The American Culture
Outline
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Review about last class
Brief History of US
Character of Americans
Think about
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American population:
Race and ethnicity
American flag
Five symbols of American culture
List some major cities
Demographic information
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美利坚合众国 (United States of
America) 从大西洋到太平洋，几乎横跨
整个北美洲大陆，仅次于俄罗斯、加拿大
和中华人民共和国，排名第四。
310 million people as of October
2010, and is projected to reach 400
million by 2039 and 439 million in
2050
U.S. Census Bureau
Population projections
Race/ethnicity
2010
2050
Whites
79.5%
74.0%
Non-Hispanic
Whites
Hispanics/Latinos
(of any race)
African Americans
64.7%
46.3%
16.0%
30.2%
12.9%
13.0%
Asian Americans
4.6%
7.8%
85%/1960
Flag
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Stars = the 50
States
Stripes = the 13
colonies
Five famous symbols of
American culture
American history
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Who found North America? When?
Other important events in American
history?
Names of some American presidents?
Christopher Columbus
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(c. 31 October 1451 –
20 May 1506) was a
navigator, colonizer, and
explorer
He initiated the process
of Spanish colonization
which foreshadowed
general European
colonization of the "New
World".
Colonial period
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After a period of exploration by
people from various European
countries, Spanish, Dutch, English,
French, Swedish, and Portuguese
settlements were established.
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The American Revolutionary War
(1775–1783) or American War of
Independence
The Declaration of Independence
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4,1776
THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE
THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERAICA
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We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
我们认为下述真理是不言而喻的：
人人生而平等，造物主赋予他们若干不可让与的
权利，其中包括生存权、自由权和追求幸福的权
利。
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That to secure these rights, governments are
instituted among them, deriving their just power
from the consent of the governed. That whenever
any form of government becomes destructive of
these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or
to abolish it, and to institute new government,
laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them
shall seem most likely to effect their safety and
happiness.
为了保障这些权利，人们才在他们中间建立政府，而政府
的正当权利，则是经被统治者同意授予的。任何形式的政
府一旦对这些目标的实现起破坏作用时，人民便有权予以
更换或废除，以建立一个新的政府。新政府所依据的原则
和组织其权利的方式，务使人民认为唯有这样才最有可能
使他们获得安全和幸福。
乔治·华盛
George Washington (1789—1797)
John Adams 1797－1801
约翰·亚当斯（1735
年10月30日－1826
年7月4日）是美国第
一任副总统（1789年
－1797年），其后接
替华盛顿成为美国第
二任总统。亚当斯亦
是独立宣言签署者之
一，被美国人视为其
中一位开国元勋。他
的长子约翰·昆西·亚当
斯后当选为美国第六
任总统。
American Civil War
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The American Civil War (1861–1865), also
known as the War Between the States
Eleven Southern slave states formed the
Confederate States of America, also
known as "the Confederacy." Led by
Jefferson Davis, the Confederacy fought
against the United States (the Union)
Gone with the wind
Gettysburg Address
by Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 19, 1863
Four score and seven years ago our
fathers brought forth on this
continent a new nation, conceived
in liberty and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created
equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil
war, testing whether that nation or
any nation so conceived and so
dedicated can long endure. We are
met on a great battlefield of that
war.
…
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January
15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)
Civil rights movement
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August 28, 1963
Martin Luther King:
I have a dream
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out
the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal.'"
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character."
"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons
of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be
able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."
World War I and 1920s
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Industrialization
Join the WWI in 1917
1920 business boom
Henry Ford
1929 economic crisis
Great Depression and World War II
富兰克林·罗斯福
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933—1945)
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New Deal
Cold War
约翰·F·肯尼迪
John F. Kennedy (1961—1963)
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The Cold War
primarily between the USA
and the USSR after World
War Two.
many major crises occurred
- the Cuban Missile Crisis,
Vietnam, Hungary and the
Berlin Wall being just some.
Cold War
Richard M Nixon
Ronald Reagan
Recent presidents
President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address
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We remain a young nation. But in
the words of Scripture, the time
has come to set aside childish
things. The time has come to
reaffirm our enduring spirit; to
choose our better history; to carry
forward that precious gift, that
noble idea passed on from
generation to generation: the Godgiven promise that all are equal, all
are free, and all deserve a chance
to pursue their full measure of
happiness.
The American Dream
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Land of opportunity
(1) individual freedom of
choice in life styles
(2) equal access to
economic abundance
(3) the pursuit of shared
objectives mutually
advantageous to the
individual and society
Character of Americans
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What comes to your mind?
个人主义(individualism)
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个人主义是美国文化的核心。
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个人隐私(privacy)
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个人进步
“独立”与“合作”
independence and collaboration
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美国人有强烈的自我意识和独立意识.
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但美国人又十分重视合作精神，他们遵循
“少数服从多数”的原则.
数字与价值
numbers and value
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美国文明中，物质文明占很大的比重。美
国人倾向于以数量来评价几乎所有一切事
物。
务实
be practical, down to earth
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美国人思想观念中的数量观念很大程
度上反映了他们的务实精神。
“金钱”与“精神”
money and spirit
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在美国，金钱是衡量一个人成功与否的重要
尺度，
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但美国也并不是“一切向钱看”的社会，绝
大多数的美国人信奉宗教，以基督教
(Christianity)为主。
宽容性
tolerance
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美国是个移民之国
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美国人的文化习俗中形成了较高程度的宽
容性（tolerance），对异质文化和不同
评议持容忍、可接受的态度。
“多民族融合”与“种族歧视”
melting pot and racial discrimination
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美国是一个多民族的大熔炉(melting pot)
//salad bowl
但是隐形的种族歧视依然存在。
批判精神
be critical
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对权威质疑，挑战。
爱搞实验
experimental
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美利坚民族性格中，爱搞实验是她的一个重要特点。美
国都被看作是“机遇之地”（land of opportunity），
因而可以在那里展开实验
从深层意义上讲，美国人爱搞实验的秉性和由之衍生的
开拓精神都源于美国人的乐观主义思想。
美利坚民族性格中滋生出了强烈的事业开拓精神。
美国人乐意向新事物进行挑战。他们厌恶因袭守旧的观
念，
标新立异
dare to be different
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美国人可能是世界上最热衷于、也善于标新立异的
民族。
宗教与信仰
religion and belief
God was left out of the
Constitution but was
furnished a front seat on
the coins of the country.
－ American humor
questions
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What do you know about religion in the
United States?
Do many Americans believe in God?
What religion is most popular in the United
States?
Do Americans have a national religion?
How has religion shaped American values?
What are the main religious problems in
American life?
What are some of the major religious
bodies and their characteristics in the
United States?
 Muslim
穆斯林教
 Taoism
道教
 Confucianism 儒教
 Shintoism
神道教
How religious are Americans?
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93% of Americans say they believe in God
87% of Americans are Christians
46% attend church every week or almost
every week
63% think that religion can answer all or
most of today’s problems
68% claim that they are a member of a
local church
7% say they have no religious preference
or beliefs
The reasons for Americans to be so religious
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Religion in America has never been
identified with an oppressive or
dominant social class or set of political
institutions.
Most people want to identify
themselves with dominant values, and
going freely to the church of one’s
choice is a way of doing so, and of
gaining acceptance in the face of a
subtle demand for conformity.
The church is a place where people can
meet others with whom they would like
to make friends.
Religious preference in the U.S.
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Protestant
Catholic
Judaism
Eastern Orthodox
Other
None
新教 59%
天主教 27%
犹太教 2%
东正教 1%
4%
7%
Ten recognizable group of denominations
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Roman Catholic
Eastern Orthodox
Liberal Protestant
Conservative Evangelical
Holiness
Pentecostal-Charismatic
Judaism
Islam
Buddhism and Hinduism
Native American Religions
罗马天主教
东正教
自由新教
保守新教
教皇教
五旬节教派
犹太教
伊斯兰教
佛教，印度教
土著美国宗教
Factors in the shaping
of American religious patterns
 Immigration
 Proselytism
 Denominationalism
 Religious
freedom
移民
宗教劝诱
宗派主义
宗教自由
The Protestant Heritage:
Self-Improvement
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All of the Protestant denominations
share a common heritage that has
been a powerful force in shaping the
values and beliefs of Americans.
One of the most important values
associated with American
Protestantism is the value of selfimprovement.
Protestantism encourages a strong and
restless desire for self-improvement.
Self-Improvement
The
need
for
self-improvement,
once
established,
reaches
far
beyond
selfimprovement in the purely moral or religious
sense. It can be seen in countless books that
explain how people can be happier and more
successful in life by improving everything from
their vocabulary to their tennis game, or even
their whole personality. Books of this type are
often referred to as self-help books. They are
the natural products of a culture in which
people believe that "God helps those who help
themselves."
Material Success, Hard Work,
and Self-Discipline
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The achievement of material success is the most
widely respected form of self-improvement in the
United States.
Some of the early European Protestant leaders
believed that people who were blessed by God
might be recognized in the world by their material
success.
American Protestantism has never encouraged the
idea of gaining wealth without hard work and selfdiscipline.
Protestants also believed that the capacity for selfdiscipline was a holy characteristic blessed by God.
Volunteerism and Humanitarianism
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The Protestant idea of self-improvement
includes more than achieving material gain
through hard work and self-discipline.
It includes the idea of improving oneself by
helping others. Individuals, in other words,
make themselves into better persons by
contributing some of their time or money to
charitable, educational, or religious causes
that are designed to help others. The
philosophy
is
sometimes
called
volunteerism, or humanitarianism.
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The motive for humanitarianism and
volunteerism is strong: Many Americans
believe that they must devote part of their
time
and
wealth
to
religious
or
humanitarian causes in order to be
acceptable in the eyes of God and in the
eyes of other Americans. Many businesses
encourage their employees to do volunteer
work, and individuals may get tax credits
for money given to charity.
A National Religion
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American Protestants made certain that no
organized national church would exist in their
young country.
Americans, however, have developed a
number of informal practices that combine
national patriotism with religion.
A number of scholars have referred to these
practices as the "national religion" of the
United States.
The main function of this national religion is to
provide support for the dominant values of the
nation.
Proverbs
 God
helps those who help
themselves.
 Early to bed and early to rise
makes a man healthy, wealthy, and
wise.
 Save something for a rainy day.
To sum up
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Brief history of USA
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Characteristics of Americans
Reference
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Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org