Text: The Roots of American Government By the year 1733 the English had owned thirteen separate colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America. All the English colonies in America shared a tradition of representative government. This means that in all of them people had a say in how they were governed. Each colony had its own government. At the head of this government was a governor, chosen in most cases by the English king. To rule effectively, these governors depended upon the cooperation of assemblies elected by the colonists. In most of the colonies all white men who owned some land had the right to vote. The years from the 1750s until the mid-1770s were uneasy times in the colonies. First the colonists fought the French and American Indians to gain land. Then they argued with the British king about their rights and freedom. Democracy in all the colonies grew rapidly. On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress took the step that many Americans believed was inevitable. It cut all political ties with Britain and declared that “these United Colonies are free, and independent states”. Two days later, on July 4, it issued the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence is the most important document in American history. It was written by Thomas Jefferson, a lawyer from Virginia. After repeating that the colonies were now “free and independent states” it officially named them the United States of America. The Declaration of Independence was more than a statement that the colonies were a new nation. It said that governments should consist of representatives elected by the people; that the main reason that governments existed was to protect the rights of individual citizens. In 1790 the Constitution of the USA was adopted and a year later, in 1791 ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights were added to the Constitution. The Constitution gave the United States a “federal system of government”. A federal system is one in which the power to rule is shared. The Constitution made arrangements for the election of a national leader called the President. He would head the “executive” side of the nation’s government. Exercises. Exercise 1. Put down in figures. 1. One thousand six. 2. Twenty-nine. 3. The fifteenth. 4. Nineteen twenty-two. 5. Three thousand. 6. Two fifth. 7. Twenty five point four. 8. May the twentieth. 9. Point five. 10. Three hundred and thirty-nine. Exercise 2. Translate into Russian. Pay attention to the use of numerals. 1. The meeting will take place in room 10. 2. We live in flat 3. 3. Open your books at page 45. 4. Read paragraph 3. 5. Take volume 4. 6. I can take tram 5 or 6. Exercise 3. Match the corresponding numerals. 1) 567 a) Eleven million 2) 9th b) The nineth 3) 1943 c) The twentieth 4) 0.36 d) Eighteen nought five 5) 11,000,000 e) Five hundred and sixty-seven 6) October 12 f) One seventh 7) 1805 g) Nineteen forty-three 8) 1/7 h) October the twelfth 9) XX i) Two point eighteen 10) 2.18 j) Point thirty-six Exercise 4. Say it in words. 2; 18; 80; 100; 90; 14; 5; 99; 19; 705; 3,679; 21st; 1992; 1.015; 16th; 60; 1876; May 5; 4 ½ Exercise 4. Match the synonyms. 1) monarch a) bond 2) rapidly b) to accept 3) to share c) to guard 4) at the head of d) sovereign 5) tie e) to divide 6) to protect f) quickly 7) to adopt g) at the top of