THE PRESIDENT'S DAY
What do you know about American politics? Name important US presidents that you know. Match them to facts and pictures. 10'
1. Who were democrats and who republican?
2. Watergate Scandal which led to impeachment process.
3. Assassinated President.
4. First African-American President
5. War in Iraq
6. His wife, Hilary Clinton, was the Democrat candidate in the 2016 elections.
7. Fist woman in the Government body.
8. Most controversial president who has undergone two impeachment processes.
9. Current President of the United States of America.
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Read about two different and key presidents in the history of America. Student A reads text about George Washington and student B reads about Abraham Lincoln. Then mediate your text to your classmate. 10'
GEORGE WASHINGTON
Washington led the American army during the War of Independence and was the first president of the United States. He is one of the most important figures in American history.
George Washington was born on 22 February 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, into a family of prosperous farmers. At 16 he became a surveyor and a year later he was appointed surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia, his first public office. In 1752, he joined the colonial militia.
During the French and Indian War (known in Europe as the Seven Years War) Washington won a reputation for bravery. He then returned to farming at Mount Vernon, a plantation he had inherited from his half-brother. In 1759, he married Martha Custis, a wealthy widow.
In the same year, Washington entered the Virginia House of Burgesses where he consistently opposed what he saw as unfair British taxes. By 1774, Washington was one of the leading Virginian figures supporting the colonial cause. He was sent by Virginia to both the first and second Continental Congresses in 1774 and 1775.
In June 1775, Washington was appointed commander of all colonial forces. He set about forming the Continental Army and trying to feed, clothe and equip his soldiers. His early military fortunes were mixed, but an American victory at Saratoga in October 1777 prompted the French to agree to an alliance with the Americans.
Although Washington's fortunes did not immediately improve, with French military and naval assistance the tide began to turn. On 19 October 1781, the British army surrendered at Yorktown. Peace talks began in Paris and a treaty was signed in 1783.
In 1787, Washington was elected president of the Constitutional Convention and used his immense influence to persuade the states to ratify the resulting constitution. In 1789, he was unanimously elected the first president of the United States. He faced huge challenges in welding together the individual states to establish a new nation, and creating a government for that nation. Washington was also dismayed by the emergence of political parties, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans, led by his two closest advisers, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson respectively.
Washington wanted to retire after his first term, but was re-elected to a second term in 1792. He succeeded in maintaining American neutrality when war broke out between Britain and France in 1793 and also normalised diplomatic relations with Britain.
Washington finally retired from public life in 1797 and died at Mount Vernon on 14 December 1799.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States and one of the great American leaders. His presidency was dominated by the American Civil War.
Abraham Lincoln was born on 12 February 1809 near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He was brought up in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. His parents were poor pioneers and Lincoln was largely self-educated. In 1836, he qualified as a lawyer and went to work in a law practice in Springfield, Illinois. He sat in the state legislature from 1834 to 1842 and in 1846 was elected to Congress, representing the Whig Party for a term. In 1856, he joined the new Republican Party and in 1860 he was asked to run as their presidential candidate.
In the presidential campaign, Lincoln made his opposition to slavery very clear. His victory provoked a crisis, with many southerners fearing that he would attempt to abolish slavery in the South. Seven southern states left the Union to form the Confederate States of America, also known as the Confederacy. Four more joined later. Lincoln vowed to preserve the Union even if it meant war.
Fighting broke out in April 1861. Lincoln always defined the Civil War as a struggle to save the Union, but in January 1863 he nonetheless issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in areas still under Confederate control. This was an important symbolic gesture that identified the Union's struggle as a war to end slavery.
In the effort to win the war, Lincoln assumed more power than any president before him, declaring martial law and suspending legal rights. He had difficulty finding effective generals to lead the Union armies until the appointment of Ulysses S Grant as overall commander in 1864.
On 19 November 1863, Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address at the dedication of a cemetery at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, a decisive Union victory that had taken place earlier in the year.
In 1864, Lincoln stood for re-election and won. In his second inaugural address, he was conciliatory towards the southern states.
On 9 April 1865, the Confederate general Robert E Lee surrendered, effectively ending the war. It had lasted for more than four years and 600,000 Americans had died. Less than a week later, Lincoln was shot while attending a performance at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC and died the next morning, 15 April 1865. His assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was a strong supporter of the Confederacy.
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20'
After all the information your classmates have given you, let's complete the quiz about how Valentine's Day is celebrated in different English-speaking countries.
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