Топик по иностранному языку \english\

The Wild West

At the beginning of the 17th century the first colonies appeared in
America. Many of them were English colonies, for example, New England. But
there were also Spanish and German colonies there. African negroes arrived as
slaves in 1619 and began working on plantations situated in the South. They
grew rice and tobacco.

   There were 13 colonies in America in 1733. The
English King, who lived far away in England was the King of New England and
other colonies. The colonists in America didn't like that. They didn't want to
depend on the English King or on England. The Americans began to fight for
their independence and got it. George Washington became the first president of
the United States. In the 18th century some Americans went to the west to look
for new lands and the story of "Wild West" began. In the 19th century
people went west to look for gold. They built new settlements and new towns in
these lands. Some people were lucky but some were not as they couldn't find any
gold. Then they left the towns, so they became empty. Now these "ghost
towns" are very popular with tourists. Life in the Wild West was full of
danger. The Native Americans in the west didn't like the white people who took
their land. Sometimes they attacked them. There were bears and other wild
animals and people had to have guns. Today many Americans still keep a gun in
their houses and all American police officers have guns. Another tradition from
the "Wild West" is "cowboy" clothes. People in the West led
a difficult and dangerous life, so. the clothes was very important as it helped
people to get on. Cowboy spent much time outdoors. They usually wore hats,
boots and jeans. Hats protected their faces and eyes from the hot sun. Boots
helped to walk through long grass. There were many dangerous snakes and the
boots protected people from them. Boots also made riding a horse easier. In the
middle of the 19th century in the city of San Francisco there lived a tailor
called Levi Strauss. He made special clothes - strong trousers called "jeans".
Very soon cowboys started to wear jeans. Now people wear jeans in America and
all over the world.