Unit 1 The United States of America
1. The United States is bordered on the north by Canada, on the south by Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.
2. According to the text, the large territory of the continental US is divided into three basic areas:
A. The Atlantic Seacoast west to the Appalachians;
B. The Mississippi River Basin;
C. The Rockies west to the Pacific;
Unit 2 American population
3. The first blacks arrived in Jamestown in 1619 as indentured servants, but soon after 1619 they were brought to colonies as slaves. The blacks were formally freed in 1863, but continued to suffer the institutionalized segregation for about a century. Today many blacks still live in the south, some have entered the middle class, but one-third of all black families still live below the poverty line.
Chapter 5 The Confederation and the Constitution 1．Under the Articles of Confederation the national government consisted of only a legislature; it had no separate executive and judicial divisions. The state government was left the exclusive powers to regulate commerce and to tax their citizens.
2. The Antifederalists opposed the constitution and prefermd a more decentralized federal system of government.
3. George Washington was elected unanimously as the first US President in 1788. The first Vice-President was John Adams, the first Secretary of Treasury was Alexander Hamilton and the first Secretary of State was Thomas Jefferson.
4. The most glorious achievement of Jefferson as President was the Louisiana Purchase which was about 828000 square miles. This Purchase doubled the area of the then United States.
5. The War of 1812 is also called the Second War of Independence. This war lasted three years and ended in another American victory. An important result of the war was the strengthening of national unity and patriotism. And it was after this war that the US was able to make the change of a semi-colonial economy into a really independent national economy.
名词解释
Confederation(邦联)：
A confederation is a government in which the constituent governments , called states in the US, create a central government by constitutional compact but do not give it power to regulate the conduct of individuals.
问答
1. What powers do the national government and the individual states have under the Articles of confederation?
the national government: conduct war & foreign affairs; make commercial treaties;
negotiate with Indians; coin money & issue bills of credit
the individual states: deal with foreign countries; engage in war; issue money & bills of credit; collect taxes
Chapter6 American Expansion and the Civil War
1.The essence of Monroe Doctrine was which later became the __cornerstone __of the US policy.
2.Oregon territory was settled between Britain and the United States in_1846__.Its boundary on the north was fixed at the _forty--ninth_parallel of north latitude.
3.Under Missouri Compromise,Missouri was admitted as a _slave_state，but the balance of political power maintained by admission of _Maine_as a_free_state.In addition，slavery was to be prohibited in the rest of Louisiana Territory north of the line_36°30’_ parallel.
4.In 1862，the federal government took two revolutionary measures：（1）Homestead Act and（2）Emancipation Proclamation.
5.In July 1863 came the turning point of of the war at Gettysburg.Here the Confederate army under the general Robert E.Lee was defeated.The battlefield was made a national cemetery,where Lincoln gave his famous speech,the Gettysburg Address on November 19,1863.
6.In 1865,the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was adopted,which abolished slavery throughout the United States.
问答
1.What was the Monroe Doctrine?
The Monroe Doctrine written by James Monroe, declared in December of 1823, was a superlative U.S. foreign policy statement. It was precipitated by various independence movements in South America and the U.S. government's desire to discourage European nations from colonizing the Americas, and a growing American nationalism.The Monroe Doctrine stated that European nations should not intervene in countries to the south of the U.S. Finally, it promised to stay out of foreign affairs.U.S. will not interfere with European affairs in Europe.The essence of the Doctrine is“America for Americans”.Whic h later became a cornerstone of the US foreign policy.As the New World developed in the years ahead this doctrine became more meaningful and was strengthened by a border interpretation to meet the needs of an energetic and ambitious United States.
名词解释
1.Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech delivered by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War on November 19, 1863 after the northern victory at Gettysburg.It is regarded as one of the most significant expressions of American democracy. In just over two minutes, Lincoln reiterated the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and proclaimed the Civil War as a struggle for the preservation of the Union sundered by the secession crisis,with "a new birth of freedom,"that would bring true equality[5] to all of its citizens.Lincoln also redefined the Civil War as a struggle not just for the Union, but also for the
