rolling waves of the North Atlantic Ocean. At last, on November 9, 1620, it reached Cape Cod, in what is now the state of Massachusetts. The Pilgrims decided to land at the best place they could find. On December 21, 1620, they rowed ashore and set up camp at a place they named Plymouth. "The season it was winter," wrote one of their leaders, "and those who know the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent with crud and fierce storms;" The Pilgrims' chances of surviving were not high. The frozen ground and the deep snow made it difficult for them to build houses. They had very little food. Before spring came, half of the little group of a hundred settlers was dead. But the Pilgrims were determined to succeed. The fifty survivors built better houses. They learned how to fish and hunt. Friendly Amerindians gave them seed corn and showed them how to plant it. Other English Puritans followed the Pilgrims to America. Ten years later a much larger group of almost a thousand colonists settled nearby in what became the Boston area. These people left England to escape the rule of a new king. Charles I. Charles was even less tolerant of people who disagreed with his policies in religion and government. The Boston settlement prospered from the start. Its population grew quickly as more and more Puritans left England to escape persecution. Many years later in 1691 it combined with the Plymouth colony under the name of Massachusetts. The ideas of the Massachusetts Puritans had a lasting influence on American society. One of their first leaders said that they should build an ideal community for the rest of mankind to learn from. We shall be like a city on a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us." To this day many Americans continue to see their country in this way, as a model for other nations to copy. The Puritans of Massachusetts believed that governments had a duty to tell people obey God's will. They passed laws to force to attend church and laws to punish drunks and adulterers. Even men who let their hair grow long could be in trouble. Hoger Williams, a Puritan minister in a settlement called Salem, objected particularly to the fact that the same men controlled both the church and the government. Williams believed that church and State should be separate and that neither should interfere with the other. In 1535 the Massachusetts leaders angry sent men to arrest Williams. But Wiliams escaped and together with his followers set up a new colony called Rhode Island, Rhode Island promised its citizens complete religious freedom and separation of church and state. To this day these ideas are still very important to Americans. Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 by William Penn. Under a charter from the English king, Charles II, Penn was the proprietor of Pennsylvania. Penn belonged to a religious group, the society of friends, commonly called Quakers. Quakers refused to swear oaths or to lake part in wars. Penn's promise of religious freedom, together with his reputation for dealing fairly with people, brought settlers from other European countries to Pennsylvania. Many Germans who were called Dutch came there New York had previously been called New Amsterdam; it had first been settled in 1626. In 1664 the English captured it from the Dutch and re-named it New York. In 1670, the English founded the new colonies of North and South Carolina. The last English colony to be founded in North America was Georgia, settled 1733.

FIGHTING FOR INDEPENDENCE

On the night of April 18, 1775, 700 British soldiers marched silently out of Boston. Their orders were to seize weapons and ammunition that rebellious colonists had stored. The colonists were warned that the soldiers were corning. In the village of Lexington the British found 70 American militiamen, farmers and tradesmen. These part-rime soldiers were known as "Minutemen, because they had promised to rake up arms immediately in a minute- whenever they were needed. The British commander ordered the Minutemen to return to their homes. They refused. Then someone fired a shot. Other shots carne from the lines of British soldiers. Eight Minutemen fell dead. The first shots had been fired in what was to become the American War of Independence. By the time the British soldiers set off to return to Boston hundreds more Minutemen had gathered. From the thick woods on each side of the Boston road they shot down, one by one, 273 British soldiers. The soldiers were still under attack when they arrived back in Boston. A ring of armed Americans gathered round the city. The next month, May 1775, a second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and began to act as an American national government. It set up an army of 17,000 men under the command of George Washington. Washington was a Virginia landowner On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress finally took the step that many Americans believed was inevitable. It declared that these United Colonies are free and independent states." 2 days later, on July 4, it issued the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence is the most important document in American history. It was written by Thomas Jefferson. It repeated that the colonies were now "free and independent states,

and named them the United Slates of America. The Declaration of Independence claimed that all men had a natural right to Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It said that governments should consist of representatives elected by the people. It also said that the main reason that governments existed was to protect the rights of individual citizens. In September 1776, only two months after the Declaration of Independence, the British captured New York City. Washington wrote to his brother that he feared that the Americans were very close to losing the war. In October 1777 Americans trapped a British army of almost 6000 men near New York and they made British swear never again to fight against the Americans and the prisoners were put on board ships and sent back to England. In the Treaty of Paris, which was signed in September 1783, Britain officially recognized her former colonies as an independent nation. The treaty granted the new United States all of North America from Canada in the north to Florida ill the south, and from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River.

The Marquis de Lafayette

In 1777 the Marquis de Lafayette, a 20-year-old French aristocrat, landed in America. He came to fight for a new and free society and also to avenge the death of his father, who had died fighting the British in the French and Indian War. Lafayette served without Pay in the American army and became a major-general on the staff of George Washington. In the next four years he fought in many battles, proving himself to be a brave and determined soldier. He won Washington's respect and friendship and played a part in the final defeat of the British at Yorktown in 1781. When the war ended Lafayette returned to France. There he continued to support American interests. When the French revolution broke out in 1789, political opponents had Lafayette imprisoned and took away his estates. But Lafayettes American friends did not forget him. In 1794 Congress voted him his unclaimed general's pay of S24, 424. A few years later it granted him land in Louisiana. In 1824 the now aging Lafayette returned to visit the United Stares. The American people greeted him as a hero, a living symbol of the birth of their nation.

SLAVERY IN AMERICA
In the year 1810 there were 7, 2 million people in the United States. For 1, 2 million of these people the words of the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal" were far from true. They were black and they were slaves. Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, owned slaves himself. So did George Washington and other leaders of the movement for American independence and freedom. Both Jefferson and Washington had uneasy consciences about this. But other big landowners in southern states such as Virginia defended slavery. They asked what they thought was an unanswerable question. How could they cultivate their fields of tobacco, rice and cotton without slave workers? In the north of the United States farms were smaller and the climate was cooler. Farmers there did not need slaves to work the land for them. Some northerners opposed slavery for moral and religious reasons also. Many were abolitionists - that is, people who wanted to end or abolish slavery by law. By the early nineteenth century many northern states had passed laws abolishing slavery inside their own boundaries. In 1808 they also persuaded Congress to make it illegal for ships to bring any new slaves from Africa into the United States. By the 1820s southern and northern politicians were arguing fiercely about whether slaver y should be permitted in the new territories that were then being settled in the West. The argument centered on the Missouri territory, which was part of the Louisiana Purchase. Southerners argued that slave labor should be allowed in Missouri and all the other lands that formed pan of the Louisiana Purchase. Both abolitionists and other northerners objected strongly to this. Northern farmers moving west did not want to find themselves competing for land against southerners who had slaves to do their work for them. Eventually the two sides agreed on a compromise. Slavery would be permitted in the Missouri and Arkansas territories but banned in lands to the west and north of Missouri. The Missouri Compromise, as it was called, did not end the disputes between North and South. By the early 1830s another angry argument was going on. This time the argument began over import duties. Northern states favored such duties because they protected their young industries against the competition of foreign manufactured goods. Southern stares opposed them because southerners relied upon foreign manufacturers for both necessities and luxuries of many kinds. Import duties would raise the prices of such goods. During the argument about import duties a southern political leader named John C. Calhoun raised a much more serious question. He claimed that a state had the right to disobey any federal law if the state believed that the law would harm its interest s. This idea was strongly supported by other southerners. Calhouns claim was strongly denied by Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts. The power to decide whether the federal authorities were acting rightly or wrongly belonged to the Supreme Court, said Webster, not to individual states, If states were given the right to disobey the federal government, he said, it would become "a mere rope of sand" and lose its power to hold the

country together. Webster's speech was a warning to Americans that the stares' rights doctrine could become a serious threat to the unity of the United States. In the next twenty years the United Stares grew much bigger. In 1846 it divided the Oregon Territory with Britain . In 1846 it took vast areas of the Southwest from Mexico. Obtaining these new lands raised again the question that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 had tried to settle should slavery be allowed on new American territory? Once again southerners answered "yes." And once again northerners said "no." In 1850 Congress voted in favor of another compromise. California was admitted to the United States as a free state, while people who lived in Utah and New Mexico we re given the rig ht to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery. To persuade southerners to agree to these arrangements, Congress passed a new Fugitive Slave Act. This was a law to make it easier for southerners to recapture slaves who escaped from their masters and fled for safety to free states. The law called for severe penalties on anyone assisting Negroes to escape from bondage. Slave owners had long offered rewards, or bounties, for the return of runaway slaves. This had created a group of men called "bounty hunters." These men made their living by bunting down fugitive slaves in order to collect the rewards on them. With the support of the new law, bounty hunters now began searching free states for escaped slaves. The Fugitive Slave Act angered many northerners who had not so far given much thought to the rights and wrongs of slavery. Some northern judges refused to enforce it. Other people provided food, money, and hiding places for fugitives. They mapped out escape routes and moved runaway slaves by night from one secret hiding place to another. The final stop on these escape routes was Canada, where fugitives could be followed by neither American laws nor bounty hunters. This carefully organized system was called the Underground Railroad. People providing money to pay for it were called "stockholders. " Guides who led the fugitives to freedom were called "conductors," and hiding places were called "depots." Many conductors on the Underground Railroad were former slaves themselves. This was a dangerous thing to do. If conductors were captured they could end up as slaves again -or dead. As the number of fugitive slaves increased, gunfights between bounty hunters and conductors became more and more common. In 1854 Congress voted to let Kansas people decide for themselves whether to permit slavery there. A race began to win control of Kansas. Pro-slavery immigrants poured in from the South and anti-slavery immigrant s from the North. Each group was determined to outnumber the other. Soon fighting and killing began. Pro-slavery raiders from Missouri burned a town called Lawrence and killed some of its people. In reply, abolitionists led a raid in which a number of supporters of slavery were killed. But in 1858 the supporters of slavery won a victory of another sort. A slave named Dred Scott had been taken by his owner to live in a free state. Scott asked the Supreme Court to declare that this had made him legally free. But the Court refused. It said that black slaves had no rights as American citizens. It added also that Congress had gone beyond its constitutional powers in claiming the fight to prohibit slavery in the western territories. The Dred Scott decision caused great excitement in the United States. Southern slave owners were delighted. Opponents of slavery were horrified. The Supreme Court seemed to be saying that free states had no right to forbid slavery within their boundaries and that slave owners could put their slaves to work anywhere. A few years earlier opponents of slavery had formed a new political group called the Republican Party. Republican Abraham Lincoln said that the spread of slavery must be stopped. He was willing to accept slavery in the states where it existed already, but that was all. By now relations between North and South were close to breaking point. Southerners believed that the North was preparing to use force to end slavery in the South. In the presidential election of 1860 the southerners put forward a candidate of their own to oppose Lincoln. They threatened that the South would break away, from the United States if Lincoln became President. In every southern state a majority of the citizens voted against Lincoln. But Lincoln won the election. A few weeks later, in December 1860, the state of South Carolina voted to secede from the United States. It was soon joined by ten more southern states. In February 1861, these eleven states announced that they were now an independent nation, the Confederate States of America, often known as the Confederacy. The nineteenth century's bloodiest war, the American Civil War, was about to begin.

Week 2. Text 2.

THE CIVIL WAR

On March 4, 1861 Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office as President of the United States. Less than a month had passed since the formation of the Confederacy. In his inaugural address as President, Lincoln appealed to the southern states to stay in the Union. He promised that he would not interfere with slavery in any of them; he warned that he would not allow them to break up the United Stares by seceding. He told them: You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I have a most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it. The southern states took no notice of Lincoln's appeal. On Apri112 the American Civil War began. Lincoln called for 75.000 men to fight to save the Union. Jefferson Davis, the newly elected President of the Confederate Slates, made a similar appeal for men to fight for the Confederacy. Volunteers rushed forward in thousands on both sides. Some people found it difficult and painful to decide which side to support. The decision sometimes split families. The son of the commander of the Confederate navy was killed fighting in a Union ship. Two brothers became generals - but on opposite sides. And three of President Lincoln's own brothers-in -law died fighting for the Confederacy. From the first months of the war Union warships blockaded the ports of the South. They did this to prevent the Confederacy from selling its cotton abroad and from obtaining foreign supplies. In both men and material resources the North was much stronger than the South. It had a population of twenty- two million people. The South had only 9 million people and 3.5 million of them were slaves. The North grew more food crops than the South. It also had more than five times the manufacturing capacity, including most of the country's weapon factories. So the North not only had more fighting men than the South, it could also keep them better supplied with weapons, clothing, food and everything else they needed. However, the North faced one great difficulty. The only way it could win the war was to invade the South and occupy its land. The South had no such problem. It did not need to conquer the North to win independence. All it had to do was to hold out until the people of the North grew tired of fighting. Most southerners believed that the Confederacy could do this. It began the war with a number of advantages. Many of the best officers in the pre-war army of the United States were southerners. Now they returned to the Confederacy to organize its armies. Most of the recruits led by these officers had grown up on farms and were expert riders. Most important of all, the fact that almost all the war's fighting wok place in the South meant that Confederate soldiers were defending their own homes. This often made them fight with more spirit than the Union soldiers. Southerners denied that they were fighting mainly to preserve slavery. Most were poor farmers who owned no slaves anyway. The South was fighting for its independence from the North, they said, just as their grandfathers had fought for independence from Britain almost a century earlier. In Virginia the Union armies suffered one defeat after another in the first year of the war. Again and again they tried to capture Richmond, the Confederate capital. Each time they were thrown back with heavy losses. The Confederate forces in Virginia had two great advantages. The first was that many rivers cut across the roads leading south to Richmond and so made the city easier to defend. The second was their leaders, very skilled and experienced generals. The flood of volunteers for the North army began to dry up. Recruitment was not helped by letters home like this one: The butchery of the boys, the sufferings of the unpaid soldiers, without tents, poor rations, a single blanket each, with no bed but the hard damp ground -it is these things that kill me. Fortunately for the North, Union forces captured New Orleans, the largest city in the Confederacy in April 1861. By spring 1863, the Union armies were closing in on all important Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi called Vicksburg. On July 4, Vicksburg surrendered to a Union army. Its fall was a heavy blow to the South. Union forces now controlled the whole length o f the Mississippi. They had split the Confederacy in two. It became impossible for western Confederate states like Texas to send any more men and supplies to the east. By 1863 many northerners were tired of the war. They were sickened by its heavy cost in lives and money. General Lee, the Confederate commander, believed that if his army could win a decisive victory on northern soil, popular opinion there might force the Union government to make peace. In June 1863, Lee marched his army north into Pennsylvania. At a small town named Gettysburg a Union army blocked his way. The battle which followed was the biggest that has ever been fought in the United States. In three days of fierce fighting more than 50000 men were killed or wounded. On the fourth day Lee broke off the battle and led his men back into the South. The Confederate army had suffered a defeat from which it would never recover. By 1864 the Confederacy was running out of almost everything men, equipment, food, money. In November 1864, a Union army began to march through the Confederate state of Georgia. Its soldiers destroyed everything. They tore up railroad tracks, burned crops and buildings, drove off cattle. On December 22 they occupied the city of Savannah. The Confederacy was split again, this time from cast to west. After capturing Savannah, Union army matched through the Carolinas, burning and destroying again as he made for Richmond. The Confederate capital was already in danger from another Union army. On April 9, 1865, Confederacy army was

surrendered by Union army. Confederacy army was generously y. After they had given up their weapons and promised never again to fight against the United States, they were allowed to go home. They could keep their horses to help with the spring ploughing. As Confederacy general Lee rode away, Union general Grant stood in the doorway chewing a piece of tobacco and told his men: The war is over. The rebels are our countrymen again. The Civil War gave final answers to two quest ions that had divided the United States ever since it became an independent nation. It put an end to slaver y. In 1865 this was abolished everywhere in the United States by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. And it decided finally that the United States was one nation, whose parts could not be separated. The Civil War caused terrible destruction at home. All over the South cities and farms lay in ruins. And more Americans died in this war than in any other, before or since. By the time Lee surrendered to Grant, the dead on both sides totaled 635.000.

CRASH AND DEPRESSION

In the heart of New York City lies a narrow street enclosed by the walls of high office buildings. Its name is Wall Street. Wall Street is the home of the New York Stock Exchange. Here dealers called stockbrokers buy and sell valuable pieces of paper. The pieces of paper are share certificates. Each certificate represent s a certain amount of money invested in a company. Every year in the 1920s the sales of cars, radios and other consumer goods rose. This meant bigger profits for the firms which made them. This in turn sent up the value of shares in such firms. Owning shares in a business gives you the right to a share of its profits. But you can make money from shares in another way. You can buy them at one price, then, if the company does well, sell them later at a higher one. More and more people were eager to get some of this easy money. By 1929 buying and selling shares "playing the market" - had become almost a national hobby. You could see this from the rise in the number of shares changing hands. In 1923 the number was 236 million; by 1928 it had grown to 1,125 million. Like most other things in the United States in the 1920s, you could buy shares on credit. A hundred dollars cash would "buy" a thousand dollars' worth of shares from any stockbroker. Many people borrowed large amounts of money from the banks to buy shares in this way"on the margin", as it was called. Most of these "on the margin" share buyers were really gamblers. Their idea was to spot shares that would quickly rise in value, buy them at one price and then resell at a higher one a few weeks later. They could then pay back the bank, having made a quick profit. By the fall of 1929 the urge to buy shares had become a sort of fever. Prices went up and up. Yet some people began to have doubts. The true value of shares in a business firm depends up on its profits. By the fall of 1929 the profits being made by many American firms had been decreasing for some time. If profits were falling, thought more cautious investors, then share prices, too, would soon fall. Slowly, such people began to sell their shares. Day by day their numbers grew. Soon so many people were selling shares that prices did start to fall. At first many investors held on to their shares, hoping that prices would rise again. But the fall became faster. A panic began. On Thursday, October 24, 1929- Black Thursday - 13 million shares were sold. On the following Tuesday, October 29- Terrifying Tuesday - 16.5 million were sold. By the end of the year the value of all shares had dropped by S40, 000 million. Thousands of people, especially those who had borrowed to buy on the margin, found themselves facing debt and ruin. Some committed suicide. This collapse of American share prices was known as the Wall Street Crash. It marked the end of the prosperity of the 1920s. "What has gone wrong?" people asked. The fact was that by the end of the 1920s not enough people were buying the products of America's expanded industries. Why? Because too little of the Unit ed States' increased wealth was finding its way into the hands of the country's workers and farmers. Too few Americans were earning enough money to buy the goods that they themselves were producing. Many people decided to save any money they had instead of spending it on such things as new cars and radios. American factories were already making more goods than they could sell. Now they had even fewer customers. In the 1920s American goods had sold well overseas, especially in Europe. But countries such as Britain and Germany had not prospered after the war as the United States had. They had often paid for their purchases with money borrowed from American banks. After the Wall Street Crash the banks wanted their money back. European buyers became short of cash and American overseas sales dried up almost completely. Goods piled up unsold in factory warehouses. Employers stopped employing workers and reduced production. By the end of 1931 nearly eight million Americans were out of work. They received no government unemployment pay. Many were soon without homes or food and had to live on charity. Millions spent hours shuffling slowly forward in "breadlines." Here they received free pieces of bread or bowls of soup, paid for by money collected from those who could afford it. By 1932 thousands of banks and over 100,000 businesses had closed down. Industrial production had fallen by half and wage payments by 60 percent. New investment in industry was down by 90 percent. Twelve million people, one out of every four of the country's workers, were

unemployed. The city of Chicago alone had almost three-quarters of a million workers without jobs. This was four out often of its normal working population. The position was just as bad in other places. The Depression was easiest to see in the towns, with their silent factories, closed shops and slowly moving breadlines. But it brought ruin and despair to the farmland s also. Farmers simply could not sell their produce. With the number of people out of work rising day by day, their customers in the cities could no longer afford to buy. If any one did buy, it was at the lowest possible prices. The same was true of the farmers' overseas customers. Many farmers grew desperate. They took out shotguns and banded together to drive away men who came to throw them o ff their farms for not paying their debts. By 1932 people of every kind - factory workers, farmers, office workers, and store keepers were demanding that President Hoover take stronger action to deal with the Depression. Hoover believed that he could do two things to end the Depression. The first was to "balance the budget" - that is, to make sure that the governments spending did not exceed its income. The second was to restore businessmens confidence in the future, so that they would begin to take on workers again. Again and again in the early 1930s Hoover told people that recovery from the Depression was "just around the corner." But the factories remained closed. The breadlines grew longer. People became hungrier. To masses o f unemployed workers Hoover seemed uncaring and unable to help them. Then, Franklin D. Roosevelt came on the scene. Roosevelt gave an impression of energy and determination, and of caring deeply for the welfare of ordinary people. All over the United States anxious men and women felt that here at last was a man who understood their troubles and sounded as if he would do something to help them. Roosevelt's main idea was that the federal government should take the lead in the fight against the Depression. He told the American people: "The country needs and demands bold, persistent experimentation. Above all try something. He promised them a "New Deal." Hoover condemned Roosevelt's policies of greater government action. He was sure that such policies would only make things worse. They would, he said, "destroy the very foundations of our American system." They would cause people to lose their ability to stand on their own feet and bear their own responsibilities. On November 9, 1931, people elected Franklin Roosevelt as the next President of the United States by the largest majority in American history.

The bonus army

In the spring of 1932 thousands of unemployed ex -servicemen poured into Washington, the nations capital. They wanted the government to give them some bonus payments that it owed them from the war years. The newspapers called them the "bonus army." The men of the bonus army were determined to stay in Washington until the President did something to help them. They set up a cam p of rough shelters and huts on the edge of the city. Similar camps could be found on rubbish dumps outside every large American city by this time. The homeless people who lived in them named their camps "Hoovervills." after the President. This gathering of desperate men alarmed President Hoover. He ordered soldiers and the police to burn their camp and drive them out of Washington. As the smoke billowed up from the burning huts of the bonus army, a government spokesman defended Hoover's decision. He said that in the circumstances "only two courses were left open to the President. One was to surrender the government to the mob. The other was to up hold law and order and suppress the mob."

"You walk"
A writer described what it was like to be jobless and homeless in an American city in the early 1930s: You get shoved out early: you get your coffee and start walking. A couple of hours before noon you get in line. You cat and start walking. At night you sleep where you can. You don't talk. You eat what you can. You walk. No one talks to you. You walk. It's cold, and you shiver and stand in doorways or sit in railroad stations. You don't see much. You forget. You walk an hour and forget where you started from. It is day, and then its night, and then it's day again. And you don't remember which was first. You walk. "

Economy of the USA

The American economy is a free enterprise system that has emerged from the labors of millions of American workers; from the wants that tens of millions of consumers have expressed in the marketplace; from the efforts of thousands of private business people; and from the activities of government officials at all levels who have undertaken the tasks that individual Americans cannot do. The nation's income and productivity have risen enormously over the past 70 years. In this period, the money for personal consumption tripled in real purchasing power. The gross national product per capita quadrupled, reflecting growth in worker productivity. Together, all sectors of the American economy produce almost $4,000 million dollars worth of goods and services annually, and each year they turn out almost $ 190,000 million more. The consumption of these goods and services is spread widely. Most Americans consider themselves members of the middle economic class, and

relatively few are extremely wealthy or extremely poor. According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, 9.6 percent of all American families make more than $50,000 a year, and 7.7 percent of all American families have incomes less than $10,000; the median annual income for all American families is about $28,906. Americans live in a variety of housing that includes single detached homes (62 percent) with a median cost of $112,500. They also live in apartments, town-houses and mobile homes. Three-fourths of all married couples own their own homes. The size of all dwelling units has increased in living space. The median number of rooms occupied in each dwelling unit has increased from 4.9 rooms per unit in 1960 to 5.2 rooms today, despite the shrinking family size. About 3.6 percent of all Americans live in public (government-supplied or subsidized) housing. The government plays an important role in the economy, as is the case in all countries. From the founding of the Republic, the U.S. federal government has strongly supported the development of transportation. It financed the first major canal system and later subsidized the railroads and the airlines. It has developed river valleys and built dams and power stations. It has extended electricity and scientific advice to farmers, and assures them a minimum price for their basic crops. It checks the purity of food and drugs, insures bank deposits and guarantees loans. America's individual 50 states have been most active in building roads and in the field of education. Each year the states spend some $33.31 million on schools and provide a free public education for 29.1 million primaryschool pupils and 11.4 million youth in secondary schools. (In addition, 8.3 million youths attend private primary and secondary schools.) Approximately 60 percent of the students who graduate from secondary schools attend colleges and universities, 77.2 percent of which are supported by public funds. The U.S. leads the world in the percentage of the population that receives a higher education. Total enrollment in schools of higher learning is 13.4 million. Despite the fact that the United States government supports many segments of the nation's economy, economists estimate that the public sector accounts for only one-fifth of American economic activity, with the remainder in private hands. In agriculture, for example, farmers benefit from public education, roads, rural electrification and support prices, but their land is private property to work pretty much as they desire. More than 86.7 percent of America's 208.8 million farms are owned by the people who operate them; the rest are owned by business corporations. With increasingly improved farm machinery, seed and fertilizers, more food is produced each year, although the number of farmers decrease annually. There were 15,669,000 people living on farms in 1960; by 1989 that total had decreased to 4,801,000. Farm output has increased dramatically: just 50 years ago a farmer fed 10 persons; today the average farmer feeds 75. America exports some 440.9 thousand million worth of farm products each year. The United States produces as much as half the world's soybeans and corn for grain, and from 10 to 25 percent of its cotton wheat, tobacco and vegetable oil. The bulk of America's wealth is produced by private industries and businessesranging from giants like General Motors, which sells $96,371 million worth of cars and trucks each yearto thousands of small, independent entrepreneurs. In 1987, nearly 233,710 small businesses were started in the U.S. Yet by one count, some 75 percent of American products currently face foreign competition within markets in the United States. America has traditionally supported free trade. In 1989, the U.S. exported $360,465 thousand million in goods and imported $475,329 thousand million. In 1990, 119.55 million Americans were in the labor force, representing 63.0 percent of the population over the age of 16. The labor force has grown especially rapidly since 1955 as a result of the increased number of working women. Women now constitute more than half of America's total work force. The entry of the "baby boom" generation into the job market has also increased the work force. Part-time employment has increased as wellonly about 55 percent of all workers have full-rime, full-year jobsthe rest either work part-time, part-year or both. The average American work week was 41 hours in 1989. American industries have become increasingly more service-oriented. Of 12.6 million new jobs created since 1982, almost 85 percent have been in service industries. Careers in technical, business and health-related fields have particularly experienced employee growth in recent years. Approximately 27 million Americans are employed in selling. Another 19.2 million work in manufacturing and 17.5 million work for federal, state and local governments. Recently, unemployment in the United States was calculated at about seven percent. The government provides short-term unemployment compensation (from 20 to 39 weeks depending upon economic conditions) to replace wages lost between jobs. About 80 per cent of all wage and salary earners are covered by unemployment insurance. In addition, both the government and private industry provide job training to help unemployed and disadvantaged Americans.

Late-2000s recession
In 20082009 much of the industrialized world entered into a deep recession sparked by a financial crisis that had its origins in reckless lending practices involving the origination and distribution of mortgage debt in the United States. Sub-prime loans losses in 2007 exposed other risky loans and over-inflated asset prices. With the

losses mounting, a panic developed in inter-bank lending. The precarious financial situation was made more difficult by a sharp increase in oil and food prices. The exorbitant rise in asset prices and associated boom in economic demand is considered a result of the extended period of easily available credit, inadequate regulation and oversight, or increasing inequality. As share and housing prices declined many large and well established investment and commercial banks in the United States and Europe suffered huge losses and even faced bankruptcy, resulting in massive public financial assistance. A global recession has resulted in a sharp drop in international trade, rising unemployment and slumping commodity prices. Social unrest and political changes have appeared in the wake of the crisis. In December 2008, the NBER declared that the United States had been in recession since December 2007, and several economists expressed their concern that there is no end in sight for the downturn and that recovery may not appear until as late as 2011. The recession is considered the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s.The unemployment rate has been increasing since September 2008. For May 2009 alone, a net total of 345,000 jobs have been lost in the United States. The unemployment rate in the United States is currently at 8.9% The IMF has warned about "worrisome parallels" between the current global crisis and the Great Depression, despite the unprecedented steps already taken by central banks and governments worldwide.

Commodity boom
The decade of the 2000s saw a global explosion in prices, focused especially in commodities and housing, marking an end to the commodities recession of 1980-2000. In 2008, the prices of many commodities, notably oil and food, rose so high as to cause genuine economic damage, threatening stagflation and a reversal of globalization. In January 2008, oil prices surpassed $100 a barrel for the first time, the first of many price milestones to be passed in the course of the year. In July 2008, oil peaked at $147.30 a barrel and a gallon of gasoline was more than $4 across most of the U.S.A. These high prices caused a dramatic drop in demand and prices fell below $35 a barrel at the end of 2008. Some believe that this oil price spike was the product of Peak Oil. There is concern that if the economy was to improve, Oil prices might return to pre-recession levels. The food and fuel crises were both discussed at the 34th G8 summit in July of 2008. Sulfuric acid (an important chemical commodity used in processes such as steel processing, copper production and bioethanol production) increased in price 3.5-fold in less than 1 year while producers of sodium hydroxide have declared force majeur due to flooding, precipitating similarly steep price increases.In the second half of 2008, the prices of most commodities fell dramatically on expectations of diminished demand in a world recession.

Housing bubble
By 2007, real estate bubbles were still under way in many parts of the world, especially in the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, France, Poland, South Africa, Israel, Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, Canada, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Argentina, Baltic states, India, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and China. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said in mid-2005 that "at a minimum, there's a little 'froth' (in the U.S. housing market) it's hard not to see that there are a lot of local bubbles". The Economist magazine, writing at the same time, went further, saying "the worldwide rise in house prices is the biggest bubble in history".[23] Real estate bubbles are invariably followed by severe price decreases (also known as a house price crash) that can result in many owners holding negative equity (a mortgage debt higher than the current value of the property).

Inflation
In February 2008, Reuters reported that global inflation was at historic levels, and that domestic inflation was at 10-20 year highs for many nations. "Excess money supply around the globe, monetary easing by the Fed to tame financial crisis, growth surge supported by easy monetary policy in Asia, speculation in commodities, agricultural failure, rising cost of imports from China and rising demand of food and commodities in the fast growing emerging markets," have been named as possible reasons for the inflation. In mid-2007, IMF data indicated that inflation was highest in the oil-exporting countries, largely due to the unsterilized growth of foreign exchange reserves; the term unsterilized referring to a lack of monetary policy operations that could offset such a foreign exchange intervention in order to maintain a countrys monetary policy target. However, inflation was also growing in countries classified by the IMF as "non-oil-exporting LDCs" (Least Developed Countries) and "Developing Asia", on account of the rise in oil and food prices. Inflation was also increasing in the developed countries, but remained low compared to the developing world.

Debate over origins

Some economists claim that the ultimate point of origin of the great financial crisis of 2007-2009 can be traced back to an extremely indebted US economy. The collapse of the real estate market in 2006 was the close point of origin of the crisis. The failure rates of subprime mortgages were the first symptom of a credit boom tuned to bust and of a real estate shock. But large default rates on subprime mortgages cannot account for the severity of the crisis. Rather, low-quality mortgages acted as an accelerant to the fire that spread through the entire financial

system. The latter had become fragile as a result of several factors that are unique to this crisis: the transfer of assets from the balance sheets of banks to the markets, the creation of complex and opaque assets, the failure of ratings agencies to properly assess the risk of such assets, and the application of fair value accounting. To these novel factors, one must add the now standard failure of regulators and supervisors in spotting and correcting the emerging weaknesses.

Credit creation as a cause

The Austrian School of Economics proposes that the crisis is an excellent example of the Austrian Business Cycle Theory, in which credit created through the policies of central banking gives rise to an artificial boom, which is inevitably followed by a bust. This perspective argues that the monetary policy of central banks creates excessive quantities of cheap credit by setting interest rates below where they would be set by a free market. This easy availability of credit inspires a bundle of malinvestments, particularly on long term projects such as housing and capital assets, and also spurs a consumption boom as incentives to save are diminished. Thus an unsustainable boom arises, characterized by malinvestments and overconsumption. But the created credit is not backed by any real savings nor is in response to any change in the real economy, hence, there are physically not enough resources to finance either the malinvestments or the consumption rate indefinitely. The bust occurs when investors collectively realize their mistake. This happens usually some time after interest rates rise again. The liquidation of the malinvestments and the consequent reduction in consumption throw the economy into a recession, whose severity mirrors the scale of the boom's excesses. The Austrian School argues that the conditions previous to the crisis of the late 2000s correspond exactly to the scenario described above. The central bank of the United States, led by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, kept interest rates very low for a long period of time to blunt the recession of the early 2000s. The resulting malinvestment and overconsumption of investors and consumers prompted the development of a housing bubble that ultimately burst, precipitating the financial crisis. This crisis, together with sudden and necessary deleveraging and cutbacks by consumers, businesses and banks, led to the recession. Austrian Economists argue further that while they probably affected the nature and severity of the crisis, factors such as a lack regulation, the Community Reinvestment Act, and entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are insufficient by themselves to explain it. Austrian economists argue that the history of the yield curve from 2000 through 2007 illustrates the role that credit creation by the Federal Reserve may have played in the on-set of the financial crisis in 2007 and 2008. The yield curve (also known as the term structure of interest rates) is the shape formed by a graph showing US Treasury Bill or Bond interest rates on the vertical axis and time to maturity on the horizontal axis. When shortterm interest rates are lower than long-term interest rates the yield curve is said to be positively sloped. When short-term interest rates are higher than long-term interest rates the yield curve is said to be inverted. When long term and short term interest rates are equal the yield curve is said to be flat. The yield curve is believed by some to be a strong predictor of recession (when inverted) and inflation (when positively sloped). However, the yield curve is believed to act on the real economy with a lag of 1 to 3 years. A positively sloped yield curve allows Primary Dealers (such as large investment banks) in the Federal Reserve system to fund themselves with cheap short term money while lending out at higher long-term rates. This strategy is profitable so long as the yield curve remains positively sloped. However, it creates a liquidity risk if the yield curve were to become inverted and banks would have to refund themselves at expensive short term rates while losing money on longer term loans. The narrowing of the yield curve from 2004 and the inversion of the yield curve during 2007 resulted (with the expected 1 to 3 year delay) in a bursting of the housing bubble and a wild gyration of commodities prices as moneys flowed out of assets like housing or stocks and sought safe haven in commodities. The price of oil rose to over $140 dollars per barrel in 2008 before plunging as the financial crisis began to take hold in late 2008. Other observers have doubted the role that the yield curve plays in controlling the business cycle. In a May 24, 2006 story CNN Money reported: in recent comments, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke repeated the view expressed by his predecessor Alan Greenspan that an inverted yield curve is no longer a good indicator of a recession ahead.

Introduction
The United States of America is one of the largest countries of the world. It is a country of grandiose ideas and grandiose projects. American businessmen invest a lot of money into different industries and make large profits of them. Cinema industry is a rich source of money. Hollywood is a stronghold of cinema industry. Hollywood is a powerful film studio, which produces a lot of films a year. People like or do not like them, but it should be noted that the films are produced at high professional and technical standard. Hollywood has the richest modern technical basis. The best actors and producers of the whole world tend to work in Hollywood. The films produced in Hollywood are, as a rule, popular in many countries of the world. The faces of American film stars are well known to cinema lovers in the cities and in little villages all over the world.

The Beginning of Hollywood

The beginning of Hollywood

So, Hollywood is a center of American cinematography, It is situated in one of the regions of Los Angeles, California. In 1908 a small film crew of Zelig Firm from Chicago came to California for nature shooting of the film "Monte Cristo Count". It was the beginning of Hollywood. After that some cinema businessman from New York came to Hollywood, because they wanted to avoid the prosecutions of Edison Company. Little by little producers, actors, technical stuff moved there, production basis of cinema industry was created. The first film studio in Hollywood was founded in 1911. Why Hollywood a small town, where oranges had been grown, became a center of film industry? The natural conditions of California, the bright sun the whole year round, rich and various nature were very favorable for the films production. There were splendid landscapes, mountains, valleys, islands, lakes, beaches, deserts, forests, where practically any nature of the planet could be created for the shooting. The earth was cheap there. There was enough manpower around for building and servicing of film studios. By 1915 60% of American film production was accumulated in Hollywood. In course of the following 5 years the system of film studios was formed, which allowed Hollywood to become a cinema capital of the world. In 1914 after the beginning of World War I film industry in many countries fell into decay. The USA joined the war only in 1917 and Hollywood used the absence of competition to create its supremacy at the world cinema market. Film studios used the scheme, proposed at the end of 1910th by Thomas Inse. In the 20th Hollywood had modern financial and technical basis of film production and the professional stuff. By the middle of the 20th there were 5 large studios: "Metro Golden Myer", "Paramount", "Fox", "Universal" and "Warner". They were headed by the producers Luise B. Mayor, Sam Goldwine, Adolf Zuker, William Fox, Karl Lemmle and Warner brothers. They controlled the fortune of American cinematography up to 1960. Silent Cinema

Silent Cinema
One of the most popular producers of silent cinema was David York Griffit. David York Griffit shot 61 short films. He was one of the most promising American producers. He was called "Shakespeare of Screen". Now his films are demonstrated rarely, but Griffit went down in cinema history as a genius producer, a founder of new cinema language, which had been used by his colleagues up to 1960th. Besides, he was an innovator in the sphere of actor art. Griffit specialized in melodramas, he shot comedies, historical films, thrillers, westerns, filming of Bible and different works of literature. Before 1913 there existed an opinion, that the spectator can not watch the film longer, than 15 minutes, but Griffit thought that it was not so. He shot a film "Yudif from Betulia" in 4 parts. It lasted 42 minutes. There was a great scandal at the studio because of this film duration, after it Griffit left the campaign "American Biograph" and began his work at full-length film "Birth of Nation". It appeared on screens in 1915. The film lasted 3 hours and told about the relationships of two American families during the Civil war. The film had grandiose success; the expenses for its creation were compensated in two months. But the film had racist character and was prohibited in many American towns. In 1916 Griffit released a complex film called "Intolerance". It didn't have commercial success and the audience didn't like it very much because of its complexity. After it Griffit finished his experiments, his works became more and more sentimental. In 1948 in 18 years after his last film Griffit died. The brightest stars of the silent cinema Mary Pikford and Douglas Ferbenks belonged to the most highly payed actors in the world. After their marriage in 1920 they were reckoned among Hollywood aristocracy. Mary Pikford was called the favorite of America. Usually she played the roles of young girls. Douglas Ferbenks had athletic figure and played mainly in adventure films. One of his films is "Black Pirate" (1926). In 1919 Mary Pickford, Douglas Ferbenks and Charlie Chaplin joined with W.Griffit and created a company "United Artists". The names of the first American actors and actresses were never mentioned. They were known by their nicknames, for example "Little Mary". In the 20th the system of film stars appeared. Film stars were the actors, whose names attached crowds of filmgoers to movie-houses. The stars were necessary for the cash success of the films. The most popular types of women were the vamp-woman like Teda Bara and Pola Negry, girls from high society like Colin Moor and Louise Brooks, simple women like Gloria Swenson and Greta Garbo, innocent girls like Lillian Gish and sexi women like Clara Bow. As for the man, the most popular at that time were the comics Charlie Chaplin and Baster Kiton, exotic lovers Rudolfo Valentino and Roman Navarro, simple boys Richard Bartelmess and Jin Gilbert, the king of horrors Lon Chaini and cowboys William Hart and Tom Mix. One of the greatest Hollywood actors was Charles Spenser Chaplin. In course of 40 years he had been a representative of the best creative forces of Hollywood. Charles Chaplin was born in 1889 and died in 1977. All his life he devoted to cinema. He worked as an actor, producer and scriptwriter. He had a constant image - an image of a little man in black bowler hat, with black moustaches, with a stick and in big boots. This image is known to the whole world. Chaplin's character is an openhearted, sentimental and unsuccessful man. He stirs up not only laughter but also sympathy. Chaplin is very much beloved by Russian people. During the World War II Chaplin called to the opening of the second front and to the help to Russian people in the war. In 1940 he created the film "The Great Dictator". It was darning anti-fascist satire. In 1928 and 1972 he received special ''Oscar''

prizes and in 1972 he received a golden prize at the International Film Festival in Venice. Comic and dramatic things were combined in Chaplin's creative work. The theme of human dignity is the main theme in Chaplin's art. Chaplin created his films, surrounded by worldwide glory and love of the millions of spectators. In 1927, when talking cinema appeared the interest to silent cinema disappeared practically instantly. Such quick decline of silent cinema has no analogous in the history of art. The idols of "great silent" have been almost forgotten and the films, excluding comedies, are rarely demonstrated. But some films, shot at that time in Hollywood belong to greatest masterpieces in the cinema history. The names of some great actors of that time are kept in the memory of people.

Golden Age of Hollywood

Hollywood producers did not hurry to shoot films with sound tracks. They perfectly understood that Hollywood actors used to show fillings with the help of facial expression and gestures and they would have problems with dialogues. Many actors had strong foreign accent. But in 1920 "Warner Brothers" company had financial problems and to improve its financial position shooted the film "Don Huan" with a sound track. The film became popular. Silent cinema era finally ended in 1927 when the film "Jass Singer" with Al Jolson appeared. The appearance of sound in cinema was connected with some difficulties. When the actors began to speak, they stopped to move, because they were attached to microphones. Absence of movement was compensated by dialogues. As a result some films of those times, for example "New-York Lights" were called "illustrated radio", besides the films were full of music and songs out of measure to use the possibilities of sound completely. But the audience quickly became tired of it and such musicals did not make much profit. Change over to talking cinema was very expensive, that is why Hollywood had to look for money and to appeal to banks and other business enterprises. In return for it many of them required to avoid delicate topics in the films. As a result in 1934 the Heits Code was adopted. It introduced censorship limitations. Joseph Brinn controlled the observance of this code. In accordance with this code in Hollywood films they could not criticize any religious convictions, show surgical operations, use of drugs, hard drinking, cruelty to people and animals. It was prohibited to use any swearwords. Strict limitations were imposed on everything connected with sex. When Hollywood developed production of the films with sound track it quickly recovered its image of the best films producer, which made Hollywood the capital of the world cinema production. The years 1930-1945 became the golden age of Hollywood. During these years 7500 full-length films were shot there. Hollywood was named the factory of stars. It attracted attention not only by films, but by the way of life of its actors, which was described in newspapers and magazines. In the 30th Hollywood became a myth. At that time it consisted of 8 large firms: "Metro Golden Myer", "Paramount Pictures", "RCO Radio", "Warner Brothers", "Universal", "United Artists". It was the time of flowering of Hollywood. After the appearance of talking cinema only one new studio was founded - "RCO Radio". The largest studio was "MCM" which offered, that they had more stars, than in the sky. This studio specialized in bright and cheerful family films. "Paramount" studio shot the films on the topics of wealth, power and human passions. "United Artists" studio did not shoot its own films, but provided the here of independent producers films. "Warner Brothers" studio was not very reach, but shot popular gangster films and musicals. "XX Century Fox" shot musicals and historic films. "Universal" studio did not have equals during the era of silent cinema, but when talking cinema appeared they had to begin shooting of cheap films, mainly horror films. "Columbia" studio was in disastrous state and existed due to the lending of stars and producers from the other studios.

Hollywood during and after the World War II; crisis in Hollywood
During the World War II cinema not only entertained the audience but also informed it. One of the best Hollywood films was Alfred Hitchcock's film "Lifeboat" (1944), where he analyzed Nazi threat and Tay Garriet's film "Bataan" (1943), which showed the severe war truth. Many cinema celebrities went to the ear, for example Clark Gable, James Stuart, David Niven. Famous producers John Ford, William Wailer and John Huston also risked their lives, shooting chronicles of the war. In course of 30 years cinema was the beloved pastime of the Americans. Only in 1946 approximately 100 millions spectators visited the cinema every week. But soon great difficulties came to Hollywood. The crisis began. There were some reasons for it. In 1948 the antitrust act was issued. It limited the power of cinema monopoly. Besides the Americans preferred to sit at home in front of the most dangerous rival of Hollywood - TV set. By the year 1954 there were more than 30 millions of TV sets in the USA. Some producers, who shot documentary films during the war didn't any longer want to entertain audience. They appealed to the real problems of American society. The films "The Lost Weekend" (1945), "Beautiful Fire" (1947) and the others belong to the problem films. But even in the most critical and problem films there always was a happy and. Such idealism was absent in bitter and pessimistic films, called "black films". The first film of this genre was "The Maltian Falcon" (1941). The ominous world full of pilferers, despaired war veterans, fatal women, and corrupt politicians is shown in these films. Evil always wins in these films. They are full of fatalism ideas. The classic films of this genre are "Women in the Window" (1945), "Double Insurance" (1944), "Murder, my Dear" (1944), "Lady from Shanghai" (1948).

In September 1947 the government committee on anti-American activities investigation came to Hollywood to look into the problem of communist cinema. More than 40 leading figures of Hollywood gave testimony about the persons, who were blamed for communist ideas. 10 scenario writers and producers refused to cooperate with the commission and were put into prison. New splash of anti-communist attitudes of mind was in 1951. "Black" lists of cultural workers, having left views, were made. This list included 324 people. It led to the fact, that "hunt for witches" broke the carrier of many talented people and provoked deep split in Hollywood. The cinema workers understood that it is possible to return audience to cinema houses, showing them colorful wide-screen film with stereo sound. The first wide-screen system in 1950 was "Cinerama". The picture was 6 times larger than the standard. The audience was in the center of the action and had the same sensations as the characters on the screen. "Cinerama" was popular but very expensive. The other system "Cinemascop" was cheaper. With the help of it a historical film about ancient Rome, called "Toga" by Henry Koster (1953) was shot. The film surpassed all expectations. By the year 1960 all cinema studios passed on to the system "Panavision". Beginning from the film "War and Piece" (1954) by King Vidor a set of blockbusters - films with expensive decorations, luxurious dresses, star actors has been shot. One of such films "Ben Goor" (1959) by William Wiler got 11 Oscar prizes. But in 3 years Hollywood producers had to refuse from grandiose performances after the film "Cleopatra" which cost 13 millions dollars had suffered a setback. Besides the wide screen and stereo sound some producers resorted to various tricks. Some smelling films have been produced. The film "Behind the Wall" (1959) was demonstrated with the help of "Aromarama" system. The hall with the help of ventilation was filled with smells, harmonizing with the screen action. In the film "Mystery Smell" the system "Smell-o-vision" was used. In this film the smells were pumped into the hall by pumps. The king of cinema tricks was the producer William Kastle. He specialized in different mysteries. For example during the demonstration of the film "House at the Ghost Hill" (1959) a skeleton made of plastic moved over the spectator's heads. After the World War II new Hollywood stars appeared, such as Ingrid Bergman, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Kerk Douglas, Gregory Peck, Bert Lankaster. In late 50th such young actors as Marlon Brando, James Din and Paul Newman began to use Stanislavsky system. They reached great intensity and realism in their roles. By the end of the 50th Hollywood was transformed beyond recognition. Step by step all Hollywood studious lost their independence and joined transnational film companies. As a result the commercial success became more important then creative work. Hollywood remained the capital of the world cinema, but the most daring and innovatory films were shot in Europe

Hollywood in the 60th

In these years Hollywood had great problems. Shooting of films became so expensive in Hollywood that many American films were shot in Europe. It was much cheaper. In 1967 the film "Bonny and Clyde" marked the birth of new American cinema. The producer of this film was Arthur Penn. The success of this film urged other producers to more uninhibited approach to the representation of sex and violence. It was reflected in such films as "Graduating Student" (1967) and "Wild Pack". Only at the end of the 60-th Hollywood film studios began to find a way out of crisis. Financial position of the firm became stable due to the creation of TV soap operas. Hollywood firms began cooperation with independent producers, giving them studios for films shooting and helping them to distribute films. Many new young producers were involved into the films creation; it raised the films artistic level. Besides, Hollywood prospered due to its great actors and producers.

Hollywood in the 70th, 80th and 90th

In the 70th the most popular producers of new generation became Coppola, Lucas, Martin Scorcese and Steven Spielberg. Coppola's film "Godfather" (1972) and Spielberg's "Jans" (1975) began the new era of blockbusters. Lucas's "Star Wars" and three Spielberg's films about Indiana Jones are the most famous super hits. Fantastic films have always been very popular, for example "Alien" (1982) was the first in box-office returns up to the appearance of Spielberg's blockbuster about dinosaurs "Jurassic Park" (1993). The names of modern Hollywood producers are well known. They are Oliver Stone, Jonathan Denim, John Hews, Robert Zemekis. But the most popular, star producer of American cinema is Quentin Tarantino. His criminal thrillers "Rabid Dogs" (1992) and "The Pulp" (1994) created a furor. At present time the Hollywood is prospering. New, young producers, who came to Hollywood, increased the artistic level of Hollywood films. A new trend appeared in Hollywood repertoire; it is shooting of films based on bestsellers. These films are created for the demonstration on cinema screens and then they are made for video. After it the films are widely spread and have a lot of spectators. Record box-office returns have been made by the films "Rambo" with Sylvester Stallone, "Terminator" with Arnold Shwarzenegger, "Shindler's List", "Jurassic Park" by famous producer Steven Spielberg, "Speed", "Tourist by Accident" with Kevin Kostner, "Top Gun" and many others. The serial about the super-agent 007 had a phenomenal success. In course of 30 years they have made 16 films about the agent 007. Beginning from 1995 the serial have been continued by 18 films more with the new name "Truthful Lies". The everlasting westerns are popular as always. For the westerns good horses are grown at the special farms. In Hollywood there are specialists in the animals make-up. The makers-up prepare

horses and other animals for the shooting. If a horse or some other animal is needed for the shooting only one telephone call is enough and the animal is immediately brought to the studios in a specialized van. Rare animals, insects, reptiles and birds are caught in the wild nature by specialists. They are kept at special ranchos and shooted in scientific, fantastic and adventure films. The makers-up mask harmless animals and make rattle snakes, cobras and other dangerous animals of them. The most expensive Hollywood film is "The Water World" with Kevin Kostner. He is also the producer of this film. The company "Universal Pictures" spent more than 175 millions dollars for the film production and 65 millions dollars for the advertisement company. The most highly paid actors of Hollywood are Sylvester Stallone, who gets up to 20 millions dollars for one film and Arnold Shwarzenegger, who gets up to 15 millions dollars for one film. The most highly paid actresses of Hollywood are Demy Moor, who got 12, 5 millions dollars for the main role in the film "Striptease" (1995, producer Paul Verkhoven), Julia Roberts, and Sharon Stone, who get 12 millions dollars for one film. The film "Jurassic Park" of the producer Steven Spielberg had the richest advertisement company (68 millions dollars). In a week of this film showing 50 millions dollars returned to the box-office. A 12-year old actor Macaloy Calkin got more then 5 millions dollars for his films "At Home Alone" and "Lost in New York".

Conclusion
There is a Hollywood avenue in Los Angeles. There are bronze stars with the names of the cinema and show business stars, walled into the pavements of this avenue. The main sights of this avenue are the Beauty Museum, Hollywood museum of wax figures, the famous cinema "Chinese Theatre". In front of its entrance in the concrete there are the prints of the stars palms and feet. Now the seven most famous film studios of Hollywood are "Universal", "Disney", "Columbia", "MGM-United Artists", "Paramount", "Warner Brothers" and "XX Century Fox". Hollywood is a center of different show performances; it attracts the audience by night entertainments. The Hollywood sight is the summer theatre (so-called "Hollywood Cup", a circle under the open sky for 20 thousand spectators with splendid acoustics). The concerts of classical and popular music and ballet performances are held in this theatre.

American Cinema
The world of American cinema is so far-reaching a topic that it deserves, and often receives, volumes of its own. Hollywood (in Los Angeles, California), of course, immediately comes to mind, as do the many great directors, actors and actresses it continues to attract and produce. But then, one also thinks of the many independent studios throughout the country, the educational and documentary series and films, the sociallyrelevant tradition in cinema, and the film departments of universities, such as the University of Southern California (USC), the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) or New York University. For over 50 years, American films have continued to grow in popularity throughout the world. Television has only increased this popularity. The great blockbusters of film entertainment that stretch from "Gone with the Wind" to "Star Wars" receive the most attention. A look at the prizes awarded at the leading international film festivals will also demonstrate that as an art form, the American film continues to enjoy-considerable prestige. Even when the theme is serious or, as they say, "meaningful", American films remain "popular". In the past decade, films which treated the danger of nuclear power and weapons, alcoholism, divorce, inner-city blight, .the effects of slavery, the plight of Native Americans, poverty and immigration have all received awards and international recognition. And, at the same time, they have done well at the box-office. Movies (films), including those on video-cassettes, remain the most popular art form in the USA. A book with 20,000 readers is considered to be a best-seller. A hit play may be seen by a few thousand theatergoers. By contrast, about a billion movie tickets are sold at movie houses across the USA every year. There are three main varieties of movie theaters in the USA: 1) the "first-run" movie houses, which show new films; 2) "art theaters", which specialize in showing foreign films and revivals; 3) "neighborhood theaters", which run films sometimes two at a time after the "first-run" houses. New York is a movie theater capital of the country. Many of the city's famous large movie theaters, once giving Times Square so much of its glitter, have been torn down or converted (in some cases into smaller theaters), and a new generation of modem theaters has appeared to the north and east of the area. Most of them offer continuous performances from around noon till midnight. Less crowded and less expensive are the so-called "neighborhood theaters", which show films several weeks or months after the "first-run" theaters. There are several theaters that specialize in revivals of famous old films and others that show only modernist, avant-garde films. Still others, especially those along 42nd Street, between the Avenue of Americas and Eighth Avenue, run movies about sex and violence. Foreign films, especially those of British, French, Italian and Swedish origin, are often seen in New York, and several movie theaters specialize in the showing of foreign-language films for the various ethnic groups in the city.

The earliest history of film.

The illusion of movement was first noted in the early 19th century. In 1824 the English physician Peter Mark Roget published an article the persistence of vision with regard to moving objects. Many inventors put his theory to the test with pictures posted on coins that were flipped by the thumb, and with rotating disks of drawings. A particular favorite was the zoetrope, slotted revolving drum through which could be seen clowns and animals that seemed to leap. They were hand drawn on strips of paper fitted inside the drum. Other similar devices were the hemitrope, the phasmatrope, the phenakistoscope, and the praxinoscope. It is not possible to give any one

person credit for having invented the motion picture. In the 1880s the Frenchman Etienne Jules Marey developed the rotating shutter with a slot to admit light, and George Eastman, of New York, developed flexible film. In 1888 Thomas Edison, of New Jersey, invented his phonograph for recording and playing sound on wax cylinders. He tried to combine sound with motion pictures. Edisons assistant, William Dickson, worked on the idea, and in 1889, he both appeared and spoke in a film. Edison did not turn his attention to the projected motion picture at first. The results were still not good enough, and Edison did not think that films would not have large appeal. Instead he produced and patented the kinetoscope, which ran a continuous loop of film about 15 meters (50 feet) long. Only one person could view it at a time. By 1894, hand-cranked kinetoscope appeared all over the United States and Europe. Edison demonstrated a projecting kinetoscope. The cinematograph based on Edisons kinetoscope was invented by two Frenchmen, Louis and Auguste Lumiere. This machine consisted of a portable camera and a projector. In December 1895, The Lumiere brothers organized a program of short motion pictures at a Parisian cafe.

The earliest movie theatres.

Films were first thought of as experiment or toys. They were shown in scientific laboratories and in the drawing rooms of private home. When their commercial potential was realized they began to be screened in public to a paying audience. The first films to be shown publicly were short, filmed news items and travelogues. These were screened alongside live variety acts form theatre shows, called vaudeville in United States. Within a few years fairground tents that slowed nothing but programs of films were common sights. In United States stores were converted onto movie theatre, which were known as storefront theatre. People would pay a nickel to see about an hours worth of film, so the theatre came to be known as nickelodeons. Early film audiences needed patience. There were many technical problems. Projectors were likely to breath down and every projectionist kept slides to reassure the audience: The performance will resume shortly. Many projectors caused flickering on the screen, earning films the nickname of the flicks.

The growth of the film industry.

From the start the film industry was eager to make and show films that people would want to see. The most popular films were those that told stories- narrative fiction films. Film making began to realize that by using different camera angels, locations, lighting and special effects, film could tell a story in the way that live theatre couldnt. The great Train Robbery, made in 1903 by Edwin S. Porter, was the first American narrative fiction film. It included the basic ingredients of the Western: a hold-up, a chase, and a gunfight. It used a great variety of shots by showing the action at different distances from the camera- long shots of action in the distance, but also medium shots of the actors shown full-length, and chase-ups of the face and shoulders of a gunman shooting directly at the audience. Before World War I American film industry had logged behind the film industries of Europe particularly those of France and Italy. But during the war, film making almost stopped in Europe, partly because a chemical used in celluloid was needed for making gunpowder. The American film industry thrived during the war because there was money for making films; and also because of popular the genius of D. W. Griffith. In 1915 Griffith made The Birth Of Nation, a film about the American Civil War and in 1916 he made Intolerance. These three hours films were Americans answer to the spectacular Italian films such as Quo Vadis that had earlier astonished the world. For Intolerance Griffith had built a set of an ancient Babylonian city, which was over a mile long, and he photograph it from a balloon. Griffith was a genius, not just because he could show huge and thrilling scenes on the screen, but because he was aware of the artistic possibilities of film. The actors in the old-sealers had mostly been unknown and their performances very poor. Because the films were silent, actors made up for lack of speech by frantic and unnatural gestures and movements. A new and better style of acting was adopted by a young American actress called Marry Pickford who showed that a simple natural style was more effective on the screen than dramatic arm-waving and chest-thumping. Her fame spread across the Atlantic. In 1918, she signed a contract for more than a million dollars. The stars system was born. About the same time, some of the slapstick comedians developed unique comedy styles, and also became world-famous stars. Charlie Chaplin, the little man with the derby hat, cane, and boggy pants, became the most famous (he, too, sealed a million-dollar contract). But others such as Buster Heaton, Harold Lloyd, and Harry Langdon were also widely acclaimed. They were great artists whose work is still popular today. By 1920 the cinema had became the most popular form of leisure activity outside the home. Film studios such as Metro-Goldwin Meyer, Paramount, Warners, 20th Century Fox, and United Artists developed a system for producing films on the same principle that Henry Ford used for his cars- the assembly like Hollywood, on the west coast of the United States, became the center of the film industry. Its climate, light and physical surroundings were suited to the film industry, which shot much material out of doors. Film making thrived. In succeeding years, many great films were made in Hollywood, beginning with the silent films, followed, in the mid-twenties, by the first sound pictures. The first animated cartoon drawn in the United States especially for film was done in 1906 by J. Stuart

Blackton. The first full-length animated feature film was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs made in 1937. The stars of the films being produced in Hollywood became known throughout the world. Among them were famous Cagney, Clark Gable, Marlene Dietrich, who had first appeared in films in Germany, the Swedish Greta Garbo and the young Shirley Temple. Some of the most famous stars were Mickey Mouse and characters from Walt Disneys cartoon. Leading film makers included John Ford, Howard Hawks, Frank Capra and George Cukor. During World War II some of the best Americans directors in the US were recruited by the War Department, because films were needed to help raise the morale of servicemen. Among the best films of this war period were Frank Capras ''Why We Fight'' series (1942-45). Walt Disneys animated films; and documentaries about important battlers directed by Garson Kanin, John Huston, Billy Wilder. Orson Welless masterpiece ''Citizen Kane'' (1940) was the story of a newspaper tycoon. After the war high-quality films continued to pour out of the United States. They included Charlie Chaplins ''Limelight'' (1952), the fine Western Shane (1956), a drama of the New York docks called On The Waterfront (1954) and many high-spirited musicals of which An American In Paris (1951) was outstanding. Alfred Hitchcock made his best films during this period. ''Psycho'' with its famous murder-in-the-shower scene was probably the most successful. Despite these successes the great studios began to get into financial difficulties because of declining audiences. However, the late 1960s saw a turning point in the American film industry with the release of a number of films appealing to the youth market, which drew enormous audiences. The most famous of these were Arthur Penns ''Bonnie and Clyde'' (1967) and Dennis Hoppers ''Easy Rider'' (1969). Realising that they could no longer rely on their traditional family audiences, film makers increasingly concentrated on films for the so-called teenage market, science fiction and fantasy blockbusters with computer enhanced special effects Dolby sound such as George Lucass ''Star Wars'' (1977) and Steven Spielbergs ''Raiders Of The Lost Ark'' (1981) became very popular.

Popcorn
Today Americans still continue the custom of eating popcorn at the movies. Americans use 500,000 pounds of popcorn every year. All corn does not pop. A seed or kernel of corn must have 14 percent water in it to pop. Other kinds of pop have less water and do not pop. When you put a kernel of corn on a fire, the water inside makes the corn explode. This makes a pop noise. That is why we called it popcorn. The American Indians popped corn a long time ago. The Indians knew there were three kinds of corn. There was sweet corn for eating, corn for animals, and corn for popping. The Indians introduced corn to the first settlers, or Pilgrims, when they come to America in 1620. One year after they came, the Pilgrims had a Thanksgiving dinner. They invited the Indians. The Indians brought food with them. One Indian brought popcorn. Since that time Americans continued to pop corn at home. But in 1945 there was a new machine that changed the history of popcorn. This electric machine popped corn outside the home. Soon movie theatres started to sell popcorn to make more money. Popcorn at the movies became more and more popular. Many people like to put salt and melted butter on their popcorn. Some people eat it without salt or butter. Either way - Americans love their popcorn!

The Oscar.
The Oscars are awarded every year by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. These statuettes are awarded to actors, film directors, screenwriters and so on for outstanding contributions to the film industry. The Oscars were first awarded in 1927. The first winners were chosen by five judges. Nowadays all of the members of the Academy vote. The ceremony is attended by most Hollywood stars, although some famous stars, such as Woody Allen, refuse to go, even if they win an award. The oldest winner of an Oscar was 80-yearold Jessica Tandy for her performance in the film Driving Miss Daisy in 1990. The youngest was Shirley Temple when she was only five years old. The statuette is of soldier standing on a reel of film. Nobody is really sure why it is called an Oscar, although some people say that it is because when the first statuette was made, a secretary said, It reminds me of Uncle Oscar!

Beverly Hills.
Most visitors to Los Angeles, California want to go and see Beverly Hills. This is where you find the homes of the movie stars. But Beverly Hills isnt Los Angeles. Its a small city next to Los Angeles. All kinds of celebrities live in Beverly Hills. These celebrities may be movie stars, television stars, sport stars, or other people in the news. Tourists can buy special maps for the homes of the stars. These homes are very beautiful. They usually have swimming pools and tennis courts. But sometimes you cannot see very much. The homes have high walls or trees around them. Beverly Hills is also famous for Rodeo Drive. This is one of the most expensive shopping streets in the United States. Rodeo Drive started to be an elegant street in the 1960s. Many famous stores are opened on the street. People liked all the new styles and fashions they could buy. Today you can find the most expensive and unusual clothing, jewelry and furniture in the world on Rodeo Drive. Rodeo Drive is a very special street. When you want to park your car in public parking, an attendant will come and park your car for you.

Beverly Hills is really a small city. Only About 35,000 people live there. But during the day more than 200,000 people come to Beverly Hills to work or to shop!

Broadway theatre
Broadway theater, Although "theater" is the preferred spelling in the U.S.A. (see further at American and British English Spelling Differences), the majority of venues, performers, and trade groups for live dramatic presentations use the spelling "theatre".] commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theater District of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The Broadway theater district is a popular tourist attraction in New York City. According to The Broadway League, Broadway shows sell over one and a half billion dollars' worth of tickets annually. Fact|date: September 14 2008|date=September 2008

18th and 19th centuries

New York (and therefore, America) did not have a significant theatre presence until about 1750, when actor-managers Walter Murray and Thomas Kean established a resident theatre company at the Theatre on Nassau Street, which held about 280 people. They presented Shakespeare plays and ballad operas such as "The Beggars Opera". In 1752, William Hallam sent a company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theatre in Williamsburg, Virginia and opened with "The Merchant of Venice" and "The Anatomist." The company moved to New York in the summer of 1753, performing ballad operas and ballad-farces like "Damon and Phillida." The Revolutionary War suspended theatre in New York, but thereafter theatre resumed, and in 1798, the 2,000-seat Park Theatre was built on Chatham Street (now called Park Row). The Bowery Theater opened in 1826, followed by others. Blackface minstrel shows, a distinctly American form of entertainment, became popular in the 1830s, and especially so with the arrival of the Virginia Minstrels in the 1840s. By the 1840s, P.T. Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in lower Manhattan. In 1829, at Broadway and Prince Street, Niblo's Garden opened and soon became one of New York's premiere night spots. The 3,000-seat theatre presented all sorts of musical and non-musical entertainments. The Astor Place Theatre opened in 1847. A riot broke out in 1849 when the lower-class patrons of the Bowery objected to what they perceived as snobbery by the upper class audiences at Astor Place::"After the Astor Place Riot of 1849 entertainment in New York City was divided along class lines: opera was chiefly for the upper middle and upper classes, minstrel shows and melodramas for the middle class, variety shows in concert saloons for men of the working class and the slumming middle class. Theatre in New York moved from downtown gradually to midtown beginning around 1850, seeking less expensive real estate prices. In 1870, the heart of Broadway was in Union Square, and by the end of the century, many theatres were near Madison Square. Theatres did not arrive in the Times Square area until the early 1900s, and the Broadway theatres did not consolidate there until a large number of theatres were built around the square in the 1920s and 1930s. Broadway's first "long-run" musical was a 50 performance hit called "The Elves" in 1857. New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London, but Laura Keene's "musical burletta" "Seven Sisters" (1860) shattered previous New York records with a run of 253 performances. It was at a performance by Keene's troupe of "Our American Cousin" in Washington, D.C. that Abraham Lincoln was shot. The first theatre piece that conforms to the modern conception of a musical, adding dance and original music that helped to tell the story, is generally considered to be "The Black Crook", which premiered in New York on September 12, 1866. The production was a staggering five-and-a-half hours long, but despite its length, it ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. The same year, "The Black Domino/Between You, Me and the Post" was the first show to call itself a "musical comedy." Tony Pastor opened the first vaudeville theatre one block east of Union Square in 1881, where Lillian Russell performed. Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 ("The Mulligan Guard Picnic") and 1885, with book and lyrics by Harrigan and music by his fatherin-law David Braham. These musical comedies featured characters and situations taken from the everyday life of New York's lower classes and represented a significant step forward from vaudeville and burlesque, towards a more literate form. They starred high quality singers (Lillian Russell, Vivienne Segal, and Fay Templeton) instead of the ladies of questionable repute who had starred in earlier musical forms. As transportation improved, poverty in New York diminished, and street lighting made for safer travel at night, the number of potential patrons for the growing number of theatres increased enormously. Plays could run longer and still draw in the audiences, leading to better profits and improved production values. As in England, during the latter half of the century the theatre began to be cleaned up, with less prostitution hindering the attendance of the theatre by women. Gilbert and Sullivan's family-friendly comic opera hits, beginning with "H.M.S. Pinafore" in 1878, were imported to New York (by the authors and also in numerous pirated productions).

They were imitated in New York by American productions such as Reginald DeKoven's "Robin Hood" (1891) and John Philip Sousa's "El Capitan" (1896), along with operas, ballets and other British and European hits.

1890s and later

Charles Hoyt's "A Trip to Chinatown" (1891) became Broadway's long-run champion, holding the stage for 657 performances. This would not be surpassed until "Irene" in 1919. In 1896, theatre owners Marc Klaw and A. L. Erlanger formed the Theatrical Syndicate, which controlled almost every legitimate theatre in the U.S. for the next sixteen years. However, smaller vaudeville and variety houses proliferated, and Off-Broadway was well established by the end of the 19th century. "A Trip to Coontown" (1898) was the first musical comedy entirely produced and performed by African Americans in a Broadway theatre (largely inspired by the routines of the minstrel shows), followed by the ragtimetinged "Clorindy the Origin of the Cakewalk" (1898), and the highly successful "In Dahomey" (1902). Hundreds of musical comedies were staged on Broadway in the 1890s and early 1900s made up of songs written in New York's Tin Pan Alley involving composers such as Gus Edwards, John Walter Bratton, and George M. Cohan ("Little Johnny Jones" (1904), "45 Minutes From Broadway" (1906), and "George Washington Jr." (1906)). Still, New York runs continued to be relatively short, with a few exceptions, compared with London runs, until World War I. A few very successful British musicals continued to achieve great success in New York, including "Florodora" in 1900-01. In the early years of the 20th century, translations of popular late-19th century continental operettas were joined by the "Princess Theatre" shows of the 1910s by writers such as P. G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton and Harry B. Smith. Victor Herbert, whose work included some intimate musical plays with modern settings as well as his string of famous operettas ("The Fortune Teller" (1898), "Babes in Toyland" (1903), "Mlle. Modiste" (1905), "The Red Mill" (1906), and "Naughty Marietta" (1910)). [ [http://home.earthlink.net/~nmidkiff/dorothyarticles.html Midkoff, Neil article] ] Beginning with "The Red Mill", Broadway shows installed electric signs outside the theatres. Since colored bulbs burned out too quickly, white lights were used, and Broadway was nicknamed "The Great White Way." In August 1919, the Actors Equity Association demanded a standard contract for all professional productions. After a strike shut down all the theatres, the producers were forced to agree. By the 1920s, the Schubert Brothers had risen to take over the majority of the theatres from the Erlanger syndicate. Clearly, the live theatre survived the invention of cinema. Leaving these comparatively frivolous entertainments behind, and taking the drama a giant step forward, "Show Boat", premiered on December 27, 1927 at the Ziegfeld Theatre, representing a complete integration of book and score, with dramatic themes, as told through the music, dialogue, setting and movement, woven together more seamlessly than in previous musicals. It ran for a total of 572 performances. After the lean years of the Great Depression, Broadway theatre entered a golden age with the blockbuster hit "Oklahoma!", in 1943, which ran for 2,212 performances. Hit after hit followed on Broadway, and the Broadway theatre attained the highest level of international prestige in theatre. The Tony Awards were established in 1947 to recognize achievement in live American theatre, especially Broadway theatre.

Broadway today Schedule

Although there are now more exceptions than there once were, generally shows with open-ended runs operate on the same schedule, with evening performances Tuesday through Saturday with an 8 p.m. "curtain" and afternoon "matine" performances on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday; typically at 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays, making a standard eight performance week. On this schedule, shows do not play on Monday, and the shows and theatres are said to be "dark" on that day. Actors and crew in these shows tend to regard Sunday evening through Tuesday evening as their "weekend". The Tony Award presentation ceremony is usually held on a Sunday evening in June to fit into this schedule. In recent years, many shows have moved their Tuesday show time an hour earlier to 7 p.m. The rationale for the move was that fewer tourists took in shows midweek, so the Tuesday crowd in particular depends on local audience members. The earlier curtain therefore allows suburban patrons time after a show to get home by a reasonable hour. Some shows, especially those produced by Disney, change their performance schedules fairly frequently, depending on the season, in order to maximize access to their targeted audience.

Personnel
Both musicals and stage plays on Broadway often rely on casting well-known performers in leading roles to draw larger audiences or bring in new audience members to the theatre. Actors from movies and television are frequently cast for the revivals of Broadway shows or are used to replace actors leaving a cast. There are still, however, performers who are primarily stage actors, spending most of their time "on the boards", and appearing in television and in screen roles only secondarily.

In the past, stage actors had a somewhat superior attitude towards other kinds of live performances, such as vaudeville and burlesque, which were felt to be tawdry, commercial and low-browthey considered their own craft to be a higher and more artistic calling. This attitude is reflected in the term used to describe their form of stage performance: "legitimate theatre". (The abbreviated form "legit" is still used for live theatre by the entertainment industry newspaper "Variety" as part of its unique "language." This rather condescending attitude also carried over to performers who worked in radio, film and television instead of in "the theatre", but this attitude is much less prevalent now, especially since film and television work pay so much better than almost all theatrical acting, even Broadway. The split between "legit" theatre and "variety" performances still exists, however, in the structure of the actors' unions: Actors' Equity represents actors in the legitimate theatre, and the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA) represents them in performances without a "book" or through-storylinealthough it's very rare for Broadway actors not to work under an Equity contract, since most plays and musicals come under that union's jurisdiction. Almost all of the people involved with a Broadway show at every level are represented by unions or other protective, professional or trade organization. The actors, dancers, singers, chorus members and stage managers are members of Actors' Equity Association (AEA), musicians are represented by the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), and stagehands, dressers, hairdressers, designers, box office personnel and ushers all belong to various locals of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, also known as "the IA" or "IATSE" (pronounced "eye-ot-zee"). Directors and choreographers belong to the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSD&C), playwrights to the Dramatists Guild, and house managers, company managers and press agents belong to the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers (ATPAM). Casting directors (who tried in 2002-2004 to become part of ATPAM) is the last major components of Broadway's human infrastructure who are not unionized. (General managers, who run the business affairs of a show, and are frequently producers as well, are management and not labor.)

Producers and theatre owners

Most Broadway producers and theatre owners are members of the The Broadway League (formerly "The League of American Theatres and Producers"), a trade organization that promotes Broadway theatre as a whole, negotiates contracts with the various theatrical unions and agreements with the guilds, and co-administers the Tony Awards with the American Theatre Wing, a service organization. While the League and the theatrical unions are sometimes at loggerheads during those periods when new contracts are being negotiated, they also cooperate on many projects and events designed to promote professional theatre in New York. The three non-profit theatre companies with Broadway theatres ("houses") belong to the League of Resident Theatres and have contracts with the theatrical unions which are negotiated separately from the other Broadway theatre and producers. (Disney also negotiates apart from the League, as did Livent before it closed down its operations.) However, generally, shows that play in any of the Broadway houses are eligible for Tony Awards (see below). The majority of Broadway theatres are owned or managed by three organizations: the Shubert Organization, a for-profit arm of the non-profit Shubert Foundation, which owns 17 theatres (it recently retained full ownership of the Music Box from the Irving Berlin Estate); The Nederlander Organization, which controls 9 theatres; and Jujamcyn, which owns five Broadway houses.

Runs
Most Broadway shows are commercial productions intended to make a profit for the producers and investors ("backers" or "angels"), and therefore have open-ended runs, meaning that the length of their presentation is not set beforehand, but depends on critical response, word of mouth, and the effectiveness of the show's advertising, all of which determine ticket sales. Shows do not necessarily have to make a profit immediately. If they are making their "nut" (weekly operating expenses), or are losing money at a rate which the producers consider acceptable, they may continue to run in the expectation that, eventually, they will pay back their initial costs and become profitable. In some borderline situations, producers may ask that royalties be temporarily reduced or waived, or even that performers with the permission of their unions take reduced salaries, in order to prevent a show from closing. Theatre owners, who are not generally profit participants in most productions, may waive or reduce rents, or even lend a show money in order to keep it running. (In one case, a theatre owner lent a floundering show money to stay open, even though the production had to move to another owner's theatre because of a previous booking at the original house.) Some Broadway shows are produced by non-commercial organizations as part of a regular subscription seasonLincoln Center Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, and Manhattan Theatre Club are the three nonprofit theatre companies that currently have permanent Broadway venues. Some other productions are produced on Broadway with "limited engagement runs" for a number of reasons, including financial issues, prior engagements of the performers or temporary availability of a theatre between the end of one production and the beginning of another. However, some shows with planned limited engagement runs may, after critical acclaim or box office success, extend their engagements or convert to open-ended runs. This was the case with 2007s.

Historically, musicals on Broadway tend to have longer runs than do "straight" (i.e. non-musical) plays. On January 9, 2006, "The Phantom of the Opera" at the Majestic Theatre became the longest running Broadway musical, with 7,486 performances, overtaking "Cats".

Touring
In addition to long runs in Broadway theatres, producers often remount their productions with a new cast and crew for the Broadway national tour, which travels to theaters in major cities across the countrythe bigger and more successful shows may have several of these touring companies out at a time, some of them "sitting down" in other cities for their own long runs. Smaller cities are eventually serviced by "bus & truck" tours, socalled because the cast generally travels by bus (instead of by air) and the sets and equipment by truck. Tours of this type, which frequently feature a reduced physical production to accommodate smaller venues and tighter schedules, often play "split weeks" (half a week in one town and the second half in another) or "one-nighters", whereas the larger tours will generally play for one or two weeks per city at a minimum. The Touring Broadway Awards, presented by The Broadway League, honor excellence in touring Broadway.

Audience
Seeing a Broadway show is a common tourist activity in New York, and Broadway theatre generates billions of dollars annually. The TKTS boothsone in Duffy Square (47th Street between Broadway and 7th Avenue) and one in Lower Manhattan (199 Water StreetCorner of Front & John Streets)sell same-day tickets for many Broadway and Off-Broadway shows at a discount of either 25%, 35% or 50%. This service helps sell seats that would otherwise go empty, and makes seeing a show in New York more affordable. Many Broadway theatres also offer special student rates, same-day "rush" or "lottery" tickets, or standing-room tickets to help ensure that their theatres are as full, and their "grosses" as high as possible. [Blank, Matthew. Some theatergoers prefer the more experimental, challenging, and intimate performances possible in smaller theatres, which are referred to as Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway (though some may be physically located on or near Broadway). An example of this would be the hit musical Spring Awakening, which began its run Off-Broadway in a small, intimate environment, and continued onto Broadway, where it still gives the similar, intimate experience. The classification of theatres is governed by language in Actors' Equity Association contracts. To be eligible for a Tony, a production must be in a house with 500 seats or more and in the Theatre District, which criteria defines Broadway theatre. Total Broadway attendance in the 2007-2008 season was 12.27 million, which was approximately the same as the previous season (2006-2007).

Tony Awards
Broadway shows and artists are honored every June when the Antoinette Perry Awards (Tony Awards) are given by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League. The "Tony" is Broadway's most prestigious award, the importance of which has increased since the annual broadcast on television began. In a strategy to improve the television ratings, celebrities are often chosen to host the show, like Hugh Jackman and Rosie O'Donnell, in addition to celebrity presenters, many with little or no connection to the theatre. While some critics have felt that the show should focus on celebrating the stage, others recognize the positive impact that famous faces lend to selling more tickets and bringing more people to the theatre. The performances from Broadway musicals on the telecast have also been cited as vital to the survival of many Broadway shows. Many theatre people, notably critic Frank Rich, dismiss the Tony awards as little more than a commercial for the limited world of Broadway, which after all can only support a maximum of two dozen shows a season, and constantly call for the awards to embrace off-Broadway theatre as well. (Other awards given to New York theatrical productions, such as the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Circle Critics Award, are not limited to Broadway productions, and honor shows that are presented throughout the city.) The United Stares was the strongest country on earth in 1945. Its factories produced half the worlds manufactured goods. It had the world's biggest air force and navy. After the United States came the Soviet Union. Soviet soldiers were the masters of all Europe from the middle of' Germany eastwards. Winston Churchill spoke of an Iron Curtain across Europe, separating these communist-ruled nations of the east from the countries of the west. Stalin knew that many Americans hated the Soviet Union 's communist way of life. He feared that the United States might drop atomic bombs on his country at any moment. The new American President, Truman, was just as suspicious of the Soviet Union. He suspected that Stalin's actions in Eastern Europe were the first steps in a plan to convert the world to communism. The United States and the Soviet Union became deeply suspicious of one another. People began to speak of a "Cold War" between them. Although the two countries were not actually fighting, they were always quarreling. Truman decided to use American power and money to "contain" Soviet influence. In 1947 he sent money and supplies to help the government of Greece to beat communist forces in a civil war. From this time on, containing communism became the main aim of the United States in dealing with the

COLD WAR

rest of the world. Containment is sometimes called the Truman Doctrine. Europe's recovery from the Second World War was painfully slow. By the summer of 1947 millions of people were still without work, without decent homes, without sufficient food. In France and Italy communist parties won lots of support by promising reforms to make things better. This worried President Truman. In the summer of 1947 his government put forward a scheme that he hoped would help Europe's people and also make communism less appealing to them. The scheme was called the Marshall Plan, after General George Marshall, the Secretary of States who announced it. The United States had plenty of all the things that Europe needed in 1947 food, fuel, raw materials, machines. The trouble was that Europe was too poor to buy them. To solve this problem Marshall offered to give European countries the goods they needed. Marshall offered help to the Soviet Union, too. But a Soviet newspaper described his scheme as "a plan for interference in the home affairs of other countries. Stalin refused to have anything to do with it. He also made sure that none of the countries on the Soviet Union's side of the Iron Curtain accepted help either. But millions of dollars' worth of American food, raw materials and machinery started to pour into Western Europe. It was like giving a dying person a blood transfusion. By the rime the Marshall Plan ended in 1952, Western Europe was back on its feet and beginning to prosper. By then containment was being tested in Asia also. The rest was taking place in Korea. Before the Second World War, Korea had been ruled by Japan. When Japan surrendered in 1945, the north of Korea was occupied by Soviet forces and the south by Americans. The boundary between the two areas was the earth's 38th parallel of latitude. In 1948 the occupation of Korea ended. The Soviet army left behind a communist government in the north and the Americans set up a government friendly to themselves in the south. Both these governments claimed the right to rule all of the country. In June 1950, the North Koreans decided to settle the matter. Their soldiers crossed the 38 parallel in a full- scale invasion of South Korea. President Truman sent American soldiers and war planes from Japan to fight for the South Koreans. Then he persuaded the United Nations Organization, which had taken the place of the pre-war League of Nations, to support his action. Sixteen nations eventually sent troops to fight in the United Nations' forces in Korea. But the war was really all American affair. At first the communist armies advanced easily. But after three months of hard fighting the Americans pushed them back across the 38th parallel and advanced deep into North Korea. By this time the American aim was no longer simply to protect South Korea. They wanted to unite all of Korea under a government friendly towards the United States. Chinese ruler Mao Zedong warned the Americans to stay back from China's borders. When his warning was ignored he sent thousands of Chinese soldiers to help the North Koreans. The Chinese drove back the advancing Americans. The Korean War dragged on for another two and a half years. It ended at last in July 1953. One reason it ended was the death of Stalin, who had been encouraging the Chinese to fight on. Another was the fact that the newly-elected President Eisenhower hinted that the Americans might use atomic weapons if the Chinese did not sign a cease-fire. The Chinese said that they had proved that nobody need be afraid of opposing the Americans. The Americans said that they had shown communists everywhere that it did not pay to try to spread their rule by force. Containment in Asia had been expensive. But the Americans felt that it had worked.

The birth of NATO

In the years after 1945 the non- communist governments of Western Europe looked uneasily at the huge Russian armies grouped just behind the barbed-wire fences of the Iron Curtain. They feared that Stalin might order his soldiers to overrun them. In February 1948, their fears increased. With Russian support a communist government took control in Czechoslovakia. Then, in June, Stalin started the blockade of Berlin. These events convinced President Truman that Western Europe needed more than economic aid. In 1949 he invited most of its nation s to join the United States in setting up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This was an alliance of nations who agreed to support one another against threats from the Russians and set up combined armed forces to do this. The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington in April 1949. The following September Americans heard the news that the Russians, too, could now make atomic bombs. This persuaded Congress to vote millions of dollars to equip NATOs armed forces. In 19S1 General Eisenhower, one of the United States' best known generals of the Second World War, was placed in command of these forces. Soon thousands of American soldiers were in Europe once more.

Airlift to Berlin
By 1948 the Western Allies were eager to rebuild the German economy. Without German industrial production and German customers for their goods other European nations were finding it very difficult to revive their own economics. But before this problem could be solved, something had to be done about German money. In 1948 this was almost worthless. An ordinary factory worker then earned between 75 and 100marks a week. One cigarette would have cost twenty-five marks.

In June 1948, the Western Allies announced that in their zones they were calling in all the old money and making a fresh start with new currency. The Russians were furious. Stalin's Foreign Minister, Molotov, had already attacked the Western plans to rebuild Germany's industries. Now he complained that the currency scheme was a plan to convert western Germany into a base for extending the influence of American imperialism in Europe. O n June 24, 1948, a few days after the new money came into use, the Russians stopped all traffic between west Germany and west Berlin. To start with they may have intended simply to persuade the Western Allies to change their economic policies. But soon they became more ambitious. They blocked all the roads, railway lines and canals between Berlin and the western zones of Germany. Their aim now was to make it impossible for the Western Allies to supply the two million people living in their sectors of Berlin with sufficient food and fuel. They hoped that this would force the Western troops and officials to go, leaving the city to the Russians. The leaders of the United States and Britain felt that they could not accept defeat in this matter. They decided to send in everything Berlin needed by air. Fleets of American and British planes began to fly in supplies. This "airlift" went on for almost a year. On its busiest day nearly 14000 aircraft landed on the city's airfields. Over two million tons o f supplies were delivered, including a daily average of 5.000 tons of coal. By the end of 1948 the Russians knew they were beaten. In February 1949, secret talks began and in May Stalin stopped the blockade. The Berlin blockade finished all hope of uniting Germany under one government. In 1949, the Western Powers joined their zones together to form the Federal German Republic, or West Germany. Stalin replied by turning the Russian zone into the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany.

BALANCE OF TERROR
The bomb exploded in a blinding burst of green-white light. The fireball at its center grew into a towering pillar of flame. A huge, colored mushroom of poisonous cloud boiled high into the sky. It was November 1952. American scientists testing a new weapon had blasted a whole uninhabited island out of the Pacific Ocean. They had exploded the first hydrogen, or H- bomb. The H -bomb was many times more destructive than the atomic, o r Abomb that destroyed Hiroshima. Just one H-bomb had 5 times the destructive power of all the bombs dropped in five years of the Second World War. By 1953 the Russians, too, had made an H-bomb. By 1957 so had the British. But only the Americans and the Russians could afford to go on making them. The fact that both the United States and the Soviet Union had H-bombs determined how they behaved towards one another for years to come. That same November of 1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower became President. Secretary of States became John Foster Dulles. Dulles was a man of strong moral convictions. He genuinely believed that communism was evil. Truman, Dulles claimed, had not been rough enough with the Soviet Union. His own idea was instead of being content simply to contain communism ("a cringing policy of the fearful." as he called it) the United Stares should set out to "liberate" nations already under communist rule. In a broadcast in 1953 he told the peoples of Eastern Europe that they could trust the United States to help them. In 1956 the people of Hungary put Dulless promise to the test. They had been under Soviet control since 1946. Now they rose in rebellion against their communist rulers. When Russian ranks rolled in to crush them they sent out desperate appeals for help. The help never came. Thousands of refugees fled across the Iron Curtain to safety in the neighboring country of Austria. "We can never believe the west again, one of them told a reporter. Dulles failed to help the Hungarians because he knew that doing so would mean war with the Soviet Union. The devastation of nuclear war was, he decided, too high a price to pay for "rolling back" the- Iron Curtain. The way Dulles dealt with the Soviet Union in the later 1950s became known as "brinkmanship." This was because he seemed ready to take the United States to the brink - the edge - of war to contain communism. Dunes backed up his brinkmanship with threats of massive retaliation. If the United States or any of its allies were attacked anywhere, he warned, the Americans would strike back. If necessary they would drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union and China. By the mid- 1950s the United States had a powerful force of nuclear bombers ready to do this. On airfields all round the world giant American planes were constantly on the alert, ready to take off at a moment's notice. Most Americans supported Dulles's massive retaliation policy at first. Then, on October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union sent into space the world's first earth satellite, the Sputnik. Sputnik did not worry the Americans. But the rocket that carried it into space did. A rocket powerful enough to do that could also carry an H-bomb to its target. The American government began to speed up work on rockets of its own. Soon it had a whole range of bombcarrying rockets called nuclear missiles. The biggest were the Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles. These were kept in underground forts all over the United States, ready to carry their deadly warheads far into the Soviet Union. The Polaris, another missile, was carried by nuclear-powered submarines cruising deep beneath the oceans.

By the end of the 1950s the United States and the Soviet Union had enough nuclear missiles to kill everybody on earth. People spoke of a balance of terror. Both Russian and American leaders came to see that in a full-scale war between their two countries there could be no winner. They would simply destroy one another. Nikita Khrushchev once said that capitalist and communist countries would only really agree "when shrimps learned to whistle." He believed that they had to try to live peacefully, side by side. In place of Cold War threats he suggested peaceful coexistence. President Eisenhower welcomed Khrushchev's talk of peaceful coexistence. He invited the Soviet leader to visit the United States. Afterwards the two men agreed to hold a summit meeting in Paris to work out solutions to some of their differences. The Paris summit never even started. As the leaders were on their way there in May 1960, a Russian missile shot down an American aircraft over the Soviet Union. It was a U-2 spy plane, specially designed to take photographs of military targets from the edge of space. Khrushchev angrily accused Eisenhower of planning for war while talking peace. He went angrily back to the Soviet Union. He seemed to be furious. But maybe he was rather pleased at having made the Americans look like hypocrites.

Crisis over Cuba

Cuba is an island nation only ninety miles from coast of the United States. In 1951 a revolutionary reformer named Fidel Castro took over its government. Cuba's banks, railroads and many other businesses were owned by Americans at this time. So, too, were many of its big sugar plantations. Castro needed money to make changes in Cuba. To obtain it he began to take over American owned businesses. In the opinion of the United States government this was stealing American property. Not only this, but Castro seemed to be organizing a communist state right on the doorstep of the United States. In 1960 President Eisenhower agreed to give weapons and ships to refugees from Cuba who wanted to overthrow Castro. When Eisenhower retired in January, 1961, the plan was supported also by the new President, John F. Kennedy. On April 17, 1961, a force of l400 anti-Castro Cubans landed at the Bay of Pigs on Cuba's south coast. Castro had ranks and 20,000 men waiting. Within days the invaders were all captured or killed. But Castro believed that Kennedy would attack again, so he asked the Sevier Union for help. Khrushchev sent him shiploads of rifles, tanks, and aircraft. Kennedy grew worried and ordered a close watch to be kept on Cuba. On Sunday, October 14, 1962, an American U-2 spy plane flew high over the island raking photographs. They showed Russian missile launching sites being built. What had happened was this: ever since the U-2 incident of 1%0 Khrushchev had been making threats against the United States. These had alarmed Kennedy. Although the Americans already had more long-range missiles than the Russians, Kennedy ordered nearly a thousand more. The new missiles tipped the "balance of terror" strongly In favor of the United States. When Castro asked for help, Khrushchev saw a chance to level up the balance of terror. He would threaten the United States from missile bases on its own doorstep- Cuba. Kennedy was shocked by the U-2 photographs. "This is the week I better earn my salary," he said grimly. Some advisers wanted him to send bombers to destroy the missile bases. He also thought about sending American soldiers to capture them. But instead he ordered American ships and aircraft to set up a blockade. They were to stop any Soviet ships carrying more missile equipment to Cuba. Kenned y then told Khrushchev to take away the Soviet missiles and destroy the bases. He warned that any missile fared from Cuba would be treated as a direct Soviet attack on the United States and ordered 156 long-range missiles aimed at the Soviet Union to be made ready to fire. For 10 terrifying days in October 1962, the world trembled on the edge of nuclear war. People waited in fear for the next news flash on their radios and televisions. Finally Khrushchev ordered his technicians in Cuba to destroy the launching sites and return the missiles to the Soviet Union. In return, Kennedy called off the blockade and promised to leave Cuba alone. Privately, he also agreed to remove American missiles sited on the border of the Soviet Union in Turkey. The most dangerous crisis of the Cold War was over.

The Berlin Wall

Just after midnight on Sunday, August 13, 1961, trucks rolled through the silent streets of East Berlin. At the border with West Berlin soldiers jumped out and blocked the streets with coils of barbed wire. By morning they had closed off all but twelve of the eighty crossing points to West Berlin. Within days workmen were replacing the barbed wire with a lasting barrier of concrete. The Berlin Wall had been born. To understand why the Berlin Wall was built we have to go back to the late 1940s. Since its formation in 1949 West Germany had prospered. By 1061 its people were among the best-off in the world. East Germans were less fortunate. Their wages were lower. They had less to buy in the shops, less chance to speak their minds. Millions fled to the West. The easiest way to do this was to catch a train from East to West Berlin and not bother to come back. By Jul y 1961, the number of East Germans making these one-way trips had risen to 10,000 a week. Many were highly skilled workers, engineers, doctors, scientists. East Germany's rulers knew that their country could never prosper without such people. They built the Wall to stop any more from leaving.

President Kennedy was not prepared to risk war by demolishing the Berlin Wall. But he made it clear that the United States would not let the communists take over West Berlin. For almost 30 years Berlin became two separate cities. It was not until 1989 that its people tore down the Wall as a first step towards re-uniting their city.

Science and Space

In 1961, Time magazine chose as its "man of the year" not a specific person but "the American Scientist." It was an indication of the widespread fascination with which Americans in the age of atomic weapons viewed science and technology. Major medical advances accounted for much of that fascination. In 1955, Jonas Salk's vaccine to prevent polio was made available to the public, free, by the federal government, and within a few years it had virtually eliminated polio from American life. Other dread diseases such as diphtheria and tuberculosis also all but vanished from society as new drugs and treatments were discovered. Infant mortality declined by nearly 50 percent in the first twenty-five years after the war; the death rate among young children declined significantly as well. Average life expectancy in those same years rose by five years, to seventy-one. The centrality of science in American life owed at least as much to other technological innovations such as the jet plane, the computer, synthetics, and new types of commercially prepared foods. But nothing better illustrated the nation's veneration of scientific expertise than the popular enthusiasm for the American space program. The program began in large part because of the Cold War. When the Soviet Union announced in 1957 that it had launched a satelliteSputnikinto outer space, the United States reacted with shock and alarm. Strenuous efforts beganto improve scientific education in the schools, to develop more research laboratories, and above all, to speed the development of America's own exploration of outer space. The centerpiece of that exploration was the manned space program, established in 1958 with the selection of the first American space pilots. For several years, the original seven "astronauts" were the nation's most widely revered heroes. The entire country sat by their televisions on May 5, 1961, as Alan Shepard became the first American launched into space (several months after a Soviet "cosmonaut," Yuri Gagarin, had made a similar flight). John Glenn, who on February 2, 1962, became the first American to orbit the globe (again, only after Gagarin had already done so), was soon an even more celebrated national idol. Yet for all the hero worship, Americans marveling at space exploration were reacting less to the individual men involved than to the enormous scientific effort that lay behind their exploits. Ultimately, some Americans began to tire of the space program, which never managed to convince everyone that it offered any practical benefits. But interest remained high as late as the summer of 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became the first men to walk on the surface of the moon. Not long after that, the government began to cut the funding for future missions. But even in leaner times, the space program continued to exercise a unique grip on the popular imagination. In the late 1970s and 1980s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) managed to revive some of the earlier enthusiasm for space exploration with the development of a reusable "space shuttle," which performed various commercial functions (such as launching communications satellites) as well as research and military ones. Early in 1986, a terrible explosion destroyed one of the shuttles shortly after it took off. Seven astronauts died. The incident sparked a wave of national grief and anguish that made clear the degree to which the space program continued to embody some of the nation's most romantic hopes.

Kennedy Space Center

The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is the NASA space vehicle launch facility and Launch Control Center (spaceport) on Merritt Island, Brevard County, Florida, United States. The site is near Cape Canaveral, midway between Miami and Jacksonville, Florida. It is 34 miles (55 km) long and around 6 miles (10 km) wide, covering 219 square miles (567 km2). A total of 13,500 people work at the site as of early 2008. There is a visitor center and public tours; KSC is a major tourist destination for visitors to Florida. Because much of KSC is a restricted area and only nine percent of the land is developed, the site also serves as an important wildlife sanctuary; Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore are also features of this area. Operations are currently controlled from Launch Complex 39, the location of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The two launch pads are 3 miles (5 km) to the east of the assembly building. The KSC Industrial Area, where many of the Center's support facilities and the administrative Headquarters Building are located, are found 5 miles (8 km) south. Kennedy Space Center's only launch operations are at Launch Complex 39, Pads A and B. All other launch operations take place at the adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), which is operated by the 45th Space Wing (45 SW) of the US Air Force.

History

Originally called the Launch Operations Center, KSC was authorized in 1958 during the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower and completed in 1962 during the administration of John F. Kennedy. In 1963, the facility received its current name following the latter President's assassination. The adjacent Cape Canaveral was also renamed Cape Kennedy, but this change was unpopular with local residents and the cape reverted to its original name by a legislative act of the State of Florida in 1973.

1960s Mercury
The announcement of the lunar program led to an expansion of operations from the Cape to the adjacent Merritt Island. NASA began acquisition in 1962, taking title to 131 square miles (340 km2) by outright purchase and negotiating with the state of Florida for an additional 87 square miles (230 km2). In July 1962, the site was named the Launch Operations Center. The buildings were initially designed by Charles Luckman. The lunar project had three stagesMercury, Gemini and Apollo. The objective of the Mercury program was: Place a manned spacecraft in orbital flight around the earth. Investigate man's performance capabilities and his ability to function in the environment of space. Recover the man and the spacecraft safely. The project started in October 1957 using the Atlas ICBM as the base to carry the Mercury payload, but early testing used the Redstone rocket for a series of suborbital flights including the 15-minute flights of Alan Shepard on May 5 and Virgil Grissom on July 21, 1961. The first human carried by an Atlas was John Glenn on February 20, 1962. While Mercury was launched by NASA, launches occurred from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as KSC was not yet developed.

Gemini
From the knowledge gained through Mercury the more complex two-man capsules of Gemini were prepared as was a new launcher based on the Titan II ICBM. The first manned flight took place on March 23, 1965, with Gus Grissom and John Young. The following mission, Gemini 4, featured the first American extravehicular activity, a "spacewalk" by Ed White. A total of twelve Gemini missions were launched from KSC, the last ten of which were manned. The final flight, Gemini 12, was launched on November 11, 1966, and concluded four days later.

Apollo
The Apollo program had another new launcherthe three-stage Saturn V (111 m high and 10 m in diameter), built by Boeing (first stage), North American Aviation (engines and second stage) and Douglas Aircraft (third stage). North American Aviation also made the command and service modules while Grumman constructed the lunar lander. IBM, MIT and GE provided instrumentation. An aerial view of the Launch Complex 39 area shows the Vehicle Assembly Building (center), with the Launch Control Center on its right. At KSC, an $800 million center was built to accommodate this new rocketLaunch Complex 39. It included a hangar to hold four Saturn V rockets, the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB,) a transportation system from the hangar to the launch pad, capable of carrying 5440 tons; a 446-foot (136 m) movable service structure and a control center. Construction began in November 1962, the launch pads were completed by October 1965, the VAB was completed in June 1965, and the infrastructure by late 1966. From 1967 through 1973, there were 13 Saturn V launches from Complex 39. Before the Saturn V launches there was a series of smaller Saturn I and IB launches, to test the men and equipment, from the Complex 34 on the Cape Canaveral site. The deaths of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee by fire on Apollo-Saturn 204 (later designated Apollo 1) on January 27, 1967 occurred at Complex 34. The first Saturn V test launch, Apollo 4 (Apollo-Saturn 501) began its 104 hour countdown on October 30, 1967 and, after delays, was launched on November 9. Apollo 7 was the first manned test on October 11, 1968 (on a Saturn IB). Apollo 8, the first manned Saturn V launch, made 10 lunar orbits on December 24-25, 1968. Apollo 9 and Apollo 10 tested the lunar lander. Apollo 11 was launched on July 16, 1969 and the Moon was walked on at 10:56 pm EDT, July 20.

1970s
The Apollo program continued at KSC, with Apollo 13 in 1970 which was crippled in a explosion which thus it was called a "Successful Failure", Apollo 14 in 1971, the 24th US manned space flight (40th in the world), and ended with Apollo 17 in December 1972. The Air Force chose to expand the capabilities of the Titan launch vehicles for its heavy lift capabilities. It constructed Launch Complexes 40 and 41 to launch Titan III and Titan IV rockets at CCAFS, just south of Kennedy Space Center. A Titan III has about the same payload capacity as a Saturn IB with a considerable cost saving. Launch Complexes 40 and 41 were used to launch defense reconnaissance, communications and weather

satellites and NASA planetary missions. The Air Force also planned to launch two manned space projects from LC 40 and 41. They were the Dyna-Soar, a manned orbital rocket plane (cancelled in 1963), and the Manned Orbital Laboratory, a manned reconnaissance space station (cancelled in 1969). ELV rocket development also continued at KSCbefore Apollo, an Atlas-Centaur launched from Launch Complex 36 placed the first American Surveyor lander softly on the Moon on May 30, 1966. A further five out of seven Surveyor craft were also successfully transferred to the Moon. From 1974-1977 the powerful Titan-Centaur became the new heavy lift vehicle for NASA, launching the Viking and Voyager series of spacecraft from Launch Complex 41, an Air Force site lent to NASA. Complex 41 later became the launch site for the most powerful unmanned U.S. rocket, the Titan IV, developed for the Air Force. The Saturn V was also used to put the Skylab space station in orbit in 1973. Launchpad 39B was slightly modified for Saturn IB use, and launched three manned missions to Skylab in 1973, as well as the Apollo component of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975.

1980s
KSC is now the launch site for the Space Shuttle, reusing the Complex 39 Apollo infrastructure. The first launch was of Columbia on April 12, 1981. KSC also has a landing site for the orbiter, the 2.9 mile (4.6 km) Shuttle Landing Facility. However, the first end-of-mission Shuttle landing at KSC did not take place until February 11, 1984, when Challenger completed STS-41-B; the primary landing site had until that time been Edwards Air Force Base in California. Twenty-five flights had been completed by September 1988, with a long hiatus from January 28, 1986, to September 29, 1988, following the Challenger disaster (which was the first shuttle launch from Pad 39B). The designations for flights at Kennedy Space Center after Challenger were STS-26R through STS-33R. Mission numbers at Kennedy Space Center were sometimes different than at Johnson Space Center.

2000s
In September 2004, parts of Kennedy Space Center were damaged by Hurricane Frances. The Vehicle Assembly Building lost 1,000 exterior panels, each 3.9 x 9.8 ft (approx. 1.2 x 3.0 m) in size. This exposed 39,800 sq ft (3,700 m2) of the building to the elements. Damage occurred to the south and east sides of the VAB. The Space Shuttle tile manufacturing facility suffered extensive damage. The roof was partially torn off and the interior suffered extensive water damage. Further damage to KSC was caused by Hurricane Wilma in October 2005. The Central Florida area receives more lightning strikes than any other place in the U.S., causing NASA to spend millions of dollars to avoid strikes during launch. The first lightning strike on the launchpad happened in 2006, during Hurricane Ernesto. This happened while NASA had to reprieve the Space Shuttle mission STS-115. In the future, Kennedy Space Center will be the launch site for the Ares I and Ares V rockets, which carry the Orion spacecraft.

Visitor complex
The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, operated by Delaware North Companies, is home to a number of museums, a simulation ride into space, two IMAX theatres, and a range of bus tours allowing visitors a closer look at various restricted areas that would otherwise not be possible. Base admission for people over age 12 is $38. Included in the base admission is tour-bus transportation into the restricted area to an observation gantry on the grounds of Launch Complex 39, and to the Apollo-Saturn V Center. The observation gantry provides unobstructed views of both launch pads and all of Kennedy Space Center property. The Apollo-Saturn V Center is a large museum built around its centerpiece exhibit, a restored Saturn V launch vehicle, and features other space related exhibits, including an Apollo capsule. Two theaters allow the visitor to relive parts of the Apollo program. One simulates the environment inside an Apollo-era firing room during an Apollo launch, and another simulates the Apollo 11 landing. The tour also includes a visit to a building where modules for the International Space Station are tested. The Visitor Complex also includes two facilities run by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation. The most visible of these is the Space Mirror Memorial, also known as the Astronaut Memorial, a huge black granite mirror through-engraved with the names of all astronauts who died in the line of duty. These names are constantly illuminated from behind, with natural light when possible, and artificial light when necessary. The glowing names seem to float in a reflection of the sky. Supplemental displays nearby give the details of the lives and deaths of the astronauts memorialized. Elsewhere on the Visitor Complex grounds is the Foundation's Center for Space Education, which includes a resource center for teachers, among other facilities.

Moon landing
A moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of a planet's natural satellite, and in this case, refers specifically to landings on the lunar surface of Earth's Moon. This includes both manned and unmanned (robotic) missions.

Manned landings

Since this was during the time of the Cold War, the contest to be the first on the Moon was one of the most visible facets of the Space Race. The United States space agency NASA achieved the first manned landing on Earth's Moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission commanded by Neil Armstrong. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong landed the lunar module Eagle on the surface of the Moon with a companion, while the third astronaut orbited above. Armstrong was the first human to set foot on the moon, with Buzz Aldrin being the second. Armstrong and Aldrin spent a day on the surface of the Moon before returning to Earth. NASA carried out six manned moon landings between 1969 and 1972.

First Moon walk

Although the official NASA flight plan called for a crew rest period before extra-vehicular activity, Armstrong requested that the EVA be moved earlier in the evening, Houston time. Once Armstrong and Aldrin were ready to go outside, Eagle was depressurized, the hatch was opened and Armstrong made his way down the ladder first. He placed his left foot on the surface at 2:56 UTC July 21, 1969, then spoke the following words: "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind" Armstrong's first words were declared after he said "I'm going to step off the LM now." He then turned and set his boot on the surface. When Armstrong made his proclamation, Voice of America was rebroadcast live via the BBC and many other stations the world over. The global audience at that moment was estimated at 450 million listeners,out of a then estimated world population of 3.631 billion people. The simple "one small step..." statement came from a train of thought that Armstrong had after launch and during the hours after landing. About 15 minutes after the first step, Aldrin joined Armstrong on the surface and became the second human to set foot on the Moon. The duo began their tasks of investigating how easily a person could operate on the lunar surface. Early on they also unveiled a plaque commemorating their flight, and also planted the flag of the United States. The flag used on this mission had a metal rod to hold it horizontal from its pole. Since the rod did not fully extend, and the flag was tightly folded and packed during the journey, the flag ended up with a slightly wavy appearance, as if there were a breeze. On Earth there had been some discussion as to whether it was appropriate to plant the flag at all, something about which Armstrong did not care. He did think that any flag should have been left to drape as it would on Earth, but decided it wasn't worth making a big deal about. Slayton had warned Armstrong that they would receive a special communication, but did not tell him that President Richard Nixon would contact them just after the flag planting. Aldrin later gave the flag planting and subsequent phone call from President Nixon as reasons why there were no intentional photographs of Armstrong. In the entire Apollo 11 photographic record, there are only five images of Armstrong partly shown or reflected. Aldrin said plans were to take a photo of Armstrong after the famous image of Aldrin was taken, but they were interrupted by the Nixon communication. There were just over five minutes between these two events. The mission was planned to the minute, with the majority of photographic tasks to be performed by Armstrong with their single Hasselblad camera.

Return to Earth
After re-entering the lunar module (LM), the hatch was closed and sealed. While preparing for the liftoff from the lunar surface, Armstrong and Aldrin discovered that in their bulky spacesuits, they had broken the ignition switch for the ascent engine. The ascent engine had no switch to fire. Using part of a pen, they pushed the circuit breaker in to activate the launch sequence. Aldrin still possesses the pen which they used to do this.(Aldrin has it kept in a glass case for all to see) The lunar module then continued to its rendezvous and docked with Columbia, the command and service module, and returned to Earth. The command module splashed down in the Pacific ocean and the Apollo 11 crew was picked up by the USS Hornet (CV-12). After being released from an 18-day quarantine to ensure that they had not picked up any infections or diseases from the Moon, the crew were feted across the United States and around the world as part of a 45-day "Giant Leap" tour. Armstrong then took part in Bob Hope's 1969 USO show, primarily to Vietnam, where some soldiers asked questions about how a man could be sent to the Moon while they were still stuck fighting the war[citation needed]. Tabloid newspapers printed stories that romantically linked Armstrong to Connie Stevens who was also on the tour, but the reports were unsubstantiated.

The First Moon Landing (20 July 1969)

A milestone in human history was reached on July 20, 1969 (U.S. Eastern Daylight Time), when two American astronauts, Mr. Neil Armstrong and Colonel Edwin Aldrin, became the first men to set foot on the moon, successfully accomplishing the objective of the Apollo 11 mission. The lunar landing, which was made in the Sea of Tranquillity and is described below, marked the culmination of eight years of intensive effort by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, involving the expenditure of $24,000,000,000, since the late President Kennedy gave the directive in May 1961 that the United States should land a man on the moon and bring him back "before this decade is out."

The three astronauts of the historic Apollo 11 moon flight were Mr. Neil A. Armstrong (38), a civilian and a former aeronautical research pilot, who was in command of the mission as Flight Commander; Colonel Edwin E. Aldrin (39), who was Lunar Module Pilot; and Lieut.-Colonel Michael Collins (38), who was Command Module Pilot. A little over 6 1/2 hours after the landing on the moon, Mr. Armstrong emerged through the hatch of "Eagle" and stepped slowly down a nine-rung ladder on to the lunar surface, taking several minutes to descend. At the historic moment--10.56 p.m. on July 20 (3.56 a.m. B.S.T. July 21)--when he was about to become the first man to set foot on the moon, Neil Armstrong said: "I'm going to step off the LM now. That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." After carefully testing the lunar surface and reporting to mission control at Houston, Mr. Armstrong started to collect samples of moon-surface material with a "contingency sampler"--a 25-inch aluminium handler with a bag at the end, somewhat similar to a butterfly-net. Colonel Aldrin, who had meanwhile been taking cine-pictures of Mr. Armstrong through the window of the Lunar Module, then descended in his turn to the surface of the moon at 11.14 p.m., 18 minutes after Neil Armstrong. Before his descent Colonel Aldrin lowered a camera down to Mr. Armstrong, who took pictures of Edwin Aldrin descending the ladder on to the surface of the moon. Mr. Armstrong then moved to the storage compartment in the descent stage of "Eagle," pulled out a TV camera, and placed it about 30 feet away from the module; with this camera pictures were obtained of all the astronauts' subsequent activities while they were on the moon. During the 2 1/2 hours in which they remained on the lunar surface (the "moon walk") Mr. Armstrong and Colonel Aldrin unveiled the plaque, signed by the three Apollo 11 astronauts and by President Nixon, the text of which is given on unfurled and planted on the moon a large American flag made of wire-backed nylon and measuring three feet by five feet; erected a solar wind screen (a NASA experiment), a banner-like sheet of thin aluminium foil to collect particles from the solar wind; installed a seismometer to register moonquakes and transmit the information obtained back to Earth; placed a laser reflector to be used for very precise measurements of the moon's orbital and rotational motions; and scooped up about 80 lb. of moon rock and moon soil, which was stowed in special containers to be brought back to Earth

The Space Race

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. President Kennedy's proposal in May 1961 that the United States should send a mall to the moon was eagerly welcomed by politicians and the American people. Soon work had begun on the Apollo pro gram: as the project was named. The Apollo program was another move in the "space race" between the United States and the Soviet Union. The costs of this race were enormous. But there were two important reasons why both the Americans and the Russians were willing to pay them. First, there was the question of international prestige - of gaining the respect of the rest of the world by achieving something calling for immense scientific and technical skill. Secondly, both Americans and Russians felt that to let the other side get too far ahead in space technology would endanger their security. Earth orbiting satellites could be used to take spy photographs. More frightening still, rockets capable of carrying people into space could also be used to carry nuclear warheads. Up to the mid- 1960s each side matched the other's achievements in the space race. But then the Americans started to draw ahead. Finally, they were ready for the mission to put the first men on the moon Apollo 11. The Apollo 11 spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral on the coast of Florida. It carried three men as its crew - Neil Armstrong, Edward "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins. The firs t two would pilot the section of the spacecraft that would actually land on the moon's surface, the lunar module. Collins had the job of circling the moon in the other section of the spacecraft, the command module, waiting for their return. The final countdown started five days before blast off. At last, on July 16, 1969, burning 4,5 tons of fuel a second, a huge 5,000 ton rocket rose slowly from its launching pad on a roaring column of flame. Five days later millions of television viewers all over the world watched Armstrong and Aldrin step down all to the surface of the moon. The two men spent three hours collecting rock samples and setting up scientific instruments on the moon's surface to send information back to earth after they left. Then they rejoined Collins in the command module. Three days later they splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean and helicopters carried them off to a heroes welcome.

Nuclear Energy
Going into the second half of the 20 century, the strong United States lead in applied science and technology was broadened to encompass many areas of theoretical science. These include nuclear physics, genetics, space exploration and the manipulation of light. One of the most spectacular and controversial
th

achievements of USA science and technology has been the harnessing of nuclear energy. This achievement was based on scientific concepts developed since the beginning of the 20th century. The concepts were provided by scientists of many lands. But the scientific and technological effort needed to turn abstract ideas into the reality of nuclear fission was provided in the USA during the early 1940s. Nuclear fission is the generation of energy by splitting the nuclei of certain atoms. The idea of nuclear fission can be traced back to the work of Lord Rutherford and Frederick Soddy between 1901 and 1906. The two British scientists studied the makeup of the atomic nucleus and concluded that a great store of energy was locked in each nucleus. Soddy suggested that someday that enormous energy might be released. Fear that such an atomic was might occur swept through the international scientific community in 1938. Nuclear physicists soon realized the significance of this event. Einstein (German/Jewish), Fermi (Italian) and Szilard (Hungarian) had fled to the USA to escape persecution in National Socialist and Fascist Italy. And they feared that the Nazis would develop an atomic bomb. In August 1939 Einstein wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt explaining that the element uranium might be turned into a great source of energy. He warned that extremely powerful bombs of a new type may thus be constructed This warning led to the Manhattan project the USA efforts to build an atomic bomb. Milestones in this effort included achievement of the worlds first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction by Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago in Dec. 1942. Various success in developing peaceful uses of the atom nuclear power, nuclear medicine and a new understanding of physics have demonstrated means creative use of this scientific breakthrough, which offers a message of hope to balance against our shared anxiety about the destructive potential of nuclear weapons.

Hiroshima 1945: right or wrong?

At fifteen minutes past eight on the morning of August 6, l945, an American B25 bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Forty five seconds later the bomb exploded in a blinding flash. A mushroom- shaped cloud climbed high into the sky above the city. Below, where Hiroshima had been, burned a ball of fire. It was 1800 feet across and the temperature at its center was 100 million degrees. The war's over! shouted one of the bomber's crew. My God, said another, "what have we done?" President Truman ordered the atomic bomb to be used. He believed that using it saved lives by ending the war quickly. At the time, and since, people haw argued fiercely about whether he was right. Some believe that he was. Without Hiroshima, they say, the Americans would have had to invade Japan to end the war. Many more people than died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, both Japanese and American, would then have been killed. Other people do not accept this reasoning. They argue that the Japanese government was ready to surrender before the bombings. More than half a century after the destruction of Hiroshima, the argument still continues.

HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI: THE DEVASTATION OF ATOMIC BOMBS, 1945

The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were written indelibly into the pages of history when the former on August 6, 1945, and the latter on August 10, became the targets of U. S. atomic bombs. Though he felt compelled to issue the order for the attacks, President Truman was deeply concerned about their results, as well as the impact of earlier U. S. air assaults on Japan. On August 15, he ordered the United States Strategic Bombing Survey to make a comprehensive study of the situation. The following portions of the Survey report deal with the destruction wrought by the two atomic bombs. A single atomic bomb, the first weapon of its type ever used against a target, exploded over the city of Hiroshima at 08:15 on the morning of 6 August 1945. Most of the industrial workers had already reported to work and nearly all the school children and some industrial employees were at work in the open on the program of building removal to provide fire-breaks and disperse valuables to the country. The attack came 45 minutes after the "all clear" had been sounded from a previous alert. Because of the lack of warning and the populace's indifference to small groups of planes, the explosion came as an almost complete surprise, and the people had not taken shelter. Many were caught in the open, and most of the rest in flimsily constructed homes or commercial establishments. The bomb exploded slightly northwest of the center of the city. Because of this accuracy and the flat terrain and circular shape of the city, Hiroshima was uniformly and extensively devastated. Practically the entire densely or moderately built-up portion of the city was leveled by blast and swept by fire. A "firestorm," a phenomenon which has occurred infrequently in other conflagrations, developed in Hiroshima: fires springing up almost simultaneously over the wide flat area around the center of the city drew in air from all directions. The inrush of air easily overcame the natural ground wind, which had a velocity of only about 5 miles per hour. The "fire-wind" attained a maximum velocity of 30 to 40 miles per hour 2 to 3 hours after the explosion. The "firewind" and the symmetry of the built-up center of the city gave a roughly circular shape to the 4.4 square miles which were almost completely burned out.

The surprise, the collapse of many buildings, and the conflagration contributed to an unprecedented casualty rate. Seventy to eighty thousand people were killed, or missing and presumed dead, and an equal number were injured. The magnitude of casualties is set in relief by a comparison with the Tokyo fire raid of 910 March 1945, in which, though nearly 16 square miles were destroyed, the number killed was no larger, and fewer people were injured. At Nagasaki, 3 days later, the city was scarcely more prepared, though vague references to the Hiroshima disaster had appeared in the newspaper of 8 August. From the Nagasaki Prefectural Report on the bombing, something of the shock of the explosion can be inferred: The day was clear with not very much wind an ordinary midsummer's day. The strain of continuous air attack on the city's population and the severity of the summer had vitiated enthusiastic air raid precautions. Previously, a general alert had been sounded at 07:48, with a raid alert of 0:750; this was canceled at 08:30, and the alertness of the people was dissipated by a great feeling of relief. The city remained on the warning alert, but when two B29's were again sighted coming in the raid signal was not given immediately; the bomb was dropped at 11:02 and the raid signal was given a few minutes later, at 11:09. Thus only about 400 people were in the city's tunnel shelters, which were adequate for about 30 percent of the population. When the atomic bomb exploded, an intense flash was observed first, as though a large amount of magnesium had been ignited, and the scene grew hazy with white smoke. At the same time at the center of the explosion, and a short while later in other areas, a tremendous roaring sound was heard and a crushing blast wave and intense heat were felt. The people of Nagasaki, even those who lived on the outer edge of the blast, all felt as though they had sustained a direct hit, and the whole city suffered damage such as would have resulted from direct hits everywhere by ordinary bombs. The zero area, where the damage was most severe, was almost completely wiped out and for a short while after the explosion no reports came out of that area. People who were in comparatively damaged areas reported their condition under the impression that they had received a direct hit. If such a great amount of damage could be wreaked by a near miss, then the power of the atomic bomb is unbelievably great. In Nagasaki, no fire storm arose, and the uneven terrain of the city confined the maximum intensity of damage to the valley over which the bomb exploded. The area of nearly complete devastation was thus much smaller; only about 1.8 square miles. Casualties were lower also; between 35,000 and 40,000 were killed, and about the same number injured. People in the tunnel shelters escaped injury, unless exposed in the entrance shaft. . . . [In Hiroshima] in the 30 percent of the population killed and the additional 30 percent seriously injured were included corresponding proportions of the civic authorities and rescue groups. A mass flight from the city took place, as persons sought safety from the conflagration and a place for shelter and food. Within 24 hours, however, people were streaming back by the thousands in search of relatives and friends and to determine the extent of their property loss. Road blocks had to be set up along all routes leading into the city, to keep curious and unauthorized people out. The bulk of the dehoused population found refuge in the surrounding countryside; within the city the food supply was short and shelter virtually nonexistent. . . . By 1 November, the population of Hiroshima was back to 137,000. The city required complete rebuilding. The entire heart, the main administrative and commercial as well as residential section, was gone. In this area only about 50 buildings, all of reinforced concrete, remained standing. All of these suffered blast damage and all save about a dozen were almost completely gutted by fire; only 5 could be used without major repairs. These burnt-out structural frames rose impressively from the ashes of the burned-over section where occasional piles of rubble or twisted steel skeletons marked the location of brick- or steel-frame structures. At greater distances light steel-frame and brick structures remained undamaged. Blast damage to wood-frame buildings and to residences extended well beyond the burned-over area, gradually becoming more erratic and spotty as distances were reached where only the weakest buildings were damaged, until in the outer portions of the city only minor disturbances of the tile roofs or breakage of glass were visible. The official Japanese figures summed up the building destruction at 62,000 out of a total of 90,000 buildings in the urban area, or 69 percent. An additional 6,000 or 6.6 percent were severely damaged, and most of the others showed glass breakage or disturbance of roof tile. . . . Such a shattering event could not fail to have its impact on people's ways of thinking. Prior to the dropping of the atomic bombs, the people of the two target cities appear to have had fewer misgivings about the war than the people in other cities. There is no doubt that the bomb was the most important influence among the people of these areas in making them think that defeat was inevitable. Other reactions were found. In view of their experiences, it is not remarkable that some of the survivors (nearly one-fifth) hated the Americans for using the bomb or expressed their anger in such terms as "cruel," "inhuman," and "barbarous." . .

The reaction of hate and anger is not surprising. Despite this factor, the frequency of hostile sentiments seems low. There is evidence that some hostility was turned against their own Government, either before or after the surrender, although only a few said they wondered why their nation could not have made the bomb. In many instances the reaction was simply one of resignation. A common comment was, "Since it was war, it was just shikataga-nai (too bad)." Admiration for the bomb was more frequently expressed than anger. Over one-fourth of the people in the target cities and surrounding area said they were impressed by its power and by the scientific skill which underlay its discovery and production. The Allied Powers were trying to break the fighting spirit of the Japanese people and their leaders, not just of the resident of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The atomic bombings considerably speeded up these political maneuverings within the government. This in itself was partly a morale effect, since there is ample evidence that members of the Cabinet were worried by the prospect of further atomic bombings, especially on the remains of Tokyo. The bombs did not convince the military that defense of the home islands was impossible, if their behavior in Government councils is adequate testimony. It did permit the Government to say, however, that no army without the weapon could possibly resist an enemy who had it, thus saving "face" for the Army leaders and not reflecting on the competence of Japanese industrialists or the valor of the Japanese soldier. In the Supreme War Guidance Council voting remained divided, with the war minister and the two chiefs of staff unwilling to accept unconditional surrender. There seems little doubt, however, that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki weakened their inclination to oppose the peace group. The peace effort culminated in an Imperial conference held on the night of 9 August and continued into the early hours of 10 August, for which the stage was set by the atomic bomb and the Russian war declaration. At this meeting the Emperor, again breaking his customary silence, stated specifically that he wanted acceptance of the Potsdam terms. A quip was current in high Government circles at this time that the atomic bomb was the real Kamikaze, since it saved Japan from further useless slaughter and destruction. It is apparent that in the atomic bomb the Japanese found the opportunity which they had been seeking, to break the existing deadlock within the Government over acceptance of the Potsdam terms.

THE VIETNAM YEARS

One of the landmarks of Washington D .C. is a massive building of white marble. It is a memorial to Abraham Lincoln. Close by, almost hidden in a hollow in the ground, stands another memorial. This memorial is to many men. It is a long wall of polished black marble and on it are carved many thousands of names. The names are those of young Americans who died in the Vietnam War. Vietnam is in Southeast Asia. Like Korea, Vietnam was then divided in two. Communists ruled the North and non-communists the South. The next step was supposed to be the election of one government for the whole country. Bur the election never took place - mainly because the government of South Vietnam feared that Ho Chi Minh and his communists would win. Ho Chi Minh set out to unite Vietnam by war. He ordered sabotage and terrorism against South Vietnam. As part of their worldwide plan to contain communism, the Americans sent weapons and advisers to the government of South Vietnam. Containment was especially important to the Americans in Vietnam. This was because of an idea that President Eisenhower called the domino theory. The domino theory went like this: Asia has a lot of unsettled countries. If one of them - Vietnam, say- fell under communist rule, others would follow. They would be knocked over one by one, like a line of falling dominoes. Americans were especially afraid that communist China might try to lake control in Southeast Asia as the Soviet Union had done in eastern Europe. So, in 1950s and early 1960s, first President Eisenhower and then President Kennedy poured American money and weapons into South Vietnam. Kennedy sent soldiers, too- not to fight, but to advise and train the South Vietnamese forces. By the early 1960s, however, it was clear that the government of South Vietnam was losing the war. Ho Chi Minh had a guerilla army of 100, 000 men fighting in South Vietnam by then. These guerillas were called the Vietcong. Many were communists from the North who had marched into the South along secret jungle trails. By 1965, the Vietcong controlled large areas of South Vietnam. The countrys American- backed government was close to collapse. By now the United States had a new President Johnson. Johnson faced a difficult choice. He could leave Vietnam and let the communists take over, or he could send in American soldiers to try to stop them. Johnson was too worried about the domino theory - and too proud - to make the first choice. He had already ordered American aircraft to bomb railways and bridges in North Vietnam. Now he sent in American soldiers. By 1968 over 500,000 were fighting In South Vietnam. The

Russians and the Chinese sent more weapons and supplies to Ho Chi Minh. Thousands more of his communist troops marched south to do battle with the Americans. The Vietnam War was one of ambushes and sudden attacks. After an attack the Vietcong would melt away in the jungle, or turn into peaceful villagers. Ordinary villagers helped and protected the Vietcong. Sometimes they did this out of fear, sometimes out of sympathy. The people are the water, our armies are the fish. one Vietcong leader said. A guerilla war like this meant that the Americans often had no enemy to strike back at. As one soldier put it, to find the Vietcong was "like trying to identify tears in bucket of water." American fighting men grew angry and frustrated. They sprayed vast areas of countryside with deadly chemicals to destroy the Vietcong's supply trails. They burned down villages which were suspected of sheltering Vietcong soldiers. But the fighting went on. It continued even when Johnson stepped up or "escalated" the war by bombing cities in North Vietnam to try to force the communists to make peace. Film reports of the suffering in Vietnam were shown all over the world on television. For the first time in history people far away from any fighting were able to see m their own homes the horror and cruelty of modern war. Millions began to believe that the Americans were cruel and bullying monsters. The war caused bitter disagreements in the United States. Countless families lost sons, brothers, and husbands in Vietnam. By the end of the 1960s many Americans were sick and ashamed of the killing and the destruction. President Johnson saw that by sending American soldiers to fight in Vietnam he had led the United States into a trap. The war was destroying his country's good name in the world and setting its people against one another. In 1968 he stopped the bombing of North Vietnam and started to look for ways of making peace. In 1969 Richard Nixon was elected to replace Johnson as President. Like Johnson, he wanted to end the Vietnam War. But he, too, wanted to do so without the Americans looking as if they had been beaten. Nixon worked out a plan to achieve this. He called it the "Vietnamization" of the war. He set out to strengthen the South Vietnamese army to make it seem strong enough to defend South Vietnam without help. This gave him an excuse to start withdrawing American fighting men from Vietnam. Nixon then sent Henry Kissinger, his adviser on foreign affairs, to secret talks with North Vietnamese and Russian leaders in Moscow. In return for a ceasefire he offered to withdraw all American troops from Vietnam within six months. When the North Vietnamese were slow to agree he started bombing their cities again in order to "persuade" them. A sort Of agreement was finally put together in January 1973. By March 1973, the last American soldiers had left Vietnam. But the real end of the Vietnam War came in May 1975. As frightened Vietnamese supporters of the Americans scrambled for the last places on rescue helicopters, victorious communist tanks rolled into Saigon, the capital city of South Vietnam . The communists marked their victory by given Saigon a new name. They called it Ho Chi Minh City. In Korea. twenty years earlier, the Americans had claimed that they had made containment work. In Vietnam they knew, and so did everyone else, that they had failed.

Death at Kent State

Kent Stare University is in Ohio. In 1970, after riots there in protest against the- war in Vietnam, any further demonstrations were banned. When a group of about 1000 students defied the ban, they were fired on by soldiers. A ten-second burst of rifle fire killed four students and wounded another ten. The Kent State tragedy showed how deeply the Vietnam War was dividing the American people. After all, bullets against a gang of unarmed kids, said a student. "Too much, man, too much!" But when another student asked a passerby why he was holding up his hand with four fingers extended, he was told that it meant "This time we got four of you bastards; next time we'll get more." "The volley of gunfire served its purpose," said a writer to a local newspaper. " It broke up a riot and I say the same method should be used again and again. " But most Americans we re shocked by the killings and many were ashamed. They agreed with the father of one of the dead students, a girl named Allison Krause, when he asked bitterly, "Have we come to such a state in this country that a young girl has to be shot because she disagrees deeply with the actions of her government?"

Bob Dylan
Songs of protest have played a part in American life for many years. These have been songs about the concerns of farmers, miners, cowboys, union members. All have had a common purpose to express and to relieve people's feelings on subjects that are important to them. Their writers and performers have sometimes hoped that the songs might even help to change people's attitudes. In the 1960s a young writer and singer named Bob Dylan used protest songs to support the anti-war movement of the time. By the 1970s Dylan had become a very popular-and very rich international entertainer. But in the 1960s he was more than this. For many young people he was the voice of the conscience of their generation. His lyrics, often set to old runes, were ironic comments on what he saw as the deceit and hypocrisy of those who held power. These verses from his song With God on Our Side are typical:

EDUCATION IN THE USA

Education in the US comprises three basic levels: primary, secondary and higher education. Vocational training, adult education, school of classes for special types of children, and kindergartens also form part of the program in most states. Parents may choose whether to send their children to their local free public schools, or private schools which charge fees. The organization and curricula of private schools and colleges are similar to those of public schools although the administration differs. The vast majority of students at the primary and secondary levels go to public schools (see page connected with differences) Most of those who attend private schools attend church sponsored parochial schools. The school year is usually nine months, from early September to mid- June. The common pattern of organization, referred to as the 6-3-3 plan, includes elementary school in grades 1 through 6, junior high school in grades seven through nine and senior high school in grades ten through twelve. Today, unified systems operating both elementary and secondary schools most commonly use the 6-3-3 plan or a 6-2-4 variation. However, many variations on the pattern exist in the US.

Preschool education
A child's introduction to formal education is usually in kindergarten classes operated in most public school systems. Many systems also preside nursery schools. The age group is commonly 4 and 5 years. These preschool education programs maintain a close relationship with the home and parents, and aim to give children useful experiences which will prepare them for elementary school. The programs are flexible and are designed to help the child grow in self-reliance, learn to get along with others, and form word to play habits.

Elementary school
The main purpose of elementary school is the general intellectual and social development of the child from six to twelve or fifteen years of age. Curricula vary with the organization and educational aims of individual schools and communities. The more or less traditional program consists of teaching prescribed subject matter. Promotion from one grade to the next is based on the pupil's achievement of the specified skills in reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, history, geography, music and art.

High education
Most pupils follow a course that includes English, science social studies, mathematics and physical education. Elective subjects may be chosen in the fields of foreign languages, fine arts and vocational training. Pupils usually select about half of their work in grades nine through twelve. During the 7, 8 and 9 grades, guidance counseling is important as the pupils begin to plan their careers and select subjects that will be useful in their chosen work. Guidance counseling countries throughout the center high school years and into c program is designed to prepare students for college. Among the subjects added to the foundational are more advanced math and science courses and foreign languages. The vocational program may give training in four fields AGRICULTURAL education, which prepares the students for fare management and operation; BUSINESS education, which trains students for the commercial field; HOME ECOMOMICS, which trains students for home management, child care and care of the sick; and TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL education, which provides training for jobs in mechanical, manufacturing, building and other trades. Their program prepares students either for employment or further training. The third program, a general or comprehensive program, provides features of the academic and vocational types. Its introductory courses give an appreciation of the various trades and industrial arts rather than train students for specific job. Those who do not expect to go to college or enter a particular trade immediately, but who want the benefits of schooling and a high school diploma, often follow the general course. Most young Americans graduate from school with a high school diploma upon satisfactory completion of a specified number of courses. Students are usually graded from A(excellent) to F(failing) in each course they take on the of performance in tests given at intervals throughout the year, participation in class discussions and completion of written and oral assignments. Locally development end-of-the-year examinations are given in many schools. Students receive "report cards" at least twice a year, but in some school districts, up to six times; this "report cards" indicate the grades they have received in each of the subjects they are studying. High schools maintain a school "transcript" which summarizes the courses taken and the grades obtained for each student. Many students, upon finishing high school, choose to continue their education. Community colleges, also known as junior colleges, offer two-year programs. They are public schools and the tuition costs are usually low. Colleges and universities have 4-year programs leading to a bachelor's degree; as well as, in many cases future programs leading to higher degrees. These schools may be public or private; private schools cost a lot more. U.S. colleges and universities have many students from around the world, especially from Asia. We already have some basic ideas of the system of high education in the U.S.: about the school year, basic and elective subjects. And now let's talk about a small, but important feature- about the process itself. Almost all the Americans are the great patriots of their country, so patriotism is trained since childhood. Most of American youth think that to be patriot is the latest craze. On every holiday celebrated in the U.S. such as Washington's Birthday (02 22), Columbus Day (Oct.) pay great attention and usually pupils take part in some activities, make some historical performances. Well in whole

people of the U.S. usually pay attention to their history, so the pupils are taught the history if the country, the deeds of some outstanding persons starting from Washington and finishing with Florenz Zeigfeld.

Higher education
Higher education starts when young people are 18. They often can choose from different colleges & universities. Out of more than three million students who graduate from high school each year, about one million go on for higher education. A college at a leading university might receive applications from two percent of these high school graduates, and then accept only one out of every ten who apply. Successful applicants at such colleges are usually chosen on the basis of their school records, recommendations from their high school teachers or scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests or SATs. The system of higher education in the U.S. comprises three categories of institutions: the university, which may contain: a) a several colleges for undergraduate students seeking a bachelor's degree (4-year) and b ) one or more graduate schools for those continuing in specialized studies beyond the bachelor's degree to obtain a master's or a doctoral degree the technical training institutions at which high school graduates may take courses ranging from 6 months to 4 years in duration and learn a wide variety of technical skills, from hair styling through business accounting to computer programming the two-year, or community college, from which students may enter many professions or may transfer to 4- year colleges Any of these institutions, in any category, might be either public or private, depending on the source of its funding. Some universities and colleges have, over time, gained reputations for offering particularly challenging courses and for providing their students with a higher quality of education. The factors determining whether an institution is one of the best or one of the lower prestige are quality of the teaching faculty; quality of research facilities; amount of funding available for libraries, special programs, etc; and the competence and number of applicants for admission, i. e. how selective the institution can be choosing its students. The most selective are the old private north-eastern universities, commonly known as the League, include Harvard Radcliff (Cambridge, Mass., in the urban area of Boston), Yale University,(New Haven, Conn. between Boston and New York), Columbia College (New York), Princeton University(New Jersey), Brown University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, University of Pennsylvania. With their traditions and long established reputations they occupy a position in American university life rather like Oxbridge (see page about further education in GB) in England, particularly Harvard and Yale. The Ivy League Universities are famous for their graduate schools, which have become intellectual elite centers. In defense of using the exams as criteria for admission, administrators say that the SATs provide a fair way for deciding whom to admit when they have ten or twelve applicants for every first-year student seat. In addition to learning about a college/ university's entrance requirements and the fees, Americans must also know the following: Professional degrees such as Bachelor of Law or LL.A. or a Bachelor of Divinity or B.D. take additional three years of study and require first a B.A. or B.S. to be earned by a student. Gradual schools in America award Master's and Doctor's degrees in both the arts and sciences. Tuition for these programs is high. The courses for most graduate degrees can be completed in two or four years. A thesis is required for a Master's degree; a Doctor's degree requirements a minimum of two years of course work beyond the Master's degree level, success in a qualifying exams, proficiency in one or two foreign languages and/or in a research tool(such as statistics) and completion of a doctoral dissertation. The number of credits awarded for each course relates to the number of hours of work involved. At the undergraduate level a student generally takes about five-hour-a-week courses every semester. Semesters usually run from September to early January and late January to late May. Credits are earned by attending lectures or lab classes and by successfully completing assignments and examinations. One credit usually equals one hour of class per week in a single course. A three-credit course in Linguistics, e.g. could involve an hour of lectures plus 2 hours of seminars every week. Most students complete ten courses per an academic year and it usually takes them 4 years to complete a bachelor's degree requirement of about three- hour courses or 120 credits. In the American higher education system credits for the academic work are transferable among universities. A student can accumulate credits at one university, transfer them to a second and ultimately receive a degree from three or a third university.

Students and their Schools

The typical American student spends six hours a day, five days a week, 180 days a year in school. Children in the United States start preschool or nursery school at age four or under. Most children start kindergarten at five years of age. Students attend elementary schools (grades one through six) and then middle school or junior high school (grades seven through nine). Secondary, or high schools, are usually 10th through 12th grades (ages 15 through 18).

Students may attend either public schools or private schools. About 83 percent of Americans graduate from secondary schools and 60 percent continue their studies and receive some form of post-high school education. Approximately 20.3 percent graduate from four-year colleges and universities. School attendance is required in all 50 states. In 32 states, students must attend school until they are 16 years old. In nine other states, the minimum age for leaving school is 17. Eight states require schooling until the age of 18, while one state allows students to leave school at 14. How are American schools changing? The quality of education in the United States has often been debated in the course of American history. During the 1960s and 1970s, many schools offered a wide variety of nonacademic courses, such as "driver's education" and "marriage and family living." Educators were worried that students were not taking enough "academic" courses, such as mathematics and English. Many other reports soon came out with recommendations calling for stricter high school requirements. In the early 1980s, the United States National Commission on Excellence in Education issued a report called "A Nation at Risk," reporting that "a rising tide of mediocrity threatens our very future as a nation." Educators were worried that students were not learning as much as they should. Scores on high school seniors' Scholastic Aptitude Tests (college entrance examinations) had declined almost every year from 1963 to 1980. "A Nation at Risk" also reported that 13 percent of 17-year-olds were functionally illiterate (unable to read and write). Schools began to answer the challenge. Most states and school districts have passed new, more demanding standards that students must meet before they can graduate from high school. Most high schools now require four years of English, three years each of mathematics, science and social studies, one-and-one-half years of computer science and up to four years of a foreign language. Business organizations, realizing that their future employees needed skills that could be learned in schools, pitched in to help. In Boston, for example, the business community offered jobs and scholarships to students who stayed in school to graduate. In other communities, companies "adopted" certain schools, usually in low-income areas, and provided tutoring, scholarships and other help. By 1988, there were 141,000 educational "partnerships." According to the U.S. Department of Education, more than 40 percent of the nation's schools and 9 million students are involved in some sort of partnership program. Corporations have also given grants to universities to improve teacher education. Educators believe these and other methods to improve education are beginning to show results, and that U.S. schools are at least reversing the previous decline. Tests showed that student achievement in science and mathematics, which had declined during the 1970s, improved during the 1980salthough performance in reading and writing either declined or stayed the same. Average scores on the mathematics section of the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (college entrance exams) increased by a significant ten points between 1980 and 1990although they were still substantially below the average in 1970. But scores on the verbal section of the test hovered around the 1980 levelmore than thirty points below the 1970 level. Critics point out that U.S. students consistently score lower on academic testsespecially in math and sciencethan their counterparts in Europe and Japan. They believe the longer school year and more rigorous requirements in those other countries produce superior achievement. And they cite a study by the National Institute of Mental Health which showed that high school seniors had spent more time in front of a television screen (15,000 hours) than they had spent in school (11,000 hours). High school students can take vocational courses that prepare them to perform specific jobs, such as that of a carpenter or an automobile mechanic. Advanced courses prepare other students for university or college study. Special education (for the handicapped student) is offered in most schools. Schools enroll about three million handicapped students. At least 85 percent of all public high schools have computers. Students are writing computer programs and creating charts, art and music on computers. Many parents are involved in working for better quality education in the United States. Parents are joining parent-teacher organizations, tutoring their children, raising money for special programs and helping to keep schools in good repair.

Higher Educational System

There are more than 3,500 colleges and universities in the United States. A college is usually for undergraduates, whereas a university is a collection of one or more colleges, plus a graduate school and various professional schools. Colleges mainly teach but universities, with their large numbers of graduate students, also place emphasis on research. The American Higher Educational System can be divided into the following categories: Public schools are funded by the state and the local government of the area in which they are located. Community colleges grant associate degrees after two years of study. Students who plan to earn Bachelors degrees can attend A. A. or A.S. degree programs which are designed to parallel the first two years of study in a four-year institution.

*2-year community college *4-year state college *Graduate university *Some vocational schools Private schools are organized in the same manner as other colleges, but generally have fees much higher than those of the public schools. These schools are owned by private non-governmental individuals and boards of directors. Their funding is primarily from the tuition they charge and private contributions. *2-year college *4-year college *Graduate University Religiously affiliated colleges and universities are all privately owned and operated. They are predominantly Christian, although some are Jewish, Islamic and other faiths. These institutions offer general coursework, but they also offer and sometimes require participation in religion courses. In general, one need not be a member of a particular church or religious group to attend a religiously affiliated college in the U.S., and enrollment in such an institution will not impinge on ones own religious practices. Proprietary Schools are usually operated by an individual or a corporate owner. These schools generally concentrate on specific academic programs such as computer programming, or specialized fields such as aviation, fashion design and so on. Technical and Vocational schools Definitions of Academic Terms Academic Year: Many schools divide their academic year into two terms or semesters, but some have the trimester system, that is, they divide the year into three terms. Others use the quarter system, or four terms. The academic year begins in fall-end of August or beginning of September- and continues through to the end of May or beginning of June. Usually of nine months duration. Some schools offer optional summer terms for students who want to complete their programs quicker. Credit: A unit of academic work successfully completed. Depending on the particular course, the time spent in class, or the difficulty of the subject, a course might be worth 1,2 or 3 credits. 3 credit classes are normal. Faculty: The professors or teachers who are employed at the educational institution. Graduate student: A student who has entered studies for his Masters or Doctoral degrees. Major: The subject in which a student specializes and, usually, the area in which a student plans a career. Minor: The subject studied at a less concentrated lever and in order to round out an education. Many students have a major and a minor. Placement Test: Most schools give these tests to new students in order to place them at a level of class most suited to their needs. Undergraduate: An Associate or Bachelors degree. A student must have these degrees before continuing in a graduate program for a masters or doctorate degrees. Vacation Thanksgiving: The fourth Thursday in November and the following Friday. This holiday commemorates the Pilgrims good harvest of 1621 and is celebrated with prayers of thanks and feasting. Winter Break: Two weeks in late December and early January. They include time off for Christmas holidays. Spring Break: One week in March or April. Other Vacation Time: Some schools and colleges may also close their doors for a variety of religious and national holidays. These holidays are short one or two day breaks.

How to Apply to a School

International students, apart from the usually academic standards, must meet certain financial and legal requirements. Each university has its own policies, but as a general rule, the information they will want from you will relate to one of the following items: -Personal Application form: Apart from your name, address and citizenship, the Admission Office will want to know something about your background, your character, your goals and academic ambitions. After you have read the literature in guides or in catalogues sent to you by the institution, you will understand in some way, their philosophy on life and education and what kind of student they are looking for. Present yourself in a clearlywritten (typewritten is best) manner, stating your background, awards, achievements, interests (academic as well as general), sports trophies, hobbies, and life objectives. It is important to complete all the parts of the Application for Admission form. Most applications will ask you to enter your social security number. If you do not have a nine digit social security number assigned to you by the U.S. or Canadian government, just write none in the blank space after this question. -Academic Records: All U.S. colleges and universities require official records of your previous study. It is very important to read the requirements sent to you with the schools application for admission and to supply exactly the documents required and in the form required. The North American term transcript refers to the official

record of courses and marks from your school. It you are a first year student, you will be required to supply your secondary school transcript and sometimes, your diploma as well. Many schools will require your secondary school records or diploma even if you have completed post secondary study. Many schools require course descriptions, in English, for your post secondary courses. Most colleges and universities will only accept the postsecondary school transcripts sent directly from university-to-university without passing through student hands. -Teacher Recommendations: A good, strong recommendation will go a long way to confirm the information you will be supplying. It would be wise to get a recommendation from a teacher who knows both you and your work well, and has taught you in a subject related to your chosen major. Two or more recommendations are useful. -TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language. Is required by a large number of institutions as part of your application package. This test can be taken in a number of countries. -Other Tests: SAT/AT, GRE, GMAT, MAT: Many colleges and universities require students to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the Achievement Tests (AT). Usually graduate students are asked to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), and the Miller Analogies Test (MAT). Those students applying for MBA and other graduate business programs may have to take the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). -Application Fee: This is a fee, payable in U.S. dollars to cover the cost of processing your application. Most cases this fee is not refundable. -Proof of Financial Ability: U.S. law requires schools to review evidence of your financial ability to live and study in the U.S. prior to issuing the Form I-20 or Form IAP-66 you will need to obtain a student visa and enter the U.S. to study. If you do not supply adequate documentation of financial ability, you may be denied the I-20 or IAP-66 even after meeting academic requirements and being granted admission. However, U.S. law also prohibits the issuance of the forms to students who have not been accepted for study, so your first priority is always to meet academic requirements and to send the required transcripts and diplomas. You will be required to prove financial ability either three or four times. Always read school instructions about proving financial ability carefully and follow them as closely as possible. Always keep exact copies of financial documents you send to the school, because you must show precisely the same documents to the consular officer and the immigration inspector. Financial Aid and Employment Financial aid of any kind is very rarely available from North American colleges and universities for undergraduates other than U.S. citizens and permanent residents. When it is available and arranged in advance, income from employment with the school can form part of your proof of financial ability for issuance of Form I-20 or IAP-66, but the income must be specified on the form and supported by a letter from the school. Among the possible work programs after you enter are: On-campus employment. F-1 students may, work on the campus of the school they are attending provided they are employed by the school itself or by an outside agency or company providing services to students on the campus. No permission is required. Students may not work more than 20 hours per week except during vacation periods. J-1 students also may work on campus but require written permission from the responsible officer who is authorized to sign Form IAP-66. Curricular practical training. This is work that is part of your schools academic program. Authorization is provided by the schools foreign student adviser on the reverse of Form I-20 for F-1 students or in the form of an authorizing letter for J-1 students. This work may be wither part-time or full-time, depending upon the schools program. If you use a full 12 months of full-time F-1 curricular practical training, you will not be eligible for any other practical training. Optional practical training. There are two kinds of F-1 optional practical training, training during studies and training after studies. No more than one year of such training is permitted during your entire academic program. Severe economic hardship employment. This kind of employment is also authorized by the immigration Service upon a foreign student advisers written recommendation. You are eligible after one academic year of study only if you can show that your financial situation has changed for reasons entirely beyond your control or ability to plan ( for example, death or illness of a sponsor, sudden currency devaluation, or a disaster such as war, hurricane, flood, or earthquake affecting your sponsors ability to send money). There are two additional work programs: employment with a company that has certified to the U.S. government that part-time U.S. workers are not available, and work for an international organization. Both programs are very small and available only in certain parts of the U.S. F-2 and M-2 dependents are not permitted to work. J-2 dependents may apply to the Immigration Service for work permission, provided that the income will not be used to support the J-1 student, but such requests are not always granted. After You are Accepted The Admission Office will send you a letter that you have been accepted. At this time, they will ask you to comply with various requirements. They will ask you to confirm that you accept the offer of admittance. Waiting List

It is possible that the university you prefer will offer to put you on their waiting list. It is advisable to accept the waiting list status, but go ahead and accept a place at a university which is second or third choice. Should your waiting list status change later on to a definite offer, you can always cancel out of your second choice university. (Be prepared, however, to lose your deposit.)

Arriving on Campus
One of the items which should be sent to you by the school should be a calendar of events. Many schools will send several separate papers describing arrangements to begin school, including placement testing, academic advisement, registration, and the first day of classes. Among these papers will be information of the orientation program or programs. Most schools offer general orientation for all students and a special separate program for foreign students. Do not miss these programs. Orientation sessions will explain how the American education system works and will usually include a segment on your rights and obligations under the immigration regulations. Do not expect anything more than general answers about term papers, assigned books, reports, or examinations. In America, these matters are decided by individual professors, not the school, and even two professors teaching the same course may assign different books.

INSURANCE IN THE USA.

Insurance in our life Insurance is a financial instrument - nothing more, nothing less - which plays a critical role in both personal and business financial planning. On the personal level, the money an individual spends for insurance over a lifetime surpasses all other types of expenditures - including the purchase of a home. Any doubt concerning this statement can be dispelled by adding up the premium payments made yearly for life insurance, health insurance, pension plan, social security, individual retirement account or Keogh Plan, automobile insurance, homeowners or tenants insurance, professional liability insurance, and umbrella liability insurance. Essentially the same situation exists in the business world. Contributions paid into various insurance coverage in most instances exceed other business operating expenses. Employee benefit plan contributions alone have been estimated to range between 30-45 cents for each dollar of salary paid to an employee. When added to the cost of other business related insurance expenditures such as workers compensation, buy-sell insurance funded agreements, key person insurance, business property coverage, business liability insurance, and other business specialty insurances coverage, the total cost can be overwhelming. Yet, despite the widespread popularity of the practice of insurance, the insurance purchase decision is frequently made without adequate knowledge of various insurance products available.

Insurance company; concepts of insurance

Insurance company (insurer) is an organization which underwrites insurance policies. There are two principal types of insurance companies: mutual and stock. A mutual company is owned by its policy owners, who elect a board of directors that is responsible for its operation. A stock company is owned by its stockholders. In a mutual company, profits take the form of policy dividends, or refunds of part of premiums paid, which are distributed to policy owners. Profits in a stock company take the form of stockholders dividends, which are distributed to stockholders. The organization structure of an insurance company contains several departments according to their company functions: actuarial, agency, claims and loss control, investments, legal, marketing, and underwriting. When buying insurance services, a client concludes a contract with the company. A general insurance contract is a legally binding unilateral agreement between an insured and an insurance company to indemnify the buyer of a contract under specified circumstances. In exchange for premium payment(s) the company covers stipulated perils. An insurance company is represented by its insurance agents in soliciting and servicing policyholders. An agent's knowledge concerning an insurance transaction is said to be the knowledge of the insurance company as well. Wrongful acts of the agent are the responsibility of the company; these bind the company to the customer. Notice given by an insured to the agent is the same as notice to the company. An insured may have his own representative, an insurance broker. Acts of a broker are not the responsibility of the company, and notice given by an insured to a broker is not the same as notice to the company. The broker searches the insurance marketplace for a company in which to place the insured's business for the most coverage at the best price. The broker is not restricted to placing business with any one company. A client applies to an insurance company when he has an insurable interest, that is, an expectation of a monetary loss that can be covered by insurance. Insurable interest varies according to the type of policy. These relationships give rise to insurable interest: (1) owner of the property; (2) vendor (to the extent of the unpaid balance due on the property sold to the vendee); (3) vendee; (4) bailee (to the extent of the value of the property under his/her temporary care, custody, and control); (5) bailor; (6) life estates; (7) fee simple estates; (8) mortgagee

(to the extent of the unpaid balance due on the loan to which the property is pledged as security); and (9) mortgager. In the matter of life insurance, insurable interests are following: 1. each individual has an unlimited insurable interest in his/her own life, and therefore can select anyone as a beneficiary. 2. parent and child, husband and wife, brother and sister have an insurable interest in each other because of blood and marriage. 3. creditor-debtor relationships give rise to an insurable interest. The creditor can be the beneficiary for the amount of the outstanding loan, with the face value decreasing in proportion to the decline in the outstanding loan amount. 4. Business relationships give rise to an insurable interest. An employee may insure the life of an employer, and an employer may insure the life of an employee. Property and casualty insurance deals with another insurable interests: 1. owner of property has an insurable interest because of the expectation of monetary loss if that property is damaged or destroyed. 2. creditor of an insured has an insurable interest in property pledged as security. If an insured's apprehensions have turned to reality (the circumstance of this is called insurability), the insurance company issues him life or health insurance based on standards set by the company. To choose a reliable insurance company, a client is considered to pay attention to a companys capacity to underwrite a particular risk, as indicated by its financial standing, claims philosophy, price structure, agent representation, loss prevention and reduction services, and risk analysis expertise. Information can be gained in several ways: 1. Reputation - a prospective insured can fairly easily learn something about an insurance company through business and professional associates (lawyer, accountant, banker), through conversations with others in the same field, and by discussions with agents and brokers. 2. Financial capacity- larger businesses and public libraries often have up-to-date reference books, such as Bests Insurance Reports (available in Life-Health and Property-Casualty editions) giving detailed analyses of hundreds of companies. 3. State Insurance Department - information about specific insurance companies may be available from the Insurance Departments located in state capitals.

Different plans of insurance

There are several types of insurance according to the sphere insured: personal, property and business insurance. Initially, we will dwell upon personal insurance. Intending to use services of personal insurance, a client signs a personal contract which is an agreement concerning an insured individual not the insured's property. He may insure his life or/and his health, and these are kinds of personal insurance. Life insurance is a protection against the death of an individual in the form of payment to a beneficiary usually a family member, business, or institution. In exchange for a series of premium payments or a single premium payment, upon the death of an insured, the face value (and any additional coverage attached to a policy), minus outstanding policy loans and interest, is paid to the beneficiary. Living benefits may be available for the insured in the form of surrender values or income payments. A particular case of life insurance is accident insurance. It covers bodily injury and/or death resulting from accidental means (other than natural causes). For example, an insured is critically injured in an accident. Accident insurance can provide income and/or a death benefit if death ensues. Health insurance covers the costs of health care. Health insurance contract pays benefits to an insured who becomes ill or injured, provided that documentation is offered to confirm the illness or injury. Health insurance may include, in particular, personal catastrophe insurance covering the first layer of medical insurance to provide for catastrophic medical payments. The first layer may be either group or individual medical insurance, or an individual may choose to pay for ordinary medical payments himself and buy insurance for those losses above a certain amount. Now let us turn to property insurance, concerning not an individual, but his property (or an individual as well as his property). Among different types of property insurance there is homeowners insurance that combines (1) coverage against the insured's property being destroyed or damaged by various perils, and (2) coverage for liability exposure of the insured; homeowners policies cover both individuals as well as property. In addition to the insured, those covered include his/her spouse, their relatives, and any others under 21 who are residents of the insured's household. There is also perpetual insurance representing coverage on real property written to have no time limit. A single deposit premium pays for insurance for the life of the risk. The insurer earns enough investment income on the deposit to cover losses and costs. Upon cancellation, the insured is entitled to return of

the initial deposit premium. Perpetual insurance, first issued in the US in Philadelphia in 1752, is still used for fire and homeowner's insurance. Applying to personal articles insurance a client can insure all kinds of personal property whether inside or out side his home to include jewelry, musical instruments, fine arts, cameras, and precious stones. Protection is on all risks basis subject to inclusions of wear and tear, war, and nuclear disaster. Each piece of expensive items must be specially listed in the policy. Insurance is also widespread in the world of business. There are various business specialty insurance coverage - business property coverage, business liability insurance and others. Business insurable interests, evidently, are common to personal ones. There is a kind of personal insurance, too, for instance, key employee insurance. A key employee (or a key person) is an individual who possesses a unique ability essential to the continued success of a business firm. For example, this individual might have the technical knowledge necessary for research and development of products that keep the company at the cutting edge of its field. The death or disability of this key individual could severely handicap the company. Thus, there are different plans of life insurance for key employees. As we can see, the insurance market in the USA is characterized by particular width and variety of schemes. Largest insurance companies in the USA CIGNA Philadelphia-based CIGNA is one of the USs foremost insurance companies, offering property/ casualty insurance, managed, individual, and group health plans, life and disability insurance, and related financial service products. These include pension and retirement savings and investment products as well as institutional investment management. The Northwestern Mutual Northwestern Mutual is the quintessential insurance company: solid, reliable, fiscally sound, honest, boring. At a time when many insurers have been subject to investigations of sales practices or have found themselves buffeted by turbulent financial markets, Northwestern markets its life, health, and retirement products and services through a network of 7,300 exclusive agents. The company is renowned for its training programs, both for agents (including an innovative internship program that funnels young agents into the company directly from college) and underwriters (who receive training in medical issues so that they can make informed decisions on undertaking risks). Northwestern was one of the first major life insurance companies to give women a lower premium rate than men because they live longer on average. Martin Walker My wife slashed her wrist the other day. Let me rephrase that. Here follows an illuminating tale about Mr. and Mrs. Clintons greatest challenge, the American health care system. My wife accidentally cut the lower side of her forearm when slicing cold meat. We had just finished breakfast, taken the children to the bus stop, and I was about to leave for work. Suddenly there was blood everywhere. I grabbed the tea towel we had just used for the washing-up. I wrapped it round her wrist, and it became sodden with her blood as we piled into the car and raced to our nearest hospital. That was a mistake, and we should have known better. We had been caught out by Bethesdas Suburban hospital before, when our younger daughter began vomiting blood. We finished up paying their admission fee, and their emergency service fee, and then the fee for the ambulance that took her to the real hospital where she was finally treated. I parked the car any old how; left the doors open, and hustled my wife into what they cheerfully called the Emergency Room. Hah! This is America. By now the blood had soaked all the tea towel and was dripping steadily on to the floor as I fumbled in my wallet for our Insurance Card. Name. Address. Check my credit reference. Insurance number. Sign here, the form that says they can pursue you to the gates of hell if any of the bill is unpaid by the insurance. Finally, and it can have been no more than seven or eight exsanguinating minutes, my wife was admitted to the waiting room for the emergency room. A nurse arrived, checked our documents, and a pint or two of the conjugal claret later, a doctor turned up. I had to get to work. At last my wife was in safe hands. Or so I thought. Silly, really. I left the car and the car keys, and walked to the Metro station, got to the office, and rang home. No reply. I rang the hospital. Sorry, your wife was not admitted, just treated and referred to the Rockville hospital. I rang Rockville hospital, and got the modern American version of telephone torture. "If you are using a touch-tone phone and your inquiry is about a bill, press one. If you are a registered out-patient, press Two. If you are calling to make an appointment, press Three." Finally, a person answered.

"Si?" she asked politely. Actually her English was pretty good, but she had never heard of my wife. She put me through to the emergency room. "Si?" They hadnt heard of her either. I forget whether George Bush was bombing Iraq at the time, but he did it so often that was probably the story I was trying to cover. I remember getting lots of "Si?" as I used the old pay phone outside the State Department press office. Finally I reached my wife at home. "I was in plastic surgery," she explained. "Si?" I said. Its catching. "Would you believe a hundred dollars a stitch?" she went on. I would. I did. I asked about the treatment at Suburban hospital. "Treatment?" she shrieked. "They wouldnt have me. I had to drive eight miles at rush hour down a sixlane highway to Rockville with my arm dripping blood out of the window. And you know what was on it - our tea towel. Treatment, you idiot? This is America. They dont do treatment. They only do bills." (They did too. One hundred and one dollars and seventy one cents. The insurance would not pay because this was not "the hospital of treatment".) "They dont do stitching at Suburban. They said it had to be a plastic surgeon, and I got Doctor Dick. Dont laugh. Thats what we have to write on the cheque. He did Barbara Bushs polyps. He has a framed letter and a signed photograph and a bulging scrapbook." What about the arm? "Thirteen stitches. Thirteen hundred bucks."

Health insurance is the one of the main avenues for the payment of medical expenses in the United States,
whether through insurance premiums, social insurance such as Medicare or a social welfare program funded by taxation. Public health spending via publicly subsidized insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid makes up the largest single share of the US health care spending. For the average person, most health care spending is incurred in the last years of life when costs are met by social insurance programs rather than private medical insurance. Most people below the age of Medicare entitlement obtain their insurance from a an employer based insurance scheme. Persons unable to obtain insurance through an employer and wishing to be insured have to buy a policy in the individual insurance market. This is highly expensive and premiums are typically much higher than for an equivalent policy paid for by an employer. There is considerable debate in the US regarding the health insurance system which has many critics. President Obama has called for two main reforms. That all Americans should be covered without discrimination on age or health status and that a public health insurance should compete with private providers "to boost competition and keep the private insurance industry honest".History. Before the development of medical expense insurance, patients were expected to pay all other health care costs out of their own pockets, under what is known as the fee-for-service business model. During the middle to late 20th century, traditional disability insurance evolved into modern health insurance programs. Today, most comprehensive private health insurance programs cover the cost of routine, preventive, and emergency health care procedures, and also most prescription drugs, but this was not always the case.

Medicare In the United States, Medicare is a federal social insurance program that provides health insurance to
elderly workers and their dependents, individuals who become totally and permanently disabled, and end stage renal disease patients. Recent research has found that the health trends of previously uninsured adults, especially those with chronic health problems, improve once they enter the Medicare program.

Medicaid was instituted for the very poor in 1965. Despite its establishment, the percentage of US residents
who lack any form of health insurance has increased since 1994. It has been reported that the number of physicians accepting Medicaid has decreased in recent years due to relatively high administrative costs and low reimbursements. Medicaid is a social welfare or social protection program rather than a social insurance program.State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is a joint state/federal program to provide health insurance to children in families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, yet cannot afford to buy private insurance.

Military health benefits are provided to active duty service members, retired service members and their
dependents by the Department of Defense Military Health System (MHS). Additionally, veterans may also be eligible for benefits through the Veterans Health Administration.

Private health insurance may be purchased on a group basis (e.g., by a firm to cover its employees) or
purchased by individual consumers. Most Americans with private health insurance receive it through an employersponsored program. According to the United States Census Bureau, some 60% of Americans are covered through an employer, while about 9% purchase health insurance directly.

Employer-sponsored health insurance is paid for by businesses on behalf of their employees as part of an
employee benefit package. Most private health coverage in the US is employment based. According to the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, nearly 100% of large firms offer health insurance to their employees. The employer typically makes a substantial contribution towards the cost of coverage.

Small employer group coverage According to a 2007 study, about 59% of employers at small firms (3199 workers) in the US provide employee health insurance. The percentage of small firms offering coverage has been dropping steadily since 1999. The study notes that cost remains the main reason cited by small firms who do not offer health benefits. Small firms that are new are less likely to offer coverage than ones that have been in existence for a number of years.

Individually purchased Policies of health insurance obtained by individuals not otherwise covered under
policies or programs elsewhere classified. Generally major medical, short-term medical, and student policies. According to the US Census Bureau, about 9% of Americans are covered under health insurance purchased directly. The range of products available is similar to those provided through employers. However, average out-ofpocket spending is higher in the individual market, with higher deductibles, co-payments and other cost-sharing provisions. Major medical is the most commonly purchased form of individual health insurance. In the individual market, the consumer pays the entire premium without benefit of an employer contribution. While self-employed individuals receive a tax deduction for their health insurance and can buy health insurance with additional tax benefits, most consumers in the individual market do not receive any tax benefit. Research confirms that consumers in the individual health insurance market are sensitive to price. It appears that price sensitivity varies among population subgroups and is generally higher for younger individuals and lower income individuals. One study found that among individuals who lack other sources of health coverage, the percentage purchasing individual insurance increases steadily with income. However, even among those with incomes four times the federal poverty level, only about a fourth buys individual coverage. The self-employed, who can tax-deduct their premiums, are more likely to purchase than other individuals. The researchers concluded that affordability appears to be a key barrier to coverage in this market, and that any premium subsidies would likely have to be substantial to be effective. The researchers note that other factors such as health status and the complexity of the market can also affect the purchase of individual health insurance, but conclude that they are unlikely to be the primary drivers of low coverage rates. Many states allow medical underwriting of applicants for individually purchased health insurance. An estimated 5 million of those without health insurance are considered "uninsurable" because of pre-existing conditions. A number of proposals have been advanced to limit the effect of underwriting on consumers and improve access to coverage. Each has its own advantages and limitations. One study published in 2008 found that people of average health are least likely to become uninsured if they have large group health coverage, more likely to become uninsured if they have small group coverage, and most likely to become uninsured if they have individual health insurance. But, "for people in poor or fair health, the chances of losing coverage are much greater for people who had small-group insurance than for those who had individual insurance." The authors attribute these results to the combination in the individual market of high costs and guaranteed renewability of coverage. Individual coverage costs more if it is purchased after a person becomes unhealthy, but "provides better protection (compared to group insurance) against high premiums for already individually insured people who become high risk." Healthy individuals are more likely to drop individual coverage than less-expensive, subsidized employment-based coverage, but group coverage leaves them "more vulnerable to dropping or losing any and all coverage than does individual insurance" if they become seriously ill.

Feminist theory
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, or philosophical, ground. It encompasses work done in a broad variety of disciplines, prominently including the approaches to women's roles and lives and feminist politics in anthropology and sociology, psychoanalysis, economics, women's and gender studies, feminist literary criticism, and philosophy especially Continental philosophy. Feminist theory aims to understand the nature of inequality and focuses on gender politics, power relations and sexuality. While generally providing a critique of social relations, much of feminist theory also focuses on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of women's rights, interests, and issues. Themes explored in feminism include art history and contemporary art, aesthetics, discrimination, stereotyping, objectification (especially sexual objectification), oppression, and patriarchy. Feminism is an intellectual, philosophical and political discourse aimed at equal rights and legal protection for women. It involves various movements, theories, and philosophies, all concerned with issues of gender difference; that advocate equality for women; and that campaign for women's rights and interests. According to Maggie Humm and Rebecca Walker, the history of feminism can be divided into three waves. The first wave was in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the second was in the 1960s and 1970s, and the third extends from the 1990s to the present. Feminist theory emerged from these feminist movements. It is manifest in a variety of disciplines such as feminist geography, feminist history and feminist literary criticism. Feminism has altered predominant perspectives in a wide range of areas within Western society, ranging from culture to law. Feminist activists have campaigned for women's legal rights (rights of contract, property rights, voting rights); for women's right to bodily integrity and autonomy, for abortion rights, and for reproductive rights (including access to contraception and quality prenatal care); for protection of women and girls from domestic violence, sexual harassment and rape; for workplace rights, including maternity leave and equal pay; and against other forms of discrimination. During much of its history, most feminist movements and theories had leaders who were predominantly middle-class white women from Western Europe and North America. However, at least since Sojourner Truth's 1851 speech to American feminists, women of other races have proposed alternative feminisms. This trend accelerated in the 1960s with the Civil Rights movement in the United States and the collapse of European colonialism in Africa, the Caribbean, parts of Latin America and Southeast Asia. Since that time, women in former European colonies and the Third World have proposed "Post-colonial" and "Third World" feminisms. Some Postcolonial Feminists, such as Chandra Talpade Mohanty, are critical of Western feminism for being ethnocentric. Black feminists, such as Angela Davis and Alice Walker, share this view. Since the 1980s, standpoint feminists have argued that feminism should examine how women's experience of inequality relates to that of racism, homophobia, classism and colonization. In the late 1980s and 1990s postmodern feminists argued that gender roles are socially constructed, and that it is impossible to generalize women's experiences across cultures and histories.

Russian women about feminism

I often happen to participate in discussions that Russian women are going to become like American soon. They watch American movies, catch American lifestyle and American values. Really, we can feel American influence in Russia today. And the matter doesnt lie in Hollywood or McDonalds. Womens independence is becoming trendy. According to the last population census, there are more women with higher education than men now. Some women have several higher educations. Nevertheless, Russia has its own way. Our history counts thousands of years, it is too much to change the mentality of the whole nation for a short period. Throughout its history Russia often took a fancy to fashionable western trends. In the 18th century Germany was a favorite, in the 19th century France. It had a certain effect, but didnt change the Russian character. It seems to me that the same will happen to Americanism. Feminism is a bright phenomenon, but life values of a Russian woman have been formed solidly. While I was thinking about this subject, the following idea struck me: why not give the floor to the Russian women? I did the searching on feminism in the Russian blogs and found different opinions: supporting feminism, sneering at it and rejecting. It must be interesting! So, here is what Russian women write about feminism in their web-diaries: It seems to me that feminism is not a conviction, but a forced state that is formed due to the peculiarities of character. My granny, her zodiac sign is Leo by the way, behaved like a feminist all her life, the head of the family, cant stand men, did everything by herself a man in a skirt. She couldnt find a worthy man, frankly speaking It is just such women strong, good, very touching for me somehow and even at times causing a kind smile on my face are sometimes unbearable pains in the neck and maximalists.

I am not a feminist, I prefer to have a right for female weaknesses. I have a good attitude to feminists, as everyone chooses her own way. Besides, if it were not them, women would have less rights and more duties now. Feminists are the women which believe that when a husband beats his wife, only 50% of female members in the parliament can change this situation. Feminism infuriates me, I think of feminists in the range from badly thru with compassion to with bewilderment, though I forgive it to some of them. I feel sorry for feminists. IMHO, they are deeply unhappy. For me feminism is ridiculous stupidity, because I am inclined to admit mens right for leadership and it doesnt humiliate me at all. Russian women that unite into professional organizations dont know what feminism is. When they are asked if they are feminists or not, they answer: Certainly, no, not in the least. They response in this manner, because they consider that feminism is some swear-word. I think that actually most Russian women arefeminists by life, by fate, because they are forced to struggle for their rights and they struggle and take all sorts of responsibilities upon themselves they are feminists in this sense, no doubt and I cant differ from them. The marriage experience of a Soviet woman is characterized by the disappointment in a Soviet type of family. Family life is too heavy burden of twofold or threefold work at her job, home and for providing a family, frequent cases of mans alcoholism and no help about the house from her husbands part. There is another sort of women. Gloomy despots. Or feminists, the name is relative. They bear malice for the whole world. For some reason they always consider themselves to be fine romantics, but in fact they turn out to be colder than ice and in relationship they think only about themselves. There is no feminism, I am sure about it! I say it as a specimen of this, so to say, weak sex. NO, because I (I will speak from my person) feel comfortable, I LIKE when a man opens the door for me, when he gives me his seat and massages my feet. I like to ask a strong man to help me with the car or with moving the furniture. BUT! I wont die if I dont have this strong shoulder beside me. Yes, I am taught by the experience put down in the History textbook, that it is possible to do without this necessary shoulder by my side. I can easily open the bottle of beer, change the spark-plugs and wheels of my car. So to say, I am taught and shod in the matter of survival, thanks to this non-existent feminism, which taught me everything that a modern woman can do. I think that feminism is a far-fetched excuse. It took place in the beginning of the last century when women really had great restrictions and no suffrage, but now it is just a convenient excuse of a woman who has complex about her loneliness. What do you think about it?

Unveiling the Faces of Womens Oppression

We live in a society where ignorance truly is bliss, especially for those with unearned male privilege and status, which in turn often provides men with an excuse to deny the existence of the very real and harmful sexist hierarchical realities that surround us and the active role men must play in their maintenance. While some men are willing to admit that women are disadvantaged in our society, very few men are willing to acknowledge that they are over-privileged. After all, to actually do so would mean that men would not only have to admit the unearned and unjust basis of their advantage but perhaps even personally change and give-up some of their privilege. In the highly competitive world we live in, giving up any advantages--earned or unearned--one might have in the game of life would seem foolish, at best, to most men. Intuitively, almost all men do believe themselves superior, many even pay homage to this oppressive social reality, but few are willing to admit just how harmful such an outlook is to women in our society. Like myself growing up, one way many young men effectively dismiss womens oppression is through same-sex friendship groups where women are seen as the "other," objectified as sexual prey, in some ways, even seen as the enemy, and ultimately used as the estate upon which real men do masculinity. Accordingly, pornography, strip shows, and even prostitutes often play important roles in these mens settings, as they serve as medium over which male bonding is accomplished, and both reflect and sustain the misogyny upon which they are based. Women, in pictorial form or in the flesh, merely provide the necessary but detested turf upon which many, if not all masculine identities are misogynisticly based. It is nearly impossible to see the pain or hear the screams of an object let alone the enemy, unless it is to use these images or sounds as signs of superiority and for pathological enjoyment. To truly deaden any feelings of empathy--to be a "real man"--means that men must deny not only the feelings of those around them, men and especially women, but also repress their own feelings in the process. As a result, men in these groups are expected to always guard against becoming too emotionally involved with any one woman, and should they, their friends will accuse them of being "pussywhipped," a "mush," and weak, and they potentially risk no longer being welcomed to partake in the groups activities as a full member. Terms such as "bitch," "fag," and "gay" are also frequently used in these settings as put downs, suggesting that

anything associated with the feminine, except for purely instrumental purposes, sex, should be avoided at all costs. Many young men will boastfully proclaim that they plan to remain single forever, as if thinking that true intimacy is somehow evil and something to be feared, and that being intimate might force them to view a woman as potential equal and give-up their priggish, masculine outlook of the world. Many women enter this dating battlefield of a sorts looking for a man who will emotionally relate to them, or a man they think they can reform and teach this to, while men expend considerable energies seemingly trying to avoid intimate relationships. In the past, "getting caught" often meant getting a women pregnant, whereas today this often means seeing the same woman more than once for sexual purposes (i.e., in some mens groups you only get points for scoring the first time and sex thereafter is seen as suspect). Either way, "love em and leave em" is a motto that all men have heard and many prescribe to. Of course, the majority of men eventually do become emotionally involved with women, but when this happens, the group may view him as a fallen comrade, captured by the enemy, and forced to give-up his freedom to be with a woman. As the verses of the song declare, "another one bites the dust." And yet, as a partner, as a mother, a sister, a daughter, or just a friend, most men have (or eventually will have) significant women in their lives who they deeply care about, love, and sometimes even view as equals. I believe herein lies the beginning seeds of feminism for men. By making men aware of the unearned advantages that society confers upon them and the misogynist attitudes necessary to maintain such outcomes, they begin to recognize how this is oppressive to the significant women in their lives. This leaves many men in an ideological bind: how can they personally express concern and respect for the welfare of these women all the while supporting realities that cause womens oppression in larger societal settings? For me, this has obviously involved making (and continuing to make) many significant changes in my life. My life partner, Lisa Underwood, is an incredibly strong, independent woman who works as a crisis counselor with survivors of sexual and physical abuse. We are fortunate, as our respective jobs allow us to both support and compliment each others efforts in constructing and living a feminist world view. Housework is not decided in terms of "his and her jobs," but more so in terms of what needs doing, and someone (often both of us) just does it. Attempting to live as equals has also meant that I have been able to experience a deep sense of intimacy previously unknown. Our personal energy typically seems to flow together, instead of in opposition to, or in spite of, like many of my previous relationships. The way I view and interact with women in general has also significantly changed. I have slowly learned ways to view women without inevitably objectifying them in the process. I no longer find pornography a turnon and have long since removed such images from my purview. I have learned that listening is just as valuable as speaking and that I do not need to have the last word in every conversation. My learning to listen has led many women to generously share with me their experiences, feelings, and insightful visions of what a just world might look like, and as a result, I have increasingly found ways to appreciate and relate to women as equals. In short, I am increasingly coming to understand that feminism is both a public stand and a personal way of being, and that the two are really one in the same. ? While often not under the guise of feminism, yet perhaps very much in response to feminist activism, increasing numbers of men in our society are starting to acknowledge womens oppression and trying to do things to promote gender equality. Mens involvement in the home and rasing children has slowly but surely increased, some even opting to become house husbands while their wives actively pursue a career. Many men are becoming involved in traditional womens problems, such as rape and wife battering, starting programs and activities that confront mens misogynist attitudes. As reflected in Doris son Quintin and my growing up experiences, increasing numbers of young men are being raised by feminist mothers. Sure, regressive, backlash agents of misogyny still exist, such as Howard Stern, but nevertheless, an emerging trend towards gender equality continues. Men of good will who have the courage to admit how unjust and harmful present gender relations are to the significant women in their lives can become vital change agents in undoing the resultant misery and pain inflicted on all women necessary to maintain male dominance. For truly holistic healing to occur, however, men will also have to recognize that, in spite of all the seeming benefits male privilege has to confer on them, doing manhood often involves significant sometimes deadly costs to men themselves.

Recognizing Costs of Maintaining Male Dominance for Men

Unlike me, many men grow-up well aware of the costs of maintaining male dominance. While feminists have done a great job of illuminating male violence against women, and how oppressively costly such behavior is to women, seemingly lost in this important societal recognition is the fact that perhaps most of mens violence is actually directed towards other men. Men make up 76% of all homicide victims and an estimated 80% of assault victims in the United States with most being killed or assaulted by other men. Like the young men in Columbine, some men who are victims of male violence so up the masculine ante that they respond in incredibly lethal ways. Tired of being "picked on," a rather innocuous way society often characterizes boys and young mens bruised and bloodied bodies, some of these previously emasculated young men strike back with deadly force. The significant loss of life, sometimes even including their own, all seems worth it if they can for a fleeting moment feel like a

real man. The dead bodies they leave in their wake serve as signifiers to how powerful and masculine they really are. Significant numbers of boys also grow up in households where they are sexually and physically abused. Of course, once again, the perpetrator of their victimization is most typically an adult man, but the fact remains that both women and significant numbers of men are forever scarred in the process. Moreover, and similar to women, both the bodies of subordinated women and men serve as the terrain upon which these men do masculine superiority. In fact, in many male subcultures, beating a man into submission earns you many more points than doing the same to a woman. Regardless of who is victimized in the process, like the first blood rituals of deer hunters, masculinity demands that someone must be subordinate--a signifier of ones superiority--for manhood to be proven. Whether in wars, fights in a bar, the schoolyard, or the home, "to the victors go the spoils" with womens, childrens, and mens trampled bodies all attesting to how important the given exercise in masculinity must have been and how "sweet" it is to be a winner. While men, in their pursuit of proving their superiority are almost exclusively responsible for such oppressive outcomes, both women and many men bear the costs of men doing masculinity. Ironically, some of the costs associated with male dominance are borne by those actually doing masculinity. Men, in their pursuit of manhood, are far more likely than women to partake in high risk behaviors that result in personal injury and sometimes death. Perhaps not that surprising, 75 percent of all binge drinkers are men, 86 percent of all careless driving accidents are caused by men, and men are more likely than women to be injured or killed in an accident. "Stupid men tricks," in all their various forms, combined with often dangerous traditional male workplaces and vocations, means mens own bodies often provide the fodder upon which masculinity is done. Many men define such risks as acceptable costs in the pursuit of doing masculinity, some even view them as an enjoyable thrill, but the fact remains that many men are needlessly injured and killed trying to prove their manhood. As already noted, men are far less likely to express empathy for others, and often repress their own feelings in the process. Being the tough guy--the man--has significant emotional costs. While women are far more likely to be diagnosed with depression, some psychologists argue that men may in fact experience much higher rates of depression, much of it undiagnosed because of many mens inability to admit emotional problems. Sharing ones feelings with others, let alone admitting emotional difficulties, is something many men are unwilling to do, as they are afraid it would suggest vulnerability and weakness. Combining an instrumental male outlook with an unwillingness to seek emotional help results in men having much higher rates of completed suicide. Through an objectifying male lens, ones own body becomes a means to end. If survival and growth are seen as signs of a healthy organism, doing masculinity and maintaining male dominance appears to be a very costly enterprise for women, children, and men (both as oppressor and oppressed). Male dominance is perhaps the ultimate pyrrhic victory--men win the battle between the genders but the losses are so staggering that all involved are losers.

Healing From Oppression

Perhaps one of the easiest way to argue the benefits of feminism for all people is to start by clearly noting the costs of manhood. As discussed in this chapter, veiled beneath the "natural" and "normal" appearance and behavioral expectations of being the man in our contemporary society lies a gendered story grounded in subjugation, subordination, and oppression. Daily, untold numbers of people are harmed, wounded, and forever scarred in mens pursuit of doing masculinity. These seeming faceless individuals are in actuality our partners, children, parents, siblings, friends, and ourselves. The truth is that present day definitions and ways of doing masculinity could be viewed as the most destructive epidemic ever witnessed, and the number one health crisis facing all people on our planet. Accordingly, one of the foremost reasons I am so passionate about feminism is that, not only does it hold the promise of eradicating all forms of exploitation and oppression, but it is the only ideology perspicacious enough to ensure the survival of planet earth. We have now had thousands of years of a patriarchal reality, and the "progress" of this "civilized" structural arrangement has put us at the brink of self-destruction. In contrast, radical feminisms life-affirming-giving-enhancing values are the only ones veracious enough to reverse the cataclysmic direction patriarchal societies are leading us. Quite simply, I believe feminist values and realities are the only ones that can ensure the survival of this planet. As such, I choose to direct my energies into feminism and life versus patriarchy and death. Ultimately, my attraction to feminism was brought about, and continues to be instilled by the significant women I have had the honor of knowing throughout my life. In the past, I have tacitly sat by and watched a misogynist, male dominated society attempt (often with great success) to destroy these intelligent and beautiful women. My mother died over twenty years ago at the hands of a male physician who mis-diagnosed her abdominal pains as simple "female problems" when she had colon cancer (e.g., the doctor told her to go home and take a hot bath for her cramps, doing this caused the tumor in her colon to rupture, she nearly died from the internal hemorrhaging, spent six weeks in intensive care, and died five years later because the cancer had spread to her

liver). I have watched nearly every academic woman that has befriended me struggle on a daily basis with a patriarchal system (the university) that structurally and often individually sets them up for failure. In total, the vast majority of women I have known have been raped in one way or another. The pain that these and other women have experienced has become mine. As such, I can no longer idly stand by and silently be part of the problem. To do so would mean that I would not only be assisting in the destruction of individual woman who are very close to me and part of my referent, but each time I hesitate to act means another part of me is potentially (and far too often) destroyed. The personal experiences of these women have became my political reality. For the damage to be undone, and real healing to begin, men must be made aware of just how harmful doing male dominance is for women, children, other men, and even themselves. I believe that feminism is about such awareness. Actually recognizing all the destruction wrought in the name of manhood takes far more courage and strength than any imaginable contemporary masculine attitude or behavior. The same must be done with other forms of inequality, such as class, race, and sexual orientation. Then, and only then will a non-oppressive future become possible. I guess I have always tried to live my life without regrets. Perhaps this is easier given my class background. Nevertheless, there are many things I have done in the past that I would never do now, and by changing, I do believe the healing begins and many of my past misdeeds are forgiven. Truth is, recently faced with colon cancer, I have come to the conclusion that I could die today and would have no reason for complaint. I have done and seen so much, not just the tourist version, but as full participant of the big show. Thus, everyday hereafter is the bonus round for me, one in which I look to give back all that I took and was given in the past. Thankfully, when I do die, it will be with a peace in my heart that feminism has made possible. Everyone dies, leaving the world as we enter it, with nothing more than ourselves, and ultimately as equals. I dream of the day when people can be equal not only when they enter and leave the world, but while they reside on it.

American Dream
For many immigrants, the Statue of Liberty was their first view of the United States, signifying freedom and personal liberty. The statue is an iconic symbol of the United States, and of the American Dream. The American Dream is a national ethos and world mythos regarding the United States of America, in which the democratic ideals are translated within the American context into a benevolent view of its very purposethat prosperity is founded in liberty, and that liberty can be advanced through prosperity. In the American Dream, the goals of all people (citizens and residents) to secure a livelihood, gain an education, build friendships and family, and live free of oppression and in peace, are regarded as fundamental to the philosophy, principles, and purpose for which the United States exists. The American Dream is a concept that touches on the two fundamental pillars of United States prosperitythat liberty and freedom are regarded as sacred and thus constitutional for all people, and that the flourishing presence of material, societal, and social opportunity offer the prospect of happier and more fulfilled lives (cf. Preamble to the Constitution). Liberty, the first of those pillars, draws those who seek freedom from oppression. Opportunity, the second pillar, draws people seeking freedom from poverty. The United States has since the early 19th century been regarded as a "beacon" of liberty and prosperityowing to a combination of the philosophical and ethical principles upon which its nationhood was established and its natural wealth as the most bountiful part of the New World. The phrase's meaning has evolved over the course of American history. While historically traced to the New World mystiquethe availability of land and the continuing American expansionthe ethos today simply indicates the ability, through participation in the resonant society and culture of the United States, to bring prosperity to all people on Earth.[citation needed] The Founding Fathers used the phrase, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" to encompass all that is available in America. America has been viewed as a land in which one's prospects in life are defined by one's talents and energy rather than by one's family wealth or political connections. According to the Dream, this includes the opportunity for one's children to grow up and receive an American education and its consequent career opportunities. It is the opportunity to make individual choices without the restrictions of class, caste, religion, race, or ethnic group.

Origin
Historian and writer James Truslow Adams coined the phrase "American Dream" in his 1931 book Epic of America: The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.

He also wrote: The American Dream, that has lured tens of millions of all nations to our shores in the past century has not been a dream of material plenty, though that has doubtlessly counted heavily. It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as a man and woman, unhampered by the barriers which had slowly been erected in the older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple human being of any and every class.

Later 20th and 21st centuries

In recent years, the concept of the American Dream as a national ideal has been studied by various organizations. The conclusions of these studies indicate that during the 1990s to the 2000s, a period of remarkable wealth for the U.S., an increasing number of people confess having lost faith in the American Dream. Barack Obama used the theme of the American Dream in many aspects of his campaign. He said: "What is that promise? It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect. It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.... That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper. That's the promise we need to keep." Some authors have written to critique or ridicule the concept, such as John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby about the extreme selfishness of adultery, bootlegging and social climbing sometimes associated with the American Dream, as did Sinclair Lewis's Babbitt, which satirized 20th-century materialism and conformity. Many films explore the topic of the American Dream. One such film is 1969's Easy Rider, in which characters make a pilgrimage in search of "the true America."

What is the American dream?

Whether it is a family working together towards one common goal, or a single woman working her way up the ladder, in a sense it is all the same dream. Regardless of the goal one works towards, it all comes down to success. Success includes getting ahead at work and school, and the goal of attaining wealth, power, and prestige. Without success why would anyone want to do anything? You would think that success is free to every American, but it is not. Success is afforded or denied to a person if they qualify. In Death of a Salesman, I believe Willy Loman was not successful in anything he did because he lived in his own world. A big indicator to one's success is their performance on the job. If a person is doing well, generally, they are successful. In the beginning of the play Willy Loman comments on how he was "vital to New England". This is a great example of how Willy's distortion compromised his obtainment of success. In all reality he was not "vital to New England", but a hindrance to his company. This is one reason why Willy Loman never obtained the American Dream. I also think the American Dream is the tragic thing in the first act. Willy Loman wants to succeed in the American Dream and this is his problem. He doesn't see the problems he has in his job. Also he thinks he is a wellliked man, but the complete difference is the reality. Furthermore the marks of his son Biff in school aren't so good so he will fail the exam. The perfect family living the American Dream isn't alive. But Willy Loman never sees the reality and this is the tragedy with the American Dream and the success! If he doesn't see the problems and only lives in his dream world where everything is perfect, the family won't be able to survive. But also he will fail in his job and in everything around it. The American Dream will be extremely failed by him, if he doesn't recognize the reality. So I think the success belonging to the American Dream is a tragic thing in Death of a Salesman. In fact that Willy Loman wants to reach it, he fails in all important topics of the American Dream. He thinks it gives him power, but the American Dream destroys him completely. The American dream is the concept widely held in the United States of America, that through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve prosperity (often associated with the Protestant work ethic). These were the values of the original pioneers who crossed the American plains when Northern Europeans first came to America. What the American dream has become is a question under constant discussion.

History of the American dream

The origin of the American dream stems from the departure in government and economics from the models of the Old World. This allowed unprecedented freedom, especially the possibility of dramatic upward social mobility. Additionally, from the Revolutionary War well into the later half of the nineteenth century, many of America's physical resources were unclaimed and often undiscovered, allowing the possibility of coming across a fortune through relatively little, but lucky investment in land or industry. The development of the Industrial Revolution defined the mineral and land wealth which was there in abundance, contrary to the environmental riches such as huge herds of bison and diversity of forests, for the original Native Americans.

Many early Americans prospectors headed west of the Rocky Mountains to buy acres of cheap land in hopes of finding deposits of gold. The American dream was a driving factor not only in the Gold Rush of the mid to late 1800s, but also in the waves of immigration throughout that century and the following. Impoverished western Europeans escaping the Irish potato famines in Ireland, the Highland clearances in Scotland and the aftermath of Napoleon in the rest of Europe came to America to escape a poor quality of life at home. They wanted to embrace the promise of financial security and constitutional freedom they had heard existed so widely in the United States. A time of plenty Nearing the twentieth century, major industrialist personalities became the new model of the American dream, many beginning life in the humblest of conditions but later controlling enormous corporations and fortunes. Perhaps most notable here were the great American capitalists Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. This acquisition of great wealth demonstrated that if you had talent, intelligence, and a willingness to work extremely hard you were guaranteed at least moderate success as a result. The key difference here from the Old World societal structure is that the antiquated monarchies of Western Europe and their post-feudal economies actively oppressed the peasant class. They also required high levels of taxation which crippled development. America, however, was built by people who were consciously free of these constraints. There was a hope for egalitarianism. Martin Luther King invoked the American Dream in what is perhaps his most famous speech: "Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream." The American dream today In the 20th century, the American dream had its challenges. The Depression caused widespread hardship during the Twenties and Thirties, and was almost a reverse of the dream for those directly affected. Racial instability did not disappear, and in some parts of the country racial violence was almost commonplace. There was concern about the undemocratic campaign known as McCarthyism carried on against suspected Communists. Since the end of World War II, young American families have sought to live in relative bourgeois comfort in the suburbs that they built up. This was aided as a vision by the apparent winning of the Cold War. Criticism of the American dream The concept of the American dream has been the subject of much criticism. The main criticism is that the American dream is false and misguided. These critics say that, for various reasons, it simply is not possible for everyone to become prosperous through determination and hard work. The consequences of this false belief can include the poor feeling that it is their fault that they are not successful. It can also result in less effort towards helping the poor since their poverty is "proof" of their laziness. The concept of the American dream also ignores other factors of success such as the family and wealth one is born into and inheritable traits such as intelligence. A skeptical view would say that the American dream was built on aggressive colonialism. Many contend that the American Dream is impossible to understand without considering the 250 years of slave importation and labor, without which America's 'free market' economy would not have been able to develop to the dominant force it is in today's global marketplace. Other critics point out the falsity of the implied view that everyone is entitled to succeed and become successful simply because they live in America. This can result in the view that the government should ensure equality of results and in the misguided institution of government welfare programs. There is also criticism of the phrase "the American Dream" itself. The wording seems to imply that the concept of success through hard work and determination is unique to America. A critical comparison of the American dream and the experience of Italian-Americans is one of the themes in The Godfather film trilogy.

THE AMERICAN CENTURY

Denims and hot dogs, skyscrapers and supermarkets, mass production and rock music - what do all these have in common? One thing is that they can be found today all over the world. Another is that all of them were born in the United States. The country which for most of its existence had been an importer of influences has become in the twentieth century a major exporter of them. In many areas of life, American popular tastes and attitudes have conquered the world. After the Second World War the spreading of American influence was continued by a powerful new forcetelevision. As early as 1947, around 170000 American families had television sets flickering in their living rooms. Thousands more were waiting for sets to be delivered. Soon millions o f people were organizing their activities around the programs on television that evening. Most early American television programs were concerned with entertainment. Comedy and game shows, stories about policemen and detectives, the adventures of fictional western heroes - all these were very popular. The main purpose of such programs was to attract large audiences of

"viewers." Manufacturing firms then paid television companies like NBC and CBS lots of money to show advertisements for their products while the programs were being broadcast, or " televised. By 1960s filmed television programs had become an important American export. Other countries found it cheaper to buy American programs than to make their own. Soon such exported programs were being watched by viewers all over the world. In music, the process o f Americanization could be seen most clearly in the huge international popularity of rock. Rock began as "rock- and -roll", a music that was first played in the 1950s. It came from the American South, and combined black blues with the country music of working class whites to produce a heavily rhythmic- "rocking " sound that appealed especially to young people. Many of rock and roll's first stars were black performers. But the unchallenged King of rock-and-roll was a young southern white named Elvis Presley. In 1956 Presley's recordings were at the top of the American popularity list - the "hit parade"- every week from August to December. By the end of the decade he had become an international superstar. To rock-and-roll enthusiasts, Presley came to symbolize a new culture of youth. Among other things, this culture developed its own vocabulary, ways of dressing, even hair styles. More significantly for the future, it began to reject socially approved ideas and ways of behaving. By the 1970s rock-and-roll had blended with the protest songs of the 1960s to become rock, a music that was harder and less escapist. Rock became an international as well. Millions of younger people worldwide saw it as their natural cultural language. It symbolized opposition to officially approved ideas and standards even more strongly than its ancestor, rock-and-roll, had done in the 1950'S. The Americanization of popular taste and habits was not restricted to entertainment. The growing popularity of hamburgers, fried chicken and other easily prepared "fast food" spread American eating habits all over the world. Blue jeans and T- shirts Americanized the dress of people on every continent. And supermarkets Americanized the everyday experience of shopping for millions. The first supermarkets appeared in the United States in the 1950s. With their huge variety of foods and other consumer goods, supermarkets gave shoppers a much wider range of choices. In the 1950s many Americans saw their loaded shelves and full freezers as visible proof of the superiority of the American way of organizing a nation's economic life. Not surprisingly, when the Soviet leader Khrushchev visited the United States in 1959, one of the places he was taken to visit was a supermarket! When supermarkets proved a commercial success in the United Stares they quickly spread to other prosperous countries, first in Europe and then in other parts of the world. So did another feature of American cities in these years - groups of tall, shining buildings with outer walls of glass and metal. By the 1980s such buildings were dominating city centers all over the world. To many people they were images of late-20th-century modernity. Yet their origins can be traced back more than a hundred years to the American Midwest. During the 1880s a number of high, narrow buildings began to rise in the center of Chicago. Similar buildings - so tall that people called them "skyscrapers" - were soon rising over ether American cities. In the first half of the twentieth century they became one of the principal visual symbols of the modern United States. Skyscrapers were the result of a need for more working and living space in places where the cost of land was very high. Instead of using a lot of expensive space on the ground their builders used the free space of the sky. New industrial techniques, and the availability of plenty of cheap steel, made it possible for them to do this. Each skyscraper was built around a framework of steel beams, or girders, which carried the weight of the building. This inner steel skeleton was constructed before the outer walls, which were added later. The walls of the early skyscrapers were often made of stone - not for practical reasons, but to make the buildings look solid and strong. In the 1950s architects working in the United States began to design skyscrapers whose steel skeletons were covered by outer walls - or "curtains' of glass and metal. They inspired similar "glass box" office and apartment buildings in cities all over the world. Such buildings gave visual expression to the impact of the United States on the twentieth-century world. They were gleaming symbols of a name that some historians were giving to the century even before it reached its end. The name was the American Century."

"A role of the USA in the world politics".

It is impossible to discuss a future role of the United States of America in the world without understanding the global processes that have been taken place in the world over the last several years. September 11, without doubt, was a break point event in these processes. First, it showed people a danger of an international terrorism. Second, the event brought about a confrontation between two different viewpoints on the development of world politics. On the one hand, politicians from many countries believe that any active actions to preserve world order must be organized only by United Nations. On the other hand, the United States is pushing forward its aggressive unilateral policy that is based only on Washington's (sometimes biased) understanding of the current international situation.

This US strategy was clearly demonstrated in Iraq. Now, after two and a half years of the war, the question must be asked if this policy achieved its goals. Did it bring a peace and stabilization in the post Sadam country? Yes, the military operation itself was a success. Actually, it was difficult to imagine any other result of that war considering that the conflict was between a mighty US and Iraq, a third level military power. Despite the military successes, this strategy did not produce desirable results. The USA cannot stabilize the situation, and the Iraqis continue to organize attacks against the US and coalition forces. May be the USA had another reason to start the war? Some people (in Russia, anyway) believe that a real goal of US policy in the Middle East is to take under control a so-called the world's hydrocarbon ellipse. It is obvious, that a power controlling that region would become a master of the world in this century. Now, the USA is in much less favorable economical position than some other countries (potential America's enemies). So, the US efforts to extend its influence over that area are an attempt to liquidate this imbalance once and for all. But this goal could hardly be achieved by military means. If the USA decided to occupy some other states in that area, they would surely face a guerrilla resistance, like in Iraq and Afganistan. History proved that the only way to suppress insurgency is a policy of mass terror, and I doubt that America will ever use it. The attempts to organize puppet democratic governments will fail too. Such regimes will be hated by the general population and overthrown as soon as US army leaves the country. By the way, why did Bush's administration decide to occupy a sovereign country to fight international terrorism? What is the connection between an organized group of criminals and an independent state? Why not occupy Italy to fight the Italian Mafia? I think that a Washington's current unilateral policy is useless and even dangerous. It is increased a general instability in the World. Iraq became a place that attracts terrorism from all over the globe. The wave of antiAmericanism grew up in the world, even in Western Europe, a traditional ally of the United States. The danger of a terrorist attack on the territory of the United States is even higher than itwas before the Iraq war. It seems that the only purpose of US actions is to remain the world's single superpower by any means. I believe that the USA will not be able to continue its unilateral policy anymore because it goes against objective processes in the world economy and international relations. First of these processes is globalization that does make the world more and more interconnected and interdependent place. Another factor is a steady development of a multipolar world. I doubt that China would joint a unipolar structure and be obedient to US decisions. The EU would become another world's center of power. The political regimes in European countries are very close to American, so any military confrontations are very unlikely at this point. But an economical competition would be intense. I would say that the other war, between the euro and the dollar, is already on, and the dollar is loosing so far. There is another potential threat to the USA. Only a few years ago, a dollar was almost equivalent to gold. People and businesses all over the world tried to keep their savings in dollars. A huge amount of American currency was accumulated in foreign countries. Now, when a dollar is getting cheaper, many try to get rid of it and buy euros. What would happen if all this dollar cash came back to the USA? India, Japan, and Russia will probably also try to make their influence on the world politics comparable with their economical potential. Also, it is possible that the USA will return to the policy of partial isolationism to concentrate on its own problems. First, US troops should be withdrawn from Iraq. This action will greatly destabilize the situation in the Middle East, and Iraq, probably, will become a new center of Islamic fundamentalism. Islamic radicals will increase their activity and the situation will become very dangerous for many countries, but not for the USA. The terrorists simply could not reach the United States. It will be a real danger for the EU and Russia, American adversaries. In Russia the war could spread from Chechnya to the whole Caucasus region. In European countries the danger of terrorist acts would increase dramatically. Of course it would be terrible act (an immediate withdrawing of the troops) from a moral point of view, but the States have already shown several times that they care only about their own interests. Money and troops released after the war would be used to protect borders. The threat of terrorist attack using a weapon of mass distraction is real, and the open boarders are the easiest way to get in the States. Boarders should be guarded not by overweight volunteers gathering around an American flag, but by elite troops. Some funds would be used to improve security services; I think they need more informers. The terrorists can strike only from inside of the United States. That is why the only way to fight them is to put everything in order in your own country. In conclusion, no one can say how the world will look like even in the nearest future; we can only predict. One thing is clear, however, the future of the country directly depends on today's policy.