Dai fatti alla Storia - volume 2

The American Revolution ACTIVITY 4.E Complete the text below by inserting the words given. president France independence banknotes invented political owners Founding Fathers United States Declaration The Founding Fathers The expression Founding Fathers refers to a group of protagonists of the American history, who fought for the (1.) .......... ........... ... .. of the 13 colonies from Britain. They signed the most influential governing documents of the United States of America: the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Constitution (1787). The Fathers were predominantly wealthy plantation (2.) ..................... ... .. and businessmen, well-educated and had some (3.) .......... .......... ... .. experience. Among them there are the first three presidents of the (4.) .......... ......... ... ..: George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Washington had fought for the British against (5.) .......... ......... ... .. during the Seven Years War and in 1775 he was placed in charge of the Continental Army. In 1789 he was elected the first (6.) .......... .......... ... .. of the United States. Adams became vice president under Washington and he was then elected president, serving from 1797 to 1801. Jefferson was a Virginian lawyer and politician who in 1776 wrote the (7.) .......... .......... ... .. of Independence. The figure of Benjamin Franklin, who was a famous author, printer, diplomat, musician, chess player, scientist, and inventor stands out among the (8.) .......... .............. ... .. . Franklin explored the phenomenon of electricity and invented the lightning rod, to protect structures from being struck by lightning. He also (9.) ......... .......... ... .. bifocals lens, a model of a glass-harmonica and a model of a stove that is still called Franklin stove . He wasn t elected President, nevertheless he appears on the 100 dollar (10.) .......... .......... ... .. . John Trumbull s famous painting Declaration of Independence. ACTIVITY 4.F Read the following paragraphs and then put them in the correct order. The first one is given. The Constitution of 1787 A 1 After the first victory at Saratoga, in 1777, the war ended with the final success of the rebels, that was achieved at Yorktown in 1781. The Treaty of Versailles, that was signed in 1783, put an end to the American War of Independence. Great Britain had no other choice but to acknowledge the independence of the 13 colonies that named themselves the United States of America. B The executive power is held by the President, who is indirectly elected for a 4-year term, with the limit of two elections. In 1789 George Washington was elected first President of the United States, and was reconfirmed in 1793. C The war had ended victoriously but it was necessary to wait until 1787 for the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia to ratify the Constitution of the United States. The text that was approved was very short as it was only made up of seven articles. The United States of America became a federal republic, where a strong federal government coexisted with the autonomy and sovereignty of the single States. D The judicial power consists of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. The Supreme Court has the duty to control that the decisions made by the President, the Congress or the State Governors do not violate the Constitution. E The legislative power consists of the Congress which is divided in two chambers: the House of Representatives, whose members are allocated to each State on the basis of population, and the Senate where each State is equally represented by two senators. F In order to write the text, the Founding Fathers drew inspiration from the principle of separation of powers described by the Enlightenment political philosopher Montesquieu. The system of government is separated in three branches, namely the legislative, the judicial and the executive powers. 555