Describe the beginning of the American colonies.

How did people live there? What were the main types of settlements?

What are the stages of their formation?

3. History influenced the culture of the country greatly. There is a great difference between the North and the South of the country: people who lived and still live in the North call their part of the country “New England”. Their stereotype of a true and worthy American is – male, Anglo-Saxon, protestant. What influenced the first settlers of New England was Puritanism. Remember the movie “The Scarlet Letter” about a typical settlement of puritans?

Read the information about the essence of Puritanism to ensure your better understanding of the problems raised during the couple and answer the questions below:

Puritanism had its roots in sixteenth century efforts by Calvinistic Protestants to rid the Church in England of all vestiges of Catholicism. Puritans were known for the moral and religious earnestness that pervaded their way of life. They were persecuted by the Anglican Church and the English government because their views differed from official Church doctrine. In 1608 a group of Puritans emigrated from England to Holland, a country which was tolerant of religious differences. However, the Puritans were never completely accepted in Holland, they relegated to menial, low paying jobs, and they concerned that their children were opting Dutch customs. They were also worried that Spain, a rigidly Catholic country, would gain control of Holland. They therefore secured the right to immigrate to America and found English colony in which they could practice their religion freely. The Puritans, now called the Pilgrims, reached the New World and founded Plymouth in 1620.

The Puritans believed that man was inherently sinful and corrupt. Rescue from damnation was only by arbitrary divine grace. For Puritans, man was duty-bound to do God's will, which he could understand best by studying the Bible and the universe which God had created. For Puritans the source of all religious authority lay in the Scripture itself which was to be studied by all members of the congregation. Because of the importance of preaching and finding guidance from interpretation of the Scripture, the Puritans respected learned ministers.

Puritanism was characterized by an insistence on the use of English in religious services; reliance on the sermon as the centerpiece of the religious ceremony; belief in direct communication between man and God without a priest as an intermediary: the conviction that it all believers are equal in the sight of God; and insistence that church members select their leaders through democratic elections.

The Puritans believed that God would, as an exercise of mercy, bless a small number of people and save them from the eternal hellfire that, due to mankind's corrupt nature, we all deserve. In the ideal Puritan church, all members would be among the «elect» few. At some point in their lives, these saints would experience «conversion.» a profound sense of inner assurance that they possessed God's «saving grace.» Conversion could occur suddenly or gradually, in earliest youth or even in the moments before death. God decided who would be saved or damned before the beginning of history—and this decision would not be affected by how human beings behaved during their lives. Puritans were concerned with how they behaved onearth, not to earn God's mercy (they firmly believed in predestination) but because leading a moral and religious life was an encouraging sign of having been chosen by God to enjoy eternal salvation. It was impossible to be entirely sure that one had been selected by God. But this uncertainty lead them to redouble their efforts to purify their own lives and society as a whole.

Puritans believed that the government should strictly enforce morality by prohibitingvices like drunkenness, gambling, ostentatious dress, swearing, adultery and Sabbath-breaking. The government was a civil commonwealth of the «elect» and only the «elect» could vote and rule.

1) The history of the movement; their main values; the nature of sin according to them;

2) Puritans believed that good works and a moral life on earth could not change the fate. Can you say why Puritans were so eager to live moral lives and work very hard to bet themselves and their communities, despite this belief?

3) What traces of the puritan movement can you see in the today’s America?

4. PROJECT WORK: The Indians or Native Americans

The Indian 'Trail of Tears'

In the Northeast by the 1820s the remnants of once-great Indian tribes like the Iroquois were confined to reservations but in the Southeast Indian numbers were much larger, probably around 100,000. Americans coveted the land on which these Indians lived.

Jefferson had held out two alternatives for the Indians - adopt the American lifestyle or be sent west. In 1830 Congress passed a bill setting aside 'an ample district west of the Mississippi' for the Indian tribes where they could live under their own governments. The Chickasaw, Choctaws and Creeks nations exchanged their territory for such land but the Seminoles in Florida resisted - it took 6 years for the U.S. Army to crush them. In 1838, the Cherokees finally submitted and were marched west in the 'Trail of Tears', a grim 6-month journey in which one quarter of the 13,000 Cherokees died.

In 1820 about 125,000 Indians lived east of the Mississippi; by the mid-1840s there were a quarter of this number. The way was now clear to develop America's cotton kingdom.

Give the relations between the Indians and the colonists in succession?

How are the problems of Native Americans being solved today?

What is there in the cultural life of the country that comes from Native Americans?

5. PROJECT WORK: Among all ethnic minorities African-Americans is the largest group (11,1%), and their problems: the problems of their identity, equal rights, the attitude to them from the white population are discussed most often. There exists even the problem of the discrimination of “the whites” in the “black” community.

Why are they so anxious about their colour?

Why are they so aggressive?

What are the peculiar features in American culture that originate from this group?

What was the role of African-Americans &the difference in their social status throughout history?

Martin Luther King and his “I Have A Dream”.

Can we say that the discrimination against the African-American group was abolished?

How did black Americans fight for their rights?

6. The USA is a nation of immigrants, there were several waves of immigration that have given us two cultures: main-stream culture vs. all kinds of subcultures.

Give definitions of the underlined terms above;

How have immigration patterns changed throughout history? What were the laws restricting immigration (article); give your comments. What are the laws that regulate immigration today? How have they changed throughout history?

handout “The social atom: ethnic diversity good or bad”

What is the percentage of ethnic groups in the USA now? What ethnic group is the recent one (the one still immigrating)? How do these groups assimilate?

Think who may be called an assimilated citizen and who an immigrant (a stranger)?

Do they preserve their own culture or try to forget it as soon as possible?

If they follow the traditions of the country of their origin, how do they do it?

What are the difficulties they face in the new motherland?

What does the government do to preserve a multi-cultural community?

7. The problem of immigrant children of is very urgent. It’s very difficult for them to assimilate, and very often they become not only bilingual but bicultural as well.Speak about the programs the government performs to help these children.

8.Can we say that the USA has its own unique culture, that the nation is unanimous?

9.Is race/ ethnicity an issue in Russia? How do we cope with living in a multi-cultural society? Use the supplement as additional information.

SOURSES: 1) “America in Close-Up”, chapter 1, 7/ articles: p.117 “Brothers”; p. 216 “I Have A Dream”/ p. 20 “Immigration Today”

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 1416