работа учащихся 10 класса "Детройт. История современной Атлантиды"

Государственное бюджетное общеобразовательное учреждение

средняя общеобразовательная школа №181

Центрального района Санкт-Петербурга

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Конкурс «РОЖДЕСТВЕНСКИЕ ЧТЕНИЯ»

DETROIT. THE HISTORY OF MODERN ATLANTIS.

Информационно-аналитическая работа

по филологическому направлению.

Предполагаемая секция:

«Думать при всяком деянии о цели оного»

                                                                                       Гнатенко Елизавета 10а класс

                                                                             Гринева Юлия 10а класс

                                                                                       Гугутишвили Даяна 10а класс

                                                                                                       Руководители:

        Александрова Анна Анатольевна,

                                                                        учитель английского языка

                                                          ГБОУ школы №181,

                                                                        Белявская Элина Юрьевна,                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                         учитель английского языка                                                

                                                         ГБОУ школы №181

Санкт-Петербург

2013

Introduction

      Detroit is situated in the north of the United States, state of Michigan.

       Fort Ponchartrain du Détroit was founded on July 24 in 1701 by the French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac as a place for the fur trade with the Indians. It  was the most popular city in the American state of Michigan. The population of the city  grew  fast.

     During the French and Indian War in 1760 the British forces got control of the city and reduced the name to Detroit. Several  tribes  launched Pontiac’s Rebellion in 1763, but failed to capture the place.

     In 1805, the fire destroyed most of the location. So the river warehouse and brick chimneys of the wooden houses were the only structures to survive. From 1805 to 1847 Detroit was the capital of Michigan. The expansion of the city was  carried out according to the layout plan developed  by Augustus B. Woodward.

     Detroit surrendered without a fight to the British forces during the War of 1812, in the Siege of Detroit, was recaptured by the United States in 1813 and incorporated as the city in 1815.

      Many people of Detroit volunteered to fight during the American Civil War, including the 24th Michigan’s  Infantry Regiment (a part of the legendary Iron Brigade) which fought with distinction.  At the arrival of the First Volunteer Infantry Regiment in Washington, Abraham Lincoln was quoted  saying "Thanks God for Michigan!"

     The city  grew steadily since  1830s with the rise of shipping, shipbuilding and manufactured industries. Strategically located along the Great Lakes waterway, Detroit turned into the main transportation unit.

The History Of The Tragedy

 The "golden age" came to Detroit at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Luxurious houses and detached houses with architectural excesses were built there.

     In 1896, a prosperous transportation trade company suggested Henry Ford to build his first automobile in a rented workshop in Mack Avenue. With the help of investors Henry Ford collected 28,000 dollars and founded Ford Motor Company in 1903. A few years later the first model of the car was ready. It was called T-1. T-1 was the first car available to the mass customer. About 15 million vehicles were sold thanks to an affordable price. It  allowed the company become the largest automobile centre in the United States.

     Ford's example  inspired Duran («General Motors»), the Dodge brothers («Dodge»), Packard («Hewlett-Packard») and Chrysler («Chrysler»). Their factories turned Detroit into the  real automobile capital of the world.

     The automotive industry needed more workers. People went to the states of the South to hire Afro-Americans, promising higher salary and decent housing. This job didn't require any special skills or secondary education, but gave the highest average salary in the country.

     With the factories came labour unions such as the American Federation of Labour and the United Auto Workers, which initiated strikes and other tactics in support of such things as the 8-hour day or 40-hour work week, healthcare benefits, pensions, increased salary and improved working conditions.

     The introduction of Alcohol Prohibition from 1920 to 1933 turned the Detroit River into a major channel for illegal Canadian spirits.

     Detroit, like many other places in the United States had a long history of racial conflict and discrimination.  Very fast economic growth in the first half of the XX century was accompanied by the influx of people from the southern states (mostly Afro-Americans) and Europe.

     Gradually the strained racial relations became obvious.

     Dr. Ossian Sweet, an Afro-American Detroit physician, his wife, and other family members were acquitted of murder in 1925. A man died when shots were fired from Dr. Sweet's house into a threatening white crowd who gathered  trying to force him and his family out of an almost white neighborhood.

     Social tensions grew very fast and racism continued to be the main problem in the United States. On January 20, 1942 1,200 whites tried to prevent  Afro-Americans families from moving into a new housing district in an all-white area of the city.

     Later in June, 1943  Packard Motor Car Company promoted three Afro-Americans to work next to the whites in their assembly lines. In response, 25,000 whites walked off the job, slowing down the car production. It was clear that the whites who worked with Afro-Americans in the same factory nevertheless refused to work side-by-side with them. During the protest, a voice with a southern accent shouted in the loudspeaker, "I'd rather see Hitler and Hirohito win than work next to a nigger." The Detroit Race Riot of 1943 happened three weeks after the Packard Motor Car incident. During three days, 34 people were killed (25 of them were Afro–Americans), and about 600 were injured.

     Despite all these horrible things, growing economy and a large number of working  places attracted  thousands of new people from the USA and Europe into Detroit. Because of the World War II, Detroit received a new nickname: «the arsenal of democracy». Although the discrimination in hiring became a bit lower, the problems were still there.

     Detroit became the fourth largest city in the United States, with the population of 1.6 million people in 1950 (about one-third of the state's population). In 1950s Detroit was one of the engineering centres in the USA. Ford, General Motors, Chrysler used to have their biggest factories there. The city was on the top of its development and became one of the richest cities in the US.

     A large amount of private cars appeared in the city. Also network of highways and road junctions  appeared. In 1940s one of the first American highways went through the city. But the network of public transport wasn’t developing at all. All this system was under the pressure of the car corporations, which were propagandizing having own cars.

     The main goal of the advertising company of those times was to show that public transport isn't prestigious. It's just «transportation for poor». When you have your own car, there is no reason to live close to work: earn in the city, live in  leafy suburbs! Nobody suspected that the resettlement of engineers and skilled workers outside the city will begin today's depopulation.

People began moving into the country in 1950s. More and more qualified workers abandoned their houses and moved out of the city.  The price of houses and flats became lower and lower. All the people who were able to pay were moving out. A financial crisis started in the city. It became much harder to find any job.

Only the poorest ones stayed in Detroit. Most of them were unemployed or low-paid. Most of the people in the city were Afro-Americans.

Because of poverty and unemployment criminality was growing in the city. Detroit gained the reputation of the most dangerous city in the USA. There were a lot of conflicts between  Afro-Americans and the native citizens. It   led to a huge conflict. In July, 1967, as the result of it, an awful riot happened. It lasted for 5 days and gained the nickname: «The 12th Street riot».

In 1973 an oil crisis happened. The car-building corporations could no longer continue their work. People were losing their jobs, and because of that they were moving out of  Detroit. It  had led to the state in which the city is now. The buildings are half-ruined, the whole areas are abandoned.

     In 1974  the city elected Coleman Young to be its first Afro-American mayor.

Conclusion

Most of the areas around Detroit now are decadent ghettos populated with poor Afro-Americans. These areas are the most dangerous parts of the city. The criminal level there is very high.

Despite the decline of the city, there still are the headquarters of General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Chrysler. The centre of the city is underpopulated but quite safe. There still are some cultural centres that attract tourists.

During the last decades the government was trying to bring the city back to life and especially the centre of it. But lately Detroit was named bankrupt.

Nevertheless we all hope that people will return to the city, there will be no racial conflicts,  people will receive educational and healthcare programmes, houses will be restored and Detroit will be one of the richest cities of the USA again.

Список литературы

Интернет – источники:

1.   http://ru.wikipedia.org/ - Википедия - свободная энциклопедия

2. http://www.diletant.ru/

3. http://goroda-prizraki.narod.ru/

4. http://www.rg.ru/

ОТЗЫВ О ПРОЕКТНО-ИССЛЕДОВАТЕЛЬСКОЙ РАБОТЕ

учениц 10а класса ГБОУ школы №181 Гнатенко Елизаветы, Гриневой Юлии и Гугутишвили Даяны

DETROIT. THE HISTORY OF MODERN ATLANTIS.

     После того, как к международному Дню Толерантности в 10а классе учителями английского языка Александровой А.А. и Белявской Э.Ю. был проведен конкурс презентаций по теме  “Detroit. The Ghost City” , учащиеся были поражены фотографиями умирающего города и фактами трагедии и захотели узнать всю историю взлета и падения Детройта.

     Мы считаем, что им удалось собрать и достаточно детально   проанализировать все основные факты, приведшие к гибели города. Учащиеся также сделали хорошую подборку фотографий, подтверждающих приведенные факты.

     Самое главное в работе, как нам кажется, что авторы постоянно подчеркивают то, что к нынешнему состоянию города привело неумелое руководство городом, плохая работа профсоюзов, безграмотность рабочих, растущая бедность, безработица и криминальная обстановка, а не большое количество афроамериканцев. Отсутствие толерантности повлекло за собой расовые конфликты, которые только усугубили трагедию города.

     Вместе с тем, по нашему мнению, в заключении работы недостаточно ярко сделаны выводы о причинах падения Детройта как предостережения будущим поколениям, к чему может привести нетолерантное отношение к людям и непродуманная политика властей.

Руководитель, учитель английского языка

ГБОУ школы №181

Александрова Анна Анатольевна