美国概况
国旗The Stars and Stripes：13条状红白相间，代表original 13 states，50颗星，代表50个州
The whole of the USA includes 50 states and a federal district, the District of Columbia, which is the seat of the Federal Government.
The two youngest states of the USA are Alaska in the northwestern part of North America and Hawaii in the central Pacific Ocean.
The Mississippi Rivers is the longest and the most important river in the USA. It flows from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.
In the USA, there are three great mountain ranges: the Appalachian Mountains, the Rocky Mountains and the Great Cordillera Mountain Range.
The renowned Yellowstone National Park in the northwestern part of Wyoming is the oldest national park in the world and contains the largest wildlife preserve in the US.
The five Great Lakes lying between the boundary of Canada and the USA are : Lake Michigan（密歇根或密执安湖）, Lake Superior（苏必利湖）, Lake Ontario（安大略湖）, Lake Huron（休伦湖） and Lake Erie（伊利湖）
The world-famous Niagara Falls (尼亚加拉瀑布) is located on the US-Canadian boundary between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
The Statue of Liberty was given by French people as a gift to New York City.
Chicago is the largest industrial city and the second largest city in terms of population in the USA.
Hollywood, the base of the film industry located in Los Angeles, is a world famous film producing center.
Detroit, the “motor city”, is on the Detroit River between Lake Huron and Lake Erie.
San Francisco is located on the central part of the California shoreline. It has been one of the principal gateways to the East.
HISTORY
The explorer who first discovered and identified the new continents is Christopher Columbus.
After the discovery of the New World, three European powers sent many explorers to the new continents: the Spanish, the English and the French.
In the autumn of 1620, pilgrims started for America in a ship named the “Mayflower”.
Thanksgiving is now observed throughout the USA, this holiday began in 1621 as a way to express settlers’ thanks to God for the good harvest.
战争the war of independence
Opposed to what was perceived as British oppression, colonial leaders held the First Continental Congress in 1774 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania(宾夕法尼亚).
1775年，the fire of Lexington marked the beginning of the war of independence.同年，第二届会议在费城召开，乔治•华盛顿为领导人
Thomas Jefferson drafted Declaration of Independence, which the congress adopted on July 4, 1776. What does the Declaration of Independence tell us?
The turning point: the victory at Saratoga
The two parts signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783—America won its independence
The westward movement （省略）
美国内战the civil war
Causes of the civil war: economic reason and political reason?
In 1852, a novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written and published in the US. It aroused a great discontent for slavery.
Fall of Fort Sumter marked the beginning of the civil war.
1861-1865，打了四年，北方胜利，北方为联邦军union army，南方为邦联军confederate army
Emancipation Proclamation
林肯有名的葛底斯堡演说Gettysburg address “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”
The significance of the civil war?
The American Civil War was an epoch-making event in the history of the United States of America, because: (1) It was a bourgeois revolution in nature, a continuation and expansion of the War of Independence. It was a struggle of life and death between two social systems, between the one that could push history forward and the one that would drag history to the old times. (2)It was the broad masses who secured the victory with life and blood. They played a very important role in influencing the progress and the outcome of the war. (3)The abolition of slavery and the emancipation of the Negroes enabled the country to develop more rapidly in every field. It took America only three decades after the war to assume the lead as industrial country in the world. (4)Most Americans were glad to see that their country was no longer associated with slavery and the Union was held together.
经济发展
the industrial revolution
镀金时代gilded age，借自马克吐温的书名，指内战到20世纪初，工业发展
亨利福特Henry ford大规模生产汽车，莱特兄弟Wright brothers设计第一架飞机，都在这个时候
1920s的大萧条与新政the great depression and the new deal
An economic crisis emerged at the end of the prosperous 1920’s, which shook the USA and the whole capitalist world to its foundation. This is the Great Depression.
罗斯福新政，Franklin D Roosevelt, the new deal
美国与二战
1941年，珍珠港被袭击，美国正式参战
The Truman Doctrine: It is the doctrine formulated by Truman, the 33rd US President in 1947. The doctrine aimed to give economic aids to resist the spread of communism
1949年，北大西洋条约签署，North Atlantic Treaty,任何对缔约国的攻击视为对所有缔约国的攻击。条约的生效标志着美国在苏联周围建立军事联盟的开端。苏联采取了类似的行动，建立了德国民主共和国set up the German Democratic Republic.至此，冷战全面开始。
1950s民权运动the civil rights movement
罗莎•帕克Rosa Parks,一位黑人女性，阿拉巴马，她拒绝给白人让座，被捕。马丁路德金开始领导黑人抵制。1956年，最高宣布阿拉巴马州的segregation laws unconstitutional。
越南战争the Vietnam war1950-1975(25年)
为了实施对主义的牵制，the policy of containment of communism,美国与越南战争，结果这是美国有史以来最长的战争。1973年美国和北越南north Vietnam签署cease-fire agreement。简单来说，越南当时像朝鲜般南北，南方是社会主义的，北方是当时的统治阶级，南方想要全国，统一南北。美国横插一脚，支持北方，搞了25年，最终还是南方的社会主义胜利，统一了全国。西贡Saigon是原来的首都，后来改名为胡志明市Ho Chi Minh City。
因为越南战争，美国国力下降，社会分歧，形象下降。
水门事件（Watergate scandal，或译水门丑闻）是美国历史上最不光彩的政治丑闻之一，其对美国本国历史以及整个国际新闻界都有着长远的影响，在1972年的总统大选中，为了取得民主党内部竞选策略的情报，1972年6月17日，以美国共和党尼克松Nixon竞选班子的首席安全问题顾问詹姆斯•麦科德（James W. McCord, Jr.）为首的5人闯入位于华盛顿水门大厦的民主党全国委员会办公室，在安装并偷拍有关文件时，当场被捕。由于此事，尼克松于1974年8月8日宣布将于次日辞职，从而成为美国历史上首位辞职的总统。
中美关系
1972年，Nixon总统访华，签署上海公报Shanghai Communique。1979年，中美建交。
POLITICS
美国起草于17年，世界上最早的成文。
The Article of Confederation+ Bill of Rights+ other Amendments
三权分立separation of powers/checks and balances
立法，执法，司法三权分立，legislative，executive，judicial，国会可立法，总统可否决，国会可通过三分之二选票再次通过，总统不可否决，但最高可以判定它违反而否决它。
the Legislative branch立法
只有国会有权立法，two-chamber system，包括senate参议院，house of representatives众议院。参议院100人，每个州两人，众议院基于每个州的人口比例设立席位。
Executive branch执法
总统任期4年, 连任不得超过两届 the procedure of presidential election (the electoral college?)
Judicial branch 司法
the Supreme Court是国家的最高，以下是联邦federal court，最高和联邦的法官是总统任命，法官是终身职位。唯有最高有权解释。
Political parties: Democratic Party (donkey) and Republican Party (elephant)
The differences between the two parties?
ECONOMY
The five American agricultural belts are the belt of cheese(奶酪), the belt of wheat, the belt of corn, the belt of cotton and the belt of fruits, vegetables etc.
American financial markets today are numerous and diverse. The most famous and largest is the The New York Stock Exchange(纽约股票市场), which handles trades in stocks and bonds
The influence of the Industrial Revolution?
EDUCATION
In the US, many children begin their school education at the age of six, usually graduate from high school at the age of 18 .
The features of American educational system? The Ivy League?
RELIGION
Jesus Christ is the founder of Christianity.
Christianity: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant
The American people have religious fervency. Among the American people, there are over 3000 religious denominations and over half of all American religious people belong to Christianity.
The characteristics of American religions?下载本文
