In the United States Civil War Begins

On April 12, 1861, the Civil War which broke out a sheet of dark history in the United States (U.S.). War that lasted four years was a site of a duel between Union forces (government) from the northern region with the Confederate troops from the South. The History Channel television station revealed that the Civil War began when Confederate forces launched an assault cannon fire into the fort through the Union troops at Fort Sumter, Charleston Bay, North Carolina. After a 34-hour firefight, the fort had been won of the Confederacy, but two days later, President Abraham Lincoln to announce the call to recruit 75,000 volunteers to help government forces to combat the rebellion of the southern region.

This war is motivated by a conflict between the government in the North region with the landowners in the South on the issue of slavery. At that time, Lincoln decided that it was time for the practice of slavery was abolished. The policy is opposed by the South.

South rulers and plans to secede from the U.S. government. In 1860, the majority of countries that still practice slavery openly would be separated from the U.S. if the Republican Party, known as anti-slavery party, win elections (elections). Lincoln, who brought the Republican party, ended up winning this election and to invite a strong reaction from the South. The state of South Carolina and then took the initiative passed legislation that states broke away from the U.S. government.

Within weeks, five countries in the region south to join the South Carolina – that is, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana. In February 1861, the representatives from the states that agreed to form the Confederate States America. The first president was chosen, which is Jefferson Davis. When Lincoln was inaugurated as president on March 4, 1861, a total of 7 states (including Texas) have declared themselves separate from the U.S.. Conflicts of two camps finally unbearable so that finally broke out firefight, which began with the Confederates attack Fort Sumter. The war ended in 1865 that killed at least 620,000 soldiers from both camps, but the number of civilian casualties from this war is incalculable, so is remembered as the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history.

Earl Cooley: Remembering an Early Smokejumper

Earl Cooley, who died November 9 at age 98, helped to develop the profession of sending firefighters by parachute to battle forest fires.Years ago, a young forester took an unusual new job. Earl Cooley became one of the first smokejumpers. Smokejumpers parachute from airplanes. They fight fires that crews cannot reach quickly or easily from the ground.Earl Cooley worked for the United States Forest Service, an agency of the Agriculture Department. The Forest Service had a plane that it wanted to use to drop water bombs onto wildfires. But that idea failed. So the agency decided to use the plane for what was then a new practice: smokejumping.

The first fire jump in the United States took place on July twelfth, nineteen forty, in the Nez Perce National Forest in Idaho.Another smokejumper, Rufus Robinson, went first. Then out came Earl Cooley.As he later described it, the plane was not much more than half a kilometer above the trees. The day was windy, and the jump was not as good as others he had made.

He began to turn over in the air when his chute opened, and there were problems with the lines at first. But he chose a large spruce tree to land in near the fire, and climbed down.With hand tools, he and Rufus Robinson threw dirt on the fire and dug a line to contain it so the flames would not spread. They worked through the night and had the fire controlled the next morning, when other men arrived from a camp in the area.

Earl Cooley always said he was not afraid being a smokejumper. Over the years, he worked to develop the profession. He served as the first president of the National Smokejumper Association. He also wrote about his experiences. But not all had happy endings.On August fifth, nineteen forty-nine, he was involved in a disaster at a forest fire near Helena, Montana. He had to choose where a crew would jump. But the wind changed and the fire grew unexpectedly, taking thirteen lives.Many years later, Earl Cooley told a newspaper that he still believed he had made the best decision he could. He retired from the Forest Service in nineteen seventy-five. But he continued to visit the mountaintop where the men were buried, until he could no longer make the climb.

Earl Cooley died on November ninth in Missoula, Montana. He was ninety-eight years old.Today, more than two hundred seventy men and women are smokejumpers for the Forest Service. Smokejumpers are also used in Russia and other countries.And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Karen Leggett. (VOA)