1、1. What was the main reason European countries like Britain and France wanted to colonize America?Britain needed to raise money to pay for its European wars, and used the colonies to do this.2. Why did the Puritans go to America?In order to escape problems and persecution for their faith3. What is M
2、anifest Destiny?Manifest Manifest Destiny is the historical belief that the United States was destined and chosen by the Christian God to spread across the North American continent, from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific Ocean.4. Why did the Puritans not want people to read or write imaginative lite
3、rature?Imaginative writing was discouraged by the Puritans because they believed it distracted you from religion.5. Describe what Hawkeye was like.he is a kind of outsider, living outside of normal society but coming to the rescue of people in trouble, or righting wrongs. He has been described as “a
4、 saint with a gun”6. What was the date of the Declaration of Independence?independence was declared on July 4, 17767. What were the main reasons the American colonists were unhappy with the way Britain was treating them?Disagreements over taxation, restrictions on where you could live or move to, an
5、d finally having to have British soldiers live in your town and sometimes even in your home brought relations between the colonists and Britain to a very low point.8. What are the “self-evident truths” mentioned in the Declaration of Independence?that all men are created equal, that they are endowed
6、 by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.9. What were the three conditions a person had to meet to be a citizen in the new United States?1) To be a citizen, the person must be free, and not a slave2) They must be white. 3) The
7、y had to be a man10. Why were Native Americans and people from Africa not allowed to be American citizens?The Native Americans and people of African background were seen as intellectually inferior and politically immature. 11. What was the Frontier?The Frontier was the term used to describe the unex
8、plored area of land beyond the region where Europeans had settled down to live.12. How did the Homestead Act advance the idea of American democracy and the power of the common man?The Homestead Act of 1862 gave ordinary people ,the right to own up to 160 acres of farming land.13. How did the America
9、ns solve the problem of moving into lands owned by Native Americans?By forcing them to leave their homes, the white people were actually destroying Native American culture and ripping the heart out of their lives. 14. What did Europeans think were the main characteristics of Americans at the beginni
10、ng of the 19th century?1) questioning of old and traditional beliefs2) a distaste for what is ancient and a love of “the new”3) the idea that men are all very much alike15. Ralph Waldo Emerson called on American writers to do what? And who was the poet who answered his call?Calling for the creation
11、of an American literature rather than always copying other cultures,In “The Poet“ who would write a new poetry that was truly American. His call was answered by Walt Whitman.16. Slavery existed only in the southern states of the USA. Why was it so important there?The Plantation Economy in the Southe
12、rn States was based on agricultural mass production by African slave labor on large farms (called plantations) and by the mid-19th century it was making lots of money.17. In the northern states many people were strongly against slavery in the south. How did they show their opposition to slavery?by p
13、roducing newspapers and magazines, speeches, and stories of what a slaves life was like.18. Why did the southern states secede from the Union after the election of Lincoln as President?The main reasons were slavery, and the question of where the political and economic power of the country lay: with
14、the North or the South.19. In what ways was the American Civil War the first “modern “ war?1) for the first time, hugely destructive military technology was used by massed armies on both sides, so the loss of life was staggeringly high within days, even hours2) the Civil War was the first photograph
15、ed war due to the techniques invented by battlefield photographers . People could see photographs of the horrors of the war in their newspapers.20. What characteristics did life on the frontier give to the Americans?strength, curiosity, invention, energy, and individualism - these were characteristi
16、cs that the frontier gave to people21. How did the idea of Manifest Destiny spread outside of America?Overseas frontiers, beyond the Pacific coast, gave the nation a way of continuing and expanding the idea of Manifest Destiny. 22. What were the main features of The Gilded Age?The Gilded Age catches
17、 the eras character: the internal tensions caused by abundance, stability and optimism on the one hand, and poverty, panic and disappointment, on the other.23. What was lynching?Public murder by a mob - lynching 24. How did Realist writing hold up a mirror to American life?A faithful representation of reality in literature, with no romantic heroes or fantastic situations. The emphasis was on truth, and believable characters.
