“We are pioneers,we and trailblazers.We fight…for freedom.We transform out dreams into the truth.Our struggles…will become a nation”just as this sentence shows that American people built a great country from the wilderness at the begining of their history.

The “first American”were the indians.no one knows just how or when they got to what is now the United States.In the late 15th century, Christopher Columbus,an Italian navigator,thought he could reach India by sailing west.and he reached some small islands in the now Wesr Inies.he thought he had reached Asia. and didin’t know he had discovered a New continent.Another navigator,Amerigo Vespucci,proved that the land was not India,but a new continent.Therefore,the land was named America after him.

Many settles cames to the English colonies in search of religious freedom.They wanted the right to worship God in their own way in their own churches.They left their own countries because they were the victims of religious persecution.

The colonists were building a new way of life in the New World..There were a number of features which would play a role in forming the American character.They were：reputative form of government, rule of law,respect of individual rights,religious tolerance and a strong spirit of individual enterprise..

The economy in the thirteen colonies developed very fast.And with the development of economy,the people in the colonies wanted more power to determine their own business.But the policy of the British government was to bring the development under control and collect more taxes from the colonies.The peoples in the colonies opposed the unfair treatment and all these policies. They declared,”No taxation without representation”,that is,without their representatives taking part in decisionmaking,they had no obigation to pay taxes.This came to be known as the “Boston Tea Party”.When the British soldiers arrived at Lexington they were met by several dozen armed militiamen.And the war of Independence had begun.EventuallyBritian recognized the independence of the United States.The American War of Independence shows that,in a just war,a weak nation can defeat a strong one.

Just as I mentioned above.Americans is not only fight for freedom,but also fight for a new country.

 

第二篇：美国的故事读后感

读美国的故事

张林 08级历史 2008102013

南开大学李剑鸣教授所编写的《美国通史》第一卷把美国历史的起始时间定在美国独立前200年，这得到了学界大多数人的的承认。美国只有区区200年历史的说辞成为了历史。美国是一个年轻力壮的国家，但谁能不承认美国也是一个成熟稳健的国家呢？19xx年代美国已是世界最重要的强国之一，此时美国只建国一百多年，加上李教授的200年也不过是300余年。然而是什么使美国这个年轻的国家如此的强盛和文明呢？

历史上有很多短时期内建立起强大的军事帝国的例子，如元帝国，奥斯曼帝国，大清帝国，这些国家都是建立在强盛的军事基础之上的，但它们自身的文化却相对非常落后。可是在这些国家建国五十年以后，你就不能再说它们是文明落后的国家了，因为它们变身了，他们成了儒教文明和伊斯兰文明的代言人了。美国与此类同而形反。美国人和他们的移民祖先把当时世界上最先进的欧洲现代文明搬到了北美洲这个荒蛮之地。所以，美国的历史又岂止400年，她脱胎于欧洲，是欧洲的儿子，儿子不能忘记祖先，美国的历史要从希腊时期说起。你不了解梭伦、伯利克里、苏格拉底、柏拉图、亚里士多德，就不会明白但丁、伊拉斯谟、拉伯雷在复兴什么，也不会懂得为什么会出现洛克、卢梭、伏尔泰这些个“异端”。如果没有这些，又何谈现代的欧洲、现代的美国。

美国的历史要从欧洲说起，欧洲的历史要从希腊说起。

亨德里克·威廉·房龙（1882—1944），美国历史学家、作家，原籍荷兰鹿特丹，后就读美国康奈尔大学、哈佛大学及德国慕尼黑大学，获得博士学位。主要著作有《人类解放的故事》、《宽容》、《美国的故事》、《太平洋的故事》等等。最近读他的《美国的故事》颇有感触。此书只二十五万六千言，叙述了从哥伦布发现新大陆至20世纪30年代在北美大陆上的风云变化，此书叙事范围虽广，但绝非泛泛而谈，多深刻见地。

房龙讲美国史从哥伦布讲起，但他又绝不局限于此，每一个事件他都会寻根究底，结果你会发现大部分事件的因由都和欧洲有关。这终于启迪我得出这样一个结论：美国的历史要从希腊说起。也可以换一种说法：希腊罗马文明被中世纪截断后又被文艺复兴唤醒，出现了近代文明，但近代慢慢的演变出两个分支，或者更多个分支，一个是欧洲，一个是美洲，而美洲这一支又始终没有脱离欧洲而独立发展，因为有不断的欧洲移民给美洲输血。一个父亲两个儿子，小儿子不仅有他父亲的基因，而且还总能从他哥哥那学到东西。

这些就是我的观点，听起来似乎还有点道理，但要论证它就十分困难了，我的能力有限，尚不能完成这件事。实希望日后在我能力允许之时，能对这一思想做系统的分析和论证。