United States

Some general information about the USA, especially Arizona, California, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas.

    Parenté :
  1. Amérique
  2. United States

This page presents the cities and places I visited in 2008 during an internship in Austin (Texas) and in 2013 during one year of studies at the University of Arizona.

History

List of the presidents

This is the list of the offices of the presidents of the United States. The given year is the one when the office began. The president takes the oath on the 20th of January, just after the election.

YearName PartyQuotationEvents
1789George Washington First president
1793George Washington
1797John Adams Federalist
1801Thomas Jefferson Democrat - republican
1805Thomas Jefferson Democrat - republican
1809James Madison Democrat - republican
1813James Madison Democrat - republican
1817James Monroe Democrat - republican
1821James Monroe Democrat - republican
1825John Quincy Adams Democrat - republican
1829Andrew Jackson Democrat
1833Andrew Jackson Democrat
1837Martin Van Buren Democrat
1841William Henry Harrison DemocratDied of pneumonia after one month
1841John Tyler WhigVice president of the previous one, to finish his term
1845James Knox Polk DemocratMexican-American War
1849Zachary Taylor WhigDied of acute gastroenteritis after 16 months
1850Millard Fillmore WhigVice president of the previous one, to finish his term
1853Franklin Pierce Democrat
1857James Buchanan Democrat
1861Abraham Lincoln RepublicanAmerican Civil War
Shot in Washington D.C.
1865Andrew Johnson Republican
1869Ulysses Simpson Grant Republican
1873Ulysses Simpson Grant Republican
1877Rutherford Birchard Hayes Republican
1881James Garfield RepublicanShot in Washington D.C. after 6 months
1881Chester Alan Arthur RepublicanVice president of the previous one, to finish his term
1885Grover Cleveland DemocratFinal Apache campaign
1889Benjamin Harrison Republican
1893Grover Cleveland Democrat
1897William McKinley RepublicanShot in Buffalo, New-York
1901Théodore Roosevelt Republican
1905Théodore Roosevelt Republican
1909William Howard Taft Republican
1913Woodrow Wilson Democrat
1917Woodrow Wilson Democrat
1921Warren Gamaliel Harding RepublicanDied of pneumonia
1923Calvin Coolidge RepublicanVice president of the previous one, to finish his term
1925Calvin Coolidge Republican
1929Herbert Hoover Republican
1932Franklin Delano Roosevelt DemocratFirst New Deal
End of the Prohibition
1936Franklin Delano Roosevelt DemocratSecond New Deal
1940Franklin Delano Roosevelt DemocratPearl Harbour
1944Franklin Delano Roosevelt DemocratDied of cerebral hemorrhage
1945Harry S Truman DemocratDoctrine against the spread of communismVice president of the previous one, to finish his term.
Marshall plan, OTAN
1949Harry S Truman DemocratCorean War
1953Dwight David Eisenhower Republican
1957Dwight David Eisenhower Republican
1961John Fitzgerald Kennedy Democrat"Ich bin ein Berliner"Cuba missile crisis
First Catholic president
Shot in Dallas
1963Lyndon Johnson DemocratVice president of the previous one, to finish his term.
1967Lyndon Johnson Democrat
1967Richard Milhous Nixon RepublicanStrategic Arms Limitation Treaty I
Trips to China
1971Richard Milhous Nixon RepublicanWatergate scandal and resignation
1974Gerald Rudolph Ford RepublicanFirst non-elected president, for the vice president of the previous one also resigned
1977Jimmy Carter Democrat
1981Ronald Reagan Republican"Star Wars" project
1985Ronald Reagan RepublicanWashington treaty
Irangate scandal
1989George Herbert Walker Bush Republican
1993Bill Clinton Democrat
1997Bill Clinton Democrat
2001George Walker Bush Republican9/11 attempts
Wars in Afganistan and Iraq
2005George Walker Bush RepublicanWar in Iraq
Subprimes crisis
2009Barack Obama Democrat
2013Barack Obama Democrat
2017Donald Trump Republican
2021Joe Biden Democrat

Geography

See my page in French about the spatial organisation of the American territory.

[Cliquez pour agrandir : 95 Kio] Austin - A motorway.

Page dédiée : Géographie des États-Unis

Une composition de géographie : « L'organisation du territoire des États-Unis d'Amérique ».

Transports

The main transport systems in the USA are plane and car.

[Cliquez pour agrandir : 103 Kio] Austin - School bus. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 141 Kio] Austin - Truck. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 128 Kio] Austin - A free bus called 'Dillo'. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 135 Kio] Austin - A bus. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 77 Kio] Austin - A street. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 95 Kio] Austin - A motorway.

Trains

There are very few trains, but they are quite long compared to French ones.

[Cliquez pour agrandir : 91 Kio] Austin - A train. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 81 Kio] Austin - A train. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 111 Kio] Austin - A train. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 96 Kio] Austin - A train. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 89 Kio] Austin - A train.

Education

Here is a list of a few American universities that I had the opportunity to visit.

CityNamePhoto
Tucson, ArizonaUniversity of Arizona [Cliquez pour agrandir : 84 Kio] Tucson - The University of Arizona: campus.
Phoenix, ArizonaArizona State University [Cliquez pour agrandir : 70 Kio] Phoenix - The Arizona State University: the main building.
Berkeley, CaliforniaUniversity of California [Cliquez pour agrandir : 113 Kio] Berkeley - The University of California: the campus.
Palo Alto, CaliforniaStanford University [Cliquez pour agrandir : 60 Kio] Palo Alto - Stanford University: the campus: the tower and the main building.
Pasadena, CaliforniaCalifornia Institute of Technology [Cliquez pour agrandir : 71 Kio] Pasadena - The California Institute of Technology: the Beckman Auditorium.
San José, CaliforniaSan José State University [Cliquez pour agrandir : 81 Kio] San José - San José State University: the campus.
Las Cruces, New MexicoNew Mexico State University [Cliquez pour agrandir : 55 Kio] Las Cruces - The campus of the New Mexico State University.
Austin, TexasUniversity of Texas [Cliquez pour agrandir : 112 Kio] Austin - The UT tower.

Arizona

[Cliquez pour agrandir : 44 Kio] Tucson - Sunset behind the Saguaros at Sabino Canyon.

Page dédiée : Arizona

A guide book about Arizona and its main cities: Phoenix and Tucson.

California

[Cliquez pour agrandir : 71 Kio] San Francisco - General view from the bay.

Page dédiée : California

A visit of San Francisco and other cities of the Bay area: Oakland, Berkeley, Palo Alto and San José, as well as cities in the South: Los Angeles and San Diego.

Louisiana

The capital of Louisiana is Baton-Rouge but the most famous city is New-Orleans.

New-Orleans

New-Orleans city is famous for its culture and its architecture. The most famous place is the French quarter, with its balconies and its Spanish-inspired architecture.

The Mississippi is famous and you can still see one of the last steamboats: the Natchez and cross the river with a free ferry.

Jazz music is an important element for the identity of the town. Some people play saxophone in the streets and music festival often take place there.

This city is famous for its "cajun" food, which originates from Acadian immigrants. The most famous cajun dish is jambalaya, which is a creole rice. It often goes with pork meat. Other dishes are crawfishes, shrimps, boudin...

A lot of houses were abandoned after Katrina for a lot of people were ruined. They lost nearly everything and prefered to leave this town and go elsewhere.

[Cliquez pour agrandir : 54 Kio] New Orleans - The cathedral. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 72 Kio] New Orleans - The Mississippi: steamboat. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 59 Kio] New Orleans - The Mississippi: the ferry. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 36 Kio] New Orleans - The Mississippi: boat. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 57 Kio] New Orleans - The downtown seen from the Mississippi. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 43 Kio] New Orleans - The Mississippi: boat. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 54 Kio] New Orleans - The Mississippi: famous bridge. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 96 Kio] New Orleans - The downtown at nightfall. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 76 Kio] New Orleans - The downtown at nightfall. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 131 Kio] New Orleans - A typical house. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 103 Kio] New Orleans - The French quarter. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 91 Kio] New Orleans - The French quarter.

Transports

The streetcars in New Orleans, opened in 1835, are the oldest tramways still operating in the world!

[Cliquez pour agrandir : 127 Kio] New Orleans - Tramway.

Bayous

The bayous are large swamps in which you can see a lot of different animals, from birds to alligators. Several swamp tours are organised near Houma for tourists to see this fauna.

One of the tours proposes a visit in 10 000 acres of swamps, in a private property in which no hunting nor fishing is allowed.

The "Spanish moss" is a flowering plant that grows on trees.

[Cliquez pour agrandir : 96 Kio] Louisiana - The bayous: general view. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 83 Kio] Louisiana - The bayous: general view. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 177 Kio] Louisiana - The bayous: general view. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 171 Kio] Louisiana - The bayous: spanish moss on trees. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 139 Kio] Louisiana - The bayous: general view. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 168 Kio] Louisiana - The bayous: the mangrove.

Alligators

The matching period for alligators is July and the young alligators get born in September. Egrets (3 species in Louisiana) and herons eat 80 % of them and only 2 % reach the adult size. Alligators are marked by cutting a scale of their tail.

[Cliquez pour agrandir : 75 Kio] Louisiana - Alligator in a bayou. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 90 Kio] Louisiana - Alligator in a bayou. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 104 Kio] Louisiana - Alligator in a bayou. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 52 Kio] Louisiana - Marked alligator in a bayou. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 65 Kio] Louisiana - Alligator in a bayou. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 107 Kio] Louisiana - Alligator feeding in a bayou. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 115 Kio] Louisiana - Alligator feeding in a bayou.

Birds

Besides the beautiful egrets and herons, some Turkey Vultures, or Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus), which are carrioneaters are present around the bayous.

[Cliquez pour agrandir : 94 Kio] Louisiana - Little blue heron (Egretta caerulea) in a bayou. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 174 Kio] Louisiana - Turkey vulture in a bayou. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 151 Kio] Louisiana - Heron in a bayou. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 191 Kio] Louisiana - Heron in a bayou. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 165 Kio] Louisiana - Egret in a bayou.

Other animals

The other animals that you can see there are raccoons and a lot of mosquitos that bite including through the jeans! Fortunately, a lot of them are eaten by the dragonflies.

[Cliquez pour agrandir : 110 Kio] Louisiana - Raccoon in a bayou. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 103 Kio] Louisiana - Raccoon in a bayou. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 53 Kio] Louisiana - Dragonfly. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 50 Kio] Louisiana - Dragonfly.

Plantations

Near New-Orléans, in Houma, you can visit one of the nine last plantations that remain in the United States among the thousands that existed. This one was owned by the family of Laura Locoul Gore (1861-1963). This family originated from Normandie, in France: Guillaume du Parc, Laura's grandfather, was sent to the French navy and became governor of Louisiana. Later, he received 12 000 acres of land and began a plantation. This one was lead by women during 84 years. The leader of the plantation was called the "president". Growing sugarcane was not the only activity of the plantation: it was also the largest wine distributor in Louisiana, importing thousands of bottles from Bordeaux.

A compagny has been created to save this plantation, its 19th century architecture and present a part of the Creole culture, which is the result of influences from Indian, West-African and European people. The visit was inspired by Laura's memories, wrote in English in Memories of the old plantation home.

Before 1916, two languages were used in Louisiana: French (or Creole) and English. The houses where French was spoken had always a lot of colours whereas the English-speaking families lived in white houses. In 1916, speaking French was forbidden in schools and homes, so, all the houses were painted in white.

The main house of the plantation is called a "maison de trente" (houses of 30), which means its length has 30 beams. The way of constructions is inspired by West-African architecture. The house is 200 years old and its beams are in perfect conditions. Despite the ground is very instable (there is no rock under the ground, only alluvium from the Mississippi), the house does not sink, since it is build on 72 brick pyramids. The house is made of "bricks between beams", which was a real advantage in case of fire because bricks don't burn. Indeed, at the beginning of the 20th century, a problem in the electrical circuit caused a fire that entirely destroyed the kitchen. Fortunately, only a small part of the house burnt. Today, there is still a kitchen garden, with a lot of species of plants, from citrus trees to fig trees and several sorts of bananas.

The plantation needed slaves to work. Those were very expensive: a 25-year old strong men costed 100 000 dollars of 2008 and no slave costed less than 10 000 dollars. Before the abolition of the Code noir, they had some rights: for example, the were to be paid when they worked on Sundays, so, 10% of them could buy their freedom. They were forced to be catholic, but had the right (not) to marry and not to be separated from their children until their majority, which was set to the age of 13. They were severely punished when they tried to escape: they could be marked with hot iron on the cheek. After the Code noir was abolished, they were treated like animals, living at two families in a house.

In 1866, after the end of the American Civil War, all the Southern states abolished the Black code and of the slavery. But segregation remained until 1970.

[Cliquez pour agrandir : 107 Kio] Louisiana - A plantation: the garden and the old kitchen. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 127 Kio] Louisiana - A plantation: the old kitchen. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 174 Kio] Louisiana - A plantation: the kitchen garden. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 145 Kio] Louisiana - A plantation: the kitchen garden: banana trees. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 171 Kio] Louisiana - A plantation: a very old oak. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 80 Kio] Louisiana - A plantation: general view. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 108 Kio] Louisiana - A plantation: house of slaves. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 116 Kio] Louisiana - A plantation: house of slaves. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 96 Kio] Louisiana - A plantation: inside a house of slaves. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 144 Kio] Louisiana - A plantation: sugarcanes. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 51 Kio] Louisiana - A plantation: sugarcanes. [Cliquez pour agrandir : 120 Kio] Louisiana - A plantation: yuca flowers.

New Mexico

[Cliquez pour agrandir : 53 Kio] New Mexico - The Very Large Array: antenna.

Page dédiée : New Mexico

A visit of some cities and places in New Mexico: Las Cruces, Alamogordo and the Very Large Array.

Texas

[Cliquez pour agrandir : 73 Kio] Austin - The UT tower.

Page dédiée : Texas

A guide book about the Texas and two of its main cities: Austin and San Antonio.


Cette page en anglais a été créée par Peter à partir de notes de voyage, 23 mai 2005 et modifiée pour la dernière fois 12 septembre 2021. Son avancement est noté 2/3.