Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English. I'm Shirley Griffith. And I'm Steve Ember. Today history repeats itself. We start our series over again. The last time we were at the beginning was in February of 2003.
THE MAKING OF A NATION has a loyal following. In fact, listener research finds it the most popular weekly program in VOA Special English.
It started in May of 1969. Some people can remember when THE MAKING OF A NATION was on the radio two times a week. People who grew up listening to it are old enough now to listen with their own children, or even their grandchildren.
The series tells a story. You can think of it not just as a series of programs about the history of America and its people, but a series of lessons. The subjects include exploration, revolution, civil war, social and political change, the rise of industry and modern technology, and more.
We ended last week at program number two hundred thirty-eight. The subject was the presidential election of 2004. As time adds to the story, we add new programs to the series.
In a sense, THE MAKING OF A NATION is a living history. Yet some of the announcers are no longer even alive after all these years.
Here and there, too, the language may sound a little dated. For example, some of the programs call black people Negroes. The use of that term may be historically correct, but today the socially accepted name is African-American.
Technology has also changed. Today THE MAKING OF A NATION is not just on radio but also on the Internet. At voaspecialenglish.com, you can download MP3 files and transcripts. That way you can listen anytime or anyplace -- and read along. The site also includes archives, in case you ever miss a program.
So how was the nation made? Why did loyal citizens rebel against one nation and start their own, with different laws? THE MAKING OF A NATION answers these and other questions about American history.
We tell the story of how a group of farmers, businessmen and lawyers wrote a document they called the Constitution of the United States. On September seventeenth, 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia met one last time to sign it.
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