The United States History

	The US History Hot Links You can access the links below to read more about the US history. United States History. By Britannica Encyclopedia. History of the United States. By NationMaster Encyclopedia. History of the United States. By Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. About.com: American History.

The WebQuest on the Key Events in the US History

Introduction

he history of settlement of the territory which is currently named as the United States of America did not begin with Christopher Columbus, an Italian seaman, who discovered the way to the land in 1492 and thought it was India. It was not another person either, a Viking Leif Eriksson, who had stepped onto the land's soil nearly five centuries earlier in 1000. These dates are only true for European explorations.

In fact the history of settlement is much longer. It started more than 20,000 years ago and connected with the peoples who inhabited Siberia. Scientists believe that they crossed the Bering Strait and commenced living in the vast areas of the continent. These peoples and their descendants are known as Native Americans or American Indians [Amerind].

Later when clashed with Europeans, the New World had to yield to new realities.

In this WebQuest you and your groupmates will explore some historic events that are related to European/British colonization and appearance of the United States of America as a country.

Question

• What historic events led to the formation of the United States of America?

To answer this question the group will be divided into two teams. Each of the teams will have assignments to complete. Read carefully the Process and Resources below.

Process and Resources

Being assigned to a team or choosing the team you like, you are to complete the tasks below.

Although the articles are from VOA Special English, they might challenge you in terms of unknown words. Please, feel free to use one of the online dictionaries or one at hand.
The links below are in blue and become underlined when the cursor is over them.

Here are the step-by-step instructions to use when looking into your tasks.

1. BACKGROUND. The whole group should read and/or listen to the articles about the English colonization of North America and then try to find answers to these questions:
• What were the main events in the history of the European Colonization in the area which is now called as the United States of America?
• What were the reasons for the colonization?
• Optional reading/listening - "VOA American History Series: Columbus Sails, Others Follow, and Spain Is on Top of the World." By the 15th century, European countries were ready to explore new parts of the world. Technological improvements helped them succeed.
• "VOA American History Series: A Difficult Life for English Settlers." Survival required help from American Indians. Jamestown became the first permanent English settlement in the New World, and tobacco became a profitable crop.
• "VOA American History Series: How a Desire for Religious Freedom or Land, or Both, Led to Colonies." Puritans from England settled Massachusetts. The Dutch settled the area now called New York State. And Quakers, unwelcome in England, settled Pennsylvania.
• "VOA American History Series: Slavery Arrives as Colonial Expansion Heads South." In 1619, a Dutch ship brought a group of Africans to the British colony at Jamestown. African traders had kidnapped and sold them to the ship's captain, who sold them to the Virginia colonists.


2. LOOKING DEEPER. Click the envelope that belongs to your team. The envelopes contain the task to complete.

TEAM ONE	TEAM TWO

3. LOOKING DEEPER INTO ONE MORE EVENT. The whole group should read/listen to the articles below and come up with another event that was also important in the US history.
   • What was the event?
   • Who contributed to the event?
   • Why was it important in the formation of the USA?
   • "200th Anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase."
   • "American History Series: Jefferson Gets Louisiana Territory From France."
     If the link is void, try here - http://www.kekenet.com/broadcast/42285.shtml.
   • "The Lewis and Clark Exploration: One of the Most Important Events in American History."
   • "Lewis and Clark."

Conclusion

n the way to discovering some historic events that are related to the formation of the United States of America, you have completed some tasks on reading and/or listening to the offered texts about the US history and had a chance to combine two formats of working: individual and group.

Both of the formats required your language skills. But the main criterion of assessment for your performance is the content of your answers. Yet you should not neglect linguistics as it affects your presentation and you may sound incomprehensible.