English In The Classroom

The History of America
- Part II

Settlers began to move west in search of farmlands. Some went by river, others by trails. They traveled in groups of covered wagons.

Im 1869, two companies, one from the East, the other from West, built the first railway across the country. They joined the rails with a golden spike where they met.

The railway brought more settlers who forced the Indians to live in areas called reservations.

Gold and silver were found in the West and new towns sprang up. When the gold ran out people moved away and the towns became " ghost towns ".

The Southem states used slaves to work on their large farms. The Northern states did not need slaves. They wanted to get rid of slavery.

In 1861, the Southern states left the Union and formed the Confederacy. Civil waa broke out. In 1865, the Union won the war.

Many settlers came from Europe during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Some of them came to escape war or poverty, others for political or religious reasons.

During the twentieth century the United States took part in the World Wars, in the Korean, Vietnam and Iraqian Wars.

Jonh Kennedy was chosen as president in 1960, but he was shot to death in Dallas, Texas, in 1963. He was a great president. During his government black people got many civil rights ( equality with whites ).

In 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the Moon.

" The Usborne First Book of American". EDC Publishing, Tulsa, Oklahoma - USA.