The United States of America

Background to America

"England and America are two countries separated by the same

language." -George Bernard Shaw,

"Reader's Digest", November 1942

USA

QS for Global Understanding of USA

1. How much do you know about the different names of USA?

2. What’s its national flag?

3.What do you know about the meaning of its national flag?

4. What’s the nickname for American people?

5. What’s its national anthem( 国歌 )?

• 6. There are many things that symbolize American culture, could you say some of them?

1. How much do you know about the different names of USA?

Its full name: the United States of America

Its short term: US

U.S.

USA

U.S.A

2. What’s its national flag?

• The Stars and Stripes

• Old Glory

• The Starry Banner

3.What do you know about the meaning of its national flag?

• The stripes symbolize the 13 colonies that originally constituted the United States of America. The stars represent the 50 states of the Union. White signifies Purity and Innocence; Red, Hardiness and Valor; and Blue, Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice.

4. What’s the nickname for American people?

• Uncle Sam, nickname and cartoon image used to personify the U.S. government.

• short beard, high hat, and tailed coat

• Besides the nickname of Uncle Sam, it has other nicknames like Brother Jonathan and Yankee

• 美国北方佬；美国人

5. What’s its national anthem( 国歌 )?

• The Star-Spangled Banner

• 《星条旗永不落》

6. There are many things that symbolize American culture, could you say some of them?1) Statue of Liberty

2)White House

3) President Hill

4)Lincoln Memorial Hall

5)Empire State Building

6)Times Square

7)Broadway Theater District

8) Las Vegas 9) Hoover Dam 10) Disneyland11) The Gate Way of St. Louise 12) Golden Gate Bridge 13) Yellow Stone National Park14) The Niagara Falls15) Barbie Doll

Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty

• once one of the first sights to welcome immigrants arriving in the United States

• continues to be a symbol of freedom and a favorite New York City tourist attraction.

• Liberty stands more than 93 m tall on Liberty Island in New York Harbor.

• The statue was a gift from France for the first centennial of the U.S. independence from Britain.

2)White House

White House

• The White House is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the United States.

• situated at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C.

• official residence of the president of the U.S.• It has been the home of every president in American

history except George Washington, who approved the act that led to its construction.

• contains 132 rooms, but only 5 of these—the Blue Room, East Room, Green Room, Red Room, and State Dining Room—are open to the public.

President Hill

• The four presidents are George Washington , Thomas Jefferson , Theodore Roosevelt , Abraham Lincoln.

4)Lincoln Memorial Hall

• “the government, of the people, by the people , for the people.”

• “民有，民治，民享”

5)Empire State Building

Empire State Building• located on 5th Avenue in New York City.

• It stands 381 m high. When it was completed in 1931, it was the tallest building in the world.

• Now it is still regarded as the ultimate American skyscraper.

• Empire State Building consists of 102 stories of office space and public viewing platforms.

United Nations Headquarters

6)Times Square • The square is home to New York City’s

Broadway theater district.

7)Broadway Theater District

American Stock Exchange

• Located in Manhattan, the American Stock Exchange

• a hub for international trade and finance industries.

• functions as one of the principal exchange houses in the United States.

NYSE

• New York Stock Exchange is an equity (stock) exchange located at 11 Wall Street in lower Manhattan, New York, USA. It is the largest stock exchange in the world by dollar value of its listed companies' securities.

NYSE

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DJI, also called the DJIA, Dow 30, INDP, or informally the Dow Jones or The Dow) is one of several stock market indices, created by nineteenth-century Wall Street Journal editor and Dow Jones & Company co-founder Charles Dow. It is an index that shows how certain stocks have traded. Dow compiled the index to gauge the performance of the industrial sector of the American stock market.

• It is the second-oldest U.S. market index, after the Dow Jones Transportation Average, which Dow also created.

8) Las Vegas

• 拉斯维加斯（美国内华达州的城市）

9) Hoover Dam • The highest dam in America, located in the

downstream of Colorado River.• named after Herbert Hoover, who played an

instrumental role in its construction, first as the Secretary of Commerce and then later as the President of the United States.

10) Disneyland

Disneyland• Named for its creator, Walt Disney, an

American cartoonist and film producer.

• Disneyland attracts millions of visitors each year.

• The theme park opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955. Sleeping Beauty Castle is pictured here.

11) The Gate Way of St. Louise

• 西进之门坐落在密西西比河畔。圣路易斯被人们誉为通往西部的大门，这座拱门也就因此得名

圣路易斯大拱门 / 西进之门

12) Golden Gate Bridge

In New York, California

Across Golden Gate Strait

More than 1900 meters wide

13) Yellow Stone National Park

• The first national park in the world . It is established in 1872 and characteristic of its volcano landscape .

14) The Niagara Falls尼亚加拉大瀑布

• It’s the largest transnational falls in the world.

15) Barbie Doll

Bald Eagle 秃鹰

charging bull

Bald Eagle• The bald eagle was designated as the national

bird of the United States in 1782.

• Its name does not imply a lack of feathers, but instead is derived from the word, piebald( 花斑 ), meaning “marked with white.”

Great Seal of the United States美国国玺

Great Seal of the United States

• official seal of the United States government. It is two-sided.

• The dominant figure---an American eagle, shown with wings spread. On its breast the eagle bears a shield. The eagle holds an olive branch in its right talon, a cluster of 13 arrows in its left.

Geography and Environment

• A federal constitutional republic, comprising fifty states and a federal district

9.4 million square kilometers

• US is the world’s third largest nation in size .

• A flight from New York to San Francisco takes five and a half hours. A trip by car from coast to coast takes five to six days.

范围 ①48 个洲和 1 个特区（哥伦比亚特区，华盛顿所在地）

海外洲 阿拉斯加洲： 临北冰洋、太平洋，北极圈穿过

夏威夷洲： 位于太平洋，北回归线穿过

Landform ： extinct volcano

West---the Rocky Mountain, Great Basin and dessert(Mojave) Cordillera Range

Middle---Mississippi, the Great Plains

East---Appalachian Mountains the Great Lakes, the boundary of US and Canada

Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska’s Alexander, Aleutian Islands and Hawaii.

History

inhabitant

人种：白种人、黑种人、黄种人是多种族国家

在美国公民中：

美国第一任总统华盛顿的祖先是英国人：

著名科学家爱因斯坦是德国出生的犹太人；

诺贝尔物理学奖金获得者李政道、杨振宁出生在中国；

黑人短跑名将刘易斯的祖先来自非洲。

HistoryBefore the Declaration of IndependenceBefore the Declaration of Independence

•• Columbus discovered the American continent in 1492.

•• Before then, the American Indians lived on this continent.

•• Europeans came to the new continent after 1492, and the continent became colonies of the United Kingdom.

•• Juan Ponc de Leon is credited as the first European to land in the US.

History

• Declaration of Independence

• In 1776 ， Declaration of Independence was drafted by Thomas Jefferson.

• Property as one of human beings’ inalienable rights was written in this document.

• After the Revolutionary War, Treaty of Paris recognized independence from Britain.

• westward expansion in the 19th century

• Alaska and Hawaii were admitted in 1959.

HistoryAdopting the ConstitutionAdopting the Constitution• American constitution, written in 1787 , written in 1787

is the basis of the American national is the basis of the American national government. government.

• It divides the government into three It divides the government into three branches:branches: legislative branch, , executive branch, and, and judicial branch..

• This is the so-called separation of powers.

Constitution• the Constitution, the supreme American Law, 1788• The Supreme Court is responsible for upholding Constitutional

law.• The Civil War (1861-1865), Slavery was ended and the federal

government was strengthened by the 13th constitution• Slavery was abolished in 1865.• The 14th and 15th Amendments guaranteed citizenship for

naturalized persons.• The 19th Amendments prohibited gender discrimination in voting

right.• The Civil Rights Act outlawed racial discrimination in public

places.

The Progressive Era The Progressive Era ((1880-19201880-1920))

• Marking a time of economic growth• Industry and commerce• By 1900, industry surpassed agriculture.

The 1920s and the Great DepressionThe 1920s and the Great Depression

• The Wall Street of 1929 led to the Great Depression(1929-1933).

• the New Deal, to assist those affected by the Great Depression

World War II (1939-1945)World War II (1939-1945)

@The war ended the DepressionThe war ended the Depression due to production of tanks and aircraft.

@The prosperityprosperity benefited all levels of wage earners.

Baby boomers ( 1950s )Baby boomers ( 1950s )

counterculture movement ( 1960s )counterculture movement ( 1960s )

The Vietnam War(1961-1973)The Vietnam War(1961-1973)

the Cold Warthe Cold War((19471947----19911991))

• USA became a superpower by the dawn of the Cold War. (USA and the Former Soviet)

• With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Former Soviet Union, United States became the world’s only superpower.

Government

Economy

Catering Culture