The American Culture

Outline

Review about last class Brief History of US Character of Americans

Think about

American population: Race and ethnicity American flag Five symbols of American culture List some major cities

Demographic information

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 BureauPopulation projections

Race/ethnicity 2010 2050

Whites 79.5% 74.0%

Non-Hispanic Whites

64.7% 46.3% 85%/1960

Hispanics/Latinos (of any race)

16.0% 30.2%

African Americans 12.9% 13.0%

Asian Americans 4.6% 7.8%

Flag

Stars = the 50 States

Stripes = the 13 colonies

Five famous symbols of American culture

American history

Who found North America? When?

Other important events in American history?

Names of some American presidents?

Christopher Columbus (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

After a period of exploration by people from various European countries, Spanish, Dutch, English, French, Swedish, and Portuguese settlements were established.

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

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。

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

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

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 self-evident, 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

Industrialization Join the WWI in 1917 1920 business boom Henry Ford 1929 economic crisis

Great Depression and World War II

New Deal

富兰克林 · 罗斯福 Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933—1945)

Cold War

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.

约翰 ·F· 肯尼迪 John F. Kennedy (1961—1963)

Cold War

Richard M Nixon Ronald Reagan

Recent presidents

President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address

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 God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

The American Dream

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

What comes to your mind?

个人主义 (individualism)

个人主义是美国文化的核心。

个人隐私 (privacy)

个人进步

“ 独立”与“合作” independence and collaboration

美国人有强烈的自我意识和独立意识 .

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

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

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

在美国，金钱是衡量一个人成功与否的重要尺度，

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

美国是个移民之国

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

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

对权威质疑，挑战。

爱搞实验 experimental

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

美国人可能是世界上最热衷于、也善于标新立异的民族。

God was left out of the Constitution but was furnished a front seat on the coins of the country.

－ American humor

宗教与信仰religion and belief

questions

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?

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

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.

Protestant 新教  59% Catholic 天主教  27% Judaism 犹太教  2% Eastern Orthodox 东正教  1% Other 4% None 7%

Ten recognizable group of denominations

Roman Catholic 罗马天主教 Eastern Orthodox 东正教 Liberal Protestant 自由新教 Conservative Evangelical保守新教 Holiness 教皇教  Pentecostal-Charismatic 五旬节教派 Judaism 犹太教 Islam 伊斯兰教 Buddhism and Hinduism 佛教，印度教 Native American Religions 土著美国宗教

Factors in the shaping of American religious patterns

Immigration 移民 Proselytism 宗教劝诱

Denominationalism宗派主义 Religious freedom 宗教自由 

The Protestant Heritage: Self-Improvement

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 self-improvement.

Protestantism encourages a strong and restless desire for self-improvement.

Self-ImprovementThe need for self-improvement, once established, reaches far beyond self-improvement 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

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 self-discipline.

Protestants also believed that the capacity for self-discipline was a holy characteristic blessed by God.

Volunteerism and Humanitarianism

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.

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

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

Brief history of USA

Characteristics of Americans

Reference

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org