American Beginnings[精].ppt

American Beginnings The contents What is an American? Two immigration movements to America Social forces leading to the awakening of Europe and discovery of America Four colonial patterns in America The American Revolution National flag The introduction of the flag: thirteen equal horizontal stripes —— thirteen colonies a blue rectangle bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars —— US fifty states Nicknames for the flag: Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, and The Star-Spangled Banner National anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner 《星条旗永不落》  National emblem： The Bald Eagle:Freedom, Power, Courage The White House The US. Capitol Jefferson Memorial What is an American? According to the Frenchman J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur in his book Letters from an American Farmer（1782）: “ ……He is an American, who leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds….Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one cause great changes in the world. …The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas and form new opinions….This is an American.” Today, the picture of an American is more complex. In American families, there may be sons-in-law or daughters-in-law with European descendants or Afro-Americans or Asian immigrants although these mixed blood families of whites with other blacks or Asians are in the minority. A New Land, Two Immigration Movements 1. From Asia: (American Indians) 25 000 years ago, through a land-bridge across the Bering Strait, from northeastern Siberia into Alaska, they developed their own aboriginal cultures. 2. From Europe and Africa: (the discovery of America) Christopher Columbus ——Spanish king (in 1492) John Cabot —— English king (in 1497) A New Land, Two Immigration Movements 1.The first movement