英美概况论文2011-11-26

1、On the Rise of the United StatesID: 2010211944 Name: 宋萍 Class: 2 Score:摘要： 美国是一个相对于其他国家历史较短的年轻的国家。然而不超过240年历史的美国是如何发展成现在的泱泱大国呢？首先，我们应该从它的历史原因来分析，美国是一个被殖民扩张影响较早的国家，欧洲的殖民者开拓了美国的沿海岸，建立了13个殖民地，并且在此进行往来贸易，客观上加速美国经济的发展，当它独立后它将以飞跃的速度发展。独立战争，使美国得到了解放。美国内战，解除了黑人奴隶制，为美国资本主义的发展创造了条件和解除了障碍。两次世界大战，美国大发战争财，为其崛起提供

2、了大量的资金。二战后，美国的政治地位也得到了显著地提高。其次，美国的崛起还离不开它的一些自然条件，诸如适宜人居住的地形，气候条件，以及适合耕种的土地。美国是一个自然资源丰富的国家，偌大的领土上分布着丰富的矿产资源，为美国进行工业革命提供了前提条件。再者，美国的政治体制，三权分立，克服了专断主义，从而保持清明的政治。科学的资本主义经济制度使美国的经济得以飞速发展。最后，美国的教育方式为其培养了大量的人才，也在推动美国崛起付出了不可估量的力量。Summary: The United States is a young country having a short history in compar

3、ison with other countries. But how America was successful in developing into a great country? Firstly, we should analyse the reasons from its history. America was a country which was colonized by European countries early and influenced by them deeply. The European colonists have expanded the coast o

4、f Atlantic ocean , founded 13 colonies, and carried on business here, which quickened the speed of economical development in America objectively. Especially after the independent war, America could develop its economy freely. Not over 100 years later, the Civil War broke out. It produced The Emancip

5、ation Proclamation, which created advantageous conditions and swept the obstacles away for the development of capitalist economy. As for the rise of America, we also should take the two World War into consideration.During the rough period of war, America took advantage of its no relation to the war

6、to make profits by selling weapons to the countries that had been involved in the situation, which provided a large sum of capital for its rising. After the Second World War, the United States political position has been raised. Secondly, America has comfortable climate, landforms suitable for livin

7、g, and fertile and arable land for agriculture. In addition, America is rich mineral resources which is a basic condition for proceeding Industrial Revolution. Thirdly, the U.S. enjoys a good and correct political system with the powers divided into three parts, which avoids the power being concentr

8、ated on somebody. Therefore, we can find that America is ruled reasonably. Also, the scientific economical system has contributed to the rise of America.关键字：崛起；历史；政治；经济 Key Words: Rise; History ;Politics ;Economy1. Natural conditions1.1 Geographical position To analyse the raise of America, we can n

9、ot ignore the natural conditions of this country. The first factor is its geographic position. Most territory of America is contained in the south of North America, mainly within the northern temperate zone. However, because of the large size and varied landforms, the different area presents differe

10、nt climate style, which has an great influence on Americas agriculture. Secondly, the United States only has two neighbors in its major continent: Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. Few neighboring countries keep America in a safe international situation. Also Americas position in globe pr

11、ovided many advantages for its development. Thirdly, the landforms of United States is made up of three basic geographical areas, including the Atlantic Seacoast and the Appalachian Mountains in the east, the great Mississippi River Basin in the middle and the Rockies west to the Pacific Ocean. Peop

12、le live in America can use the different landforms to develop all kinds of industries. Finally, the east and west of America are separately surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean which has effects on the climates. 1.2 Landforms The surface region of the western America is mountainous. Ro

13、cky Mountains like a long dragon spreads all the way from Mexico to Arctic, with its top covered by snow all around the year, because of its high altitude. As a result, a number of national parks, 38 in total, have been established here to entertain the tourists with striking and varies scenery. Acc

14、ording to the result of statistics surveyed before, approximately 180 million travellers from all over the world visit there every year. In the Atlantic Seacoast are scattered a number of fine deep-water harbours, which offer convenient marine transportation for foreign trade and contribute to the d

15、evelopment of Americas navigation enterprise. In addition, it is convenient for industries to import raw materials from other countries and export manufactured products to all over the world,greatly promoting the growth of Americas economy. The centre of America is the Great Mississippi Rriver Basin

16、, which consists of a large area between the Appalachian Mountains on east and the Rocky Mountains on the west. Its large size and rich soil have made this area well-known as Barn of America and the food-basket of the nation, which means it is the chief agricultural production region. When the Indus

17、trial Revolution was proceeding, meanwhile, agriculture also underwent its own revolution. With more and more useful and efficient farm machines having been created, mechanization production has came true here and this way of producing has increased the agricultural product greatly.2. Natural resour

18、cesUsually when we talk about the reasons of a countrys raise we need inquire into its natural resources. After learning the outline introduction of United States we know that America is a country full of resources. 2.1 Water resourcesAs we all know, water is one of the important necessities for liv

19、ing. The Untied States has six primary rivers in continental North America.These not only supply water for families daily life but also support the produce of industries. More and more hydropower stations have been founded so as to make full use of water resource in recent decades. On one hand, it s

20、olves the shortage of power resources in most areas. On the other hand, generating electricity by water produce less pollution that by coal. Further, the water resource is renewable energy, but coal resource not. The Mississippi River, father of Waters, is also the largest river in United States, fl

21、owing across the whole continent of America from north to south. The sediment of the river make the soil in this area very rich and suitable for agricultural plantation. 2.2 Land resourcesThen I will talk about the Land resources of the United States. Americans used to speak of their country as the

22、land of opportunities where everyone could live a good life provided he worked hard. Americas total area is ranked the forth in the world and has plenty of fertile soil owing to the rivers, whats more, over 47% of Americas land can be used for farmland. The condition of possessing wide area and much

23、 arable land make it much easier to develop its agriculture and breed enough food to mend its peoples demand, at the same time, descent the pressure of importing agricultural products. Especially like milk and meat, which should be kept fresh and dont adapt to be transported long time, America can r

24、ealize self-contention. Agriculture, as the primary industry, is the foundation of the growth of Secondary and Service industry. 2.3 Timber resourcesGenerally speaking, many forests are dedicated to the development of Americas economy. In America forests cover large areas, especially the eastern and

25、 western part. Once the colonists set foot on the land, they have realized the exist of the precious property. Undoubtedly, in the primitive expansion of exploiters the forests have provided a large quantities of timber resources. Until now, many spectacular houses of the United States founded in th

26、e suburbs are made of wood. Meanwhile, with so abundant timber resources, Americans could export them to other countries and replant new trees to replace the vacant room, so continuous wealth will pour into the country. 2.4 Mineral resources Similar to China, America is also rich in mineral resource

27、s, coal, iron ore, oil, for example, ranking in the world with greatest store. Besides, such as copper,zinc, gold, and silver are in large quantities, too. Since the industrial revolution, Human beings has entered into the great age of steam. There is no doubt that it needs much coal to motivate the

28、 steam engines and make them perform normally. Plentiful coal mine resources made great contribution to the development of the United States in the first industrial revolution and the country took its advantages to realize the first advance in development by leaps and bounds. About in 1860s, the sec

29、ond one swept across the whole world. The creation of car put the oil industry in motion and drive it to develop promptly. Nowadays, oil is much more needed than before. In one word, abundant mineral resources provide more and more opportunities for America at the times when resources are demanded e

30、xtremely.3.Historical factor About five hundred years ago, natives of North America continent, who were called Indian, lived a tribal life by hunting, fishing, and doing farming work in the vast and fertile territory. Until 1492, Christopher Columbus, an Italian, was financed by the Spanish king to

31、sailed west from Spanish in search of a sea route to the Far East. Instead of finding the India, they found the islands of the Caribbean, located in central America, and believed that it was India, so the natives were named Indian since then. The newly-found continent was named after the discoverer

32、and was known as American. It was also the first time for the European to step on that large continent. Therefore, even nowadays we also consider American as New World country, which has a short history, compared with other countries. After the discovery of North America, many adventurers from Spani

33、sh began to sail to the new fascinating world and want to conquer it, including other areas around America. It was not long before many places were strictly controlled by the Spanish King as royal property. Nearly at the same time, a few English adventurers also started to explore the east coast of

34、North America. In 1588, the Spanish Armada were destroyed by the English navy and England controlled some sea routes belong to Spanish originally, which became the turning point in the course of American history for the immigrants from England, supported by English government, gradually replaced the

35、 position of Spanish as the most significant colonist in North American. The 13 English-American colonies was established one by one. In order to make great profit, most ambitious English merchants were eager to drove into North America with the support of the government. After arriving on the new c

36、ontinent, the colonists set up their own companies and receive strong favors from the Old World. Actually the relationship between colonies and colonists are not friendly. Each colony had a government leaded by the governor who was appointed by the English monarch. Although the United States was in

37、this disadvantageous situation, objectively speaking, yet it still had slight and unapparent progresses and improvements. The colonists have slain a lot of native settlers fiercely and driven them away from the permanent places they used to live in. Whats worse, they brought some diseases and someth

38、ings harmful to human beings. But we could not neglect that they have brought in many new species of creatures and special technologies, whats more, European culture and civilizaition, which affected Americans meaningfully and profoundly. So, the arrival of the colonists is a kind of wealth more tha

39、n a disaster, promoting America more advanced. As for the 13 English-America, the first English colony in North America was found successfully in Virginia in 1607, which was named Jamestown in honour of their king when Britain was governed by James I. Like the famous queen of Elizabeth I the King al

40、so encouraged foreign expansion and granted a group of merchants to found the Virginia Company. Thirteen years later a second colony was established in New England, the northeastern region of what is known as United States. The newcomers were Puritans dissatisfied with the Church of England and mana

41、ging to seek freedom of religion. In September of 1620, they left England and set sail to America in the famous ship called Mayflower. The above two colonies mentioned and the rest colonies made great differences on the development of America. With a large number of immigrants crowing into America m

42、any places were developed for providing more vacate room for them to settle down. Most of them were businessmen and Protestant. These ambitious businessmen dreamed of becoming rich quickly by immigrating into America to search their fortune. While in the eye of the Puritans, the most easy way for on

43、e to serve Gods course was to work hard and accumulate wealth. It was said that a number of the New Englanders became successful businessmen who later were the forefathers of the American industrialists. Under their endeavour, the colony of New England was changed into the workshop of America. Simil

44、arly, some other colonies progressively became booming with their hard work and wisdom. The third kind of person to leave for America was countless poor people. Not like the black slaves they were employed by some colonial companies where cheap labor was required and worked as indenture servants. Af

45、ter serving their term, they would become free, that was free labor in the early times. The immigrants also contained the black people from Africa. They were sought there by European businessmen to serve as free labor and live a rough life. But they have played an important role in the raise of the

46、United States. 4.Independence The Independence Day, widely known as the Forth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States in honour of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, which declared Americas separation from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Irel

47、and. But, in fact, America had not really broken away from Britain completely and Britain, undoubtedly, was unwilling to see America get rid of its domination. After 8 years military resistance from 1775 to 1783, colonies colonized by Britain for a long time broke with the mother country finally and

48、 rebuilt a new nation of the United States of America according to the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Compared with other countries the United States realized its independence much earlier, which construct a good internal and international environments for America to concentrate on the reconstruction and

49、development of economy. The economic foundation of the early America was solid. In spite of the long terms war, It took not long to resume the origin condition. Whats more, a new nation independent on both economy and politic has been founded. It became strong quickly and is the most developed count

50、ry now.5.The fruit of the Civil WarSince the early immigration the black people along the West Coast of Africa were transported to the continent of America to work as labor. However, Racial discrimination against the black people have existed since then. Disputes over Negro slavery led to the secess

51、ion of the Southern States and this was the immediate cause of the America Civil War. With the intension of the contradiction between the south and north of America, the Civil War broke out ultimately. In 1862, Lincoln announced the famous Emancipation Proclamation, which had significant meaning to

52、the black people and was supported by the Unionists. The America Civil War was a great revolutionary war, the second bourgeois revolution of America, either. It finally put the slavery system into an end and reduced the obstacles that held back the development and compromises of America. 6.Westward

53、Movement of Frontiersmen In 1800s, American presented the characters of energetic, optimistic, adventurous and aggressive. Some of them were willing to work hard and take risks. With the influx of settlers, the coastal areas seemed too small and soil became less productive. Therefore, some people we

54、re determined to find other places for living and began a long journey to the west. Those who ventured beyond the frontier and moved into the uncultivated wild area were thus called frontiersmen. With the attraction of large extent of cheap land, more and more people crowed into the western areas. T

55、he expansion of the west provided enough room for people to live and promoted the communication between the east and the west part. Besides, transportation sector and tourism developed promptly. 7. Industrial RevolutionsAmerica has gone through three times Industrial Revolutions. Accurately speaking

56、, this country nearly missed the first one. Fortunately, it was influenced by the Industrial Revolution more or less so that it could caught the second one and finished it successfully. During the third one, America has absolutely been involved in it and made great progresses in all kinds of field.8

57、.The Two World War As we all know, two large scale wars have broken out separately in 1914 and 1939. In First World War America gave up to attend to either the Triple Alliance or the Triple Entente and kept in neutrality. Actually, President Wilsons neutral policy was aimed at making great profits f

58、rom the warring countries. As his expectation, America got a wide market and earned much in the early stage of the First world war. Although the country was involved with the war in 1917, it was affected slightly because its position was far away from the main battlegrounds. During the World War II

59、the United States didnt prepare to join in the war and was busy in selling warring weapons and resources until the pearl Harbour Event, in which Americas profits has been harmed. The two World War has not damaged America a little. On the contrary, through the wars America has accumulated much capital for its later construction. Afte