First american settlers

Different Indian tribes inhabited America long before European explorers and later on settlers appeared there. Indian customs and traditions were extraordinary diverse because they lived under different conditions to which they had adapted. Women were responsible for farming and food, men hunted and participated in war. Their life was communal. Their culture was oral. Most Indian tribes were closely tied to the land, some were fierce and warlike.

First Americans or Amerindians descend from tribal peoples of Eastern Siberia. There are many cultural similarities between people of Siberia and Alaska, including their myths. There used to be a „land bridge” that united the continents across The Bering Strait.

First white settlers on American continent were Vikings from Scandinavia. They came long before Columbus’s discovery. Scandinavian sagas tell us about the trip and the colony they settled called Vinland. Later on they were attacked by Amerindians and escaped to Greenland.

The Viking voyage to North America remained unknown to Europe. Only in the 60s of the 20^th century archeologists found some ruins of Vikings’ houses dating from that period. The New World lay undiscovered for 500 years until in 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed into the Caribbean Sea.

America is often called „The melting pot” as it is a nation of immigrants. Immigrants of different races and nationalities from many countries of the world formed that nation. Lots of European roots can be easily traced. There were three major countries involved in the colonization of America – Spain, France and England. Spanish colonization of America started soon after Christopher Columbus’s discovery. Spain claimed the whole of the new world and considered the new continent as a possible source of wealth. Spaniards got royal license which gave them the right to the tenth of the wealth in the new colony but they equipped and financed the expedition themselves. The majority of them were adventure seekers and were interested only in gold and silver that they hoped to find in South America. For three centuries Spanish America flourished and made Spain the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world. Few Spaniards really settled in the New World. Those who did created a profitable agricultural economy. They brought with them their language and learning, tools, grains, vegetables and fruits, domestic animals.

The Spanish colonized all South America and ruled vast territories in North America, but their interest in North America was half-hearted: they didn’t find any gold there and had to fight with warlike Indians.

The Spanish were not the only nation to claim the New World’s lands. The French also had an interest there. In 1524 the French King sent an Italian sailor Giovanni Verazano to find a new way to Asia and a land rich in gold. He sailed into the harbour of New York. Today a bridge there carries his name.

Later on the French discovered the St. Lawrence river in present day Canada. The forests along the river were full of fur-bearing animals; the river was rich in fish. The French did not establish any successful colony. But they developed good contacts with Indians and beaver-fur became a major trading item for the next three hundred years. First, the French claimed Canada. Later they explored the interior and reached the Mississippi river. Traders extended down the St. Lawrence through the Great Lakes where they established some forts. These forts grew into modern Detroit and Chicago. Gradually the French went down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. Soon they claimed the vast territory from the Great Lakes down and to the west of the Mississippi. It became their colony under the name Louisiana.

The English in those days were too busy making war in Spain and their interest in the new World awoke later. They tried to establish their own settlements as far back as 1587 in Virginia. The land was called Virginia in honour of Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen. In 1585 Sir Walter Raleigh, an explorer, a writer and a pirate who was a favourite of the Queen, sent the first group of settlers to the New World. The colony didn’t survive. The Indians attacked them. The survivors were brought home by the British ships.

a tribe [t r a i b] плем’я, рід, клан

to inhabit [i n΄h æ bi t] жити, мешкати, населяти

a settler [΄s e t l ə] поселенець, колоніст

diverse [d a i ΄v ə: s] різний, різноманітний

fierce [f i ə s] лютий, жорстокий, злий, жорсткий

to descend [di΄send]походити, спускатися, знижуватися, схилятися до горизонту

the Bering Strait геогр. Берингова протока

to settle [΄s e t l] оселятися, заселяти, колонізувати

to escape [i s ΄k e i p] утекти, вчинити втечу, врятуватися

the melting pot [΄m e l t i ŋ ΄p ) t] плавильний котел (місце, де живуть різні

національні групи)

to claim [k l e i m] вимагати, претендувати

a license [΄l a i s (ə) n s] офіційний дозвіл, ліцензія

to flourish [΄f l r i ∫] процвітати, бути у розквіті

profitable [΄p r ) f i t ə b l] прибутковий, корисний

The Gulf of Mexico [g l fə v ΄m e k s i k o u] Мексиканська затока

to survive [s ə ΄v a i v] вижити, уціліти