The Civil War

Hello everybody! J Today I’m going to talk a little about the Civil War. In Norwegian it means “Borgerkrigen”. It was fought from 1861 to 1865.

The Civil War was between northern USA and southern USA. The northern USA thought it was wrong that the southern used the black people like farm animals.  The black people wasn’t allowed to vote, they were both and sold, and black families were broken up. The south actually didn’t for a while think of the black people as Humans! That’s absurd, isn’t it? The Civil War didn’t just start because of slavery, but the sustenance or abolition of slavery was the result everyone watched for, and what all the politicians fought for.

In the Civil War as much as 600.000 people died! This was horror on a scale no American ever saw before or since. The South surrendered and when it was over, Richmond had been bombed into a moonscape, General Sherman had burned Atlanta to the ground, and the President was killed. But also The Union was able to welcome back all seceded states, per Lincoln’s wishes, and permanently outlaw slavery of any kind. The president was Abraham Lincoln who freed the slaves with the emancipation proclamation and they became free humans.

http://listverse.com/2011/07/14/top-10-important-events-in-us-history/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War

Slavery in the USA

Hello everybody! J Last time i informed you guys what immigrants was, did, how they got in to the USA and why. Well this time I’m going to talk about slavery! Yeah, it’s terrible. But why did the Americans do it?

The slavery started in the USA when 20 black people were sold in the English colonies. They were in fact just servants on a contract but slavery came gradually.

This is a picture of the triangle slave trade that started in the 1600^th century. America sent sugar, tobacco and cotton to Europe. And then Europe sent textiles, rum and manufactured goods to Africa. And last but not least Africa sent the slaves to America. The number of slaves that was shipped to America is a little uncertain, but it’s around 10-15 millions.

The slaves where bought to work for the tobacco and cotton plantations. They didn’t get paid and often had long and hard work days. The slavers lived in small shacks and they got food from their “owners”. If the slaves didn’t do a got enough job or the owners saw they do something wrong, they got whipped. But there were nicer owners to that believed if the people were happy they would work hard. Only the big and strong people were allowed to have children so they would grow up to be big and strong and work hard too. The slaves often survived the days on the plantation by singing, and have fellowship to each other.

Abraham Lincoln became president in 1860 and 3 years later when he pronounced the emancipation proclamation, that was promising the slaves to walk free. And after the civil war it was no more slaves to see on the tobacco and cotton plantation.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangular_trade
• https://snl.no/slaveri#menuitem1
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States
• http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaveri_i_USA#1850-.C3.A5rene_til_borgerkrigen

Immigration

A historical view

Immigration to the USA became usual in the 17th century and still is today. The immigration started in the colonial America. Over 17th and 18th century there were around 400.000 English people and half of the European immigrants that migrated there. And over the 19^th century it came from mostly Latin America and Asia.

From 1836 to 1914, over 30 million Europeans migrated to the United States and many more from other countries and in 1875; the nation passed its first immigration law, the Page Act of 1875. By 1910, 13.5 million immigrants were living in the United States. Because of this, the immigration act of 1924 came. The 1924 Act was restricting the Southern and Eastern Europeans, especially Jews, Italians, and Slavs, who had begun to enter the country in large numbers, beginning in the 1890s. Immigration patterns of the 1930s were dominated by the Great Depression, which hit USA hard and lasted over ten years. The Great Depression was a serious worldwide economic depression in the decade before World War II.

THE YEARS AFTER WORLD WAR II.

-          The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart-Cellar Act, removed the system of national-origin quotas.

-           In 1990, George H. W. Bush signed the Immigration Act of 1990,[33] which increased legal immigration to the United States by 40%

-          Nearly 8 million people immigrated to the United States from 2000 to 2005; 3.7 million of them entered without papers

-          Over 1 million immigrants were granted legal residence in 2011

Norwegian immigration

In the 18^th century almost 800.000 Norwegians immigrated to the north-America. At first there were mostly children families, but after the 1860s it was mostly people whit an education that traveled alone.

The immigration from Norway to America was in the period of 1825 to 1920. And the big emigration waves started from the 1860s.

The reason for mass emigration was: poverty, oppression, class division, overcrowding and economic regulations in Norway.

Ellis Island

You can find Ellis Island in New York, Hudson River. It’s an island that once was the main place for

 immigration in the USA. The immigration station was opened in 1. January 1892 and it closed in November 1954. When it closed, over 20 million immigrants had passed over the island. Of this, only 2% was denied access, and sent home to their country of origin.  

Ellis Island has its name from its first owner, Samuel Ellis. But today the island is a museum and owned by the government and is administrated by National Park Service.

SOURCES: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_the_United_States ation to the USA

http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norsk_emigrasjon_til_USA

http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_Island

Two well-known cities

Hello everyone! Today I’m going to tell you a little about the two cities I’m in, New York and Washington D.C. I’m going to talk about location, population, what they are known for, tourist attractions and so on. Hope you enjoy J

When we (the American history group) prepared us for the big trip to New York and Washington D.C., we read every fact that is to hear about it. First out is New Yorks location.

NEW YORK

LOCATION

New Yorks location is northern-east in the USA. It is a big city in a small state also called New York. The city is to be found by the coast, but it isn’t a fishing village. Well, maybe it was before but I couldn’t find information on that…

This picture actually shows the state New York, but the city is south-east in the state :) 

CLIMATE

Here is all about what you need to know of the climate, from the average temperature, to the highest, to the lowest. It shows us that the average temperature is around 22c and the lowest is around -2c. Average wind speed is around 4 beaufort all times a year

POPULATION

 - The areal of the whole city is 1 214, 4 km²

 - The population is 8 244 910(2011) 

 - The density is 27, 778.7/sq. mi. 

That is a bucket full of people New York has got there. It’s a LOT of immigrant there, and alone, it’s over 2.5 million Jews. It’s also a lot of Italians, Germans, Russians there, of course others to.

FUN FACTS

Nicknames

I have always thought that nicknames are a lot of fun, especially when you share them whit your best friend, this are New Yorks Nicknames: The Big Apple, The Melting Pot, The Capital of the World, NY and NYC

What is it known for? Why do tourists come here?

New York is known for a lot of stuff, the shopping markets, the skyscrapers and the history. And I think the tourists are coming there to shop in the big beautiful shops, like Victoria’s secret and NewYorker. Learn some fact and visit some interesting buildings, because that’s New York have.

Tourists can visit the empire state, time square, statue of liberty, Metropolitan museum of art, Central Park, Bergdorf Goodman, Grand Central Terminal and lots of other J

Washington D.C

Well, Washington is in fact, not a just city, it’s a city AND a state, it’s like Oslo in Norway, but it’s still the capital J

LOCATION AND CLIMATE

Washington D.C’s location is just under New York, so this is also by the coast and has Atlantic Ocean view  

The climate in Washington is very similar to New Yorks. As you can see…

POPULATION

• -          The areal of Washington is 177,0 km²
• -          the population is 646,449
• -          Density 4,066/km2

Washington D.C. is the 23th largest city, based on population. Well that is something I find weird, because the president lives there, halo! Who don’t want to meet Barack Obama downtown shopping some food? Then you can inform him that you think chocolate is too expensive and save him from kidnappers and get a hero medal and stuff.  Yes, I said it. Move to Washington D.C. everybody.

FUN FACTS (NOOOOT)

Ok, I couldn’t find nicknames for Washington D.C., but I guess I could find some up?

Ok her it goes: W.D.C, D.C, Wash D.C, Presidents place, 23th state, and so on J

 I think that was pretty cool.

TOURISTS ACCTRACTION

• -          The white house
• -          United states capitol
• -          The nation mall
• -          International spy museum
• -          Washington national cathedral
• -          National zoo
• -          Malcolm x park

So this was it for today. Many kisses, and see you soon J

The USA in general

Hello everyone! Everybody knows that the USA is a big country and everybody have heard the name “USA”, well, since everybody has herd the name, maybe they should hear some facts.

• -          USA stands for United States Of America
• -          It’s 50 states in the USA
• -          It’s the third largest country
• -          The president is Barack Obama
• -          The population is around 315 million

THE FLAG

This flag represents the USA. It has 50 stars on it which represent the states in USA. The 13 red and white stripes represent the first 13 states which formed the republican. The flag’s nicknames: Old Glory and Stars and Stripes.

Some also use “The Star-Spangled Banner”

THE GOVERNMENT

The government is headed by the president, Vice president and 15 departments created of the congress by law. The president now is called Barack Obama and the Vice presidents name is Joe Biden.

President Barack Obama lives in the white house in Washington D.C. The white house is a very famous building.

THE CAPITAL

The capital in USA is Washington D.C. (District of Colombia)

Before, Washington was actually 5 cities!

1.      Georgetown

2.      City of Washington

3.      City of Alexandria

4.      County of Washington

5.      County of Alexandria.

City of Alexandria and County of Alexandria was given back to Virginia in 1846 and the three left cities combined and became District of Colombia.

  è This is Washington D.C.’s flag.

THE CURRENCY

In currency, they use American dollars (USD). 1 Dollar is worth 6.56NOK. The exchange rate is sometimes going up and sometimes going down, so the price for a dollar isn’t always 6.56NOK. (NOK=Norwegian kroner)

4^TH OF JULY

4^th of July is the national day in USA. It is also the Independence Day. This they celebrate with fireworks, parades and lots of other stuff. They celebrate that on 4^th of July 1776 they were declaring Independence from Great Britten, and became a country for itself.

FAMOUS BUILDINGS

I have made a list over what buildings I think everybody should visit! J

1.      The White House(President lives here)

2.      Empire state building(Tallest in USA)

3.      Washington National Cathedral (Amazing artwork)

4.      Washington Monument(Beautiful to look at)

5.      Thomas Jefferson memorial(He was the man)

This was my top 5 list, hope you liked it J