美国历史文化特征和发展

1、美国历史文化特征和发展自由女神像是1876年美国建国百周年时法国送的生日礼物，历时10年才完工。塑像总高93米，重225吨，矗立在纽约港的一个岛上。自由女神身披飘逸长袍，右手高举点燃的火炬，左手持一标有1776年7月4日美国独立宣言发表日的铭板。头冠上有七支像宝剑一样的突出物，代表着七个海洋和七块大陆。在女神像的基座上刻着俄国犹太移民女诗人埃玛拉扎勒斯的动人诗句：Statue of Liberty Liberty Enlightening the World 1. Discovery Around the year 1000, 500 years earlier than Columbus,

2、a party of Icelandic Vikings under Leif Ericson sailed to the North America and landed at a place they called Vinland. *Leif Ericson:雷夫埃里克森 挪威探险家，他被认为是第一位登上北美的人，早于哥伦布发现新大陆五百年。根据冰岛传说，他在Vinland(温兰德)建立了挪威人的定居点。The need for increased trade and an error in navigation led to another European encounter wit

3、h America. Christopher Columbus, mistakenly believed that he could reach the Far East by sailing 4,000 miles west from Europe. He persuaded the king and queen of Spain to finance such a voyage. Columbus sailed west. Instead he landed on one of the Bahama Islands in the Caribbean Sea. 1. Discovery Ba

4、hama bh:m Island: 巴哈马群岛 Caribbean kribi(:)n Sea: 加勒比海Columbus eventually explored most of the Caribbean area. He never reached the Far East; but he did return home with some gold. The Spanish established some of the earliest settlements in North America.1. Discovery The Europeans were initially draw

5、n to the New World in search of wealth. Each European sovereign claimed as much territory as possible in the New World by establishing settlements of Europeans. This requirement-fueled the drive for the establishment of colonies. Sovereign svrin n. 元首,主权 1. Discovery The first successful English col

6、ony in the Americas was founded at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607; the settlement was financed by a London company which expected to make a profit from the settlement. Of the first 105 colonists, 73 died of hunger and disease. But the colony survived and eventually grew and became wealthy. The Virgini

7、ans discovered a way to earn money by growing tobacco, which they began shipping to England in 1614. Jamestown：詹姆斯敦（佛吉尼亚州）2. English Settlements2. English SettlementsIn New England, the northeastern region of what is now the United States; several settlements were established by English Puritans. Th

8、e settlers believed that the Church of England had adopted too many practices from Roman Catholicism, and they came to America to escape persecution in England and to found a colony based on their own religious ideals. Why the English Puritans escaped from the Britain?New England:新英格兰(美国东北部六州) One g

9、roup of Puritans, called the Pilgrims, took the ship Mayflower and settled at Plymouth in 1620. Plymouth plim n. 普利茅斯 2. English Settlements In 1621, the puritans gathered in a large crop and the settlers fixed a date to celebrate their harvest in order to express their thanks to God. This is the be

10、ginning of the holiday called Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day:(美国是11月的第四个星期四，加拿大是10月的第二个星期一) 2. English Settlements2. English SettlementsThe Puritans hoped to build “a city upon a hill”-an ideal community. New England also established another American tradition- an often intolerant moralism. The Puri

11、tans believed that governments should enforce Gods morality. They strictly punished drunks, adulterers, violators of the Sabbath and heretics. In the Puritan settlements the right to vote was restricted to church members, and the salaries of ministers were paid out of tax revenues. moralism: n. 道德主义

12、 Adulterer:奸夫 Sabbath sb n. 宗安息日 heretic hertik:异教徒2. English Settlements4. One Puritan who disagreed with the decisions of the community, Roger Williams, protested that the state should not interfere with religion. Forced to leave Massachusetts in 1635, he set up the neighboring Rhode Island colony

13、, which guaranteed religious freedom and the separation of church and state. This toleration, in its turn, attracted further groups of settlers to the New World.Massachusetts mstu:sits: 马萨诸塞 Rhode Island:罗得岛(州)Maryland:马里兰州 Pennsylvania pensilveini:宾夕法尼亚 2. English Settlements5. Over time, the Briti

14、sh colonies in North America were also occupied by many non-British national groups. In 1664, the settlement was captured by the English and renamed New York.别称: the Big Apple在20世纪初，纽约对外来移民来说是个崭新天地，机会到处都是。因此纽约常被昵称为“the Big Apple ”，意为“好看、好吃，人人都想咬一口”。 纽约夜景 3. Colonial EraAmerica has always appeared to

15、 be not one culture, but a mixture of different cultures. So it is often called “the melting pot”. In the colonial period, this mixture of contrasting traditions was already taking shape. The intolerant idealism of Massachusetts existed beside the tolerant idealism of Rhode Island, the ethnic variet

16、y of Pennsylvania and the practical commercial agriculture of Virginia.Most American colonists worked on small farms. These were worked by blacks under the system of slavery , which had evolved slowly since 1619, or by free Englishmen who contracted to work without pay for several years in return fo

17、r their passage to America. Ethnic:民族的，种族的3. Colonial EraBy 1770, several small but growing urban centers had emerged, each supporting newspapers, shops, merchants and craftsmen. Unlike most other nations, the United States never had a feudal aristocracy. Land was plentiful and labor was scarce in c

18、olonial America, and every free man had an opportunity to achieve economic independence, if not prosperity. feudal Aristocracy:封建贵族(阶级)3. Colonial EraRepresentative government: The English king appointed many of the colonial governors, but they all had to rule in cooperation with an elected assembly

19、. Voting was restricted to landowning white males. Britain could not exercise direct control over her American colonies. The colonists were too independent-minded. Assembly:集会，议会 3. Colonial EraSeven Years War :1756 - The Seven Years War begins when England declares war on France.3. Colonial EraBrit

20、ains victory led directly to a conflict with its American colonies. To prevent fighting with the native Americans, a royal proclamation denied colonists the right to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Quartering Act forced the colonies to house and feed British soldiers; and with the pass

21、age of the Stamp Act, special tax stamps had to be attached to all newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents and licenses. Proclamation prklmein n. 宣言，公告 Appalachian adj. 阿帕拉契山脉的Tax Stamp3. Colonial EraAmericans distrust the power of big government; after all, millions of immigrants came to this countr

22、y to escape political repression. So the Americans feared that the new taxes would make trading difficult, and that British troops stationed in the colonies might be used to crush the civil liberties which the colonists had heretofore enjoyed. repression: n. 抑制，压止Heretofore hituf: adv. 以前，迄今为止3. Col

23、onial Eracolonial Americans insisted that they could be taxed only by their own colonial assemblies. No taxation without representation, was their rallying cry. the colonists refused to obey, so British soldiers were sent to Boston.3. Colonial EraIn September 1774, the First Continental Congress, a

24、meeting of colonial leaders opposed to the British oppression in the colonies, met in Philadelphia. There leaders urged Americans to disobey the Intolerable Acts and to boycott British trade. Colonists began to organize militias and to collect and store weapons and ammunition.Philadelphia fildelfj n

25、. 费城 boycott bikt vt. 抵制 Militia mili民兵部队 ammunition n. 军火，弹药莱克星顿的北美民兵 Intolerable Acts backgroundIn 1773, a group of patriots responded to the tea tax by staging the “Boston Tea Party”: disguised as Indians, they boarded British Merchant ships and tossed 342 crates of tea into Boston harbor. Parlia

26、ment then passed the “Intolerable Acts ”(more British soldiers were sent to the port of Boston)Crate: n. 板条箱 4. RevolutionOn April 19,1775, 700 British soldiers marched from Boston to forestall a rebellion of the colonists.At the village of Lexington, they confronted 70 militiamen. Someone-no one kn

27、ows who- fired a shot, and the American War of Independence began. The British easily captured Lexington and Concord, but as they marched back to Boston they were harassed by hundreds of Massachusetts volunteers. By June, 10, 000 American soldiers had besieged Boston, and the British were forced to

28、evacuate the city in March 1776.Forestall f:st:l vt. 领先，先发制人 Lexington leksitn n. 莱克星顿Militiamen:民兵 Concord: 康科德 harass vt.反复袭击 besiege bisi:d vt. 围攻，包围 evacuate v. 疏散，撤出 The Battle of Lexington 4. RevolutionIn May 1775, a second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and began to assume the funct

29、ions of a national government. It founded a Continental Army and Navy under the command of George WashingtonOn July 2, 1776, the Congress finally resolved That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states.” Thomas Jefferson of Virginia drafted a Declaration of Inde

30、pendence, which the Congress adopted on July 4, 1776.托马斯杰斐逊为独立宣言主要撰稿者 富兰克林对其进行了润色。 4. RevolutionImportantly, it explained the philosophy behind the revolution-that men have a natural right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness; that governments can rule only with the consent of the governed;

31、 that any government may be dissolved when it fails to protect the rights of the people. At first, the war went badly for the Americans. The British captured New York City in September 1776, and Philadelphia was captured a year later. 4. RevolutionWith the help of France, American troops generally f

32、ought well. In 1781, 8,000 British troops under General George Cornwallis were surrounded at Yorktown, Virginia, by a French fleet and a combined French-American army under George Washingtons command. Soon afterward the British government asked for peace. The Treaty of Paris, signed in September 178

33、3, recognized the independence of the United States and granted the new nation all the territory north of Florida, south of Canada and east of the Mississippi River.Cornwallis k:nwlis康沃利斯 Yorktown:约克镇 Review the American War of Independence1. The outburst： The Battle of Lexington, 17752. Founding th

34、e Continental Army and Navy ： appoint the General George Washington, 1775： Declaration of Independence, 17764. Victory： General George Cornwallis surrounded at Yorktown, 17815. The Treaty of Paris ： Britain recognize the independence of the United States, 1783After the war, the Americans were confro

35、nted with the situation of founding their country and their government.Since 1781, the 13 colonies had been governed by the Articles of Confederation, a constitution that set up a very weak central government. The individual states were almost independent. They even set up their own tax barriers.the

36、 Articles of Confederation:联邦条例5. Devising a Constitution5. Devising a ConstitutionIn May 1787, a convention met in Philadelphia with instructions to revise the Articles of Confederation.The delegates among whom were George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison went beyond their mandate an

37、d drafted a new and more workable constitution. It established a stronger federal government empowered to collect taxes, conduct diplomacy, maintain armed forces, and regulate foreign trade and commerce among the states.Mandate: n. 命令，指令 The Constitution was accepted in 1788. Many Americans feared t

38、hat a powerful central government would trample on the liberties of the people, and in 1791, Ten Amendments（修正案）- the Bill of Rights - were added to the Constitution. This document guaranteed freedom of religion, a free press, free speech, the right of citizens to bear arms, protection against illeg

39、al house searches, the right to fair trial by jury and protection against “cruel and unusual punishments.”the Bill of Rights:权利法案5.Devising a Constitution5. Devising a ConstitutionThe constitution and the Bill of Rights struck a balance between two confliction but fundamental aspects of American pol

40、itics the need for a strong, efficient central authority and the need to ensure individual liberties. Americas first two political parties: the Republican party (defended the rights of the individual states and they appealed to small farmers) and the Federalist party (was the party of the prosperous

41、 class and would die out by 1820) divided along those ideological lines.Republican party ：共和党 Federalist party：联邦党Ideological line：思想路线After the adoption of the Constitution, New York was chosen as the capital and George Washington, the first president of the United States, was inaugurated on April

42、30th, 1789. George Washington governed in a Federalist style. Inaugurate in:gjureit v. 举行就职典礼， 6. New NationGeorge WashingtonIn 1797, Washington was succeeded by another Federalist, John Adams. He adopted the Alien and Sedition Acts in 798. The Republicans, headed by Thomas Jefferson, went into acti

43、on at once to seek for means to fight the Sedition Acts.the Alien and Sedition Acts:外国人法及反煽动法。前者禁止外国出生的移民对政府的批评，后者针对报纸编辑，阻止他们对政府的批评。6. New NationJohn AdamsWhen the election of 1800 took place, Thomas Jefferson was chosen as president. In 1804, Jefferson was reelected with almost no opposition. In 18

44、09, Jefferson left the presidency, and James Madison, who had been his secretary of State, was elected President.6. New NationIn 1812, America had a second war with England. British forces captured and burned Washington, the nations new capital city. After the war, the US enjoyed a period of rapid e

45、conomic expansion. The first steam railroad opened in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1830.In 1828, Andrew Jackson （Democratic Party） became the first man born into a poor family and born in the West, to be elected president.Baltimore:巴尔的摩 Democratic demkrtik Party：民主党6. New NationThe Industrial Revolution

46、had reached America: there were textile mills in New England; iron foundries in Pennsylvania. By the 1850s, factories were producing rubber goods, sewing machines, shoes, clothing, farm implements, guns and clocks.textile mills:纺织厂 foundry faundri n. 铸造 Pennsylvania pensilveini 宾夕法尼亚 Implement: 工具，器

47、具 6. New Nation7. American Civil War The cause of the war There existed two economic systems in the North and the South. In the North, the importation of black slaves outlawed in 1908, the capitalist economy developed rapidly. By 1860, American industry had ranked fourth in the world. But in the Sou

48、th, things were quite different. The south had a large number of plantations (种植园) on which Negro slaves were made to work. They grow cotton and tobacco, but there was little industry.7. American Civil WarThe slaves in the South lived in small cabins near their masters big house. They were often cru

49、elly treated and the punishments on them were rather severe. In 1852, a novel entitled “Uncle Toms Cabin” came out, the book described the cruel things that might happen to a slave under a cruel master.The Fugitive Slave Act passed in 1850 helped Southerners to recapture slaves who had escaped to th

50、e free states.Fugitive Slave Act :1850年逃奴追缉法案. 7. American Civil WarPlantation owners insisted that the slavery system should be kept because they considered slaves to constitute cheap labor, while the industrial capitalists of the North free labor was more economical and therefore more profitable f

51、or their industry. This was the main cause of the conflict and also the main cause of Civil War between the North and the South.7. American Civil WarIn 1860, with the North support, Lincoln won the election. Then 11 states proclaimed themselves an independent nation the Confederate States of America

52、, and the American civil War began.On January,1,1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which granted freedom to all slaves in areas controlled by the confederacy.Confederate:美国南部联盟 Emancipation:解/释放 Confederacy：（美国南北战争时期的）南部邦联Abraham Lincoln解放黑奴宣言7. American Civil WarWith the support fr

53、om the Union at home and abroad, on April 2, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, and all other Confederate forces soon surrendered. Appomattox Court house:(弗吉尼亚州)阿珀马特科斯县城一所房子的客厅 commander-in-chief Of the Union army in the Civil War. He was 18th president of U.S.Ulysses Simpson

54、Grant 格兰特Commander-in-chief of the Confederate army in the AmericanCivil War.Robert Lee罗伯特 李将军7. American Civil WarOn April 2, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated by the actor John Wilkes Booth, a sympathizer with the Southern cause.The war resolved 2 fundamental questions that had divided the United Sta

55、tes since 1776. it put an end to slavery and it also decided, once and for all, that America was not a collection of semi-independent states, but a single indivisible nation.Indivisible:不可分割的，不可分裂的Significance and Effect of the War The Civil War was an epoch-making event in American history. It was

56、a bourgeois revolution in nature. The war resolved two fundamental questions that had divided the United States since 1776.It put an end to slavery, which was completely abolished by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. It also decided, once and for all, that America was not a collection

57、of semi-dependent states, but a single indivisible nation. 美国南北战争是美国历史上第二次资产阶级革命，虽然伤亡人数超过100万，但它废除了黑人奴隶制度，维护了国家统一，为美国资本主义的加速发展扫清了道路，并为美国跻身于世界强国之列奠定了基础。8. Roosevelts “New Deal”In the presidential election of 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, defeated the Republican candidate and became Preside

58、nt. Roosevelt was a strong, imaginative and optimistic leader. He was empowered by the Congress to deal with the emergency and save the situation. He called his program “The New Deal”.Franklin D. Roosevelt ruzvelt8. Roosevelts “New Deal”The Work Progress Administration (WPA) was one of the most effe

59、ctive of the New Deal measures, which created millions of jobs by undertaking the construction of roads, bridges, airports, hospitals, parks and public building.The “New Deal” did not end the Depression. But it relaxed the economic crisis. Roosevelts policies won respect and his fame kept growing. H

60、e was reelected three times in succession.WPA:公共事业振兴署 1927年至1941年，雕刻家们在黑岗山的巨石上雕刻了美国历史上4位著名总统的雕像: 华盛顿、杰斐逊、罗斯福、林肯，这4位美国总统代表了美国开国200年的历史和美国的政治文化。雕像工程于1941年完工。1988年进行了为期10年的维修工程。1998年6月15日一个崭新的游客中心开幕。总 统 山Literature prizesNobel Prize in LiteraturePulitzer PrizeNational Book AwardSome Nobel Winners for L