Transcript Document

Symbols of the USA
Автор: Мехмонова Марина Анатольевна,
учитель английского языка
МОУ «СОШ п. Петровский
Краснопартизанского района
Саратовской области». 2009 год.
Flag
Great Seal
Motto: In God We Trust
Anthem: "The Star-Spangled Banner"
Symbols of U.S. Government:
The Bald Eagle
The bald eagle is a large, powerful,
brown bird with a white head and
tail. The term "bald" does not mean
that this bird lacks feathers. Instead,
it comes from the word piebald, an
old word, meaning "marked with
white."
The bald eagle was made the
national bird of the United States in
1782. The image of the bald eagle
can be found in many places in the
U.S., such as on the Great Seal,
Federal agency seals, the
President's flag, and on the onedollar bill.
National Floral Emblem - The Rose
The Rose Garden is
located outside the Oval
Office of the White
House.
The rose, said to be about 35
million years old, has been used
as a symbol of love, beauty, war,
and politics throughout the world.
The flowers are generally red,
pink, white, or yellow and grow
naturally throughout North
America. The rose became the
official flower of the United States
in 1986.
The first President of the USA,
George Washington, bred roses,
and a variety he named after his
mother is still grown today.
Government Buildings:
The U.S. Capitol
Built on a hill popularly called
Capitol Hill in Washington, DC,
the U.S. Capitol has been the
home of the House of
Representatives and the Senate
since 1800.
In March 1792, a design contest
was announced to design the
U.S. Capitol. All of the 16 plans
submitted were rejected. A late
entry by William Thornton,
amateur architect from the
British West Indies, was
accepted in fall 1792.
President Washington liked it
because of its "grandeur,
simplicity and
convenience.“
The iron dome, also white, is
surmounted by a statue of
a woman representing
Freedom, by the American
sculptor Thomas Crawford.
The height of the Capitol
from the baseline on the
east front to the top of the
statue is 287.5 ft (87.6 m).
Symbols of U.S. Government:
The Flag
The U.S. flag has undergone
many changes since the first
official flag of 1777. On June 14,
1777, the Continental Congress
passed the first Flag Act, which
said that the flag would be made
up of thirteen alternating red and
white stripes and thirteen white
stars on a blue field. Stars have
been added to the flag as new
states join the union. Currently,
the flag contains 50 stars.
Ever wonder why the flag is red, white, and blue? While
the flag's colors did not have a specific meaning at the
time, the colors were significant for the Great Seal of 1782.
White: Signifies purity and innocence
Red: Signifies valor and bravery
Blue: Signifies Vigilance, perseverance, and justice
Why stars and stripes? Stars are considered a symbol of
the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired
from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of
light emanating from the sun.
The Liberty Bell
Cast in London, England
in 1752, the Liberty Bell
rang when the
Continental Congress
signed the Declaration of
Independence and has
become the symbol of
freedom in the United
States. The bell weighs
about 2000 pounds and is
made mostly of copper
(70%) and tin (25%).
Made for the Pennsylvania State
House (now Independence Hall), the
Liberty Bell was ordered by the
Pennsylvania Assembly in 1751 to
commemorate the 50-year
anniversary of William Penn's 1701
Charter of Privileges. Shortly after its
arrival in Philadelphia the Bell
cracked. Local craftsmen recast the
bell using the metal from the old bell,
but this one also proved defective. A
third was cast by John Pass and
John Stowe. Their names appear on
the bell, along with the city and date,
along with this inscription: "Proclaim
liberty throughout all the land unto all the
inhabitants thereof “
Symbols of U.S. Government:
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam, a figure symbolizing the United
States, is portrayed as a tall, white-haired
man with a goatee. He is often dressed in red,
white, and blue, and wears a top hat.
The exact origins of Uncle Sam as a symbol
for the United States are unknown. But the
most widely accepted theory is that Uncle
Sam was named after Samuel Wilson. During
the War of 1812, Samuel Wilson was a
businessman from Troy, NY that supplied the
U.S. Army with beef in barrels. The barrels
were labeled "U.S." When asked what the
initials stood for, one of Wilson's workers
said it stood for Uncle Sam Wilson.
Statues and Memorials:
Mount Rushmore
In the Black Hills of South Dakota, stands the national
memorial, Mount Rushmore, created by Gutzon
Borglum. It was designed as a testament to the growth
of the country and its great leaders. This magnificent
rock carving depicts the 60-foot high (18.3 m) faces of
four great U.S. Presidents. They are:
George
Washington
Thomas
Jefferson
Theodore
Roosevelt
Abraham
Lincoln
Government Buildings:The White House
Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC,
the White House is one of the most popular tourist
attractions in the country. The White House has been the
official residence of all the presidents of the United States
with the exception of George Washington.
Washington served from 1789 to 1797. By the time the
White House was completed in 1800, John Adams was
President. The house was rebuilt and restored after it was
burned by the British in August 1814.
The White House has six floors--two basements, two
public floors, and two floors for the First Family. Visitors
who tour the White House are able to see the most
beautiful and historic rooms in the house including the
East Room, the Green Room, the Blue Room, the Red
Room, and the State Dining Room. These rooms are used
by the President and First Lady to entertain guests and to
receive leaders of other countries. The Oval Office is
where the President does the business of the country-signing bills and Executive Orders and meeting with staff,
visitors, and guests..
STATUE OF LIBERTY
The Statue of Liberty
National Monument
officially celebrated her
100th birthday on October
28, 1986. The people of
France gave the Statue to
the people of the United
States over one hundred
years ago in recognition of
the friendship established
during the American
Revolution.
Over the years, the Statue
of Liberty has grown to
include freedom and
democracy as well as this
international friendship.
There are 25 windows in the
crown which symbolize
gemstones found on the earth
and the heaven's rays shining
over the world. The seven rays
of the Statue's crown represent
the seven seas and continents of
the world. The tablet which the
Statue holds in her left hand
reads (in Roman numerals) "July
4th, 1776." The total weight of
copper in the Statue is 62,000
pounds (31 tons) and the total
weight of steel in the Statue is
250,000 pounds (125 tons).
Джордж Вашингтон
George Washington
Washington, George,
1732–1799,
1st President of the
United States (1789–97),
commander in chief of
the Continental army in
the American Revolution,
called
the Father of His Country.
He was born on Feb. 22, 1732 (Feb. 11,
1731, O.S.), the first son of Augustine
Washington and his second wife, Mary
Ball Washington, on the family estate
(later known as Wakefield) in
Westmoreland co., Va. Of a wealthy
family, Washington embarked upon a
career as a surveyor and in 1748 was
invited to go with the party that was to
survey Baron Fairfax's lands W of the
Blue Ridge. In 1749 he was appointed to
his first public office, surveyor of newly
created Culpeper co., and through his
half-brother Lawrence Washington he
became interested in the Ohio Company,
which had as its object the exploitation
of Western lands. After Lawrence's
death (1752), George inherited part of
his estate and took over some of
Lawrence's duties as adjutant of the
colony.