Аs Revolutionary America had produced two commanding figures who became world-wide known, Washington and Franklin, so the youthful republic raised into fame two brilliantly able men whose reputations spread beyond the seas - Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. They represented two powerful though different tendencies in American life, Hamilton the tendency toward closer union and a stronger national government, Jefferson the tendency toward a broader, freer democracy.
Hamilton had been born in Nevis, a little island of the Lesser lies, to a Scottish father and a Huguenot mother. He grew up ambitious, generous, devoted, proud, quick to take offences and inexhaustible energy. His achievements all arose from his combination of brilliancy, self-confident ambition, and industry. His father had no money to scud him to college. But a terrible hurricane-swept the Antilles, and he wrote a description of it which attract; soroach attention that his aunts sent him to the American mail land. He entered King's College in New York, and threw himself into contact with the radicals of the town who were leading the n volt against royal authority. When at twenty-two he became
captain of an artillery company, he took his books to camp and studied far into the night.
Besides brilliancy and ambition, Hamilton had other quality which served him well. He possessed great personal attractiveness With reddish-brown hair, bright brown eyes, fine forehead, and firm mouth and chin, he was very handsome, his face animated an pleasant when he talked, severe and thoughtful when he was, work. He liked a lively dinner party and shone in any circle which offered intellectual companions, and witty talk. As leader of New York patriots, he was brought to Washington's notice an made him the general's principal aide, it enabled him to lead dramatic assault at the siege of Yorktown, it rendered him the principal figure in Washington's administration, and it gave him command of a great party. He had remarkable talents as an executive and organizer.He wrote and spoke much. Yet he also showed striking defects. He was quick-tempered. He Quarreled with Washington near the end of the war and rejected the advances the Washington made to heal the breach. His arrogance of spin brought him into unnecessarily conflicts - with Jefferson, with the Washington administration, and with Aaron Burr, ending in his own death in a duel.
Vocabulary
Antilles - Антильские острова possess - владеть
attractiveness - привлекательность animate - оживлять
sever - суровый thoughtful - задумчивый
executive - исполнительный arrogance - высокомерие
hot-tempered - вспыльчивый, горячий
attract the attention — привлечь внимание
Travaling
The uniqueness of the British as a people has long been taken granted by foreign observers and native commentators alike. Visitors from overseas,; fromVenetian ambassadors in the late fifteenth century, through intellectuals like Voltaire, to American journalists of the twentieth century, have all been convinced of the special quality of British society. This has been equally asumed by modern native chroniclers of the British scene. But the nature or essence of the Britishness of the British is far easier to proclaim than to explain. Some English characteristics upon which both natives and visitors have tended to agree have to do with national psychology: egoism, self-confidence, intolerance of outsiders, deep suspieiousness towards their compatriots, ostentatious wealth, independence, social mobility, love of comfort and a strong belief in private property. Moderation, the avoidance of extremes, the choice of a middle way, are among the essential qualities of Englishness. The two features of English life which from the 15th century onwards struck almost every observer were the country's wealth and its strong sense of individualism.
The features that have shaped the British distinctiveness were determined by the country's geographical isolation from the European continent, with the consistent centrality of sea power and a broad social fluidity in which the early collapse of feudalism helped generate a new industry and commercial enterprise. The long centuries during which the land was free from invaders meant that there could be a flowing culture continuity from the time of Chaucer onwards impossible on the war-torn Continent. A political and legal evolution is expressed in the English Parliament which has survived in recognisable form till today, without those interruptions and periods of absolute monarchy that have marked the history of its neighbours, and the rule of law. There have been other significant features in the development of England which mark it as a country to some degree separate from Europe. One of the most important is the language. English is a language of unparalleled richness, subtlety and variety, which unlocks' the treasures of a literature second to none in the werid. It is the easiest language to leam.
As for British history, it is not one of harmonious continuity, broadening from epoch to epoch. It is a dramatic, colourful, often violent story of an ancient, society and culture torn apart by the political, economic, and intellectual turmoil of human experience. Britain in many ways has been the cockpit of mankind.
Vocabulary
Ambassador – посол assume – допускать
Proclaim – провозглашать psychology – психология
Self – confidence – самоуверенность intolerance – нетерпимость
Ostentatious – показной Uniqueness – уникальность social fluidity – соц. Подвижность Avoidance – уклонение extreme – крайность Isolation – изоляция invader – захватчик Continuity – непрерывность proceed – продолжать Turmoil – беспорядок
private property – частная собственность