-
国家概况
1.
From
“
a Melting
Pot
”
to
“
a Salad
Bowl
”
Though
the
days
of
mass
immigration
are
probably
over,
the
influence
of
the
movement will never be erased.
Americans have adopted many of the customs and
ideas of the immigrants as their own;
each wave of immigration left its impact and
distinctive contribution to the
building of the nation and the evolution of
American
life.
While
at
the
same
time
each
ethic
group
keeps
its
own
religious
and
cultural
institutions;
teach
their
own
language,
customs
as
well
and
observe
their
own
festivals.
They
have
never
been
“
melted
”
in
the
real
sense
but
have
kept
the
feature of
“A
Salad Bowl”
which means many different
elements are combined into
a whole,
meanwhile each ingredient retains its individual
identity.
2.
The New Deal
The Definition:
Between 1933 and 1938, innovative
measures were taken in the U.S. to deal with
the
Great
Depression,
to
protect
the
American
capital
system
and
to
save
the
US
democracy.
The
economic
and
social
policies
of the
Roosevelt
Administration
were
collectively known as “the New Deal”.
The Detailed Contents (Just
for reference):
One part of the program
was to promote recovery from the depression.
Another was to supply
relief to the needy.
A
third part was to stabilize the national economy
to prevent severe economic crisis
in
the future.
The Significance:
Only after the outbreak of World War II
was the economic crisis totally solved for the
war
triggered
the
huge
needs
for
industrial
and
agricultural
productivity.
However,
the New Deal helped
to limit the impact of later recessions and the
United States has
experienced no return
to the national nightmare of Great Depression
since the New
Deal.
3.
The Welfare State
In
order
to
relieve
poverty,
cut
unemployment,
and
speed
economic
recovery
during the Great
Depression, Congress in 1935 enacted the Social
Security Act, which
contained three
major programs: a retirement fund, unemployment
insurance, and
welfare grants for
mothers, children, elders, and the disabled.
Roosevelt
declared
that
the
day
of
great
private
fortunes
was
ended.
Instead
,
wealth
must
be
better
distributed.
Every
citizen
must
be
guaranteed
“a
proper
security, a
reasonable leisure, and a decent living throughout
life.” These programs
began what is now
referred to as a welfare state.
4.
Separation of powers
Separation
of
powers
means
constitutional
divisional
of
powers
among
the
legislative,
executive,
and
judicial
branches.
In
America,
this
means
more
than
allocating
legislative
power
to
Congress,
executive
power
to
President
and
judicial
power
to
the
Super
Court.
It
also
means
giving
each
branch
constitutional
and
political
in
dependence
and
checks
and
balances
that
ensure
each
of
the
three
branches
a
sufficient
role
in
the
actions
of
the
others
so
that
no
one
branch
may
dominate the others. The branches must
work together if government business is to
be performed.
5.
America Dream:
The term means different thing to
different people. It is usually associated with
the
aspiration
of
most
people:
peace,
prosperity,
personal
ownership
of
property,
personal
liberty,
and
the
belief
that
individuals
are
free
to
achieve
any
goals,
to
accumulate
material
wealth,
to
live
any
lifestyle,
central
to
America
dream
is
the
notion that America is
the land of opportunity for the enterprising. Any
competitive,
practical go-getter can
make a fortune, or build a dream home. its focus
is primarily
self-centered,
materialistic , pragmatic, and individualistic.
6.
Mayflower Compact
In 1620 a
tiny ship called the
of the members of
the ship were Pilgrims who were the first group of
Puritans to settle in North
America.
During the trip, they were far away Virginia and
the Pilgrims decided to set up their own
government.
They
wrote
a
now
famous
agreement
called
the
Compact
In
this
compact they agreed to
stick together to abide by majority rule, and to
have a right to choose
their own
leader. This was the beginning of the US
democracy.
7.
The Tea Act
In 1773,in order
to help the British East India Company out of its
financial
embarrassment,
the
Tea Act relieved the company of the necessary of
paying duties on its tea exported
to
America, which was believed as a monopoly by
American colonists. They therefore decided to
take action against the Act. On the
evening of December, in Boston, a group of angry
colonists,
known
as
the
Boston
Tea
Party,
dressed
themselves
up
as
Indians
and
boarded
the
three
company ships and dumped all the tea
into the harbor. The British Parliament took
immediate
action to punish the American
colonists who were unified to resist the
government. That finally
triggered the
outbreak of American Revolution.
8.
Monroe
Doctrine
After James Monroe was elected
as the 5th US president in 1816, he bought Florida
from
Spain in 1819, peacefully resolved
the problem of the admission of Missouri to the
Union as a
slave
state.
His
popularity
survived
mainly
for
his
foreign
policy
usually
known
as
the
Monroe
Doctrine. The
Doctrine, announced in 1823, included four points.
First, the United States would
not
interfere
in
the
affairs
of
the
colonies
still
owned
by
European
nations
in
the
New
World.
Second, any effort on the part of
European nations to extend their system to the
portion of the