Страноведение. США: география, история, экономика, культура

УДК 811.111(075.8)
ББК 81.2Англ-923
 
Н73

Р е ц е н з е н т ы: кандидат филологических наук, доцент, декан факультета иностранных языков для руководящих работников и специалистов ИПК и ПК учреждений 
образования «Минский государственный лингвистический университет» Л.В. Шимчук; 
кафедра английского языка экономических специальностей факультета международных 
отношений учреждения образования «Белорусский государственный экономический 
университет» (кандидат филологических наук, доцент С.А. Дубинко)

Все права на данное издание защищены. Воспроизведение всей книги или любой ее 
части не может быть осуществлено без разрешения изда тельст ва.

ISBN 978-985-06-2664-6 (отд. изд.) 
© Новик Н.А., 2015
ISBN 978-985-06-2663-9 
© Оформление. УП «Издательство “Вышэйшая 
 
 
школа”», 2015

CONTENTS

P r e f a c e  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Unit 1. Geography and cultural regions of the U.S.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Unit 2. History of the United States. From colonization to the American 
Revolution  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Unit 3. History of the United States. From the 18th to the beginning 
of the 20th century  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Unit 4. History of the United States. The U.S. in the 20th and 21st 
centuries  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Unit 5. Federal government of the United States  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Unit 6. U.S. economy and demographics  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Unit 7. The United States – nation of immigrants  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Unit 8. U.S. culture and American identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Unit 9. American cultural traits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Unit 10. American English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Unit 11. U.S. education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Unit 12. Tourist attractions in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

R e f e r e n c e s  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

PREFACE

This textbook is designed to introduce the students majoring in intercultural communication and cross cultural studies to 
the world of U.S.A. It incorporates the study of geography, 
economy, history, politics, literature, art, culture, education, 
American stereotype, population growth and structure, and 
American English. 
Within modern memory people all over the planet have become remarkably conscious of the U.S.A. No wonder, the U.S. 
dollar is still one of the most convertible currencies. Even remote villagers know about this land “from sea to shining sea,” 
about California and the White House. “When America sneezes, the world gets a cold,” they say. 
So, the subject of this textbook is the U.S.A. or America. A 
key goal is to stimulate the students’ curiosity about the U.S.A. 
While reading it the students will become better informed and 
more experienced in understanding American culture and people. Furthermore, understanding of cultural difference leads to 
an ability to communicate across difference, even if we don’t 
share the same beliefs, values, and objectives, etc.
This course entails studying a complex and balanced picture of the U.S.A., identifying good and bad in the country’s 
social, political, and cultural life. It shows that the U.S. is more 
diverse than Hollywood westerns, Fourth-of-July bravado, and 
MTV would lead foreigners to believe. 
The book brings together ideas, concepts and facts from a 
wide variety of sources. Structurally, it is divided into twelve 
units; each unit offers the following four tools: 
First, a statement of the major themes to be found in it;
Second, a list of key words and proper names;
Third, a structured text complemented by additional information under the heading Interesting to know;
Fourth, a summary of key points with a series of discussion 
questions.
A set of tests to better comprehend the material contained 
in each unit is placed at the end of the textbook followed by the 
keys to each test and a list of references or sources.

Moreover, the textbook is supplied with a disc containing 
the basic information mentioned in the book. 
Hopefully, with the knowledge improved and expanded by 
this course, University graduates will have the expertise necessary to gain employment in the fi eld of their major.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Mr. Mark K. Crawley for the valuable 
advice he has given me in the writing of this book. 
I am also grateful to Mr. Richard Grafstein for his helpful 
recommendations about American cultural traits.  

GEOGRAPHICAL 
AND CULTURAL REGIONS
OF THE U.S.A.

This unit will describe the land, physical features, and climate of 
the United States of America, and cover the following items:
 
the U. S. political geography and political divisions;
 
origin of states’ names;
 
the capital and largest cities of the U.S.;
 
U.S. politics;
 
U.S. physical geography: major lakes and river systems, 
mountains, and deserts;
 
climate and environment;
 
American regional diversity and Americanization; 
 
cultural regions in detail: the Northeast, the South, the West, 
the Midwest, the Southwest.

Key Words and Proper Names: adjacent, arid (semi-arid), as of 
2013 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, contiguous, converge, county, 

Unit 
1

cultural identity, drainage, drawl, extant political entities, extraction, 
fossil fuel, freight, gorge, homogenizing infl uence, intermixing of 
cultures, level off regional differences, metro area, offshore rig, 
parish, precipitation, pronounced peculiarities, resentment, reverence for the past, startling, statehood, thrift, tolerance, township, 
tribe, tributary, urban sprawl; 
the Appalachian Mountains, the Adirondacks, the Cordilleran system,  the Great Plains, the Interior Highlands, the Interior Plains, the 
Ozark Plateau, the Intermontane Plateaus, the Laurentian Highlands, 
the Rocky Mountains; the Great Lakes (the Superior, Huron, Michigan, 
Ontario, and Erie), the St. Lawrence River, the Mississippi-Missouri 
rivers; the Chihuahuan Desert, the Colorado Desert, the Great Basin, 
the Mojave Desert, the Sonoran Desert, Sunbelt and Frostbelt;
Flannery O’Connor, William Faulkner, Katherine Anne Porter, 
Amerigo Vespucci, Martin Waldseemüller, Robert Penn Warren, 
Tennessee Williams, Thomas Wolfe. 

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is a constitutional federal republic, which comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several 
territories in the Caribbean and Pacifi c.
To call the country America is not absolutely correct. It is called the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the U. S. of A., America, the States, or (poetically) Columbia depending on a degree of formality. 
In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller made a world map 
on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere as “America” after 
Amerigo Vespucci, Italian explorer and cartographer. 
The country’s modern name was fi rst used in the Declaration of Independence, as the “unanimous Declaration of the 13 united States of America” adopted by the “Representatives of the United States of America” on 
July 4, 1776. The current name was fi nalized on November 15, 1777, when 
the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, 
which state, “The Stile (name) of this Confederacy shall be ‘The United 
States of America’ ” [25].
The United States of America is the third largest country in the world after Russia and Canada with an area of 9,826,675 sq km [33]. 
The estimated U.S. population as of August 29, 2015 was 321,628,000 
people including an approximate 11.2 million illegal immigrants. So, in size 
of population it is also the third in the world behind China and India. 
The US political geography: The U.S. has the longest undefended 
ground border in the world with Canada and also shares a long ground border with Mexico. 

The country is divided into three distinct sections: a) the continental 
United States also known as the lower 48; b) Alaska, which is physically 
connected only to Canada, c) and the archipelago of Hawaii in the central 
Pacifi c Ocean. 49 states (all except Hawaii) lie on the North American continent; and 48 of them (all except Alaska) are contiguous and form the continental United States.
The state’s names are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, 
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North 
Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode 
Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
As said above, the U.S. also holds several other territories, districts and 
possessions, fi rst of all, the federal district called the District of Columbia, 
which is the nation’s capital, and several overseas areas. The most signifi cant of them are Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana 
Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. The U.S. Navy has held one 
military base called Guantanamo at an occupied portion of Guantanamo Bay 
on Cuba since 1898. 
The 50 U.S. states vary widely in size and population. The largest states 
in area are Alaska with an area of 1.7 million sq km, followed by Texas, and 
California. The smallest state is Rhode Island, with an area of 4,002 sq km. 
The state with the largest population is California (35.8 million people), followed by Texas, and New York. A little more than 500,000 people live in 
Wyoming, which is also the least populous state. New Jersey, on the other 
hand, is the most densely populated state. 

Interesting to know: State names speak to the circumstances of their creation. We may fi nd:
British names. Southern states on the Atlantic coast originated as British 
colonies named after British monarchs: Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, 
and Maryland. Some northeastern states, also former British colonies, take 
their names from places in the British Isles: New Hampshire, New Jersey, 
and New York. 
Native American names. Many states’ names are those of Native American tribes or are from Native American languages: Nebraska, Kansas, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Connecticut, Missouri, Idaho, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, 
Minnesota, the Dakotas, Mississippi, Texas, Utah, and others. 
Spanish names. Many states in the southeast and southwest have Spanish names, because they are on territories previously controlled by Spain 

or Mexico. They include Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, California and 
Nevada. 
French names. Because it was previously a French colony, Louisiana is 
named after Louis XIV (King of France at the time). 
Thus, some of the names that appeared on the map starting with the 16th 
century were those of English and French kings and queens, or some famous people, living and dead. Some names were taken from history and literature. There were names taken from geology, others were connected with 
important events in the life of the people. The new places got the names of 
places the people had come from. Along the east coast of the United States, 
such English names as Plymouth, Cambridge, Lon don, and Boston can be 
found. English names often appear with the word “new” as a prefi x: New 
England, New Britain, New York.
The fi rst people to arrive in America from Holland built a town that they 
named New Amsterdam, in honor of the capital of their country in Europe. 
But forty years later, when Holland was at war with England, an English 
fl eet under the command of the Duke of York appeared before New Amsterdam. The town had no army; the English occupied the town and renamed it 
New York. And this is the name that has remained to this day. Its correct 
name is New York City, whereas just New York is the name of the whole 
state. Washington, D.C. also has its namesake state – Washington, named 
after the fi rst President which is situated in the northwest of the country, on 
its Pacifi c coast.
The state of New York has Borodino. One of the hottest places in 
the Californian desert was called Siberia, which, no doubt, produces a 
humoristic effect on those who know the geography of Russia. There 
are twenty-two towns in the United States that are called London, or 
New London, eighteen towns named Bristol, many named Chester, 
Windsor or New Windsor. There are towns named Philadelphia in four 
states, besides the Philadelphia that is the largest city in the state of 
Pennsylvania. Moscow can be found in eleven American states. In the 
mid-19th century there emerged five or six Sevastopols on the map of 
the USA. Odessa is met nine times, and only two of these are situated 
on the seashore, the rest of them are inland towns. All this explains the 
American tradition of writing the name of the state as well as the name 
of the city. 

Washington, D.C., or the District of Columbia (also known as the Nation’s Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital 
city and administrative district of the U.S.A. 
Washington, D.C. is a part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan 
Area, which includes parts of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. It 

should not be confused with the U.S. state of Washington, located in the Pacifi c Northwest.
The District of Columbia is a federal district. As specifi ed by the U.S. 
Constitution, the District is ruled by the U.S. Congress, though it is unrepresented in that body. The population of the District of Columbia is more than 
5 million people. 
The centers of all three branches of the U.S. federal government are situated in Washington, D.C., as well as the headquarters of most federal 
agencies. Washington also serves as the headquarters for the World Bank, 
the International Monetary Fund, the Organization of American States, and 
other international (and national) institutions. Washington is also the site of 
numerous national landmarks, museums, and is a popular destination for 
tourists.
Largest cities: The U.S. has dozens of major cities, including several 
important global cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. 
The fi gures expressed below are for populations within 10 city limits (as of 
2014 U.S. Census Bureau estimates) [34]. 

  Rank 
City
Population
Region

1.  
New York City
2.  
Los Angeles
3.  
Chicago
4.  
Dallas
5.  
Houston
6.  
Philadelphia
7.  
Washington, D.C.
8.  
Miami
9.  
Atlanta
10.  
Boston

19, 949,502
13,131,431
9,537,289
6,810,913
6,313,158
6,034,678
5,949,859
5,828,191
5,522,942
4,684,299

Northeast 
West
Midwest
South
South
Northeast
Northeast
South
South
Northeast

Extensive areas of urban sprawl exist in larger metropolitan areas such as 
Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; and New York City.
U.S. politics: The states are generally divided into smaller administrative 
regions, including counties, cities and townships, with the exception of Louisiana, where counties are called parishes. They incorporate cities, villages, towns. 
Altogether, there are about 85,000 extant political entities in the U.S. including 
counties, municipalities, townships, school districts, and special districts.
U.S. politics is represented by 50 state governments plus the government 
of the District of Columbia, and further down the ladder are still smaller 
units that govern counties, cities, towns, boroughs and villages. 
Like the national government, state governments have three branches: 
executive, legislative, and judicial; these are roughly equivalent in function 
and scope to their national counterparts. The chief executive of a state is the