American frontier life英语.docVIP

American frontier life Western frontier life in America describes one of the most exciting periods in the history of the United States. From 1850 to 1900, swift and widespread changes transformed the American West. At the beginning of that period, a great variety of Native American cultures dominated most parts of the region. By the end of the era, the West had become a bustling society populated by new immigrants of all kinds. Historians sometimes define the American West as lands west of the 98th meridian, or 98? west longitude. This line of longitude runs though the middle of Texas and Kansas up through the eastern third of Nebraska and the Dakotas. Some definitions of the region include all lands west of the Mississippi or Missouri rivers. For the complete story of western expansion in the United States, see Westward movement in America. Regardless of the precise boundary line used, the western frontier differed in many ways from the eastern United States. Much of the West had a drier climate than that of the East, and western terrain often proved much harsher. As a result, immigrants to the West had to adapt and find new ways of doing things to survive. Their efforts were aided by improvements in transportation, communication, farm equipment, and other areas. ?从边疆生活的条件中出现了极其重要的思想面貌。自殖民地时期以来到各边疆旅行的人们所撰的著作，描述了某些共同的特点，虽然这些特点现在不突出了，但是，作为一种遗风，甚至在进入一种社会的较高发展阶段的时候，它们仍然在它们发端的地方继续存在。结果是，美国思想的显著特性是依靠边疆形成的。粗暴、强健，加上精明、好奇这种特性；头脑既切实际又能独出心裁，想的办法快这种特性；掌握物质一类的东西，手脚灵巧，不过艺术性差，但做出来的东西使人产生伟大有力的感觉这种特性；精力充沛，生气勃勃 这种特性；个人主义突出，为善为恶全力以赴这种特性；同时热爱自由，华而不实这种特性——这一切都是边疆的特性，换句话说，就是因为有了边疆，别的地方才有的这些特性。自从哥伦布的船队驶入新世界的河流那个时候起到现在，美国是“机会”的同义语，因此美国人是在不断的扩张中养成他们的气质的，这种扩张对他们来说不仅是自由的，而且甚至是被迫的。如果有人一定断言，美国生活中的这种扩张性现在已经完全停止了的话，那么，他一定是一个冒失的预言家。向边疆迁移曾经是这种扩张的最有力的事实，除非这种训练对一个民族没有影响，否则，美国人势必继续要求一个更加广阔的领域，以便发泄他们旺盛的精力。但是，这种自由土地的礼物却再也不会出现了。在边疆，风俗习惯的约束没有了，毫无限制的情形占上风，这只是一时的事。世界上就没有tabula rasa（一块白板） 。在边疆，美国环境是难应付的，而且这种环境迫切要求人们顺应它的种种情况，同时，工作条件具有传统性，这也是事实；但是，无论环境如何顽固，也无论习惯势力多大，每一个边疆都千真万确地提供了机会的新领域、为解除过去的束缚而开方便之门；边疆推进到哪里