1、Text A Grant and Lee,Unit 5 The American Civil War,0914711张耀坤,Grant and Lee1. When Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee met in the parlor of a modest house at Appomattox Court House， Virginia， on April 9， 1865， to work out the terms for the surrender of Lees Army of Northern Virginia， a great chapter
2、in American life came to a close and a great new chapter began.2.These men were bringing the Civil War to its virtual finish. To be sure， other armies had yet to surrender， and for a few days the fugitive Confederate government would struggle desperately and vainly， trying to find some way to go on
3、living now that its chief support was gone. But in effect it was all over when Grant and Lee signed the papers. And the little room where they wrote out the terms was the scene of one of the poignant （强烈的）， dramatic contrasts in American history.,3. They were two strong men， these oddly （奇妙地） differ
4、ent generals， and they represented the strengths of two conflicting currents that， through them， had come into final collision （碰撞 ）.4.Back of Robert E. Lee was the notion that the old aristocratic （贵族的 ） concept might somehow survive and be dominant in American life.5. Lee was tidewater Virginia， a
5、nd in his background were family， culture， and traditionthe age of chivalry （骑士品质） transplanted to a New World which was making its own legends and its own myths. He embodied （体现） a way of life that had come down through the age of knighthood （骑士） and the English country squire （乡绅）. America was a l
6、and that was beginning all over again， dedicated to nothing much more complicated than the rather hazy （模糊的） belief that all men had equal rights， and should have an equal chance in the world.,In such a land Lee stood for the feeling that it was somehow of advantage to human society to have a pronou
7、nced inequality in the social structure. There should be a leisure （有闲阶层） class， backed by ownership of land； in turn， society itself should be keyed （使适应） to the land as the chief source of wealth and influence. It would bring forth （according to this ideal） a class of men with a strong sense of ob
8、ligation （责任） to the community； men who lived not to gain advantage for themselves， but to meet the solemn （郑重的 ） obligations which had been laid on them by the very fact that they were privileged （被给予特权）. From them the country would get its leadership； to them it could look for the higher values of
9、 thought， of conduct， of personal deportment （举止） to give it strength and virtue.6. Lee embodied the noblest elements of this aristocratic ideal. Through him， the landed nobility justified itself.,For four years， the Southern states had fought a desperate war to uphold the ideals for which Lee stood
10、. In the end， it almost seemed as if the Confederacy fought for Lee； as if he himself was the Confederacythe best thing that the way of life for which the Confederacy stood could ever have to offer. He had passed into legend before Appomattox. Thousands of tired， underfed （使吃不饱） ， poorly clothed Con
11、federate soldiers， long since past the simple enthusiasm of the early days of the struggle， somehow considered Lee the symbol of everything for which they had been willing to die. But they could not quite put this feeling into words. If the Lost Cause， sanctified （使神圣化） by so much heroism （英雄气概） and
12、 so many deaths， had a living justification， its justification was General Lee. 7. Grant， the son of a tanner （制革工人） on the Western frontier， was everything Lee was not.,He had come up the hard way （极其艰巨地）， and embodied nothing in particular except the eternal （永远的）toughness （坚韧） and sinewy （强壮的） fi
13、ber of the men who grew up beyond the mountains. He was one of a body of men who owed reverence （崇敬） and obeisance （顺从） to no one， who were self-reliant to a fault （过分地）， who cared hardly anything for the past but who had a sharp eye for the future.8. These frontier（边疆） men were the precise opposite
14、s of the tidewater aristocrats. Back of them in the great surge （涌动） that had taken people over the Alleghenies and into the opening Western country， there was a deep， implicit （不言明的） dissatisfaction with a past that had settled into grooves （陈规）. They stood for democracy， not from any reasoned conc
15、lusion about the proper ordering of human society， but simply because they had grown up in the middle of democracy and knew how it worked.,Their society might have privileges， but they would be privileges each man had won for himself. Forms and patterns meant nothing. No man was born to anything， ex
16、cept perhaps to a chance to show how far he could rise. Life was competition. Yet along with this feeling had come a deep sense of belonging to a national community .The Westerner who developed a farm, opened a shop, or set up in business as a trader, could hope to prosper only as his own community
17、prospered and his community ran from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Canada down to Mexico. If the land was settled， with towns and highways and accessible markets， he could better himself. He saw his fate in terms of the nations own destiny. As its horizons expanded， so did his. He had， in oth
18、er words， an acute dollars-and-cents （纯金钱的） stake in the continued growth and development of his country.,10. And that， perhaps， is where the contrast between Grant and Lee becomes most striking. The Virginia aristocrat， inevitably， saw himself in relation to his own region. He lived in a static soc
19、iety which could endure almost anything except change. Instinctively （出于天性） ， his first loyalty would go to the locality in which that society existed. He would fight to the limit of endurance to defend it， because in defending it he was defending everything that gave his own life its deepest meanin
20、g.11.The Westerner， on the other hand， would fight with an equal tenacity （坚持不懈） for the broader concept of society. He fought so because everything he lived by was tied to growth， expansion， and a constantly widening horizon. What he lived by would survive or fall with the nation itself. He could n
21、ot possibly stand by （袖手旁观） unmoved in the face of an attempt to destroy the Union. He would combat it with everything he had， because he could only see it as an effort to cut the ground out from under his feet.,12.So Grant and Lee were in complete contrast， representing two diametrically （完全地） oppo
22、sed elements in American life. Grant was the modern man emerging； beyond him， ready to come on the stage， was the great age of steel and machinery， of crowded cities and a restless， burgeoning（迅速成长） vitality （生命力）. Lee might have ridden down from the old age of chivalry， lance （长矛） in hand， silken b
23、anner fluttering over his head. Each man was the perfect champion of his cause， drawing both his strengths and his weaknesses from the people he led.13.Yet it was not all contrast， after all. Different as they were in background， in personality， in underlying （潜在的） aspiration （抱负） these two great so
24、ldiers had much in common. Under everything else， they were marvelous （了不起的） fighters. Furthermore， their fighting qualities were really very much alike.,14.Each man had， to begin with， the great virtue of utter （完全的）tenacity （不屈不挠） and fidelity （忠实）.Grant fought his way down the Mississippi Valley
25、in spite of acute personal discouragement （泄气）and profound military handicaps. Lee hung on in the trenches （战壕） at Petersburg after hope itself had died. In each man there was an indomitable qualitythe born fighters refusal （拒绝） to give up as long as he can still remain on his feet and lift his two
26、fists.15.Daring and resourcefulness （足智多谋） they had， too； the ability to think faster and move faster than the enemy， these were the qualities which gave Lee the dazzling campaigns of Second Manassas and Chancellorsville and won Vicksburg for Grant.16. Lastly， and perhaps greatest of all， there was
27、the ability， at the end， to turn quickly from war to peace once the fighting was over.,Out of the way these two men behaved at Appomattox came the possibility of a peace of reconciliation （和解）。 It was a possibility a him more than the part he played in their brief meeting in the McLean house at Appo
28、mattox. Their behavior there put all succeeding generations of Americans in their debt. Two great Americans， Grant and Lee very different， yet under everything very much alike. Their encounter at Appomattox was one of the great moments of American history.,come to a close 结束 a great new chapter begi
29、ns 一个崭新的重要篇章开始 to be sure 诚然 in effect 其实 come into collision 发生碰撞 pass into legend 成为传奇人物 come up the hard way 经历艰难 Embody nothing in particular出人头地,Back of Robert E. Lee was: Lee drew support from/was guided by had settled into grooves: had stopped developing He hadof his country: His financial su
30、ccess was closely related to the development of his country. beyond him: in the future,1.When did Grand and Lee sign the surrender?,2.Whats the significance of Lees surrender?,3.After Lees surrender , did the Confederate government totally give up their struggle?,April 9， 1865,A great chapter in American life came to a close and a great new chapter began.,No. Other armies had yet to surrender， and for a few daysthe fugitive Confederate government would struggle desperately and vainly， trying to find some way to go onliving now that its chief support was gone.,Thank you,
