@The Depression brought physical and psychological hardship to all classes of America.
The Great Depression
2. A brief history
World War II @The war ended the Depression due
2. A brief history
• Adopting the Constitution
• American constitution, written in 1787 is the basis of the American national government.
• It divides the government into three branches: legislative branch, executive branch, and judicial branch.
2. A brief 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.
Course requirements
• 1. Attendance
• 2. Exam
Warming-up Activity
• Say anything you know about
the United States, such as some American symbols.
Boeing 777
Chapter One: Introduction
• 1. geography
• The United States is 9,372,614 k㎡ in size, with its continent extending 4,505 km east to west, 2574 km north to south.
upper class • Hardship and hopelessness for
millions of laborers
• 1850: 85% rural; 1920: over 50% urban
2. A brief history
• The 1920s and the Great Depression
美国基本概况
Course Contents
1. Introduction and the government 2. Amendments and education 3. Immigrants and ethnicity 4. Family and religion 5. Domestic economy and politics 6. Work and social welfare 7. 7. Tourism and holiday 8. 8. Media, leisure and recreation 9. 9.Justice, the law, crime and the police 10. 10. America and the world
• 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.
2. A brief history
Before the Declaration of Independence
• This is the so-called separation of powers.
2. A brief history
• The Civil War (1861-1865) • Eleven Southern slave states declared
their secession from the U.S. and formed the Confederate States of America and they fought against the U.S. federal government.
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.
@Assembly line, the city, and the car became dominant features of everyday life.
@After the collapse of the economy in 1929, optimism of the 1920s turned to bleak despair.
• About 620,000 soldiers died in the war.
• Slavery was ended and the fhened.
The Civil War
2. A brief history
• The Gilded Age (1865-1900) • Industry and commerce • By 1900, industry surpassed agriculture. • Material comfort for the middle and