AnOuineofAmericanHistory美国历史纲要Word文件下载.docx

1、An Outline of American HistoryChaper 1 Early AmericaThe First AmericansBeringiaThe First Europeans:The first Europeans to arrive in North America - at least the first for whom there is solid evidence - were Norse, traveling west from Greenland . In 1497, just five years after Christopher Columbus la

2、nded in the Caribbean looking for a western route to Asia, a Venetian sailor named John Cabot arrived in Newfoundland on a mission for the British king. Although fairly quickly forgotten, Cabots journey was later to provide the basis for British claims to North America. It also opened the way to the

3、 rich fishing grounds off Georges Banks, to which European fishermen, particularly the Portuguese, were soon making regular visits. Among the most significant early Spanish explorations was that of Hernando De Soto, a veteran conquistador who had accompanied Francisco Pizzaro during the conquest of

4、Peru. While the Spanish were pushing up from the south, the northern portion of the present-day United States was slowly being revealed through the journeys of men such as Giovanni da Verrazano. A Florentine who sailed for the French, Verrazano made landfall in North Carolina in 1524, then sailed no

5、rth along the Atlantic coast past what is now New York harbor. A decade later, the Frenchman Jacques Cartier set sail with the hope - like the other Europeans before him - of finding a sea passage to Asia. Cartiers expeditions along the St. Lawrence River laid the foundations for the French claims t

6、o North America, which were to last until 1763. Following the collapse of their first Quebec colony in the 1540s, French Huguenots attempted to settle the northern coast of Florida two decades later. The Spanish, viewing the French as a threat to their trade route along the Gulf Stream, destroyed th

7、e colony in 1565. Ironically, the leader of the Spanish forces, Pedro Menendez, would soon establish a town not far away - St. Augustine. It was the first permanent European settlement in what would become the United States. In 1578 Humphrey Gilbert, the author of a treatise on the search for the No

8、rthwest Passage, received a patent from Queen Elizabeth to colonize the heathen and barbarous landes in the New World which other European nations had not yet claimed. It would be five years before his efforts could begin. When he was lost at sea, his half-brother, Walter Raleigh, took up the missio

9、n. In 1585 Raleigh established the first British colony in North America, on Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina. It was later abandoned, and a second effort two years later also proved a failure. It would be 20 years before the British would try again. This time - at Jamestown in 1607 -

10、the colony would succeed, and North America would enter a new era. Most European emigrants left their homelands to escape political oppression, to seek the freedom to practice their religion, or for adventure and opportunities denied them at home. Between 1620 and 1635, economic difficulties swept E

11、ngland. Many people could not find work. Even skilled artisans could earn little more than a bare living. Poor crop yields added to the distress. In addition, the Industrial Revolution had created a burgeoning textile industry, which demanded an ever-increasing supply of wool to keep the looms runni

12、ng. Landlords enclosed farmlands and evicted the peasants in favor of sheep cultivation. Colonial expansion became an outlet for this displaced peasant population. Majestic rivers - the Kennebec, Hudson, Delaware, Susquehanna, Potomac and numerous others - linked lands between the coast and the Appa

13、lachian Mountains with the sea.Only one river, however, the St. Lawrence - dominated by the French in Canada - offered a water passage to the Great Lakes and into the heart of the continent. Dense forests, the resistance of some Indian tribes and the formidable barrier of the Appalachian Mountains d

14、iscouraged settlement beyond the coastal plain. Only trappers and traders ventured into the wilderness. For the first hundred years the colonists built their settlements compactly along the coast. Political considerations influenced many people to move to America. In the 1630s, arbitrary rule by Eng

15、lands Charles I gave impetus to the migration to the New World. The subsequent revolt and triumph of Charles opponents under Oliver Cromwell in the 1640s led many cavaliers - kings men - to cast their lot in Virginia. In the German-speaking regions of Europe, the oppressive policies of various petty

16、 princes - particularly with regard to religion - and the devastation caused by a long series of wars helped swell the movement to America in the late 17th and 18th centuries.In contrast to the colonization policies of other countries and other periods, the emigration from England was not directly sponsored b