英语国家概况之美国.doc

美国部分Chapter 14Population, Race and Ethnic GroupsI.IntroductionThe United States of America, with a population of 255,5 million in 1992, is the third most populous country in the world after China and India.Immigration accounts for a major source of population growth.7.8% 20 million immigants1992 8.7 millionCame to USADuring the 1980s14.8%In the WesternForeign-born10.3%In the NortheastForeign-born3.6%In the MidwestForeign-born5.3%In the South Foreign-bornThe United States had a more or less open-door policy to immigrants from independence until the 1960s. Ellis Island of New York was an important immigration reception spot in the 1890s.About 77% of the population in the United States lived in more than 283 city areas in 1988.21 big cities with a population of over 2 million.New York18 million In 1990Los Angeles 14.5 million In 1990Chicago8.1 millionIn 1990San Francisco6.3 millionIn 1990philadelphia5.9 millionIn 1990II.Immigration The Untied States has been known as a nation of immigrants. The first immigrants in American history came from England and the Netherlands(荷兰人).1. Some running away from religious and political persecution2. Some coming as adventures from the Old World(Europe) to seek a better life3. Some as indentured servants who had to work for a fixed term for their masters to repay the cross-Atlantic fare and debts The largest immigration movement began from 1815. between 1815 and 1917, no fewer than 30 million people, form every corner of Europe, made their way to the USA. They came in a series of waves.1. The first of these waves began in the mid 1810s, grew during the 1830s and 40s and reached the highest point in 1845.2. The second wave coverd the period between 1860 and 1890.3. The third wave, the largest of the three waves, bringing to the Untited States a total of 15 million immigrants between 1890 and 1914, was drawn very largely from Austria-Hungary, Italy, Russia, Greece, Rumania and Turkey.The first of these waves began in the mid 1810sDecade of 1820151,0001850s2.3 million1845-18541.5 million Ireshmen 1845-1849 English oppression And Potao Famines III.Population Movement Mobility is considered to be one of the characteristics of the American People. Americans moves to a new home every year seeking new job opportunities, a better climate or some other goals. Four great population movements ih the history of the USA The first was between the end of the civil war and 1880 when the westward movement came to a halt. From densely-populated east coast to the sparsely-populated west.The second was between 1890 and 1920, a period when the United States realized its industrialization and urbanization. Form The third was from 1920 to 1960 with the 1940s, the war years, as the peak. A lot of black people moved out of the south to other areas.The fourth and the last one so far is from the end of the 1960s till now. from the Northeast and Central to the West and the South.The trend brings a number of serious consequences to big cities:1. The rising unemployment rate2. The increase of population beneath the poverty line3. The worsening of living conditions and the fall of city government income.IV Racial and Ethnic MiroritiesBlacks The largest of the racial and ethnic minorties in the U.S. is the blacks about 30.9 million, or 12.1 per cent of the population. In 1619 the first blackes were brought to North America as slaves. A few decades some 400,000 Africans brought to North America. They were concentrated in the agricultural South, and their life was no better than that of cattle Uncle Toms Cabin and Roots are two novels giving a vivid description of the miserable life of the black slaves. the slave system was formally ended by Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. In 1954, the Supreme Court, in the case of Brown versus Board of Education, ruled that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. This started the slow process towards desegregation, and that is the end of separate public facilies. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 added protections for the right to vote, to use public facities and to enjoy the same education as white people. It also contained provisions guaranteeting equal employment opportunities. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was meant to guarantee the blacks and others the right to vote.Hispanics Mexican-Americans, Puetro Ricans, Cuban-Americans.Chapter 15American History(I)I. Discovery of the New worldThe “first Americans” were the Indians. They crossed from Asia about 30,000 or 40,000 years ago. The indians lived on the land by hunting, gathering, fishing and farming. In the late 15 th century, Christopher Columbus, an Italian Navigatior, supported by the Spanish queen, sailed across the vast ocean in 1492 and reached some small island in the now West Indies. He didnt know he had discovered a new continent. Amerigo vespucci, proved that the land was not india, but a new continent. Therefore, the land was named America after him.II. The Colonial PeriodIn 1607 first English colony Jamestown, VirginiaBetween 1607 and 1733 13 colonies along the east coast of North AmericaBy 1750, nearly 2 million living in these colonies.Opportunitity was the magic word that drew people to America.Many settlers came to the English colonies in search of religious freedom. They wanted the right to worship God in their own way in their own churches. They left their own countries because they were the victims of religious persecution.The Pilgrims, to escape religious persecution, they left England and went to live in Leyden, Holland. They feared their children might become Dutchmen. So in 1620, 201 of them sailed to the New World in a ship called Mayflower. The first winter after their arrival was particularly severe and when spring came, half of them were dead. Then the neighboring Indians came to their help and taught them how to grow corn. They had a good harvest that year. So they invited the Indians and help the first Thanksgiving celebration in America to give thanks to God.The Puritans, unlike the pilgrims who were artisans and peasants, were wealth, well-educated gentlemen. They wanted to purify the church of England. Dissatisfied with the political corruption in England and threatened with religious persecution, the Puritan leaders saw the New World as a refuge provided by God for those He meant to save. So in March 1630 to 1643, some 200 ships transported over 20,000 Englishmen to the Massachusetts Bay colony.Puritan tradition also involved a respect for learning which led to the establishment of schools and the spread of literacy.III. The War of Independence Reason of the War: 1. With the 13 colonies developed fast, the people in the colonies wanted more power to determine their own bussiness. But the policy of the British government was to bring the development under control and to collect more taxes from the colonies.2. The people in the colonies opposed the unfair treatment and these policy. They declared: “No taxation without representations” that is, without their representatives taking part in decisionmaking, they had no obligation to pay taxes.Boston Tea Party(波士顿茶叶事件)In 1773, when ships of tea reached Boston. $75,000 worth of tea were thrown into the harbor by several dozen Boston residents dressed as Indians. In september 1774, the First Continental Congres was held in Philadephia which encouraged Americans to refuse to buy British goods. Colonial militia民兵 units were organized.On April 19, 1775, about 1,000 British soldiers were sent from Boston to seize the military supplies of the militia. The War of Independence broke out. Three weeks after the battles of Lexington and Concord, the second Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia. The Congress founded a Continental Army and Navy under George Washington, a militia commander.Thomas Jefferson of Virginia drafted the Declaration of Independence.On July 4, 1776, the Congress adopted the declaration.On Christmas Day of 1776, the American troops defeated the British, which was a great turning point of the war, leading directly to an alliance between the U.S. and France. In October, 1781, the British government asked for peace. In septermber, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed. Britain recognized the independence of the United States. The significance of the American War of independence:1. A weak nation can defeat a strong one.2. By smashing the fetters of British colonial rule, the American people gained independence, which gave capitalism a chance for freer development.3. It had great international influence. The colonies in Spanish America rose up one after another to overthrow Spanish colonial rule.IV. A New Form of GovernmentArticles of Confederation: A draft of a confederation was accepted by Congress in November 1777 and was presented to the states for their separate approval of rejection. The document was accepted by all the states by March 1781.The Articles of Confederation was unusual in many ways:1. It provided for no king. They decided not to have a king but to have a republic.2. The Articles created a central government in the form of a Congress, the emphasis was still on state powers.3. The Articles of Confederation was a written constitution for the United States.It was difficult to carry on the business of the government without someone to do the executives job. Congress was too large a body to function as government. Congress had no power to raise taxes.Constitutional Convention: A conference was held in Philadephia in May 1787 to consider what should be done to make the Articles of Condereration adequate all of the states except Rhode Island were represented at the Constitutional Convention. The states appointed 74 delegates,but 55 attended.After the convention opened, contradictions emerged between the bigger states and the smaller states, between the industrial-commercial interests and landed interests,etc.Great Compromise: the above differences were resolved by the “Great Compromise” of July 16, giving each state an equal vote in the Senate but making representation in the House reflect the size of each states population.When the Congress of the confederation put the Constitution to the states for their consideration in september 1787, the struggle for ratification(adoption) began.Federalists: those who had argued in the convention for for a national system, and who took the lead in urging ratification.Anti-federalists: those who opposed the constitution.Beginning on October 27,1787, the newspapers of New York City carried at short intervals a total of 85 letters to the public written under the name of Publius.Federalist Papers: the 85 letters mentioned above were called the Federalist Papers, which were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay.The Federalist Papers are regarded as the best explanation of the constitution as well as one of the most important works on political theory.Some of the arguments for opposition to the Constitution concerned the absence of a Bill of Rights in the Constitution.The Bill of Rights: the first ten amendments to the constitution. In 1789, James Madison introduced in the House of Representatives a series of amendments which later were drafted into twelve proposed amendments and sent to the states for ratification.The Bill of Rights is regarded, the foundation of the American constitutional system was completed.The first general election: it was held towards the end of 1788.The first Congress met on April 6,1789.The first prisedent: George Washington was voted by all 69 votors, and John Adams was elected vice president by a vote of 34.On the 30 th of April,1789 Washington took the oath of office in New York.In 1790, the government moved to Philadelphia.V. The War of 1812 The United States went to war with Britian in 1812, the last war fought between these two countries.VI. Territorial Expansion and Westward MovementWhen Who whereRemark(备注)13 years of the indian wars after the war of in dependenceEnglandOldNorthwest(Ohio,Indian,Illinois,Michigan,Wisconsin)UK, U.S.A theaty of paris in 1783Spain Open the Mississippi River1790Napoleon Sell the Louisiana for 15million$Spain Cede Florida and the Gulf coastsouthward1845 Texas In1836 Texas defeated Mexican army and won independence1848mexicoCalifornia,Newmexico(nowArizona,NewMexico, Utah,Colorado,Wyoming)War with Mexico from 1846-1848.paid 15 million$1853Mexican30,000 square miles(now Arizona and New MexicoGadsden Purchase paid 10 million $The expansionist movement produced a theory of “Manifest Destiny”. The implications of “Manifest Destiny” are three fold:1. The inevitablity of the founding of the United States of America;2. The legitimacy of the expansion of American Territory;3. The spread of American democracy being the task of American people who were chosen to do the lords work.VII. The Civil War In the early 1800s, the Northern states turned from farming to manufacturing. Black slavery soon disappeared in the north. Three reason:1. The Africans could not stand cold winters in the north;2. The high price of slaves;3. The North turned toward industry, mechanics and not farmhands were nooded.The Compromise of 1850 was passed which allowed california to be accepted as a free state. Back in the 1830s a determined group of antislavery reformers launched a new and more militant movement. Those who fought for antislavery system were called abolitionists. Harriet Beecher Stowes novel Uncle Toms Cabin increased the feeling against slavery. They deemed slavery inhuman and brutal. When Abraham Lincoln was elected president, the southern states broke away and formed a new nation, the Confederate States of America. Lincoln was determined to maintain the Union, so civil war broke out on April 12,1861. Emancipation Proclamation: at the beginning of the war, in order to win support for the Union at domestic and abroad/oversea, by making the war a just war against slavery, Lincoln issued the famous Emancipation Proclamation. After Emancipation Proclamation issued, England and France stood by the Unions side, and Many black slaves joined the Union Army. The Union army defeated the Confederate army at Gettysbury, Pennsylvania. On November 19,1863, Abraham Lincoln made a short speech at Gettysburg. He ended his speech with these memorable words: “ that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” On April 9,1865 Robert E.lee surrended. The war resulted in America 618, 000 lives lost life. On April 14, five days later, Lincoln was shot dead by John Wilkes Booth. The Thirteenth Amendment, which banned slavery, was added to the constitution in December, 1865VIII. Rapid Growth of Capitalism after the Civil War1. A stable political environment2. Enough labour supply was poured into the U.S. black slaves were free, and waves of European and Asian immigrants.3. Science and invention played a very important part, at an annual average of 22,000 in the 1980s. Edison became a hero, who patented over 1,000 inventions.4. high taxes on foreign imports,This encouraged Americans to buy American-made goods.5. Rich natural resources.Chapter 16American History(II)(1900-1945)I.Economic Development Steam and electricity replaced human muscle, steel took the place of iron.(1.)Beginning in 1898, there emerged/appeared a growth of industrial and financial mergers合并.19042000 largest firms 1% of the total bussinesses40% industrial goods19092000 largest firms1% of the total bussinesses79% industrial goodsUnited States Steel Corporation Absorbed over 200 manufacturing and transportation companyWon control over 2/3 of the steel marketRockefellers Standard Oil Company 1904Refining 84% of the crude oilProducing 86% of the oil used in lightingJ.P.Morgan 1900Controlled 100,000 miles of the railroad.Half the countrys total Together with the growth of coporation, there appeared a professional managerial class who was in charge of the daily management of the corporations. (2)with the development of industry and the extension of railroad network, there was a mushroom growth of cities.1900More than 40% of the people Lived in towns and cities over 2500 people1920Figure rose to 51.4%Same as above192030 million peopleLived in 32 large city with a population over 200,00028% of the total population This is what we call urbanization of America.(3)There was a rapid development of new technology. Electricity, steam, automobile,radio .etc.1908Henry Ford/mass-produce a car$8251914Henry Ford258,356 units of the Model T1918Henry Ford2.5 million1903Wright Brothers Flew an aeroplane for a brief 12second1911Glenn E.Curiss Designed and flew a successful plane II. Progressivism With the development of the economy, there also arose a number of social problemsThe Muckrakers: a group of reform-minded journalists, made investigations and exposed various dark sides of the seemingly prosperous society.The Progressive Movement: a movement demanding government regulation of the economy and social conditions. The Progressive Movement was not an organized campaign with clearly defined goals. It was a number of diverse efforts at political, social and economic reforms.1. Social area: improve