จันทบุรี ,ฉะเชิงเทรา ,ชลบุรี , ตราด ,ปราจีนบุรี , ระยอง , สระแก้ว , กาญจนบุรี , ตาก , ประจวบคีรีขันธ์ , เพชรบุรี , ราชบุรี , กระบี่ , ชุมพร , ตรัง ,นครศรีธรรมราช , นราธิวาส , ปัตตานี , พังงา , พัทลุง ,ภูเก็ต ,ระนอง ,สตูล ,สงขลา ,สุราษฎร์ธานี ,ยะลา ,เชียงราย ,เชียงใหม่ ,น่าน ,พะเยา ,แพร่ , แม่ฮ่องสอน ,ลำปาง ,ลำพูน ,อุตรดิตถ์ ,กาฬสินธุ์ ,ขอนแก่น ,ชัยภูมิ ,นครพนม ,นครราชสีมา ,บุรีรัมย์ ,มหาสารคาม ,มุกดาหาร ,ยโสธร ,ร้อยเอ็ด ,เลย,สกลนคร ,สุรินทร์,ศรีสะเกษ ,หนองคาย ,หนองบัวลำภู ,อุดรธานี ,อุบลราชธานี ,อำนาจเจริญ ,กำแพงเพชร ,ชัยนาท ,นครนายก ,นครปฐม ,นครสวรรค์ ,นนทบุรี ,ปทุมธานี ,พระนครศรีอยุธยา ,พิจิตร ,พิษณุโลก ,เพชรบูรณ์ ,ลพบุรี ,สมุทรปราการ ,สมุทรสงคราม ,สมุทรสาคร ,สิงห์บุรี ,สุโขทัย ,สุพรรณบุรี ,สระบุรี ,อ่างทอง ,อุทัยธานี , กรุงเทพมหานคร
พบกับเราทุกการเดินทางที่ทัวร์ได้ใจ คิดจะเที่ยวคิดถึง ทัวร์ได้ใจอัมพวา
อ่าวเล็ก
อ่าวนาง
อยุธยา
บ้านบึง
บ้านฉาง
บ้านห้วยยาง
บ้านคา
บ้านกลาง
บ้านแหลม
บ้านนา
บ้านไผ่
บ้านคล้า
บางคนที
บางกรวย
บางละมุง
บางน้ำเปรี้ยว
บางปะอิน
บางพลี
บางเสาธง
บางสะพาน
บางสะพานน้อย
บางใหญ่
กรุงเทพ
บ่อพลอย
บึงกาฬ
บุรีรัมย์
ชะอำ
ฉะเชิงเทรา
ชัยบาดาน
ชัยนาท
ชัยภูมิ
จันทบุรี
เชียงดาว
เชียงคาน
เชียงของ
เชียงใหม่
เชียงราย
เชียงแสน
โชคชัย
จอมทอง
ชลบุรี
ชุมแพ
ชุมพร
ดำเนินสะดวก
ด่านมะขามเตี้ย
ด่านซ้าย
ดอยหล่อ
ดอยสะเก็ด
ดอนสัก
หางดง
หาดใหญ่
หัวหิน
ห้วยคต
กบินทร์บุรี
แก่งคอย
แก่งกระจาน
กาฬสินธุ์
กำแพงเพชร
กาญจนบุรี
กันตัง
ขนอม
เขาค้อ
เขาหลักพังงา
เขาสกสุราษฏร์ธานี
เขาใหญ่นครราชสีมา
คลองขุด
คลองกระทง
คลองหลวง
คลองถม
ขอนแก่น
โขงเจียม
แกลง
เกาะช้าง
เกาะคา
เกาะล้าน
เกาะลันตา
เกาะหมาก
เกาะนางยวน
เกาะพีพีดอน
เกาะปอดะ
เกาะเสม็ด
เกาะสีชัง
เกาะเต่า
เกาะยาว
เกาะช้างตราด
เกาะกูด
เกาะพงัน
เกาะพีพีกระบี่
เกาะสมุย
กระบี่
กระนวน
กุยบุรี
แหลมสิงห์
ลำปาง
ลำพูน
หลังสวน
ละงู
เลย
หล่มสัก
ลพบุรี
แม่อาย
แม่แจ่ม
แม่จัน
แม่ฟ้าหลวง
แม่ฮ่องสอน
แม่ลาน้อย
แม่ออน
แม่ริม
แม่สาย
แม่สะเรียง
แม่สอด
แม่สรวย
แม่แตง
แม่ทาลำพูน
มหาสารคาม
มวกเหล็ก
เมืองนครนายก
มุกดาหาร
นายายอาม
นครไชยศรี
นครปฐม
นครพนม
นครราชสีมา
นครสวรรค์
นครศรีธรรมราช
น่าน
นางรอง
นราธิวาส
หนองคาย
หนองปรือชลบุรี
หนองเสือ
หนองหญ้าปล้อง
นนทบุรี
ปาย
ปากเกร็ด
ปากช่อง
ปะทิว
ปทุมธานี
พัทยา
พาน
พังงา
พนม
พะเยา
เพชรบูรณ์
เพชรบุรี
พิษณุโลก
โพนพิสัย
พระประแดง
แพร่
ภูเขียว
ภูเรือ
ภูเก็ต
ปลวกแดง
โป่งน้ำร้อน
ปราจีนบุรี
ประจวบคีรีขันธ์
ปราณบุรี
ปัว
ระนอง
ราชบุรี
ระยอง
ร้อยเอ็ด
ไทรโยค
สกลนคร
สามโคก
สามพราน
สามร้อยยอด
สมุทรปราการ
สมุทรสงคราม
สันกำแพง
สันป่าตอง
สันทราย
สังขละบุรี
สารภี
สัตหีบ
สตูล
สวรรคโลก
ศรีเชียงใหม่
ศรีมหาโพธิ์
ศรีประจันต์
ศรีราชา
ศรีสำโรง
ศรีสวัสดิ์
สิชล
สิเกา
สิงห์บุรี
ศรีสะเกษ
สงขลา
สวนผึ้ง
สุโขทัย
สูงเนิน
สุพรรณบุรี
สุราษฎร์ธานี
สุรินทร์
ตาก
ตะกั่วป่า
ตะกั่วทุ่ง
ท่าใหม่
ท่าม่วง
ท่าตะโก
ท่ายาง
ทับสะแก
ธาตุพนม
เทิง
ทองผาภูมิ
ทุ่งตะโก
ตรัง
ตราด
อุบลราชธานี
อุดรธานี
อุ้มผาง
อุทัยธานี
อุตรดิตถ์
วังน้ำเขียว
วังทอง
วารินชำราบ
เวียงหนองล่อง
เวียงป่าเป้า
พบกับเราทุกการเดินทางที่ทัวร์ได้ใจ คิดจะเที่ยวคิดถึง ทัวร์ได้ใจ
Travel can increase longevity by helping people establish and maintain a healthy lifestyle, says Dr. David Lipschitz, director of the Center on Aging at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and an author and syndicated columnist on aging.
Travel for Long Life
According to Lipschitz, the two most important factors for longevity are health and happiness, and travel helps to foster both. Planning a trip helps seniors in these ways:
Travel keeps their minds sharp.
Increased opportunities for walking and other exercise help older adults stay fit.
Making new friends will increase longevity.
Connection Increases Longevity
Traveling with a spouse or significant other is a great way for couples to reconnect through shared experiences, rekindle romance and increase intimacy. Researchers have found that having an intimate relationship as we grow older is a critical factor for health and longevity. Married men live an average of 10 years longer than those who aren’t married, and married women live approximately three years longer.
"Love is one thing that is needed for long life, and traveling will fuel it," Lipschitz told the Dallas Morning News. “Traveling to spend time alone together will not only broaden your horizons, but make you a healthier person."
Senior Travel is Changing
But the way older adults travel is changing dramatically, and it will change even further as more baby boomers reach their senior years with more energy, better health, and more disposable income than previous generations.
"What characterizes our generation is that we're very, very individualistic, and that's going to affect the way we will be traveling," Lipschitz told Knight Ridder Newspapers. "We are a well-traveled generation. Where haven't we been? Now I want to go to Antarctica, to the Galapagos Islands, to Mongolia. I want travel that makes me feel there's nothing in life I cannot do."
Seniors are Changing the Travel Industry
The global population is aging so rapidly that the travel industry will be forced to accommodate their needs and preferences -- from more healthful dining choices to a wider range of group and independent travel options tailored to seniors.
Some of these changes are already taking place. For example, Elderhostel, the world’s largest educational travel organization for adults 55 and over, has introduced more intergenerational travel and a Road Scholar program that offers more active and independent travel without the usual age restriction.
"For a number of years, we've been preparing for this next wave, this next generation aging into retirement years," said James Moses, Elderhostel's president. "We have some very specific differences between Road Scholar and Elderhostel."
The new travel program is more active and tailored to self-exploration than the traditional Elderhostel Road Scholar trips, which include comfortable accommodations, morning lectures, and afternoon field trips, always in a group that explores themes together.
Increased Longevity Brings Travel At Any Age
But it’s not only baby boomers who are starting to hit the road in record numbers. As more seniors enjoy healthy and active longevity, they make plans to get around -- the world. Lipschitz notes that 50 percent of America’s 85-year-olds now live independently and have more lifestyle options than ever before.
"They can do anything they want,” he says. “I don't think major bus tours are the wave of the future."
The Similan Islands National Park
Please note: The Similan National Park is closed from May 1st until November 1st of each year. This means there are NO emergency services, phones do not work and it is ILLEGAL to visit. Do not risk your life by going on tours during these months. There are several nefarious dive and snorkel companies that will offer tours during these months - you are risking your life by joining their tours.
The Similan Islands National Park is known for white coral sand beaches, crystal blue waters, warm tropical nights and cooling breezes coming off the Andaman Sea. Nine Unihabited islands with some of the best scenery in Thailand.
The Similan Islands are very easy to visit. Located only 50 Kilometers from Khao Lak - The Similan Islands may be visited for one day, overnight or on tours. There are no resorts or stores on the Similans - only a couple of ranger stations and a few bungalows available for rent.
Home to the best diving and snorkeling in Thailand, The Similan Islands are home to a huge variety of marine life and incredible opportunities to see rare and endangered species. Often referred to as one of the best dive spots in the world - you will probably agree after visiting. While the underwater world may attract some people - there are also many varieties of birds and animals on the Similan islands. And of course - the long beaches!
Healthy Aging: 10 Tips for Staying Young
1.Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them -- that is why you pay them.
2.Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3.Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.
4.Enjoy the simple things.
5.Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6.The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7.Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8.Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9.Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county. Travel to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.
10.Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
And Always Remember...
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
庆祝方式 素食节。
为期9天的节日期间，虔诚的,戒食肉食品和一些蔬菜。其他活动有全球九个圣徒的欢迎仪式、游行、中国神像游行和许多让你目瞪口呆的特级表演，据说其灵感来源于神。普吉素食节每年都在中国历阴历九月举行。人们相信，素食节以及与之相伴的宗教仪式必将给那些参加仪式的虔诚教徒带来好运。在这期间，当地的华裔居民都会严格地遵守十天的斋戒，只吃素食，以净化,积功德。各个中式寺院和庙宇都会举行宗教仪式，还有赤脚踩热炭和爬刀梯等精彩的表演。普吉当地举行素食节的传统始于1825年，当时Thalang的地方官将普吉岛上的主要城镇从Ta Reua区迁移至Kathu区的Get-Hoe，那里是普吉的锡矿所在地还有中国移民在那里落户。传说那个时候有一家很受欢迎的中国戏剧团来到普吉，并在这里停顿下来为矿工们演出。但是，不久戏团的人就莫名其妙的发起烧来，人们坚信只有严格吃素，祭先帝神明才能康复起来。连续九个日日夜夜，人们祭拜先祖，只吃素食，远离肉、酒和性。戏团里的人真的很快恢复了健康。这件事在那里的华人中引起轰动，大家都渴望能更多的了解这个自然康复现象。戏团的演员们将他们奇迹般的快速康复都归结于严格食素以及虔诚的祭拜仪式，当地人也对此深信不疑。
中国长城
1987年12月长城被列入《世界遗产名录》。中国的长城是人类文明史上最伟大的建筑工程，它始建于2000多年前的春秋战国时期，秦朝统一中国之后联成万里长城。汉、明两代又曾大规模修筑。其工程之浩繁，气势之雄伟，堪称世界奇迹。岁月流逝，物是人非，如今当您登上昔日长城的遗址，不仅能目睹逶迤于群山峻岭之中的长城雄姿，还能领略到中华民族创造历史的大智大勇。
长城位于中国北部，东起山海关，西到嘉峪关，全长约6,700公里，通称万里长城。
长城的修建持续了两千多年，根据历史记载，从公元前七世纪楚国筑“方城”开始，至明代（1368-1644年）共有20多个诸侯国和封建王朝修筑过长城，其中秦、汉、明三个朝代长城的长度都超过了5千公里。如果把各个时代修筑的长城加起来，总长度超过了5万公里; 如果把修建长城的砖石土方筑一道1米厚、5米高的大墙，这道墙可以环绕地球一周有余。
长城的主体工程是绵延万里的高大城墙，大都建在山岭最高处，沿着山脊把蜿蜒无尽的山势勾画出清晰的轮廓，塑造出奔腾飞跃、气势磅礴的巨龙，从而成为中华民族的象征。在万里城墙上，分布着百座雄关、隘口，成千上万座敌台、烽火台，打破了城墙的单调感，使高低起伏的地形更显得雄奇险峻，充满巨大的艺术魅力。各地的长城景观中，北京八达岭长城建筑得特别坚固，保存也最完好，是观赏长城的最好地方。此外还有金山岭长城、慕田峪长城、司马台长城、古北口长城等。天津黄崖关长城、河北山海关、甘肃嘉峪关也都是著名的长城游览胜地。
中国万里长城是世界上修建时间最长，工程量最大的冷兵器战争时代的国家军事性防御工程，凝聚着我们祖先的血汗和智慧，是中华民族的象征和骄傲。
根据历史记载，从战国以来，有20多个诸侯国和封建王朝修筑过长城。最早是楚国，为防御北方游牧民族或敌国，开始营建长城，随后，齐、燕、魏、赵、 秦等国基于相同的目的也开始修筑自己的长城。秦统一六国后，秦始皇派著名大将蒙恬北伐匈奴，把各国长城连起来，西起临姚，东至辽东，绵延万余里，遂称万里长城，这就是“万里长城”名字的由来。但今天我们所见到的主要是明长城。
秦长城只有遗迹残存。秦始皇为了修筑长城动用了30万人，创造了人类建筑史上的奇迹。长城的修建客观上起到了防止匈奴南侵，保护中原经济文化发展的积极作用。孙中山先生曾评价：“始皇虽无道，而长城之有功于后世，实上大禹治水等”。
汉代继续对长城进行修建。从文帝到宣帝，修成了一条西起大宛贰师城，东至黑龙江北岸，全长近一万公里，古丝绸之路有一半的路程就沿着这条长城，是历史上最长的长城。 到了明代，为了防御鞑靼、瓦刺族的侵扰，从没间断过长城的修建，从洪武至万历，其间经过20次大规模的修建，筑起了一条西起甘肃的嘉峪关，东到辽东虎山，全长6350公里的边墙。（但据报道，1990年一个徒步走完长城全长的中国人的计步器显示的是6700公里。）长城有极高的旅游观光价值和历史文化意义。现在经过精心开发修复，山海关、居庸关八达岭、司马台、慕田峪、嘉峪关等处已成为驰名中外的旅游胜地。 蹬高远眺，凭古怀幽，古战场的金戈铁马似乎就在眼前。如今，长城与埃及的金字塔，罗马的斗兽场，意大利的比萨斜塔等同被誉为世界七大奇迹，是中华民族古老文化的丰碑和智慧结晶，象征着中华民族的血脉相承和民族精神。
World Tourism Day
27 September 2011
The theme of this year’s World Tourism Day, “Tourism – linking cultures”, highlights the powerful role of tourism in building international understanding and mutual respect.
There is no better way to learn about a new culture than to experience it first-hand. Tourism offers a wonderful connecting thread between visitor and host community. It promotes dialogue and interaction. Such contact between people of different backgrounds is the very foundation for tolerance. In a world struggling for peaceful coexistence, tourism can build bridges and contribute to peace.
Tourism’s contributions to development also advance the cause of global solidarity. At a time of profound global economic uncertainty, tourism’s ability to generate socio-economic opportunities and help reduce the gap between rich and poor, is more important than ever.
I encourage all involved in tourism to embrace the ten principles of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism. These guidelines for sustainable and responsible tourism development, approved by the UN General Assembly in 2001, are based on the proven interaction between tourism and peace, human rights and understanding.
World Tourism Day is an opportunity to reflect on the importance of tourism to global well-being. As we travel, let us engage with other cultures and celebrate human diversity. On this observance, let us recognize tourism as a force for a more tolerant, open and united world.
Healthy Eating on the Road
Typical freeway fare includes fast food, microwave-ready service station options, bags of chips, and lots of sodas. These foods are almost always full of bad fats, lots of calories, and not much valuable nutrition. Plus, eating junk food for a couple of days can leave you feeling fatigued and crabby, and give you a stomach ache.
With a little bit of effort and willpower, you can navigate your way around the junk food and maintain your healthy diet while on a long road trip. You'll feel healthier, more alert, and have more fun.
Healthy Eating on the Road
Typical freeway fare includes fast food, microwave-ready service station options, bags of chips, and lots of sodas. These foods are almost always full of bad fats, lots of calories, and not much valuable nutrition. Plus, eating junk food for a couple of days can leave you feeling fatigued and crabby, and give you a stomach ache.
With a little bit of effort and willpower, you can navigate your way around the junk food and maintain your healthy diet while on a long road trip. You'll feel healthier, more alert, and have more fun.
The United States Of America
Various Authors
Edited By: R. A. Guisepi
This is the story of how the American Republic developed from colonial beginnings in the 16th century, when the first European explorers arrived, until modern times.
"We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
As the nation developed, it expanded westward from small settlements along the Atlantic Coast, eventually including all the territory between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the middle of the North American continent, as well as two noncontiguous states and a number of territories. At the same time, the population and the economy of the United States grew and changed dramatically. The population diversified as immigrants arrived from all countries of the world. From its beginnings as a remote English colony, the United States has developed the largest economy in the world. Throughout its history, the United States has faced struggles, both within the country—between various ethnic, religious, political, and economic groups—and with other nations. The efforts to deal with and resolve these struggles have shaped the United States of America into the late 20th century.
EARLY CULTURAL INTERACTION
Early American history began in the collision of European, West African, and Native American peoples in North America. Europeans "discovered" America by accident, then created empires out of the conquest of indigenous peoples and the enslavement of Africans. Yet conquest and enslavement were accompanied by centuries of cultural interaction—interaction that spelled disaster for Africans and Native Americans and triumph for Europeans, to be sure, but interaction that transformed all three peoples in the process.
Early American history began in the collision of European, West African, and Native American peoples in North America. Europeans "discovered" America by accident, then created empires out of the conquest of indigenous peoples and the enslavement of Africans. Yet conquest and enslavement were accompanied by centuries of cultural interaction—interaction that spelled disaster for Africans and Native Americans and triumph for Europeans, to be sure, but interaction that transformed all three peoples in the process.
Native America in 1580
The lands and human societies that European explorers called a New World were in fact very old. During the Ice Ages much of the world’s water was bound up in glaciers. Sea level dropped by hundreds of feet, creating a land bridge between Alaska and Siberia. Asians walked across to become the first human inhabitants of the Americas. Scientists disagree on when this happened, but most estimates say it was around 30,000 years ago. When the last glaciers receded about 10,000 years ago (thus ending this first great migration to America), ancestors of the Native Americans filled nearly all of the habitable parts of North and South America. They lived in isolation from the history—and particularly from the diseases—of what became known as the Old World.
The lands and human societies that European explorers called a New World were in fact very old. During the Ice Ages much of the world’s water was bound up in glaciers. Sea level dropped by hundreds of feet, creating a land bridge between Alaska and Siberia. Asians walked across to become the first human inhabitants of the Americas. Scientists disagree on when this happened, but most estimates say it was around 30,000 years ago. When the last glaciers receded about 10,000 years ago (thus ending this first great migration to America), ancestors of the Native Americans filled nearly all of the habitable parts of North and South America. They lived in isolation from the history—and particularly from the diseases—of what became known as the Old World.
The Native Americans who greeted the first Europeans had become diverse peoples. They spoke between 300 and 350 distinct languages, and their societies and ways of living varied tremendously. The Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru built great empires (see Aztec Empire; Inca Empire). In what is now the United States, the Mississippians (see Mound Builders) built cities surrounded by farmland between present–day St. Louis, Missouri, (where their city of Cahokia was larger than medieval London) and Natchez, Mississippi. The Mississippians’ "Great Sun" king ruled authoritatively and was carried from place to place by servants, preceded by flute–players. The Pueblo peoples of the Southwest lived in large towns, irrigated their dry land with river water, and traded with peoples as far away as Mexico and California.
In the East, the peoples who eventually encountered English settlers were varied, but they lived in similar ways. All of them grew much of their food. Women farmed and gathered food in the woods. Men hunted, fished, and made war. None of these peoples kept herds of domestic animals; they relied on abundant wild game for protein. All lived in family groups, but owed their principal loyalties to a wider network of kin and to their clans. Some—the Iroquois in upstate New York and the Powhatan confederacy in Virginia—formed alliances called confederacies for the purposes of keeping peace among neighbors and making war on outsiders. Even within these confederacies, however, everyday political organization seldom extended beyond villages, and village chiefs ruled their independent–minded people by consent.
West Africa in 1580
In Central and West Africa, the great inland kingdoms of Mali and Ghana were influenced (and largely converted) by Islam, and these kingdoms had traded with the Muslim world for hundreds of years. From the beginning, slaves were among the articles of trade. These earliest enslaved Africans were criminals, war captives, and people sold by their relatives to settle debts. New World demand increased the slave trade and changed it. Some of the coastal kingdoms of present–day Togo and Benin entered the trade as middlemen. They conducted raids into the interior and sold their captives to European slavers. Nearly all of the Africans enslaved and brought to America by this trade were natives of the western coastal rain forests and the inland forests of the Congo and Central Africa.
About half of all Africans who were captured, enslaved, and sent to the Americas were Bantu–speaking peoples. Others were from smaller ethnic and language groups. Most had been farmers in their homeland. The men hunted, fished, and tended animals, while women and men worked the fields cooperatively and in large groups. They lived in kin–based villages that were parts of small kingdoms. They practiced polygyny (men often had several wives, each of whom maintained a separate household), and their societies tended to give very specific spiritual duties to women and men. Adolescent girls and boys were inducted into secret societies in which they learned the sacred and separate duties of women and men. These secret societies provided supernatural help from the spirits that governed tasks such as hunting, farming, fertility, and childbirth. Although formal political leaders were all men, older, privileged women exercised great power over other women. Thus enslaved African peoples in the New World came from societies in which women raised children and governed each other, and where men and women were more nearly equal than in America or Europe.
European Exploration
In the century before Columbus sailed to America, Western Europeans were unlikely candidates for worldwide exploration. The Chinese possessed the wealth and the seafaring skills that would have enabled them to explore, but they had little interest in the world outside of China. The Arabs and other Islamic peoples also possessed wealth and skills. But they expanded into territories that were next to them—and not across uncharted oceans. The Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople in 1453 and by the 1520s had nearly reached Vienna. These conquests gave them control over the overland trade routes to Asia as well as the sea route through the Persian Gulf. The conquests also gave them an expanding empire to occupy their attention.
Western Europeans, on the other hand, were developing the necessary wealth and technology and a compelling need to explore. A group of new monarchs were making nation-states in Britain and in continental Europe—states with unprecedentedly large treasuries and military establishments. The population of Western European nations was growing, providing a tax base and a labor force for new classes of large landholders. These "elites" provided markets for goods that were available only through trade with Asia. When the expansion of Islam gave control of eastern trade routes to Islamic middlemen, Western Europeans had strong incentives to find other ways to get to Asia.
They were also developing sailing technology and knowledge of currents and winds to travel long distances on the open sea. The Portuguese led the way. They copied and improved upon the designs of Arab sailing ships and learned to mount cannons on those ships. In the 15th century they began exploring the west coast of Africa—bypassing Arab merchants to trade directly for African gold and slaves. They also colonized the Madeira Islands, the Azores, and the Cape Verde Islands and turned them into the first European slave plantations.
The European explorers were all looking for an ocean route to Asia. Christopher Columbus sailed for the monarchs of Spain in 1492. He used the familiar prevailing winds to the Canary Islands, off the northwest coast of Africa, and then sailed on. In about two months he landed in the Caribbean on an island in the Bahamas, thinking he had reached the East Indies. Columbus made three more voyages. He died in 1506, still believing that he had discovered a water route to Asia.
The Spanish investigated further. Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci sailed to the northern coast of South America in 1499 and pronounced the land a new continent. European mapmakers named it America in his honor. Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and in 1513 became the first of the European explorers of America to see the Pacific Ocean. That same year another Spaniard, Juan Ponce de León, explored the Bahamas and Florida in search of the fountain of youth.
The first European voyages to the northern coast of America were old and forgotten: The Norsemen (Scandinavian Vikings) sailed from Greenland and stayed in Newfoundland for a time around 1000. Some scholars argue that European fishermen had discovered the fishing waters off eastern Canada by 1480. But the first recorded voyage was made by English navigator John Cabot, who sailed from England to Newfoundland in 1497. Giovanni da Verrazzano, in 1524, and Jacques Cartier, in 1534, explored nearly the whole Atlantic coast of the present United States for France. By that time, Europeans had scouted the American coast from Newfoundland to Brazil. While they continued to look for shortcuts to Asia, Europeans began to think of America for its own sake. Spain again led the way: Hernán Cortés invaded Mexico in 1519, and Francisco Pizarro did the same in Peru in 1532—nearly a full century before English or French colonization began.
Cultural Interaction: The Columbian Exchange
What was to become American history began in a biological and cultural collision of Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans. Europeans initiated this contact and often dictated its terms. For Native Americans and Africans, American history began in disaster.
Native Americans suffered heavily because of their isolation from the rest of the world. Europe, Africa, and Asia had been trading knowledge and technologies for centuries. Societies on all three continents had learned to use iron and kept herds of domestic animals. Europeans had acquired gunpowder, paper, and navigational equipment from the Chinese. Native Americans, on the other hand, had none of these. They were often helpless against European conquerors with horses, firearms, and—especially—armor and weapons.
The most disastrous consequence of the long-term isolation of the Americas was biological. Asians, Africans, and Europeans had been exposed to one another’s diseases for millennia; by 1500 they had developed an Old World immune system that partially protected them from most diseases. On average, Native Americans were bigger and healthier than the Europeans who first encountered them. But they were helpless against European and African diseases. Smallpox was the biggest killer, but illnesses such as measles and influenza also killed millions of people. The indigenous population of Mexico, for example, was more than 17 million when Cortés landed in 1519. By 1630 it had dropped to 750,000, largely as a result of disease. Scholars estimate that on average the population of a Native American people dropped 90 percent in the first century of contact. The worst wave of epidemics in human history cleared the way for European conquest.
Europeans used the new lands as sources of precious metals and plantation agriculture. Both were complex operations that required labor in large, closely supervised groups. Attempts to enslave indigenous peoples failed, and attempts to force them into other forms of bound labor were slightly more successful but also failed because workers died of disease. Europeans turned to the African slave trade as a source of labor for the Americas. During the colonial periods of North and South America and the Caribbean, far more Africans than Europeans came to the New World. The slave trade brought wealth to some Europeans and some Africans, but the growth of the slave trade disrupted African political systems, turned slave raiding into full–scale war, and robbed many African societies of their young men. The European success story in the Americas was achieved at horrendous expense for the millions of Native Americans who died and for the millions of Africans who were
enslaved.
COLONIAL EXPERIMENTS
Beginning in 1519, Spain, Portugal, France, The Netherlands, and England established colonies in the Americas. Spain made a great mining and agricultural empire in Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean. Portugal created a slave-based agricultural colony in Brazil. In North America the French and Dutch established rudimentary European societies and—more importantly—elaborate, long-term trading networks with the indigenous peoples. Among the European invaders of North America, only the English established colonies of agricultural settlers, whose interests in Native Americans was less about trade than about the acquisition of land. That fact would have huge implications in the long struggle for control of North America.
New Spain
Spain was the first European nation to colonize America. Cortés invaded Mexico and (with the help of smallpox and other Native Americans) defeated the Aztec Empire between 1519 and 1521. By 1533 Pizarro had conquered the Incas of Peru. Both civilizations possessed artifacts made of precious metals, and the Spanish searched for rumored piles of gold and silver. They sent expeditions under Hernando de Soto, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, and Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca as far north as what is now Kansas and Colorado. They were looking for cities made of gold and did not find them. But in 1545 they did discover silver at Potosí, in what is now Bolivia, and in Mexico around the same time. New World gold and silver mines were the base of Spanish wealth and power for the next hundred years.
Spain was the first European nation to colonize America. Cortés invaded Mexico and (with the help of smallpox and other Native Americans) defeated the Aztec Empire between 1519 and 1521. By 1533 Pizarro had conquered the Incas of Peru. Both civilizations possessed artifacts made of precious metals, and the Spanish searched for rumored piles of gold and silver. They sent expeditions under Hernando de Soto, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, and Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca as far north as what is now Kansas and Colorado. They were looking for cities made of gold and did not find them. But in 1545 they did discover silver at Potosí, in what is now Bolivia, and in Mexico around the same time. New World gold and silver mines were the base of Spanish wealth and power for the next hundred years.
Shortly after the conquests, Catholic missionaries—Jesuits until 1571, Franciscans and Dominicans after that—attempted to convert Native Americans to Christianity. They established missions not only at the centers of the new empire, but also in New Mexico and Florida. Spanish Jesuits even built a short–lived mission outpost in Virginia.
After defeating indigenous peoples, Spanish conquerors established a system of forced labor calledencomienda. However, Spanish governmental and religious officials disliked the brutality of this system. As time passed, Spanish settlers claimed land rather than labor, establishing large estates called haciendas. By the time French, Dutch, Swedish, and English colonists began arriving in the New World in the early 17th century, the Spanish colonies in New Spain (Mexico), New Granada (Colombia), and the Caribbean were nearly 100 years old. The colonies were a source of power for Spain, and a source of jealousy from other European nations.
New France
By the 1530s French explorers had scouted the coast of America from Newfoundland to the Carolinas. Samuel de Champlain built the foundations of what would become French Canada (New France). From 1604 to 1606 he established a settlement at Acadia in Nova Scotia, and in 1608 he traveled up the Saint Lawrence River, made contact with the Huron and Algonquin peoples, and established a French settlement at Québec.
By the 1530s French explorers had scouted the coast of America from Newfoundland to the Carolinas. Samuel de Champlain built the foundations of what would become French Canada (New France). From 1604 to 1606 he established a settlement at Acadia in Nova Scotia, and in 1608 he traveled up the Saint Lawrence River, made contact with the Huron and Algonquin peoples, and established a French settlement at Québec.
From the beginning, New France concentrated on two activities: fur trade and Catholic missions. Missionaries and traders were often at odds, but both knew that the success of New France depended upon friendly relations with the native peoples. While Jesuits converted thousands of Native Americans, French traders roamed the forests. Both were among the first white explorers of the interior of North America, and France’s ties with Native Americans would have important implications for the next 150 years. By 1700 the French population of New France was 14,000. French Canada was a strategically crucial brake on English settlement. But the much smaller sugar islands in the Caribbean—Saint-Domingue (Haiti), Guadeloupe, and Martinique—were economically far more valuable to France.
Dutch Settlements
Another contender for influence in North America was the Dutch, inhabitants of the leading commercial nation in the early 17th century. Sailing for the Dutch in 1609, Henry Hudson explored the river that now bears his name. The Dutch established a string of agricultural settlements between New Amsterdam (New York City) and Fort Orange (Albany, New York) after 1614. They became the chief European traders with the Iroquois, supplying them with firearms, blankets, metal tools, and other European trade goods in exchange for furs. The Iroquois used those goods to nearly destroy the Huron and to push the Algonquins into Illinois and Michigan. As a result, the Iroquois gained control of the Native American side of the fur trade.
Another contender for influence in North America was the Dutch, inhabitants of the leading commercial nation in the early 17th century. Sailing for the Dutch in 1609, Henry Hudson explored the river that now bears his name. The Dutch established a string of agricultural settlements between New Amsterdam (New York City) and Fort Orange (Albany, New York) after 1614. They became the chief European traders with the Iroquois, supplying them with firearms, blankets, metal tools, and other European trade goods in exchange for furs. The Iroquois used those goods to nearly destroy the Huron and to push the Algonquins into Illinois and Michigan. As a result, the Iroquois gained control of the Native American side of the fur trade.
The Dutch settlements, known as New Netherland, grew slowly at first and became more urban as trade with the indigenous peoples outdistanced agriculture as a source of income. The colony was prosperous and tolerated different religions. As a result, it attracted a steady and diverse stream of European immigrants. In the 1640s the 450 inhabitants of New Amsterdam spoke 18 different languages. The colony had grown to a European population of 6,000 (double that of New France) on the eve of its takeover by England in 1664.
First English Settlements
The Spanish, French, and Dutch wanted to find precious metals in the Americas, to trade with the indigenous peoples, and to convert them to Christianity. Their agricultural colonies in the Caribbean, Mexico, and South America were worked by African slaves and by unwilling native peoples, and relatively few Europeans settled permanently in those places. In contrast, England, a latecomer to New World colonization, sent more people to the Americas than other European nations—about 400,000 in the 17th century—and established more permanent agricultural colonies.
English migrants came to America for two main reasons. The first reason was tied to the English Reformation. King Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church in the 1530s. Through a series of political and religious twists and turns, the new Church of England developed a Protestant theology, but it retained much of Catholic liturgy and ritual forms. Within the Church of England, radical Protestants, later called Puritans, wanted to suppress the remaining Catholic forms. The fortunes of the Puritans depended on the religious preferences of English monarchs. Queen Mary I, who ruled from 1553 to 1558, was a committed Catholic who tried to roll back the tide of religious change; she executed hundreds of Protestants and chased many more into exile. Her successor, Elizabeth I, invited the exiles back and tried to resolve differences within the English church. The Stuart kings who followed her, James I and Charles I, again persecuted Puritans. As a result, Puritans became willing to immigrate to America.
The second reason for English colonization was that land in England had become scarce. The population of England doubled from 1530 to 1680. In the same years, many of England’s largest landholders evicted tenants from their lands, fenced the lands, and raised sheep for the expanding wool trade. The result was a growing number of young, poor, underemployed, and often desperate English men and women. It was from their ranks that colonizers recruited most of the English population of the mainland colonies.
GROWTH OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES
Permanent English settlement began in the Chesapeake Bay area in 1607 and in Massachusetts in 1620. The histories of the two regions during their first century and a half are almost opposite. Virginia began as a misguided business venture and as a disorderly society of young men. Massachusetts settlers were Puritans. They arrived as whole families and sometimes as whole congregations, and they lived by laws derived from the Old Testament. Over time, however, Virginia was transformed into a slave-based tobacco colony where slaves were carefully disciplined, where most white families owned land, and where a wealthy and stable planter-slaveholder class provided much of the leadership of revolutionary and early national America. New England, on the other hand, evolved into a more secularized and increasingly overpopulated society based on family farms and inherited land—land that was becoming scarce to the point that increasing numbers of whites were slipping into poverty.
The Chesapeake, Virginia
Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America, began as a business venture that failed. The Virginia Company of London, a joint stock company organized much like a modern corporation, sent 104 colonists to Chesapeake Bay in 1607. The company wanted to repeat the successes of the Spanish: The colonists were to look for gold and silver, for a passage to Asia, and for other discoveries that would quickly reward investors. If the work was heavy, the colonists were to force indigenous peoples to help them. The composition of the group sent to Jamestown reflected the company’s expectations for life in the colony. Colonists included silversmiths, goldsmiths, even a perfumer, and far too many gentlemen who were unprepared for rugged colonial life.
The colonists found a defensible spot on low ground and named it Jamestown. None of their plans worked out, and the settlers began to die of dysentery and typhoid fever. At the end of the first year, only about one-third remained alive. The Native Americans were troublesome, too. Organized into the large and powerful Powhatan confederacy, they grew tired of demands for food and launched a war against the settlers that continued intermittently from 1609 to 1614.
In 1619 the Virginia Company reorganized. The colony gave up the search for quick profits and turned to growing tobacco. Under the new plan, colonists received 50 acres from the company for paying a person’s passage to Virginia. The new settlers were indentured servants who agreed to work off the price of their passage. Thus settlers who could afford it received land and labor at the same time. In 1624 King James I of England made Virginia the first royal colony. He revoked the Virginia Company’s charter and appointed a royal governor and council, and established a House of Burgesses elected by the settlers. Despite fights with the Powhatan confederacy (about 350 settlers died in one attack in 1622), the Virginia colony began to prosper. It had found a cash crop, a source of labor, and a stable government.
Maryland
In 1634 Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, founded Maryland under a royal charter, which made the colony Baltimore’s personal property. Baltimore, a Catholic nobleman, hoped to establish a refuge for English Catholics and sell large estates to individuals who would operate as feudal lords.
In 1634 Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, founded Maryland under a royal charter, which made the colony Baltimore’s personal property. Baltimore, a Catholic nobleman, hoped to establish a refuge for English Catholics and sell large estates to individuals who would operate as feudal lords.
Neither the plans for feudalism nor for a Catholic refuge worked out, however. More Protestants than Catholics immigrated to Maryland. In 1649 Baltimore granted religious toleration to all Christians, but Protestants did not stop opposing him. They even overthrew Baltimore’s government on several occasions. Baltimore’s dreams of feudalism failed as well. Freed servants preferred farming on their own to staying on as tenants, and the colony quickly evolved as Virginia had: Planters (many of them former servants) imported servants from England and grew tobacco.
Mortality Rate
Chesapeake tobacco growers needed able–bodied servants. Most of those imported to Virginia and Maryland were young, poor, single men. Disease, bad water, and hostile native peoples produced a horrific death rate. In 1618 there were 700 English settlers in Virginia. The reorganized Virginia Company sent 3,000 more before 1622. A headcount that year found only about 1,200 still alive. Still, surviving planters continued to import servants. Some servants lived long enough to end their indentures, but many others died. In addition, there were too few women in the Chesapeake to enable surviving men to build families and produce new Virginians. More than two-thirds of men never married, and the white population of Virginia did not begin to sustain itself until at least the 1680s. Before that, the colony survived only by importing new people to replace those who died.
Introduction of Slavery
White servants worked Chesapeake tobacco farms until the late 17th century. But earlier in the century, English tobacco and sugar planters in the Caribbean had adopted African slavery, long the chief labor system in Portuguese and Spanish sugar colonies in the Caribbean. By 1700 the English islands were characterized by large plantations and by populations that were overwhelmingly African. These African slaves were victims of a particularly brutal and unhealthy plantation system that killed most of them. It was not a coincidence that these islands produced more wealth for England than its other colonies. See also Slavery in the United States:Introduction of Slavery
Before the 1680s, Chesapeake planters purchased few African slaves, and the status of Africans in Virginia and Maryland was unclear. Some were slaves, some were servants, some were free, and no legal code defined their standing. The reasons for the slow growth of slavery in the Chesapeake were not moral, but economic. First, slave traders received high prices for slaves in the Caribbean—higher than Virginians could afford, particularly when these expensive laborers were likely to die. White indentured servants cost less, and planters lost little when they died. But Chesapeake colonists—both English and African—grew healthier as they became "seasoned" on their new continent. At the same time, the English economic crisis that had supplied servants to the colonies diminished. These changes made African slaves a better long–term investment: The initial cost was higher, but the slaves lived and reproduced.
Beginning around 1675, Virginia and Maryland began importing large numbers of African slaves. By 1690 black slaves outnumbered white servants in those colonies. Virginia now gave white servants who survived their indentures 50 acres of land, thus making them a part of the white landholding class. At the same time, the House of Burgesses drew up legal codes that assumed a lifetime of bondage for blacks. In the early 18th century, the Chesapeake emerged as a society of planters and small farmers who grew tobacco with the labor of African slaves. There had been slaves in Virginia since 1619. But it was not until nearly 100 years later that Virginia became a slave society.
The Beginnings of New England
New England began as a refuge for religious radicals. The first English settlers were the Pilgrims. They were Separatists—Protestants who, unlike the Puritans—seceded from the Church of England rather than try to reform it. They sailed for the New World in 1620. After difficult early years, they established a community of farms at Plymouth that was ultimately absorbed by the Massachusetts Bay Company.
New England began as a refuge for religious radicals. The first English settlers were the Pilgrims. They were Separatists—Protestants who, unlike the Puritans—seceded from the Church of England rather than try to reform it. They sailed for the New World in 1620. After difficult early years, they established a community of farms at Plymouth that was ultimately absorbed by the Massachusetts Bay Company.
Religion in the New England Colonies
A much larger Puritan migration began in 1630. The Puritans objected to the corruption and extravagance of the Stuart kings, who considered alliances with Catholic monarchs and paid no attention to Puritan demands for religious reform. The Puritans came to believe that God would destroy England for these sins. They obtained a charter from the Massachusetts Bay Company and made plans to emigrate—not to hide in the wilderness from God’s wrath, but to preserve Protestant beliefs and to act as a beacon of truth for the world. A thousand Puritans migrated to Massachusetts in 1630. But this Great Migration ended in 1642, when the Puritans became involved in a civil war against the Stuart kings. The Puritans eventually won and ruled England until 1660. When the migration ended, Massachusetts had 13,000 European inhabitants.
A much larger Puritan migration began in 1630. The Puritans objected to the corruption and extravagance of the Stuart kings, who considered alliances with Catholic monarchs and paid no attention to Puritan demands for religious reform. The Puritans came to believe that God would destroy England for these sins. They obtained a charter from the Massachusetts Bay Company and made plans to emigrate—not to hide in the wilderness from God’s wrath, but to preserve Protestant beliefs and to act as a beacon of truth for the world. A thousand Puritans migrated to Massachusetts in 1630. But this Great Migration ended in 1642, when the Puritans became involved in a civil war against the Stuart kings. The Puritans eventually won and ruled England until 1660. When the migration ended, Massachusetts had 13,000 European inhabitants.
The Puritans left England because of religious persecution, but they, too, were intolerant. In Massachusetts they established laws derived from the Bible, and they punished or expelled those who did not share their beliefs. The Puritans established a governor and a general court (an assembly elected by adult male church members) and governed themselves. Although they refused to secede from the Church of England, they did away with bishops and church hierarchy and invented congregationalism. In this type of Protestantism, each congregation selected its own minister and governed its own religious life (though outside authority sometimes intervened to punish heresy).
Government officials were expected to enforce godly authority, which often meant punishing religious heresy. Roger Williams was a Separatist who refused to worship with anyone who—like nearly all Puritans—remained part of the Church of England. Massachusetts banished him, and he and a few followers founded Providence in what is now Rhode Island. Anne Hutchinson was a merchant’s wife and a devout Puritan, but she claimed that she received messages directly from God and was beyond earthly authority. This belief was a heresy, a belief contrary to church teachings, known as Antinomianism. She, too, was banished and she moved to Rhode Island. Puritan magistrates continued to enforce religious laws: In the 1650s they persecuted Quakers, and in the 1690s they executed people accused of witchcraft.
Growth of New England’s Population
Once the Puritan migration to New England stopped in 1642, the region would receive few immigrants for the next 200 years. Yet the population grew dramatically—to nearly 120,000 in 1700. Two reasons explain this. First, in sharp contrast to the unhealthy Chesapeake, Massachusetts streams provided relatively safe drinking water, and New England’s cold winters kept dangerous microbes to a minimum. Thus disease and early death were not the problems that they were farther south. Second (again in contrast to the Chesapeake) the Puritans migrated in families, and there were about two women for every three men, even in the early years. Nearly all colonists married (typically in their mid–20s for men and early 20s for women), and then produced children at two-year intervals. With both a higher birthrate and a longer life expectancy than in England, the Puritan population grew rapidly almost from the beginning.
The Restoration Colonies
By 1640 England had founded 6 of the 13 colonies that would become the original United States. In 1660, after the end of Puritan rule, Charles II was crowned king of England, an event known as the Restoration. Charles founded or took over six more colonies: New York (taken from the Dutch in 1664), New Jersey, Pennsylvania (including what became Delaware), and North and South Carolina. All were proprietary colonies—huge land grants to individuals or small groups who had been loyal to the king during the civil war.
By 1640 England had founded 6 of the 13 colonies that would become the original United States. In 1660, after the end of Puritan rule, Charles II was crowned king of England, an event known as the Restoration. Charles founded or took over six more colonies: New York (taken from the Dutch in 1664), New Jersey, Pennsylvania (including what became Delaware), and North and South Carolina. All were proprietary colonies—huge land grants to individuals or small groups who had been loyal to the king during the civil war.
These colonies shared other similarities as well. None of them was well–funded; they could ill afford to import colonists from overseas. Thus they tried to attract settlers from other colonies as much as from the Old World. These colonies made it easy to own land, and they tended to grant religious toleration to all Christians. The result (even though Pennsylvania began as a Quaker colony under the wealthy proprietor William Penn) was a more ethnically mixed and religiously pluralistic European population than had come to New England or to the Chesapeake. These new colonies were populated not only by the English, but also by the Dutch and eventually by Scots, Scots–Irish, and Germans. Their populations included Quakers and other religious dissenters.
Settlers and Native Americans
The French and Spanish came to the New World to trade with the indigenous peoples, to convert them to Christianity, and sometimes to turn them into a labor force for mining and agriculture. In contrast, the English settlers wanted farmland. Thus they posed a far greater threat to the Native Americans. Wars were the result. In New England a Wampanoag chief named Metacomet (the English called him King Philip) became worried about English intrusion on his land and ordered attacks on the settlements in 1675. For the next year Metacomet and his allies destroyed 12 of 90 Puritan towns and attacked 40 others—capturing or killing one in ten adult male English settlers. The Puritans counterattacked in the summer of 1676. They killed Metacomet, sold his wife and chief supporters into slavery in the West Indies, and scattered his coalition. With that, the power of coastal Native Americans in New England was broken.
The French and Spanish came to the New World to trade with the indigenous peoples, to convert them to Christianity, and sometimes to turn them into a labor force for mining and agriculture. In contrast, the English settlers wanted farmland. Thus they posed a far greater threat to the Native Americans. Wars were the result. In New England a Wampanoag chief named Metacomet (the English called him King Philip) became worried about English intrusion on his land and ordered attacks on the settlements in 1675. For the next year Metacomet and his allies destroyed 12 of 90 Puritan towns and attacked 40 others—capturing or killing one in ten adult male English settlers. The Puritans counterattacked in the summer of 1676. They killed Metacomet, sold his wife and chief supporters into slavery in the West Indies, and scattered his coalition. With that, the power of coastal Native Americans in New England was broken.
In the same years (1675 to 1676) in Virginia, land–hungry settlers led by a planter named Nathaniel Bacon picked a fight with the Susquehannock people. The settlers’ goal was simply to end Native American occupation of lands that whites wanted. When Governor William Berkeley objected, the rebellious settlers forced the House of Burgesses to back their war (see Bacon’s Rebellion). Later, they marched on Jamestown and burned the colonial capital. Shortly after that, Bacon died of disease, and his rebellion sputtered out. But a new treaty signed with the Native Americans in 1677 made much of their land available to white settlers.
English and their Empire
The English had colonies before they had a colonial policy or an empire. The English government had little interest in directly governing its colonies. The government was, however, mercantilist: It wanted colonial economic activity to serve England. The Navigation Act of 1651 stipulated that imports into British harbors and colonies could be carried only in British ships or those of the producing country. A second Navigation Act in 1660 decreed that colonial trade could be carried only in English ships, and that crucial commodities such as tobacco and sugar could be sent only to England or another English colony. Further Navigation Acts in 1663 and 1696 regulated the shipment of goods into the colonies and strengthened the customs service. For the most part, the Navigation Acts succeeded in making colonial trade serve England. They also made the colonists accustomed to and dependent upon imported English goods. But the acts did not amount to a colonial administration. Private companies, wealthy proprietors, and the settlers themselves did what they wanted without official English interference.
The English had colonies before they had a colonial policy or an empire. The English government had little interest in directly governing its colonies. The government was, however, mercantilist: It wanted colonial economic activity to serve England. The Navigation Act of 1651 stipulated that imports into British harbors and colonies could be carried only in British ships or those of the producing country. A second Navigation Act in 1660 decreed that colonial trade could be carried only in English ships, and that crucial commodities such as tobacco and sugar could be sent only to England or another English colony. Further Navigation Acts in 1663 and 1696 regulated the shipment of goods into the colonies and strengthened the customs service. For the most part, the Navigation Acts succeeded in making colonial trade serve England. They also made the colonists accustomed to and dependent upon imported English goods. But the acts did not amount to a colonial administration. Private companies, wealthy proprietors, and the settlers themselves did what they wanted without official English interference.
King James II tried to change that. In 1684 he revoked the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Then in 1686 he created the Dominion of New England from the colonies of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Plymouth, and Connecticut (all colonies that had been derived from the original Massachusetts Bay colony), along with New York and New Jersey. The king sent Sir Edmund Andros to be royal governor of this huge area. However, the king had problems at home. He was a Catholic, and he threatened to leave the throne in the hands of his Catholic son. In 1689 England’s ruling elites deposed James II and replaced him with his sister Mary and her husband, a militant Dutch Protestant, William of Orange. As part of the agreement that made him king, William issued a Bill of Rights that ended absolutist royal government in England. The ascension of William and Mary is known in English history as the Glorious Revolution.
American colonists staged smaller versions of the Glorious Revolution. Massachusetts and New York revolted against the Dominion of New England. At the same time, the Protestant majority in Maryland revolted against Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, and his Catholic elite. William could have punished all these rebels and re–established the Dominion of New England. Instead, he reorganized Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland as royal colonies with elected legislative assemblies and royally appointed governors. By 1720 William had transformed all the mainland colonies along these lines except for Pennsylvania, Maryland (William restored Protestant proprietors in 1716), and Delaware. The Glorious Revolution ended absolutism in England, and it ensured that government in the mainland colonies would be both royal and representative.
Colonial Society
The colonies over which the English were beginning to exercise control were growing rapidly. In 1700 approximately 250,000 Europeans and Africans were living in what would become the United States. In 1775 there were approximately 2.5 million. Much of the increase was due to immigration: the forced migration of enslaved Africans, and the willing migration of English, Scots-Irish, and Germans.
The middle colonies were much more diverse than the northern colonies. The English majority contended with a variety of European settlers, with a large Native American presence on the western edges, and with a significant minority of African slaves. In Maryland and Virginia, the early English settlers had been joined, particularly in the western counties, by Scots, Scots–Irish, and Germans. In the eastern counties, African slaves—many of them natives of Africa—often outnumbered whites.
South Carolina and Georgia had white populations as diverse as those in the Chesapeake, and their slave populations were African–born and ethnically diverse. One historian has noted that a slave would have met more different kinds of Africans in one day in South Carolina rice fields than in a lifetime in Africa.
By far the greatest source of population growth, however, was a phenomenal birth rate and a relatively low death rate. Americans in the 18th century had many children, who in turn survived to have children of their own. American population growth in these years may have been unprecedented in human history.
The household was the central institution of colonial society. In Puritan society in particular families were the cornerstone of godly government. As one historian put it, Puritans experienced authority as a hierarchy of strong fathers—beginning with God, descending down through government officials and ministers, and ending with the fathers of families. These families were patriarchal: Fathers ruled households, made family decisions, organized household labor, and were the representatives of God’s authority within the family. Fathers passed that authority on to their sons. Puritan magistrates inspected families to ensure that they were orderly, and it was a capital crime (at least in the law books) to commit adultery or to strike one’s father.
Households in other 18th–century colonies may have been less godly, but they were almost equally dominated by fathers, and most white men had the opportunity to become patriarchs. Land was relatively abundant, and Americans seldom practiced primogeniture and entail, which gave oldest sons their fathers’ full estates and prevented men from dividing their land. Fathers tended to supply all of their sons with land (daughters received personal property as a dowry). Thus most American white men eventually owned their own land and headed their own households.
As populations grew and as colonial economies developed, however, that independence based on property ownership was endangered. Good farmland in the south came to be dominated by a class of planters, while growing numbers of poor whites became tenants. The pressure of a growing population on the supply of farmland made tenancy even more common in New Jersey and Pennsylvania (research puts the proportion at about 25 percent by mid-century), while in New England more and more fathers found themselves unable to provide for their sons. On the eve of the American Revolution (1775-1783), American white men prided themselves on a widespread liberty that was based in economic independence. Meanwhile, the land ownership that upheld that independence was being undermined.
18th Century Slavery
In the first half of the 18th century, the mainland colonies grew dramatically but in very different ways. The Chesapeake and the Carolinas grew plantation staples for world markets—tobacco in the Chesapeake and North Carolina, rice and indigo in the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia—and they were committed to African slave labor. Fully 70 percent of South Carolina’s population was black, nearly all Africans were imported directly to the colony in the 18th century. The numbers were so huge and the malarial wetlands they worked on were so unhealthy that masters encouraged slaves to organize their own labor and to work unsupervised. Because so many slaves lived and worked relatively unsupervised in this area, African cultures—language, handicrafts, religious experience and belief, and more—survived most fully among American slaves in South Carolina. Rice planters of South Carolina permitted this cultural independence because it was easier and because the slaves made them lots of money. South Carolina’s lowland planters were the wealthiest group in the mainland colonies.
In the first half of the 18th century, the mainland colonies grew dramatically but in very different ways. The Chesapeake and the Carolinas grew plantation staples for world markets—tobacco in the Chesapeake and North Carolina, rice and indigo in the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia—and they were committed to African slave labor. Fully 70 percent of South Carolina’s population was black, nearly all Africans were imported directly to the colony in the 18th century. The numbers were so huge and the malarial wetlands they worked on were so unhealthy that masters encouraged slaves to organize their own labor and to work unsupervised. Because so many slaves lived and worked relatively unsupervised in this area, African cultures—language, handicrafts, religious experience and belief, and more—survived most fully among American slaves in South Carolina. Rice planters of South Carolina permitted this cultural independence because it was easier and because the slaves made them lots of money. South Carolina’s lowland planters were the wealthiest group in the mainland colonies.
Further north, the tobacco colonies of Virginia and Maryland were equally committed to slave labor, but slaves led somewhat different lives here than in the deep South. The African population in these colonies began to replace itself through reproduction as early as 1720 (compared with 1770 in South Carolina). Still, Chesapeake planters continued to import new slaves from Africa; about 70,000 went to Virginia in the 18th century and about 25,000 to Maryland. Slaves in these colonies tended to live and work in smaller, more closely supervised groups than slaves further south, and their cultural memory of Africa, though often strong, was less pervasive than that of Carolina slaves. In addition, white Virginians and Marylanders were turning to wheat as a secondary crop, a development that required mills and towns, and thus slave labor in construction, road building, and some of the skilled crafts.
Northern Agriculture
Around the middle of the 18th century, a heavily populated and increasingly urbanized Europe lost the capacity to feed itself, providing an important market for North American farmers. The middle colonies, particularly Pennsylvania, became the breadbasket of America. After Pennsylvania farmers provided for their families from their farms and by trading with neighbors, they sent their surplus production of corn and wheat, as much as 40 percent of what they produced, on to the Atlantic market. New England farmers worked soil that was poor and rocky, but used the same system.
Economists call this system safety–first or subsistence–plus agriculture: Farmers provided for household and neighborhood needs before risking their surplus in distant and unpredictable markets. In profitable years, farmers were able to buy finished cloth, dishes and crockery, tea and coffee, and other goods that colonial trade with England provided—goods on which more and more Americans depended by 1770.
Religion
British North America in the 18th century was a religiously and ethnically diverse string of settlements. New England’s population was overwhelmingly English, descended from the Great Migration of the 1630s. New England had a reputation for poor land and intolerance of outsiders, and immigrants avoided the region. New Englanders continued to practice congregationalism, though by the 18th century they seldom thought of themselves as the spearhead of the Reformation. A wave of revivals known as the Great Awakening swept New England beginning in the 1720s, dividing churchgoers into New Light (evangelical Calvinists) and Old Light (more moderate) wings. An increasing minority were calling themselves Baptists.
Nearly all Europeans in these colonies were Protestants, but individual denominations were very different. There were Presbyterians, Lutherans, Baptists, Anglicans, Dutch Reformed, Mennonites and Quakers. While the Church of England was the established church (the official, government–supported church) in the Chesapeake colonies, German and Scottish non-Anglicans were migrating south from the middle colonies, and Baptists were making their first southern converts. Although most Chesapeake slaves were American–born by the late 18th century, they practiced what they remembered of African religions, while some became Christians in 18th-century revivals.
Health Planning
Take Note: The most common problem to foreign travelers is "over medicating." We've provided this detailed information to stimulate thought, not provide evidence or rationale for a traveling pharmacy. In most cases, your body's normal defenses, common sense and plenty of rest will provide faster relief.
When you're setting off on your own for an extended period of time, it's important to take a few basic precautions to insure your health.
Here's a predeparture checklist from Robert Kohls' book, Survival Kit for Overseas Living:
Here's a predeparture checklist from Robert Kohls' book, Survival Kit for Overseas Living:
- Make an appointment to see your doctor at least three months ahead of departure for a physical and required or recommended immunizations. If you have a health condition which requires routine attention, prepare to deal with the condition overseas. Bring a doctor's statement with you describing your medical problem, prescriptions for drugs you may require, other treatment information regarding your problem, and a very clear explanation about any drugs or medical paraphernalia that you are carrying with you.
- Find out from your public health service if gamma globulin shots, a preventative measure against hepatitis, are recommended for the country or region where you plan to travel. Request copies of medical records that would be important to the treatment of problems you might encounter overseas: X-rays, EKGs, a record of your blood type, prescriptions written in a generic form, dental records, and a letter describing any special health problems. Make a duplicate copy of this information and keep (whatever is practical) in two places, one on your person and one in your luggage.
- Remember that U.S. prescriptions cannot be honored overseas. Take additional prescribed drugs with you and be sure that you have a doctor's letter describing, in generic trade and dosage terms, what these drugs are and how they are used. Sometimes prescription drugs in the U.S. can be bought over the counter in other countries. Beware, however, of buying potent drugs over the counter. Always ask careful questions about what you're purchasing.
- Bring eyeglass prescriptions and extra glasses or contact lenses. If you are using an electric cleaner for your contact lenses, make sure that you have appropriate transformers or find other methods of cleaning.
- Bring a medical kit. Standard items which may be useful include adhesive tape, cotton swabs, gauze, Band-Aids, sterile cleaners, and antibacterial ointment. Depending upon the country, it might be useful to have water purification tablets, salt tablets, skin lotion and moisturizer, insect repellent, antihistamines, painkillers, disinfectant, small scissors, tweezers, thermometer and something for insect bite reactions.
- Learn how to find a doctor overseas. If you are with a health insurance program, a Member Services department might be able to help. The school or center you're attending (administrators, teachers) and family or hotel you're staying at will have favored physicians. Large international hotels refer English speaking doctors, or you can check with the U.S. consulate or embassy. IAMAT, the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers, provides a list of English speaking doctors all over the world. There is no fee, but donations to this nonprofit organization are welcomed.
- Keep all medications in your hand luggage. Checked baggage can be subject to extreme temperature variations and may be lost.
- Eating Safe Foods... When abroad, consider food safe to eat if it is served steaming hot and is thoroughly cooked (not cooked, cooled, and moderately reheated). Other things considered safe include that which you can peel (oranges, avocados, etc.); processed beverages which you pop open (bottled water, carbonated soda, beer, etc.); piping hot coffee and tea. Exercise your judgment on other foods: those sitting at room temperature, and/or uncovered, foods requiring refrigeration, foods sitting out in the open sun (such as items in an open air market). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control publishes Health Information for International Travelers, a yearly update on health vaccinations and other health issues. Other pamphlets are Before you Travel, Health Concerns for International Travel, and Self-Care.
Facts on Obtaining Academic CreditThe best option is to start at the university, government agency, school, or business which you anticipate accepting your foreign course work for credit. Hundreds of academic institutions routinely accept course work done at various schools for credit or equivalency clock hours. Check with your director of international programs, study abroad advisor, department chair, employee relations supervisor, academic dean, or registrar. If you're working with a state agency, see the director of license renewal, crediting department, or in service coordinator. A relationship may already be set up between your school, business, or agency and the foreign school.If a relationship is not pre-established, you may find that coursework/credit transfer can be accomplished provided you bring back a complete portfolio of your foreign course materials (copies of homework assignments, course exercises, quizzes, tests, foreign instructor progress reviews/evaluations, etc.) - or take an equivalency test upon your return. Your institution may have provisions for guided reading courses, independent study, or work experience courses which award credit even if the program is taken overseas. Plan ahead and do some research into possible alternatives.If you're coordinating an international credit transfer, get a written policy statement before you travel abroad. lt's imperative that there be no misunderstanding as to your academic and credit objectives. Most institutions will not accept credit transfer unless defined and agreed upon in advance.In theUnited States , if your university or employer does not accept credit transfer from a foreign school, it may accept credit transfer from anotherU.S. U.S. U.S. An additional option is to get a transcript or certificate of attendance from the foreign school. Be aware, credit issued does not imply credit accepted. Translated this means that earning the credit does not mean that it will be accepted by an institution in your country. Each country has its own unique system of educating and measuring levels of education.Foreign schools will NOT be familiar with your credit transfer requirements, so it is your responsibility to advise the administration when you arrive at the foreign center as to what you will need and when. Make sure you have all the necessary documentation before leaving the foreign center, so things won't get "lost in the mail." Be prepared to pay an administrative service fee for your transcript and possible photocopies of papers, tests, etc.The key to a successful credit transfer is research and planning ahead.Culture Shock & The Problem Of Adjustment To New Cultural Environments
(An editorial by Dr. Lalervo Oberg; Anthropologist; Health, Welfare and Housing Division;United States OperationsMission toBrazil I would like to make a few remarks about culture shock, a malady which afflicts most of us to some degree. We might almost call culture shock an occupational disease of many people who have been suddenly transplanted abroad.Customs, Cues, NormsCulture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse. These signs are the thousand and one ways in which we orient ourselves to the situations of daily life: when to shake hands and what to say when we meet people, when and how to give tips, how to give orders to servants, how to make purchases, when to accept and when to refuse invitations, when to take statements seriously and when not.These cues, which may be words, gestures, facial expressions, customs, or norms are acquired by all of us in the course of growing up and are as much a part of our culture as the language we speak or the beliefs we accept. All of us depend for our peace of mind and our efficiency on hundreds of these cues, most of which are unconsciously learned.When an individual enters a strange culture, all or most of these familiar cues are removed. He or she is like a fish out of water. No matter how broad-minded or full of good will he may be, a series of props have been knocked from under him. This is followed by a feeling of frustration and anxiety. People react to the frustration in much the same way. First they reject the environment which causes the discomfort: "the ways of the host country are bad because they make us feel bad."For example Americans who are in a strange land get together to grouse about the host country and its people, you can be sure they are suffering from culture shock.Another phase of culture shock is regression. The home environment suddenly assumes a tremendous importance, everything becomes irrationally glorified. All difficulties and problems are forgotten and only the good things back home are remembered. It usually takes a trip home to bring one back to reality.SymptomsSome of the symptoms of culture shock are: excessive concern over cleanliness and the feeling that what is new and strange is "dirty." This could be in relation to drinking water, food, dishes, and bedding; fear of physical contact with attendants or servants; a feeling of helplessness and a desire for dependence on long-term residents of one's own nationality; irritation over delays and other minor frustrations out of proportion to their causes; delay and outright refusal to learn the language of the host country; excessive fear of being cheated, robbed, or injured; great concern over minor pains and irruptions of the skin; and finally, that terrible longing to be back home, to be in familiar surroundings, to visit one's relatives, and, in general, to talk to people who really "make sense."Individuals differ greatly in the degree in which culture shock affects them. Although not common, there are individuals who cannot live in foreign countries. Those who have seen people go through a serious case of culture shock and on to a satisfactory adjustment can discern steps in the process.The Honeymoon StageDuring the first few weeks most individuals are fascinated by the new. They stay in hotels and associate with nationals who speak their language and are polite and gracious to foreigners. This honeymoon stage may last from a few days or weeks to six months depending on circumstances. If one is a very important person he or she will be taken to the show places, pampered and petted, and in a press interview will speak glowingly about progress, goodwill, and international amity. If he returns home may well write a book about his pleasant if superficial experience abroad.But this "Cook's tour" type of mentality does not normally last if the foreign visitor remains abroad and has to seriously cope with real conditions of life. It is then that the second stage begins, characterized by a hostile and aggressive attitude towards the host country. This hostility evidently grows out of the genuine difficulty which the visitor experiences in the process of adjustment. There is maid trouble, school trouble, language trouble, house trouble, transportation trouble, shopping trouble, and the fact that people in the host country are largely indifferent to all these troubles. They help but they just don't understand your great concern over these difficulties. Therefore, they must be insensitive and unsympathetic to you and your worries. The result, "I just don't like them." You become aggressive, you band together with your fellow countrymen and criticize the host country, its ways and its people.This criticism is not an objective appraisal but a derogatory one. Instead of trying to account for conditions as they are through an honest analysis of the actual conditions and the historical circumstances which have created them, you talk as if the difficulties you experience are more or less created by the people of the host country for your special discomfort. You take refuge in the company of your countrymen and this cocktail circuit becomes the fountainhead of emotionally charged labels knows as stereotypes. This is a peculiar kind of shorthand which caricatures the host country and its people in a negative manner.StereotypesThe "dollar grasping American" and the "indolent Latin American" are samples of mild forms of stereotypes. The use of stereotypes may salve the ego of someone with a severe case of culture shock but it certainly does not lead to any genuine understanding of the host country and its people. This second stage of culture shock is in a sense a crisis in the disease. If you overcome it you stay, if not, you leave before you reach the stage of a nervous breakdown.Culture shock is lessened as the visitor succeeds in getting some knowledge of the language and begins to get around by himself. This is the beginning of his adjustment to the new cultural environment. The visitor still has difficulties but he takes a "this is my cross and I have to bear it" attitude. Usually in this stage the visitor takes a superior attitude toward people of the host country. His sense of humor begins to exert itself. Instead of criticizing he makes jokes about the people and even cracks jokes about his or her own difficulties. He or she is now on the way to recovery. And there is still the poor devil who is worse off than yourself whom you can help, which in turn gives you confidence in your ability to speak and get around.Final adjustmentIn the final stage of adjustment the visitor accepts the customs of the country as just another way of living. He can operate within the new milieu without a feeling of anxiety although there are moments of strain. Only with a complete grasp of all the cues of social intercourse will this strain disappear.For a long time the individual will understand what the national is saying, but he is not always sure what the national means. With a complete adjustment you not only accept the foods, drinks, habits, and customs but actually begin to enjoy them. When you go back home on leave you may even take things back with you and if you leave for good you generally miss the country and the people to whom you have become accustomed.It might be well to point out that the difficulties which the newcomer experiences are very real. If individuals come to a tropical area from a temperate one they quite often suffer from intestinal disturbances. Strange foods sometimes upset people. InRio , for instance, water and power shortages are very real. When these physical difficulties are added to those arising from not knowing how to communicate and the uncertainties presented by customs the consequent frustrations and anxieties are understandable.In the course of time, an individual makes this adjustment. You do what is essential about water, food, and the other minutiae of daily life. You adapt yourself to water and power shortages and to traffic problems. In short, the environment does not change. What has changed is your attitude towards it. Somehow it no longer troubles you, you no longer project your discomforts onto the people of the host country and their ways. You get along under a new set of living conditions.Your attitudeAnother important point worth considering is the attitude of others to a person suffering from culture shock. If you are frustrated and have an aggressive attitude to the people of the host country, they will sense this hostility and in many cases respond in either a hostile manner or try to avoid you. In other words, their response moves from a preliminary phase of ingratiation to aggressive ridicule and on to avoidance.To your own countrymen who are well adjusted you become somewhat of a problem. As you feel weak in the face of the host country people you tend to wish to increase your dependence on your fellow countrymen much more than is normal. Some will try to help you, others will try to avoid you.The better your fellow countryman understands your condition the better he is able to help you. But the difficulty is that culture shock has not been studied carefully enough for people to help you in an organized manner and you continue to be considered a bit queer - until you adjust yourself to the new situation.Although I am not certain, I think culture shock affects wives more than husbands. The husband has his professional duties to occupy him and his activities may not differ too much from what he has been accustomed to. The wife, on the other hand, has to operate in an environment which differs much more from the milieu in which she grew up.A product of historyIn an effort to get over culture shock, I think there is value in knowing something about the nature of culture and its relationship to the individual. In addition to living in a physical environment, an individual lives in a cultural environment consisting of manmade physical objects, social institutions, and ideas and beliefs.An individual is not born with culture but only with the capacity to learn it and use it. There is nothing in a new born child which dictates that it should eventually speak Portuguese, English, or French, nor that he eat with a fork in his left hand rather than in the right, or use chop sticks. All these things the child has to learn. Nor are the parents responsible for the culture which they transmit to their young. The culture of any people is the product of history and is built up over time largely through processes which are, as far as the individual is concerned, beyond his awareness. It is by means of culture that the young learn to adapt themselves to the physical environment and to the people with whom they associate.As we know, children and adolescents often experience difficulties in this process of learning and adjustment. But once learned, culture becomes a way of life, the sure, familiar, largely automatic way of getting what you want from your environment and as such it also becomes a value.People have a way of accepting their culture as both the best and the only way of doing things. This is perfectly normal and understandable. To this attitude we give the name ethnocentrism, a belief that not only the culture but the race and nation form the center of the world.Individuals identify themselves with their own group and its ways to the extent that any critical comment is taken as an affront to the individual as well as to the group. If you criticize my country, you are criticizing me. If you criticize me, you are criticizing my country.Along with this attitude goes the tendency to attribute all individual peculiarities as national characteristics. For instance, if an American does something odd or antisocial in a foreign country which back home would be considered a purely individual act, it is now considered a national trait.Instead of being censured as an individual, his country is censured. It is best to recognize that ethnocentrism is a characteristic of national groups. If a national criticizes some aspect of his own culture, the foreigner should listen but not enter into the criticism.The study of cultureSpecific cultures are products of historical development.Brazil and theUnited States In this case, however, the differences are not great, both cultures being parts of Western civilization. It might be useful to recognize here that the study of culture per se is not the study of individuals. Psychology is the study of individual personality. Sociology is the study of groups and group behaviors.The student of culture studies not human individuals but the interrelationships of culture forms like technologies, institutions, idea and belief systems. Hi is interested not so much in the study of culture as such, but its impact upon the individual under special conditions.Common elementsAny modern nation is a complex society with corresponding variations in culture. In composition it is made up of different ethnic groups, it is stratified into classes, it is differentiated into regions, it is separated into rural and urban settlements, each having its own distinctive cultural characteristics. Yet superimposed upon these differences are the common elements of official language, institutions, and customs which knit it together to form a nation.These facts indicate that it is not a simple matter to acquaint oneself with the culture of a nation. Similarly the culture of one's own nation is complex. It too, differs by region and class.Americans, for instance, who go abroad in various governmental and business capacities, are usually members of the middle class and carry the values and aspirations of this class, some of which are an accent on the practical or utilitarian - work as a means to personal success, and suspicion of personal authority.Accustomed to working in large hierarchical institutions like business corporations, governmental agencies, or scientific foundations which have a life of their own and persist in time, Americans tend to become impersonal. Individuals no matter how able are replaceable parts in these large institutions.A lack of understandingAn objective treatment of your cultural background and that of your new environment is important in understanding culture shock. There is a great difference in knowing what is the cause of your disturbance and not knowing.Once you realize that your trouble is due to your own lack of understanding of other people's cultural background and your own lack of the means of communication rather than the hostility of an alien environment, you also realize that you yourself can gain this understanding and these means of communication. And the sooner you do this, the sooner culture shock will disappear.The question now arises, what can you do to get over culture shock as quickly as possible? The answer is to get to know the people of that host country. But this you cannot do with any success without knowing the language, for language is the principal symbol system of communication.We all know that learning a new language is difficult, particularly to adults. This task alone is quite enough to cause frustration and anxiety, no matter how skillful the language teacher.But once you begin to be able to carry on a friendly conversation with your maid, your neighbor, or to go on shopping trips alone, you not only gain confidence and a feeling of power but a whole new world of cultural meanings open up for you. You begin to find out not only what and how people do things but also what their interests are.These interests people usually express by what they habitually talk about and how they allocate their time and money. Once you know this value or interest pattern it will be quite easy to get people to talk and to be interested in you. When we say people have no interests we usually admit the fact that we have not bothered to find out.At times it is helpful to be a participant observer by joining the activities of the people. This could be a carnival, a religious rite, or some economic activity. Yet the visitor should never forget that he or she is an outsider and will be treated as such. He should view this participation as role playing.Understanding the ways of the people is essential but this does not mean that you have to give up on your own. What happens is that you have developed two patterns of behavior.The source of painFinally a word on what your fellow countrymen can do to help you get over culture shock. Persons suffering from culture shock feel weak in the face of conditions which appear insufferable and it is natural for them to try to lean heavily on their compatriots.This may be irritating to the long-term resident, but he should be patient, sympathetic, and understanding. Although talking does not remove pain, a great deal is gained by having the source explained.Some of the steps toward a cure have been indicated. With patience and understanding, we can be reasonably sure that time, the great healer, will soon set things right.Information Worth Noting Before You PackFashion vs Comfort:Jewelry:Footwear:Laundry:General:If you'll be traveling to a country that has altitude fluctuations or temperature extremes, plan on layering clothes (i.e. turtleneck, flannel shirt, nylon wind breaker, light t-shirt, shirt/blouse, sweater combinations). You can peel off layer-by-layer as the day warms - replacing each layer in the evening. Most countries do not have central air/heat, so you'll feel the temperature changes more.Items the streamlined traveler often does without include pajamas and nightgowns (a t-shirt will do); bathrobe (a raincoat will serve just fine); fancy clothes and expensive jewelry.The ideal raincoat is crushable, dark in color so that it never shows dirt and looks great on you at any given time. Raincoats that can be folded, rolled and stuffed into your suitcase or carry-on are ideal.Bring a hat. A beret or wool hat for cold weather, a crushable hat with a visor or baseball cap for sunny climates.The black rubber galoshes people wear over their shoes are perfect for traveling because they take up little room in your suitcase, will save you from wet, uncomfortable shoes, and are easy to tote around daily in case of a sudden rain storm.Traveling Clothes:Knits are also ideal. A jogging suit is also comfortable on the plane (but carry a change of clothing in your carry-on).People & CultureBargainingOne should generally expect to bargain in curiosity shops, open air/flea markets, and smaller specialty shops. There are places where the overeager tourists only make fools or nuisances of themselves in their desire to haggle with everyone (i.e., supermarkets, large stores which indicate fixed prices, and some areas of a market (the meat section where prices are standardized)). As a visitor to a foreign land, you should be aware of this. You should realize that the one cent reduction for which you bargain so cleverly is of more importance to the seller than it could be to you. In most countries, business hours for shops, stores, and businesses range from9 A .M. to 4 or 5 P.M. with evening hours (open to 8:30 P.M. or so) only one night a week. In some countries, there are closures for several hours during midday. You will not find many things open on Sundays. Banks have even shorter hours, closing between 2-3 P.M. with no Saturday or Sunday hours. (Some major banks inGreat Britain Business HoursIn most countries, business hours for shops, stores, and businesses range from9 A .M. to 4 or 5 P.M. with evening hours (open to 8:30 P.M. or so) only one night a week. In some countries, there are closures for several hours during midday. You will not find many things open on Sundays. Banks have even shorter hours, closing between 2-3 P.M. with no Saturday or Sunday hours. (Some major banks inGreat Britain ElectricityInMexico and Central and South American countries, electricity is the same as in theUnited States Great Britain Great Britain US Time ZonesIn Europe: Greenwich Mean Time:Iceland ,Ireland ,Great Britain andPortugal are five hours ahead ofNew York Norway ,Sweden , and the bulk of the Continent, includingHungary , are six hours ahead ofNew York Finland ,Greece ,Cyprus , andTurkey are seven hours ahead ofNew York Europe goes on Daylight Savings Time from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in the September. (The U.S. DST runs from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. Use of the 24 hour clock is widespread, i.e. 1:00 P.M. is 13:00 and so on to midnight, 24:00. Mexico/the Americas: The same time zones that govern the U.S. also gauge time in countries to the south of the U.S., i.e., Mexico City is in Central Standard Time; Bogota, Columbia in EST.TelephoneIn most countries, there are separate booths for making local and international calls. Local booths are quite common, but international booths may take some looking for. They're quite easy to find in large hotels, pharmacies, and some larger stores and tourist attractions. "Telephone debit cards" are becoming common in some countries (they are very popular inJapan MailThere isn't an address in the world that isn't on someone's mail route. Receiving mail while abroad can take anywhere from 7-30 days. You can receive mail at General Delivery (the generally used term inEurope is Poste Restante) in any city, worldwide, usually at the main post office. Mail should be addressed thus: Name, General Delivery, City, Country, Postal Code (if any). If it's important, you can always use any of the various services which guarantee overnight or second day delivery (including the post office) with a high price tag.Tourist InformationYou should be able to find tourist information booths at airline and train stations, major squares in cities, near or in the center of a city, near city hall and local government offices, around major tourist attractions, and close to some main cathedrals. Here you can find street and transit maps, basic brochures on the sights, an up-to-date calendar of what's happening, and advice on restaurants and hotels. Most tourist information centers are open normal business hours.ToiletsPublic toilets can be hard to find and toilet paper downright scarce (you'll eventually decide to carry some with you). Sometimes it's disposed in the bowl, sometimes in a waste basket and usually very little is used.Getting Around: General InformationThe first thing to realize is that virtually everything abroad will be different from your hometown. Appreciate that, take some lime to learn the "system" and you'll have fun and avoid frustration.The school staff (and your family) can provide a wealth of information on the city and what's happening, but you need to ask them for it. Remember that they live where you're visiting - they're not taxis, translators, or tourist offices. Because of cultural differences they probably won't volunteer much, but if you ask them for the information, they will direct you where to go. Also, ask fellow students for advice and tips.Your next stop will be the tourist offices, often operating out of City Hall, or kiosks near typical tourist sites. Find the closest one to you and make a point of visiting it. You should be able to pick up information on city bus and walking tours, local transportation, current event calendars, schedules of upcoming celebrations, brochures on the sights, tips on good restaurants, plus much more.Consider taking a city tour that will point out places of interest, give you an idea of layout, neighborhoods and provide some background and history.Public Transport... If you will be spending time on your own, get a map of the bus or subway lines and find out if you can purchase weekly or monthly passes. If you aren't familiar with the language yet, ask an English speaker to explain the local public transportation system to you. Certain seats on public transport may be reserved for pregnant women, war veterans, and disabled people. Usually there is a sign to indicate this. If people are standing, and there's an empty seat, don't assume they were saving it for you. Check for a sign indicating restricted use.Cabs... Before you enter a cab, talk to the driver and size him up. Tell him where you are going and ask him to estimate the cost. If the driver will not tell you, or complains about taking you there, or looks unsavory, get another cab. Before getting into a cab, it helps to have some ideas of the best route to your destination and what the fare should be. Ask your host or hostess, hotel desk clerk, concierge, or at a tourist information booth, or look at a map. The more knowledgeable you appear to be, the less likely that you will be driven out of your way. You have the right to specify the route.Planning Your Air TravelTraveling by air offers you a multitude of choices. With a little research and by asking the right questions when you have the airline on the phone, you should be able to find a reasonable airfare that meets with your travel schedule and study plans.There may be many different prices for the exact same seat on an airplane. Each airfare is identified by a different code letter, i.e.: Q, L, V, B, Y, etc. Each letter code has different prices and different rules attached to it. For example, a Q fare may be a 30 days advanced purchase ticket which requires you fly Monday through Thursday, and stay a Saturday night. The guiding principle of all airfares is that the lower the fare, the more restrictions there will be, including high cancellation penalties.Charter flights may be less expensive than regularly scheduled fares, but they can be risky, too. If you book a charter flight, make sure the company you book with has an escrow account where your money stays until your trip is completed. This will offer you some protection if the charter company goes belly up before you've returned home.Excursion fares toEurope might be an answer for you, but these are loaded with restrictions, one being you must purchase your ticket anywhere from 21 to 30 days prior to departure. You must usually stay a minimum of 7 days, and no more than 60 to 90 days. Plus, a safe bet is that you'll be penalized for changes made before and during your trip.You should telephone at least three, maybe more airlines to shop around for a good fare. The best time to call an airline is usually early morning or late at night.Write everything down - the airline, the name of the clerk, the date and time you called, the flight numbers, times and the cost. Find out if the flight is nonstop, direct, or requires a connection. If you cannot find a nonstop or direct flight, try to make your connecting flights with the same airline.Make sure you allow yourself enough time between flights if you need to change planes. It is not advisable to book a flight with less than 45 minutes for you to disembark and find the new gate. Airport security measures can bog you down when changing planes.Airfares are subject to change without notice, but once you pay for your ticket the airline cannot make you pay more if there is a fare increase. If the price of your ticket in the same letter class goes down you may be eligible for a refund. Changing your flights and rearranging your schedule for a slightly less airfare may be more trouble than you think, considering that change penalties may apply.There are many good reasons to purchase your ticket with a credit card, one being that it will be easier to get a refund if your flight is canceled. American Express offers free flight and baggage insurance when you use the card to charge your airline ticket.Many airlines allow you to get your seat assignment, boarding pass, and meal request ahead of time, some up to 90 days in advance. If you are traveling at holiday time, or at peak vacation times, having your seat assignment and boarding pass early will help save you time in checking in at the airline counter.If you've purchased your ticket through a travel agency, try to pick up your ticket at least two weeks prior to departure. Have the travel agent secure your seat assignment and boarding pass when booking your flight.Travel DocumentsPassports: For most nationalities, a valid passport is required to travel abroad or for European countries outside of the EU.If you don't have a passport, inquire at your main post office or courthouse for requirements on how to obtain one. Allow two months for processing. In an emergency, you may be able to get a passport within days, directly from a Passport Office (call the U.S. Government information operator for a location nearest you), or through a passport service. Visa and passport expediting agencies charge a fee. Ask your travel agent for local services.Make several copies of your passport ID page and other travel documents and leave one copy with a relative at home and bring two copies along with you, keeping them in separate places. Once you arrive at your destination, you may want to pack your passport in a safe place and carry one of the copies along with you.You can register your passport at your country's embassy office upon your arrival in a foreign country if you chose to do so. This greatly expedites the process if your passport is lost or stolen.Visas: Some countries (Taiwan ,Brazil Health Inoculations: You may want to check with your local public health office or physician. Even though they are not required, they may be "recommended," especially if you are planning on traveling to remote areas.Other Documents may be needed if:- You are a minor (under age 18) traveling alone. For example, minors traveling to
Mexico - Your passport has a different (maiden) name.
- You are taking children other than your own.
- You will be visiting countries other than the country in which you're studying; etc. Most countries require "evidence of sufficient funds for your length of stay" and a return or continuing ticket.
Please Note: Some countries require that your passport be valid at least 6 months beyond the date of your visit to that country.It is your responsibility to have the proper documents. Verify that there has been no "document change" when you call the airlines to confirm your flight at least 72 hours before your departure.Lodging - General InformationThere are a variety of lodging options offered by schools around the world. University residences of a rather high standard are the norm inBritain Joining In: Most foreign schools provide a brief homestay orientation when you check in at the school and/or are transferred to your homestay. If not, talk to your host directly and ask what's expected of you. Courtesy and common sense should be your guide. Always ask your host when you have a question.Meals: Food and meal times will be different. Some research on your part will help you get better acquainted. If your homestay includes meals, you should expect a range of possibilities from regional specialties to family recipes to sampling local treats. It's important to be flexible, as each host may have meals scheduled around many people. Breakfast may be very early, the main meal may be at midday with a very light dinner or an earlier evening meal (akin to a continental breakfast). Adjust and enjoy. Generally, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages are not served with meals.Your Room: You should attempt to keep your room clean and tidy. Make sure you dust off all including tables, dessers. Ask your host for supplies you may need. Wash cloths are seldom used abroad are frequently thin. (If that's an issue, consider bringing your own). Your host may come in and do some basic straightening up, or just weekly to change sheets. Don't leave valuables or money lying around where it can be a temptation to younger children. Items left locked in a suitcase or out-of-sight should not be a concern.Laundry: Laundry service is rarely included. If hosts offer to do it for you, assume there is an additional cost. Sometimes it's easier to use a commercial laundry or laundromat. At commercial laundries, check costs first and ask if they separate clothes or wash everything in the bag together.Keys: Most families will provide you with a front door key. This means you should be able to come and go as you please, within reason. You will be responsible for your key and if you lose it you will be charged for changing the locks and making extra keys. Always lock (avoid slamming) doors when leaving.Telephone Service: Please do not ask to make long distance calls from your host's home. Check with your host to see if you may give their number to your family and friends, but they should only call you in an emergency. In some foreign countries, local calls are "time charged," which means that charges could be incurred even on incoming calls. Ask before making outgoing calls. Be brief and (if applicable) be prepared to reimburse metering charges. In some areas, there is a surcharge on collect calls and a hefty tax on long distance calls, sometimes exceeding 100%!Guests: Please do not bring guests to your foreign home unless first checking with your host, as it infringes on the family's privacy. Never plan on taking guests of the opposite sex to your room.Absences: If you will not be home for a meal, are planning on staying out late, or are going away on a day-trip with an overnight, please let your hosts know. Your family is concerned about your well-being and may worry about you.Friendship: As each family is different, each student undergoes a different homestay experience. Usually friendly, enthusiastic students tend to create a friendly, positive atmosphere. In these cases, families often include students in social activities, family outings, etc.Gifts: A small gift such as chocolate, ice cream, or a dessert to share at dinner always makes a nice gesture towards your family. If you have a good relationship, you might volunteer to wash dishes or cook a special meal. Some past participants suggest bringing a small present from home - hard candy, music cassettes, unusual local spices, lighters, etc. with logos of sports teams, pictures of your home, hometown, etc. (pictures make good conversation openers). Fresh flowers from the local market, or inviting your family to a movie or cafe can also be a welcome "thank you."Generalities are problematic, especially when discussing homes which are all unique. However, to generalize... Homestays in smaller towns, less wealthy countries, and for longer stays tend to foster more personal relationships (tend to feel less commercial). Approaching homestays in a friendly, cooperative spirit significantly improves their outcome (like most things in life!). The more traditional the society, the greater likelihood of having extended family members and children in the household (and within countries traditional values tend to be stronger in towns than cities).Arrival Times: Try to arrive at the host home during daylight - and definitely plan on being there before 9:00 P.M. Either before departure, enroute, or upon arrival at the destination airport, telephone the home to make sure someone will be there when you arrive (not at the store, on an errand, or out for the evening). If you're delayed enroute, contact them (or the emergency number for the school, if applicable) and advise your family of your new estimated time of arrival.Payments: It is best to avoid discussing financing with hosts. For virtually all programs, your housing payment goes to the school and from there to the family. If there are misunderstandings, talk to the housing coordinator at the school.Do not loan money or make investments. Families do not refund missed meals or weekends out of town. Appreciate that food and utilities generally cost more abroad than at home and foreign hosts are paid relatively little. Most participants recognize this and are prepared to accept local norms, conserve on utilities, and eat what the hosts eat. Be prepared to buy a few things on your own (some participants comment on getting different brands of soap, toilet paper, or a higher watt light bulb).Conserving energy is high priority in most countries. Lights don't burn in rooms that aren't being used, air conditioning and central heating are rare (most rooms have individual heaters), and quick showers are the norm (not long, hot baths). Many areas are subject to water shortages. Some sewage systems are antiquated (resulting in toilet paper going in a dispenser, not down the bowl). Electric rates are often indexed (a little increase produces a whopping bill). Observe the different realities and adjust accordingly. Exercising conservation and consideration of these amenities abroad will be appreciated by your foreign host family.Express an interest in the family and culture, and the family will extend themselves as much as possible to make you a member of the household. Making yourself familiar with the foreign customs and adapting yourself to their lifestyle and culture will help bridge the cultural gap between you and your hosts.Occasionally students have complained that they had little contact with their family. Most foreign cultures have a great deal of respect for the liberties of all persons, and some families may be unsure if they are "bothering" students by trying to converse with them.It is not reasonable that your hosts be expected to change their lifestyle or their daily routine during your visit.Financial PlanningWhen preparing a budget for your learning vacation abroad, use your budget at home as a guide - and then prepare for things to cost even more than you expect. Do some research on costs and seek out someone who has knowledge of day-to-day costs in the country you'll be visiting. Remember that at least for the first few weeks you may not know where to find the "best" value and you shouldn't let this stress you out.Start with the trip costs you know, i.e., airfare, tuition, housing, etc. Then make a list of things you know you'll need additional money for. Include estimates for local and regional transportation (bus fare to/from school, plus just getting around), meals outside of the home, books and materials (required or optional) at the school, sightseeing and entertainment, laundry and clothing purchases, souvenirs, phone calls, snacks, tips, newspapers, beverages, airport taxes, medical expenses, and emergency money.Finally, list the costs of items you may need to purchase before you leave. This category is the easiest to budget, because making sensible purchases prior to departure may leave you more money to spend on things you want abroad.Don't buy a new travel wardrobe or new luggage (unless you need it). You're not going on vacation . . . you're going to a foreign country to live and learn with the people, so you'll want to dress appropriately and blend in. Fancy clothes and expensive luggage may target you for crime. Only buy things that will add to your comfort.Your "Emergency" budgetary amount should be substantial and flexible. If all goes well and you don't dip into it, you can either spend it lavishly on yourself, or save it for next time. It should be based on the fact that something can go wrong and you should be prepared for it. This could mean you need it for an emergency night's lodging, a medical bill, something to wear if your luggage gets lost, or anything else that could and might happen.Sitting down with your personal banker and discussing your plans to travel abroad may be smartest thing you do. By planning ahead, both for enjoyment and emergencies, you'll travel with a lighter conscience and have a great trip. Your personal banker should be able to answer almost every financial question you may have, covering a wide spectrum of topics: conversion and exchange rates, traveler's checks, using your ATM card abroad, credit card use, wiring funds, amenities provided by credit cards and various traveler's checks, and much more. They may even be able to set up a plan of action for a financial emergency. If something does happen, a long distance phone call to your banker could set the plan in motion for you and you'll be better off.Research ChecklistAs a foreigner in another country, you might feel more comfortable if you research the following subjects, keeping in mind the city, region, and country you'll be visiting. One more thing to keep in mind is your gender, as custom and courtesy relate differently between men and women in most foreign countries.1. Forms of greeting and gestures2. Courtesy, general attitudes3. Eating in the home and at restaurants (meal times, table manners, typical diet, etc.)4. Local dress5. Population of the city and country6. Religion7. The family structure including views on dating and marriage8. Customs9. Social and economic levels10. Work hours and hours of doing business11. Art, craft, dance, music, theater, etc.12. Local, regional, and religious holidays13. Forms of recreation, sports14. Land, climate, weather15. Past and present relations with theUnited States 16. History17. Current government18. Economy, the value of a U.S. dollar, exchange rates, etc.19. Education20. Transportation21. Tipping and other forms of compensation
中国历史
1、已知的在中国境内生活的最古老的原始人类，是“元谋猿人”。在中国云南省元谋盆地发现的颗古人类牙齿化石，经科学鉴定，距今约有70多万年了。
2、约70——20万年前，“北京猿人”（简称“北京人”），生活在北京周口店龙骨山的洞穴里。
山顶洞人复原胸像
3、北京人（右图）已经知道使用天然火。人类第一次取得了支配一种自然力的能力。
4、到了大约18000年前，仍然在北京周口店龙骨山里，生活着一批被称作 “山顶洞人”的远古人类。他们已经具有明显的黄种人的体态特征。
5、山顶洞人不仅会人工取火，而且制造出了中国缝制工艺史上的第一枚骨针，骨针约同火柴棍般粗细，长82毫米。
6、距今六七千年前，中国出现了古老的彩陶文化和黑陶文化。
7、陕西西安半坡文化的彩陶，十分精美。人面网纹盆上各种纹饰，是原始美术、原始文字和原始艺术的结晶。
8、山东龙山文化的黑陶，乌黑光亮，有着金属器皿一样的光泽。
9、长江流域的浙江省余姚市河姆渡文化，与黄河流域的半坡文化同样古老，7000年前那里的人们已经会用大型木构件建筑房屋。
10、大约4000多年前，发生了一些部落战争。黄帝是其中一个部落的首领，因为他深得人心又聪明勇敢，取得了最后胜利。
11、在古老的华夏族逐渐形成的过程中，黄帝发挥了重要的作用，黄帝也就被后世尊为华夏族（即中华民族前身）的“人文初祖”。司母戊大方鼎
12、黄帝之后，中华民族先后又出现了几位杰出的人物：尧、舜、禹。尧禅位于舜，舜禅位于禹。
13、尧舜禹的时代，洪水泛滥成灾。大禹奉命治水，终于治服了洪水。
14、后来，禹的儿子启继承了王位，建立了第一个奴隶制王朝夏朝（约公元前22世纪公元前17世纪）。
15、相传在4000多年前的夏朝，就开始有了历法，所以人们都把中国古老的传统历法叫夏历。
16、夏历是按月亮的运行周期制订的，又叫阴历。由于历法中有节气变化和农事安排，所以又称农历。
司母戊大方鼎
17、夏朝最后一个统治者桀，暴虐无道。东方的商部落，在汤的领导下强大起来，打败了夏建立商朝（约公元前17世纪初——公元前11世纪）。
18、商朝的青铜器制造业有很大的发展。商朝后期制造的 司母戊大方鼎重达875公斤，是迄今为止发现的世界上最大的出土青铜器。（右图）
19、商代的甲骨文是刻在龟甲兽骨上的一种古代文字，已经是相当成熟的文字了。在殷墟出土的15万片刻 有文字的甲骨中，总字数达到160多万字，其中有单字4600多个，已识别的有1000多个。
20、商代末期，在黄土高原上，一个叫“周”的部落强 盛起来。到周文王时，周国成了西方诸侯的新盟主。
21、商朝最后的统治者纣王好酒淫乐。周武王时，周联合其他部落讨伐商朝，经过牧野之战，推翻了商朝，建立了周朝（约公元前11世纪公元前256年）。
22、周朝建立后，分封了大大小小71个小国，有鲁、齐、魏、晋、宋、燕等。这些小国的国君叫诸侯。
23、西周前期180多年，中原一带产生了许多大型乐舞。祭祀山川时用的是表现大禹治水的《大夏》舞，纪念武王伐纣功绩的武舞是《大武》舞。
24、公元前770年，周平王将都城东迁，名为“东周”。分为“春秋”、 “战国”两个时期。
25、春秋时期，100多个诸侯国林立，互相争夺，胜者成为霸主，出现了 “春秋五霸”，一般的说 法是齐桓公、晋文公、秦穆公、宋襄公、楚庄王。
26、公元前606年，楚庄王“问鼎大小轻重”。鼎是王权象征，传说大禹铸了九个鼎，代表九州。楚庄王问鼎，表明他有做天子的野心。
27、春秋中后期，吴越两国交恶。先是吴王阖庐战败受伤而死。其子吴王夫差立志报仇，让人每天高声提醒他：“夫差，你忘了杀父之仇了么？”后来，吴国在夫差的领导下打败了越国。
老 子 授 经 图
28、越王勾践决心雪耻。他“卧薪尝胆”，每天高声自问：“勾践，你忘了亡国的耻辱么？”越国经过十年生聚，十年教训，再次打败吴国，吴王夫差自杀。
29、约2500年前，中国出了位伟大的思想家——老子。老子是道家学派的创始人。（右图）
30、《道德经》又名《老子》，书里写着：祸有时会成为福的因由，福中有时藏伏着祸。因此要注意“物极必反”， 还要注意“道”“德”相长。
31、生活于公元前551——前479年的孔子是一位大思想家、大教育家，是儒家学派的创始人。
32、孔子最早在中国兴办私学，他有弟子三千人，贤者七十二人。
33、孔子为中国古代文化发展作出了不朽的贡献，他整理编订了《易》、《诗》、《礼》、《乐》、老子授经图孙武像 《尚书》、《春秋》等 “六经”。
34、孔子享年73岁，死后葬在鲁国都城北边（今山东曲阜“孔林”处）。孔子故居后来改建为“孔庙”。
孙武像35、孔子的学生们追忆孔子日常教诲和生活行为，整理成一部语录体书，称作《论语》，这部书成为儒家的经典，对后世有很大影响。
36、孙武，是春秋未期一位杰出的军事家。传世有著名的兵书《孙子兵法》十三篇。（左图）
37、《孙子兵法》提出了著名的“ 知彼知已，百战不殆”、“攻其不备，出其不意”、“兵无常势，水无常形”等许多战争原则。
38、《孙子兵法》的根本宗旨在于：精通战争的目的是为了“不战而屈人之兵”。《孙子兵法》因此被称为“兵学圣典”，并被广泛应用于政治、外交、商战、体育等领域。
39、《孙膑兵法》是另一位杰出的军事家，战国时期的孙膑所著，孙膑是孙武的后代。
40、齐将田忌与齐王赛马屡败。孙膑教田忌改用自己的下等马对齐王的上等马，败一场；再用自己的上等马、中等马分别与齐王的中等马、下等马对阵，田忌胜二场，总比分2：1，田忌胜。“孙膑赛马”是一个很著名的策略。
41、战国时期开始后，各个诸侯国都和周王一样，自称为王，其中的七个强国号称“战国七雄”，他们展开了“兼天下”、“一宇内”的战争。
42、春秋战国时期，中国盛行“钟鼓之乐”。近年在湖北随县曾侯乙墓中，出土了124件古代乐器。
43、在出土的钟鼓乐器中，有一套大型编钟，最为珍贵。这套编钟在地下埋藏了2400余年，现在仍能以准确的音调、优美的音色演奏古今乐曲。（右图）
44、中国古代第一个享有盛誉的名医，是春秋战国后期的民间医生扁鹊 。
45、扁鹊精通各种医术，又总结前人方法，创造了望、闻、问、切的四诊法，几千年来一直为中国传统医学所采用。
46、“百家争鸣”是春秋战国时期的一场激烈的思想交锋，战国争雄激烈之时，也是百家争鸣鼎盛之际。
47、秦在公元前770年才被封为中国西部的一个诸侯国，疆域较小，国力不盛，始终被中原诸侯鄙视。但自从实行了商鞅变法后，国势蒸蒸日上，很快成为战国七雄中的强国。
48、公元前238年，雄才大略的 秦王赢政，开始亲理朝政，经过短短的17年，灭其他六国，于公元前221 年统一了中国，建立了秦朝 。
49、秦灭六国后，赢政称“皇帝”，意即“德过三皇，功高五帝”。
50、为尽快改变春秋战国500多年分裂造成的各种混乱，巩固秦王朝的统一，秦始皇下令统一币制，使用 圆形方孔的秦“半两”钱，作为全国统一的货币。
51、秦始皇还下诏统一度量衡 ，并继续采取一系列措施，如“修弛道，车同轨 ，书同文”，来巩固秦 万里长城 秦王朝的政权。
52、中国古文字中，最早有 甲骨文、 金文，西周时期有 大篆（籀文），战国时期有蝌蚪文（古文）。 此外一些诸侯国还有各自不同的文字。
万里长城53、秦统一后，规定小篆为统一字体，通行全国，后来，秦朝出现了一种更加便于书写的隶书，这 种字体从汉朝起在官方和民间通行，至今仍在广泛使用。
54、秦、赵、燕等北方诸侯国，为抵御北部游牧民族的入侵，曾分别修筑过长城。 秦始皇统一中国 后，下令把不相衔接的各段长城连成一体，再向东西延伸，全长达1万多华里，号称万里长城。长城大都修筑在高山峻岭之上，易守难攻。（左图）
55、公元前209年，陈胜、吴广领导了一次声势浩大的农民起义；公元前206年，秦朝被刘邦领导的武装力量推翻了。
56、项羽和刘邦为争夺帝位，进行了四年的楚汉战争。
57、在发生于巨鹿的一次大战中，项羽命士兵砸破锅鼎，凿沉船只（“破釜沉舟”），只带三天口粮，以示决战必胜的决心。结果项羽的军队九战九捷，立下首功，分封天下，自称为 “西楚霸王”。
58、刘邦曾与秦朝关中父老 “约法三章”：“杀人者死，伤人及盗抵罪”，并且下令废除秦朝全部苛法，明令禁止犒军扰民。由于实施德政，得到广泛拥护，刘邦被封为“汉王”。
汉景帝 汉文帝
59、公元前202年，刘邦围项羽于垓下，项羽自刎。刘邦（汉高祖）建立西汉王朝（公元前206年—— 公元25年）。为顺应民心思安、期盼休养生息的现实，刘邦制定了各种减轻人民负担的政策，使社会 经济迅速发展起来。
60、汉高祖之后，汉文帝（右图右）、汉景帝（右图左）继续推行休养生息的政策。经过汉初六、七十年的努力，中国出现了政治升平、经济繁荣的盛世，史称“文景之治”。
61、汉武帝即位后，以其雄才大略，开拓西部疆域，建立起丰功伟业，使西汉进入鼎盛时期。 历史上把“秦皇汉武”并称，正是因为他们先后完成了中国统一、稳固发展的伟大事业。
62、西汉帝国的强大，使中原人不再被称为“秦人”，而通称 “汉人”、“汉族”了。
63、公元8年，王莽篡汉，改国号为“新”，但由于他施行暴政，引起赤眉、绿林军起义，隗嚣、 公孙述等拥兵自立。公元23年9月，绿林军攻入长安，王莽被杀。
64、刘秀是刘邦之后，王莽内乱时期起兵争夺天下，于公元25年重建东汉（公元25——220年）政权，定都洛阳，自号为“汉光武帝”，史称“光武中兴”。
65、养蚕抽丝、纺纱织绸，是5000多年前中国人的重大发明。公元前5——6世纪，丝绸传到西域。到了汉代，丝绸业已十分发达。纷至沓来的商队，把各种丝和丝织品运到了古罗马帝国，丝绸之路开始形成。
66、中国古代最早的纸实际上是一种丝织品，有一种帛（极薄的丝绸）在古代作为“纸”用。所以汉代以前就有许多帛书帛画。
67、到了 西汉早期，出现了用植物纤维制成的纸，如 絮纸、麻纸。
68、公元105年，东汉的蔡伦改进造纸术，发明价廉物美的 “蔡侯纸” 这种纸平整光滑，又薄又软，成本低廉，便于书写。
69、汉武帝为了巩固大一统的政权，提出“独尊儒术”，以孔子学说为核心内容的儒家思想开始占统治地位，并逐渐形成儒教。70、佛教在元前后丝绸之路由印度传到中国，对后世的中国文化产生深远影响。东汉时中国道教在民间兴起。
71、东汉将亡之际，刘备、曹操、孙权争夺天下，此后各种大小战争不断，著名的有官渡之战、赤壁之战，还有夷陵之战。最终的结果是形成三足鼎立的局面，史称三国（公元220——280 年）。
72、三国时期有几位彪炳史册的著名人物，如：诸葛亮是智慧的化身，曹操有雄才大略，关羽是忠义的英雄。他们受到后世中国人的尊崇。
73、晋朝（公元265——420年）时的炼丹家葛洪，在冶炼各种矿物的过程中，了解到一些矿物的性 质，总结出不少化学知识，他写的 《抱朴子》堪称一部原始化学的重要著作。
74、《水经》是汉朝桑钦的一部河道学专著，但记述过简，有缺漏。北朝（公元386——581年）郦道元以 此书为纲要，详加注释，取名《水经注》。
75、《水经注》记述了1252条水道河流，连许多历史事件、人物、传说神话、文物碑石等各种史迹故闻， 都有涉猎。全书30万字，是部综合性的地理学巨著。
76、王羲之是东晋（公元317——420年）杰出的书法家。据说他年轻时常临池写字，就池洗砚，使得池水尽黑，故有“墨池”之说，相关的名胜有多处，推浙江绍兴兰亭。
77、公元53年三月初三，王羲之等人在兰亭饮酒赋诗，共得佳作四十余篇，编为一集，王羲之亲为作序并书写，称为《兰亭序》（右图），是中国书法的绝代佳作。真迹惜已失传。
78、瓷器的制造工艺比较复杂，故瓷器的出现比陶器晚。从商周起才有原始青瓷。经过漫长的发展过程，到了东汉晚期，中国已能大批生产胎坚质细、色泽翠艳的青瓷。三国两晋时期，南方越窑所生产的青瓷最为有名。
79、从三国的吴国开始近400年间，连续有六个朝代在 南京建都，后人称南京为 “六朝古都”。
80、三国时代的大数学家刘徽，最早提出了圆周率的计算方法 “割圆术”。他从圆内接正多边形入手，求得圆周率的近似值为3.14159。
81、南朝的数学家祖冲之，得到小数点后七位数的圆周率在3.1415926和3.1415927之间。这比欧州 数学家计算出同精度的圆周率早了1000多年。
82、经过四、五百年战乱，公元581年隋朝建立，589年，隋文帝杨坚重新统一中国。
83、隋文帝是个明君，他励精图治，治国有方。十几年后，各地府库皆已盈满，无处再容纳粮食布帛。因此隋朝的典章制度后来都在唐朝得到继承，有的长期为后世沿用。
84、隋朝创立了科举制，后又设进士科。"科举”即分科举士，“进士”即晋仕之意。隋朝创立的科举制，沿袭1000多年，直到清末才终止。
85、隋朝时，中国经济的重心已开始南移，大量的粮食财富从南方运往全国，为此，公元605年，隋炀帝下令开凿贯通南北的大运河。
86、大运河以洛阳为中心，南至余杭（今浙江杭州市），北达涿郡（今北京通县），全长2000多公里，沿河修了堤道，栽种了柳树。
87、隋朝工匠李春营造的赵州桥（原名安济桥），是中国历史上最著名的石拱桥，也是世界上现存最古老的石拱桥。此桥的单孔大拱跨度为37.37米，完全用石块砌成。
李世民像
88、公元618年，唐朝(公元618 ——907年)建立。626年，李世民继位当了皇帝，即唐太宗（左图）。唐太宗十分注意安抚百姓，他经常引用古代荀子的话：“君者，舟也。庶人者，水也。水则载舟，水则覆舟”，以警醒自己，告诫朝廷官员。
89、中国历史上的帝王中，唐太宗最善于兼听纳谏。他鼓励臣下直言切谏，且常能屈己纳谏。
90、魏征是唐初名臣，他常说“兼听则明， 偏信则暗”。一生对皇帝据理力谏达200多次。
91、魏征病逝后，唐太宗惋惜不已，他说：“以铜为镜，可以正衣冠；以古为镜，可以知兴替；以人为镜，可以明得失。魏征没，朕亡一镜矣！”
唐玄宗李隆基
92、唐玄宗李隆基（右图）开元年间（公元713——741年），是中国古代历史上最为繁盛的时期，号称“开元盛世”。当时的都城长安（今陕西西安）有百万人口，各国的使节、商人、留学生数以万计。四方珍奇积聚，极盛极富。
93、唐朝廷在广州设市舶司（其长官称为市舶使），专管海外贸易。
94、唐代开始，东南沿海许多商人纷纷扬帆出海。他们每年九、十月间，乘着东北季风南下东南亚各国经商，待来年三、四月间再随着东南季风“回唐山”。这些在东南亚“住蕃”和移民的“唐人”，成为最早的华侨 。
95、唐后，许多国家都把盛唐的中国人及华侨称为“唐人”，他们聚居的地方就成了唐人街。
96、唐朝多才子，更多有不屈不挠舍生取义之士。著名者如玄奘只身徒步往天竺（印度）取经，过沙漠、翻雪山，越丛山峻岭，闯林莽沼泽，九死一生，历时19年，行程5万华里。
97、唐朝天宝初年，鉴真和尚乘船五渡东海挫败，几度死里逃生，历经12年磨难，虽双目失明，信念仍不减当年，六渡沧海终于成功，终老日本，成为一代宗师。
98、唐贞观十五年，文成公主远嫁西藏，带去许多工匠、技艺、典籍、物种，对西藏的开发起到积极作用。
99、 武则天是中国历史上唯一的女皇帝，她改国号为“周”。武则天富权略，能用人，掌握政权达40余年，死后，唐中宗复位。
100、唐玄宗早期政治清明，任用贤相，称为开元盛世，但晚年因宠爱杨贵妃，酿成“安史之乱”，长安沦陷，从此唐朝由盛而衰，一蹶不振。
101、唐朝工匠用各种矿物烧制出青、绿、黄三种艳丽的彩色陶器，所以叫唐三彩（左图）。唐三彩作品多为人物或动物俑，个个造型生动，栩栩如生，为艺术珍品。
102、唐代的绘画风格十分注重线条的变化，不论是凡人常物，还是云中的飞天神仙、反弹琵琶的歌女舞妓，都给人以“天风飞扬，满壁风动”、“毛根出肉，力健有余”的美感。
103、唐代天文学家中最有成就的是僧一行（原名张遂），他通过观测，证实了太阳的运行速度是不均匀的，时快时慢。僧一行还大规模实测了子午线的长度，这在世界上是第一次。
104、中国古代历史上有“六大古都”，它们分别是陕西西安、河南洛阳、江苏南京、北京（以上四地曾是几个朝代的都城）、河南开封和浙江杭州（分别是北宋和南宋的都城）。
105、唐朝时期，中国是东方最先进的国家，日本先后派了十多批遣唐使到中国学习，人数多时达五六百人。这些日本谴唐使回国以后，积极传播中国的社会制度和文化，促进了中日的友好关系和文化交流。
106、公元907年，唐朝节度使朱温废掉唐朝皇帝，建立梁朝，历史上称为后梁。此后的50多年里，后梁、后唐、后晋、后汉、后周五个朝代，相继统治黄河流域，合称五代（公元907——960年）。同一时期，在南方各地和北方的山西，先后出现了10个割据政权，总称十国。到公元960年，宋朝建立，五代十国的分裂局面结束。
107、公元960年，后周大将赵匡胤在陈桥驿（今河南开封东北）发动兵变，手下将士们把黄袍加到他身上，拥立他为皇帝，取国号为“宋”，定都在开封，历史上称为北宋（公元960——1127年）。赵匡胤就是宋太祖。
108、宋太祖为了巩固统治，采纳宰相赵普的建议，加强中央集权。他设酒宴，解除了石守信等人的兵权。这就是历史上有名的“杯酒释兵权”。
109、王安石是北宋著名的文学家和政治家，他被宋神宗任命为宰相后实行变法，整理财政和军政，称为“王安石变法”。后来由于司马光等人的强烈反对，变法维持不到十年就结束了。
110、北宋时期官员包拯，为官清廉，刚正不阿，人们把他当作清官的典型，尊称他为“包公”、“包青天”或“包龙图”。中国民间流传着许多有关包公的动人故事，表达了人们对他的敬仰之情。
111、五代十国时期，各地佛教盛行。宋朝时宋太祖下令雕版刻印《大藏经》,这是中国历史上第一次大规模印刷佛经。
112、中国古代的科学技术相当发达，火药、造纸、印刷术和指南针一起被称为中国古代的四大发明。
113、沈括是北宋时期的著名科学家，对天文、历法、音乐、医药、数学等很是精通。他在所著的《梦溪笔谈》一书中，记载了自己丰富的研究成果。此外，他还记录了当时劳动人民的许多发明创造，比较有名的如毕升发明活字印刷术等。
114、印刷术的发明和推广被誉为世界文明之母。北宋时期，毕升在雕版印刷的基础上发明了活字印刷，大大提高了印刷效率。大约200年后，这一技术传到其他国家，对世界文明的发展进程起到推动作用。
115、火药的发明与中国古代的炼丹术有密切关系。因为火药具有很强的杀伤力，唐朝末年，被广泛应用到军事上。宋元时期，火药技术有了更大的改进。后来火药的制造方法传到阿拉伯，又从阿拉伯传到欧洲各国。
116、在很早的时候，中国就发明了指南针。北宋时期，人们创造了适用于航海的指南针，把航海事业推向了新的时代。这一时期，中国的造船技术在世界上也最为先进。
117、北宋时期大量开采金、银、铜、铁等矿藏，铜钱是当时的本位货币，铸造量非常大，在今天东到日本、西至欧洲、非洲的广大地区都有出土。
118、两宋时期的制瓷业非常发达。宋瓷品种繁多，花纹秀丽，并大量出口海外，江西的景德镇已成为中国著名的瓷都。
119、宋朝时期，市场上流通货币以铜钱、铁钱、金银等金属货币为主。为了携带方便，北宋前期，四川地区出现“交子”，这是世界上最早的纸币，纸币的使用为商业繁荣提供了便利条件。
司马光像
120、宋代的针炙学和法医学成就突出，《洗冤集录》是中国第一部系统的法医学著作，比西方同类专著早了300多年。
121、司马光（右图）是北宋著名历史学家，他用了19年的时间编写的《资治通鉴》，是一部著名编年体通史，叙述了从战国到五代1300多年的历史。
122、宋朝末年，宋江领导的一批民众在山东省梁山一带起义。后来中国古典四大名著之一的《水浒传》就是以此为背景创作的。
123、宋朝时期，中国境内还有一些其他民族建立的政权，如契丹族建立的辽，女真族建立的金，党项族建立的西夏等。1127年，金朝的军队攻破开封，俘虏了北宋的皇帝宋徽宗、宋钦宗父子，徽宗的另一个儿子赵构称帝。逃到南方，在杭州建立政权，历史上成为南宋（公元1127-1279年)。
124、岳飞是南宋的抗金名将，他率军北上以收复被金军占领的宋朝领土，却被秦桧等人以“莫须有”的罪名害死。岳飞葬在杭州西湖边上。后人为了纪念他，在他的墓前放了用生铁浇铸的秦桧等人的跪像，表示对奸臣的强烈憎恨。
125、1271年，忽必烈建立元朝后，大举进攻南宋，南宋著名的将领文天祥组织军民抵抗，失败后被俘虏。元朝统治者采用各种方式劝他投降，他宁死不屈，写下了《正气歌》和《过零丁洋》等诗篇，表现了不屈不挠的民族气节。《过零丁洋》中的“人生自古谁无死，留取丹心照汗青”两句，成为千古名言。
126、蒙古族是中国北方一个古老的民族。12世纪末，铁木真经过十多年战争统一了蒙古各部,1206年被推举为蒙古的大汗，尊称为“成吉思汗”，意思是“坚强的君主”。
忽必烈像
127、忽必烈（左图）是成吉思汗的孙子。1271年他建立了元朝(公元1271——1368年)，称为元世祖。元朝在成立过程中及成立以后，发动了大规模的扩地战争，向西一直打到欧洲的多瑙河流域，对世界历史发展进程产生了重大影响。
128、在中国历史上，元朝的疆域比以往任何朝代的都要大。元朝实行行省制度，对全国实行有效的统治。元朝的首都大都，是闻名世界的商业中心，大都就是中国现在的北京。
129、元朝中后期，棉花已在全国范围内广泛种植，棉纺织业发达。棉布成为江南人的主要衣料,这是中国古代经济生活中的一件大事。元朝的黄道婆，推广了黎族人民先进的棉纺技术，对棉纺织业的发展做出巨大贡献。
130、元朝时期，中外交往频繁，著名的意大利旅行家马可波罗写下《马可波罗游记》一书，生动描述了大都、杭州等城市的繁荣景象，激发了欧洲人对中国的向往。
131、元朝时期有大批信仰伊斯兰教的波斯人、阿拉伯人迁入中国，他们同汉、蒙、维吾尔等族长期杂居相处，互相融合，开始形成一个新的民族回族。
132、元朝同许多国家和地区有贸易关系。福建省的泉州是元朝最大的港口，在当时和埃及的亚历山大港并列为世界第一大港。泉州生长着很多刺桐树，故以刺桐城闻名于世。
133、1368年，朱元璋率领农民起义，推翻元朝政权，建立了明朝（公元1368——1644年），朱元璋即明太祖。明初定都南京，后来，明成祖把都城迁到北京。
郑和下西洋宝船模型
134、1405到1433的近30年间，郑和率领的船队先后7次下西洋，到达亚、非30多个国家和地区。郑和下西洋宝船模型（右图）
135、1417年，苏禄（今菲律宾）国王带领300多人访问中国，归国途中病逝于山东，明成祖派人为他举行隆重葬礼。明朝以后，中国多次修护苏禄王陵，表达了中国对这位菲律宾友好使者的悼念之情。
136、明朝时期，日本海盗商人经常在中国东南沿海一带骚扰。他们勾结明朝土豪奸商，到处抢掠财物，杀害百姓，给中国沿海造成极大的祸害。这些强盗被叫做“倭寇”。明朝大将戚继光组织军队，给倭寇以痛击。1565年，戚继光联合俞大猷，把横行百余年之久的倭寇全部消灭。
137、明朝后期，顾宪成和高攀龙等人在江苏无锡的东林书院讲学，他们经常在书院里议论朝政，抨击当权者，这些人被称为“东林党”。当时大宦官魏忠贤专政，凶险残暴，东林党人不怕迫害，指斥魏忠贤等人为“阉党”，与他们进行了不屈不挠的斗争。
138、明朝规定用科举制度选拔官吏。政府规定科举考试只许在四书五经范围内命题，应考的人不能有个人见解，文体要呆板地分成八个部分，叫做“八股文”。
永乐大典内页
139、明朝永乐年间，明成祖选派解缙等3000人编辑成《永乐大典》（左图），共110095册，辑入各类图书七八千种，是中国规模最大的一部类书。该书先后抄录正副两部。正本后来被烧毁，副本在1860年英法联军和1900年的八国联军入侵北京时两次被焚毁劫掠，目前存世的仅有300余册。140、明朝卓越的医学家李时珍，历经20多年，写出了一部具有总结性的药物学巨著《本草纲目》,成为世界医学的重要文献。
141、明朝时期，意大利传教士利玛窦来到中国。他在传教的同时，也积极传播西方的科学文化知识，明神宗给他以很大的支持。利马窦为中外科技文化的交流作出了卓越的贡献。他的墓在北京西城。
142、徐光启是明代著名科学家，他向利玛窦学习天文、数学、测量、武器制造等各种知识。他编写的《农政全书》，是中国古代的一部农业百科全书。他还和利玛窦合作翻译了古希腊数学家欧几里德的《几何原本》。
143、明朝末年，科学家宋应星编著了《天工开物》一书，对明代农业、手工业生产技术进行了总结，这部书被译成好几国文字，被誉为“中国17世纪的工艺百科全书”。
144、明朝地理学家徐霞客，根据他一生游历考察的成果，写出了《徐霞客游记》一书。书中最早揭示了中国西南地区石灰岩地貌的各种特征，徐霞客也因之成为世界上科学考察石灰岩地貌的先驱。
145、满族的前身是女真族，早期居住在松花江南北及黑龙江一带。16世纪，女真族建真部的社会生产力有了显著发展。1616年，努尔哈赤建立后金；1636年，他的儿子皇太极改国号为“清”。1644年，清军自山海关南下，占领北京。
146、1644年，李自成领导的农民军攻破北京城，结束了明朝的统治。驻守山海关的明朝将领吴三桂引清军入关,击败农民军，在北京开始了大清帝国（公元1644——1911年）的统治。
郑成功塑像
147、1662年，郑成功（右图）率领军队驱逐占据台湾的荷兰军队，收复了台湾。
148、1684年，清朝廷在台湾设置台湾府，隶属于福建省。
149、清朝乾隆皇帝组织大批学者编写了当时世界上最大的一部丛书——《四库全书》。
150、1724年，清朝廷确立了西藏宗教和政治领袖达赖和班禅必须经过中央政府册封的制度。
151、1727年，清朝廷开始在西藏设驻藏大臣。驻藏大臣代表中央政府，同达赖和班禅共同管理西藏。
152、1839年6月，清朝钦差大臣林则徐（左图）将缴获的英、美走私商110多万公斤鸦片在广东虎门海滩当众全部销毁，史称虎门销烟，表明了中华民族禁烟的决心和抵抗外侵的坚强意志。
林则徐
153、为了强行向中国倾销毒品鸦片，1840年英国对中国发动了侵略战争，称为鸦片战争。1842年中国战林则徐像关天培像败，战争结束。战场主要在广东、福建、浙江、江苏等省沿海沿江地区。1842年8月，清朝廷被迫与英国签订不平等的《南京条约》，中国自此开始沦为半殖民地半封建社会。
154、1842年8月29日，中英两国在南京江面的英国军舰上签订了《南京条约》。它是中国近代史上外国侵略者强迫清朝廷签订的第一个不平等条约。主要内容有割让香港岛给英国等。
155、在鸦片战争期间，清朝官员林则徐坚决禁烟，积极抗英，并主张学习外国的长处，用于抵抗外国侵略，他被称为清朝廷开眼看世界的第一人。现在福州有林则徐纪念馆。
156、鸦片战争期间，广州人民奋起反抗英国侵略军的烧杀抢掠。1841年5月，广州北郊三元里数千民众痛击英军,围歼英军200多人。现在广州三元里立有纪念碑和陈列馆。
关天培
157、关天培（右图）是鸦片战争中的抗英将领。他支持林则徐实行禁烟政策，并加紧备战，多次击退英军侵犯。1841年2月率将士在广东虎门炮台奋勇抵抗英国侵略军，浴血奋战，壮烈殉国。
158、陈化成是鸦片战争中的抗英将领。1842年6月英国军舰进犯长江口的门户吴淞口，当时他已年近70岁，还亲率将士坚守炮台，在多处受伤的情况下仍奋勇抵抗，最后壮烈牺牲。
159、龚自珍是晚清著名思想家和诗人，他支持林则徐严禁鸦片，主张用武力抵抗外国侵略。他在诗文中猛烈抨击封建制度的弊端，疾呼社会的改革必须“不拘一格”地重用人材，对当时和以后的爱国志士产生了很大的思想影响。
160、魏源是晚清著名思想家、史学家。鸦片战争期间，他提出了“师夷长技以制夷”的主张，也就是要学习外国的长处，用来抵抗外国的侵略。
161、魏源编写的《海国图志》100卷，是中国近代第一部较详尽地介绍西方的著作,，出版之后，风行海内外。
162、第二次鸦片战争是英、法两国为了进一步扩大侵略特权而对中国发动的侵略战争，爆发于1856年10月，英军进攻广州，1860年10月结束。
163、第二次鸦片战争中国战败后，清朝廷被迫于1858年先后与英、法、美、俄签订《天津条约》，与沙俄签订《瑷珲条约》，1860年又与英、法、俄签订《北京条约》等不平等条约。
164、圆明园位于北京西郊，是举世闻名的宏伟华丽的皇家园林，它综合了中西建筑的精萃，园中收藏有无数珍宝、典籍、艺术精品等。第二次鸦片战争期间的1860年10月，英法侵略军攻占北京，闯入园内，大肆抢劫破坏，最后为消灭罪证竟放火将其烧毁。（左图）
165、19世纪侵占中国领土最多的国家是俄国。它强迫清朝廷签订了一系列不平等条约，共割占了中国东北和西北领土150多万平方公里。
166、在1858年签订的中俄《瑷珲条约》中，俄国割占中国东北外兴安岭以南、黑龙江以北地区60多万平方公里的领土。
167、1860年中俄签订《北京条约》，俄国割占中国乌苏里江以东，包括库页岛在内约40万平方公万平方公里的领土。
168、《中俄勘分西北界约记》，1864年签订，俄国据此割占中国巴尔喀什湖以东、以南地区44万多平方公里的领土。
169、1881年签订的《中俄伊犁条约》，以及以后的五个勘界议定书，又使俄国割占了中国西北部7万多平方公里的土地。
洪秀全
170、洪秀全（右图），广东花县人，领导了反对清朝廷的太平天国农民运动，对孙中山的思想影响很大。
171、1851年1月11日，洪秀全在广西桂平金田村发动反清武装起义——金田起义，建号太平天国。起义军称“太平军”。
172、1853年，太平天国定都天京(南京)，洪秀全自称天王。
173、太平天国颁布的《天朝田亩制度》，内容主要是将土地平均分配给农民耕种，提出要建立“有田同耕、有饭同食、有衣同穿、有钱同使、无处不均匀、无人不饱暖”的理想社会。
174、第二次鸦片战争后，清朝廷内部政见不一，出现了顽固派和洋务派。顽固派盲目排外，仇视一切外洋事物；洋务派提出“师夷长技以自强”，主张学习利用西方先进生产技术，来维护清朝统治。洋务派以曾国藩、李鸿章、左宗棠、张之洞等为代表。
175、19世纪60年代90年代，清朝廷中的洋务派为“自强”和“求富”，学习、引进西方生产技术，史称洋务运动，主要内容有：创办军事工业，创办民用工业，建立新式军备和近代海军，创办新式学堂，选派留学生，培养翻译、军事和科技人才等。
176、清末大臣李鸿章，安徽合肥人，是洋务派首领，掌握军政、外交大权。他创办了江南制造船厂。
曾国藩
177、曾国藩（左图），湖南湘乡人，清末大臣。他创建了湘军，创办了安庆军械所、江南制造总局等新型军火工业，是地方势力中最大的实力派。
178、曾国藩崇尚忠孝仁义道德，对子女教育有方，给子女、家人写的书信，编成《曾国藩家书》,在中国广泛流传，对后世影响很大。
179、1861年初，清朝廷为办理洋务(外交)，设立总理各国事务衙门，简称“总理衙门”,办理外交事务，派出驻各国的公使，兼管通商、海关、军火和派留学生等项事务。
180、清末大臣张之洞，开办了著名的汉阳铁厂、湖北枪炮厂、湖北织布局等，并筹办芦汉（北京芦沟桥——武汉汉口）铁路。
181、1898年张之洞发表《劝学篇》，提出“中学为体，西学为用”的重要思想，影响很大。
182、清末大臣左宗棠，创办了福州船政局等新式军事工业和福建海军，还创办了中国最早的海军学校——福州船政学堂。
183、1876年，左宗棠率军队进入新疆，击败俄、英支持的阿古柏政权，收复了除伊犁以外的新疆全境，保卫了祖国领土。
184、19世纪7080年代，清朝廷建立了南洋、北洋和福建三支海军。
185、轮船招商局，简称“招商局”，是中国最早设立的最大轮船航运企业，1872年由李鸿章在上海创办。
186、19世纪6070年代，中国近代民办工业在上海、广东、天津等沿海地区兴起，较著名的有1869甲午战争中的威海卫海战图年方举赞在上海创办的发昌机械厂。
187、1872华侨商人陈启源在广东南海创办了中国第一个民族资本经营的机器丝工厂——继昌隆丝厂。
188、京师同文馆是中国第一所近代学校，1862年正式开学，主要教习外国语文和自然科学，培养了许多翻译人才和外交官员。
189、清末官员郭嵩焘是中国的第一位驻外国公使。先后任驻英、法公使，主张学习西方科学技术,并积极采取措施保护出国华侨。
190、1878年8月15日，清朝发行了第一套蟠龙图邮票,，1897年2月20日，“大清邮政”在北京开办，标志着中国国家邮政的正式开始。
191、中法战争爆发于1884——1885年期间，是法国侵略越南时和中国发生的战争。1885年，清朝军队获胜后反与法国签订了屈辱的《中法新约》。
192、冯子材是中法战争中大败法军的爱国将领，他以年迈退职，1885年初被重新起用，率部队及两个儿子在广西边境奋勇抗法，取得镇南关——谅山大捷，迫使法国内阁倒台。
193、1894年，由于日本向朝鲜发动侵略，并对中国海陆军进行挑衅，中日战争爆发。1894年是甲午年，所以又叫甲午中日战争。
194、《马关条约》是甲午战争结束后日本强迫清廷订立的不平等条约，1895年4月17在日本马关签订。此条约大大加深了中国的民族危机。
195、中日《马关条约》的主要内容是：中国割让台湾、澎湖列岛、辽东半岛给日本；赔偿日本军费白银2亿两；开放沙市、重庆、苏州、杭州为商埠；允许日本在通商口岸开设工厂等。
郑世昌
196、郑世昌（右图）是中日甲午海战中的民族英雄。1894年9月17日黄海海战中，在弹尽舰伤情况下，他指挥致远舰快速冲向日舰吉野号，不幸被鱼雷击中，与全舰官兵250人一起壮烈牺牲。
197、中日甲午战争期间，日军攻占旅顺后，对手无寸铁的当地居民实行野蛮屠杀，全城死难者达18000多人，称为“旅顺大屠杀”。现旅顺有“万忠墓”。
198、1895年订立的《马关条约》中，有中国割让辽东半岛给日本的条款，俄国出于进一步侵略中国的目的，联合德国、法国一起干涉此事。中国被迫向日本增加赔款白银3000万两以“赎回”辽东半岛。史称三国干涉远辽。随后三国以此为机，强迫清朝廷给予许多侵略特权。
199、中日《马关条约》签订后，全国人民无比愤慨，坚决反对割让台湾。台湾人民纷纷组织义军抗日,著名首领徐骧和刘永福所率清军在台南奋战四个多月,毙伤日军3万多人；柯铁所率民众武装在台中坚持斗争达四年之久。
200、1898年，德国强迫“租借”胶州湾，以山东半岛为其势力范围。
201、1898年，俄国强迫“租借”旅顺和大连，将长城以北和新疆据为其势力范围。
202、1898年，法国强迫“租借”广州湾，把广东、广西及云南据为其势力范围。
203、1898年，英国强迫“租借”九龙半岛界限街以北、深圳河以南地区及附近岛屿（统称新界），并将长江流域10个省据为其势力范围。
204、日本在割占台湾和澎湖列岛之后，又于1898年强据福建为其势力范围。
205、19世纪末，帝国主义掀起瓜分中国狂潮时，美国正忙于同西班牙争夺菲律宾。为扩大其在中国的侵略权益，1899年提出“门户开放”的侵略政策，此后，美国在中国虽然没有强占、“租借”中国领土和划分势力范围，但却以更狡猾的方式扩大对中国的侵略。
206、《展拓香港界址专条》是英国强迫清朝廷订立的关于“租借”九龙的条约，于1898年6月9日在北京签订。主要内容为：九龙（不包括九龙城）租给英国，租期99年。
207、1898年英国强迫清朝廷“租借”九龙半岛，激起九龙人民的义愤。1898年4月15日16日，九龙民众武装数千人在大埔墟阻击英国侵略军。后在英军和清军的镇压下，斗争失败。
208、中美华工条约是美国强迫清廷订立的关于限制旅美华工的条约，1894年3月在华盛顿订立。主要内容有不准华人入美国国籍等。
209、《中葡北京条约》是葡萄牙在英国支持下强迫清廷订立的不平等条约，1887年12月1日在北京签订。主要内容有：中国准许葡萄牙永驻和管理澳门以及属澳之地等。210、1895年5月2日，康有为（右图）发动正在北京参加考试的举人1300多名，上书光绪帝，
反对签定《马关条约》，提出迁都抗日，请求变法，史称“公车上书”(古时中国朝廷用车马接送到京城考试的读书人，后来人们就用“公车”作为到京城考试的举人的代称)。
211、1898（戊戌年）中国发生了一次政治改革运动。是年，清朝光绪帝接受康有为、梁启超等人提出的变法主张，颁发了一系列变法诏书，推行新政，对国家的政治、经济、文化、军事进行改革。华侨华人中国文化常识华侨华人中国文化常识但戊戌变法只进行了103天，就在慈禧太后的镇压下失败。
212、京师大学堂是中国近代最早的大学，1898年开办于北京，是戊戌变法的“新政”措施之一。1900年因八国联军侵占北京被迫停办。辛亥革命后改为北京大学。
213、谭嗣同，戊戌变法中的重要人物。慈禧太后镇压政变后，谭不愿逃走，表示甘为变法流血牺牲，后慷慨就义，留下“我自横刀向天笑，去留肝胆两昆仑”的著名诗句。
214、义和团原名义和拳，是贫苦农民、城市贫民等在华北、东北等地自发组织的反帝武装，1900年发展到北京、天津地区。义和团英勇抵抗八国联军的侵略，迫使侵略军多次退却，最后在八国联军和清军的联合镇压下失败。
215、八国联军指英、美、德、法、俄、日、意、奥八个帝国主义国家侵华的联合军队。1900年为镇压义和团的反帝爱国斗争，扩大侵略，八国联军大举进攻中国，攻陷天津、北京，到处烧杀抢掠，对中国人民犯下了滔天罪行。
216、1900年（庚子年）八国联军攻占北京，强迫清廷于次年订立《辛丑条约》，其中规定中国赔款白银4亿54万多两，以海关等税收作抵押。这笔赔款通称为“庚子赔款”。
217、《辛丑条约》是八国联军攻占北京后强迫清廷订立的丧权辱国条约。1901年(辛丑年)7月由清廷与英、美、意、西、荷、比等十一个国家的代表在北京签订（左图）。
218、《辛丑条约》的主要内容为：中国赔偿白银四亿五千多万两，以海关等税收作保；清廷保证严禁人民参加反帝活动；清廷拆毁大沽炮台，允许帝国主义国家派兵驻扎北京到山海关铁路沿线要地；划定北京东交民巷为“使馆界”，允许各国驻兵保护，不准中国人居住。这个条约进一步加强了帝国主义对中国的统治，并表明清廷完全沦为帝国主义统治中国的工具。
219、海兰泡和江东六十四屯大惨案：1900年7月，趁八国联军进攻天津之时，俄国出动17万人军队，分六路侵入东北三省。16日，俄国侵略军突然包围位于黑龙江东岸的海兰泡，把6000多中国人或用刀枪屠杀或驱入黑龙江活活淹死。第二天又强占江东六十四屯，用同样的手段残酷屠杀当地居民。
220、慈禧太后是清末同治、光绪两朝的实际统治者。自1861年发动政变实行“垂帘听政”后，统治中国将近半个世纪。
221、1905年，清朝廷宣布废除科举制度，中国各地开始兴办新式学校。
222、1905年，为了反抗美国虐待华工和限制华工入境，上海、广州、长沙、汉口、天津等城市发起抵制美货的爱国运动，中国留日学生和海外华侨也纷纷响应。
223、1903年，年仅19岁的中国留日学生邹容在上海写成《革命军》一书，号召中国四亿同胞起来推翻清朝廷，建立一个独立、民主、自由的“中华共和国”。这本书畅销100多万册，轰动了知识界和海外华侨。
224、1903年，留学日本的陈天华写出《猛回头》、《警世钟》两本书，用通俗的文字、唱词的形式，沉痛指出中国面临亡国的危险，呼吁中国人要警醒，共同担负起救国的责任。这两本书在当时宣传革命影响很大。
225、孙中山名文，字逸仙，广东香山县(今中山市)人，伟大的民主革命家（右图）。他领导了推翻清朝统治和封建帝制的辛亥革命。
226、1905年，孙中山提出了民族、民权、民生三大主义，称为三民主义。
227、兴中会是1894年孙中山在美国檀香山组织爱国华侨建立的革命团体，第二年在香港设立总会，提出了推翻清朝、建立民主共和制度的纲领。
228、1905年8月，兴中会和华兴会、光复会联合，在日本东京成立中国同盟会，一致推举孙中山为总理。 229、1911年4月27日，同盟会在广州起义，喻培伦、林时爽、方声洞、林觉民等100余人在战斗中英勇牺牲。后经广州人民收敛死难者尸体，收得72具，葬于黄花岗，史称“黄花岗七十二烈士”。
230、1911年5月广东、湖南、湖北、四川人民，为反对清廷将已由民办的川汉、京汉铁路的建筑权出卖给英、法、德、美四国银行集团，掀起保路运动，以四川最激烈。各地除派代表到北京请愿外，还组织集会游行，举行罢市、罢工、罢课，遭镇压后一举发动了武装起义，直接促成了是年10月10日武昌起义的爆发。
231、辛亥革命是1911年（辛亥年）发生的由孙中山领导的民主革命，推翻了以清王朝为代表的封建帝制。1912年1月1日，中华民国临时政府在南京成立，孙中山任临时大总统。
232、辛亥革命后，孙中山又领导了反对袁世凯的二次革命、护国运动、护法运动。
233、1921年7月，中国共产党第一次代表大会在上海秘密召开，毛泽东（左图）、董必武等13名代表出席了代表大会。后来中共中央把7月1日定为中国共产党的诞生日。
234、1924年，孙中山领导改组国民党，实行联俄、联共、扶助农工三大政策，实现国共第一次合作，建立起反对帝国主义和北洋军阀的统一战线。
235、孙中山领导的辛亥革命，得到了华侨的大力支持，“华侨是革命之母”，形象说明华侨对辛亥革命的巨大贡献。
236、黄兴，湖南善化(今长沙)人，和孙中山一起参加辛亥革命，领导和指挥了同盟会的多次武装起义。1911年武昌起义后被推为革命军总司令。1912年任南京临时政府陆军总长。
237、1904年黄兴等人在长沙组织成立了反清革命团体华兴会，并策划了反清起义。
238、秋瑾（右图），又称鉴湖女侠，浙江绍兴人，辛亥革命中的女志士。1904年离家别子到日本留学，先后加入光复会、同盟会，是同盟会浙江负责人。1907年在浙江准备发动反清起义，不幸被捕，英勇就义。
239、二次革命：1913年孙中山继辛亥革命之后发动的反对袁世凯独裁、维护民主共和体制的斗争。李烈钧、黄兴分别在江西、江苏组织讨袁军，宣布独立，南方几省相继响应，但最终战败，孙中山被迫流亡日本。
240、1911年辛亥革命爆发时，袁世凯在帝国主义支持下掌握了清朝军政大权。他一面出兵威胁孙中山让位，一面又逼迫清帝退位。1912年3月，袁窃取了中华民国大总统职位。
241、辛亥革命后，袁世凯建立起北洋军阀的统治。北洋军阀是依靠帝国主义的封建军阀政治集团。
242、1915年12月，袁世凯宣布把中华民国改为“中华帝国”，自己当皇帝，遭到全国人民的强烈反对。1916年3月被迫宣布取消帝制。
243、袁世凯宣布恢复帝制，激起全国上下的强烈反对。蔡锷会同李烈钧等人在云南组织护国军，出兵讨伐袁世凯，各地纷纷响应。这就是著名的护国运动。
244、1916年袁世凯死后，北洋军阀在帝国主义支持下分化为皖、奉、直三个派系。
245、皖系军阀是北洋军阀派系之一，主要首领是段祺瑞，掌握北系政府实权，控制安徽、浙江、山东、福建等省，靠日本支持和扶植。段是安徽合肥人，故称为皖系。
246、直系军阀是北洋军阀派系之一，主要首领是冯国璋，其后为曹锟、吴佩孚。主要势力在直隶(今河北)、湖北、江苏、江西等省，由英、美两国扶植。冯是直隶（天津）人，故称为直系。
247、奉系军阀是北洋军阀派系之一，以张作霖为首，控制东北三省，依靠日本支持和扶植。张作霖是奉天(今辽宁)人，故称为奉系。
248、李善兰，近代数学家、翻译家，写了许多数学专著，较早阐述了微积分的初步理论，在当时数学界影响很大。他翻译了《代数学》、《几何原本》、《植物学》、《谈天》等书，介绍西方的自然科学知识。
249、徐寿，近代化学家、翻译家。他有多项发明创造，与华蘅芳合作，制造了中国第一台蒸汽机和第一艘以蒸汽为动力的木壳轮船，并大量翻译西方化学、医学、法学著作。
250、徐寿在译著《化学原鉴》中发明了对固体金属元素的中文命名法，创造了锌、镁、锰等化学元素的中文名称。
251、詹天佑（左图），中国近代杰出的铁路工程师。是近代中国第一批公派留学生，1905年担任京张铁路总工程师。
252、京张铁路是詹天佑主持建成的由北京至张家口的铁路，是中国人自行设计和施工的第一条铁路干线。为确保行车安全，设计出人字形路轨，并出色完成居庸关和八达岭两处艰难的隧道工程。京张铁路于1905年动工，1909年(比预计提前2年)完工通车。
253、冯如，中国第一位飞机设计师和杰出的飞行家。在旅美华侨的帮助下，他于1909年在美国试制飞机成功。1910年制成当时世界最先进的飞机，并在国际飞行比赛中获第一名。他拒绝美国的高薪聘请，携带两架自制飞机回国，投身于孙中山领导的民主革命，任广东革命政府飞机队长。
254、严复，近代著名思想家、翻译家。曾留学英国海军学校，后任北洋海军总教官。主张变法维新。翻译介绍了许多西方社会学、经济学著作。
255、严复1895年翻译了《天演论》，宣传“物竞天择，适者生存”的生物进化观点，在思想界产生很大影响。
256、容闳，广东香山人，中国最早的留美学生。历任留美学生监督，驻美副公使。1898年参与戊戌变法活动。著有《西学东渐记》。
257、蔡元培，清朝进士，著名教育家，后积极参加辛亥革命。1912年1月，任中华民国南京临时政府教育总长，1916年任北京大学校长。他的办学方针是“思想自由，兼容并包”。
258、麦克马洪线：1913年，英国印度殖民政府的外交大臣麦克马洪，背着中国政府非法炮制的一条中印东段边界线，将中国西藏东南部9万平方公里的领土（约等于浙江省的面积）划归英属印度。中国政府一直拒绝承认。
259、伍廷芳，中国近代著名外交官，他出生于新加坡华侨家庭，先后担任驻美国、秘鲁、墨西哥、古巴等国公使，后任中国外交部长。
260、1919年5月4日，五四运动在北京爆发。3000多名学生在天安门前集会，示威游行，抗议帝国主义的侵略，要求严惩政府中的亲日派卖国贼。6月3日以后，上海等地工人罢工，工商业者罢市。运动中心转移到上海，成为全国规模的反帝爱国运动。
261、1924年初，中国国民党第一次全国代表大会在广州召开，孙中山以总理身份任大会主席，标志着国共两党合作的正式开始。
262、1926年广东国民政府决定从广州北伐，北伐的主要对象是受帝国主义支持的吴佩孚、孙传芳、张作霖三派军阀，他们占据了东北、华北、华东和华中地区。北伐的最终目标是统一全中国。
263、廖仲凯，广东惠阳人，出身于美国华侨家庭。早年留学日本，追随孙中山参加同盟会，为最早的会员之一。辛亥革命后任广东都督府总参议。1922年后，积极协助孙中山改组国民党，为实现国共两党合作起了重要作用。
264、香港海员罢工：1922年香港海员因要求增加工资遭到拒绝举行罢工，遭到香港英国当局武力镇压，激起香港10余万工人的反抗，实行总同盟罢工，最终取得了胜利。
265、省港大罢工：广州、香港工人举行的反帝大罢工，罢工的规模大，时间长。从1925年6月开始，坚持到1926年10月，历时16个月。香港25万工人参加罢工，其中10万余人离港回到广州。
266、1925年6月13日，省港罢工工人及农民、学生、黄埔军校学生等10多万人在广州举行反帝游行示威。当经过沙面租界对岸的沙基时，遭英、法两国的枪击和军舰的炮轰，死50余人，伤数百人。惨案震惊中外，称为沙基惨案。
267、张謇是中国近代实业家、教育家，清朝状元。甲午中日战争后致力于实业与教育，建成大
生纱厂以及盐业、榨油、面粉、冶铁、轮船等企业，形成大生资本集团，并创办了10多所学校。
268、1924年5月，孙中山在广州黄埔创办了黄埔陆军军官学校。
269、1927年8月1日，中国共产党在江西南昌发动武装起义，8月1日成为中国人民解放军的建军节，南昌市因此获得英雄城的美称。
270、1928年，国民政府成立中央研究院，蔡元培任院长。它是当时中国最高学术研究机关。1928年，研究院历史语言研究所在河南安阳殷墟发现了青铜器和刻有文字的甲骨，成为中国和世界考古史上的一件大事。1934年，天文研究所在南京紫金山建立天文台，开始了近代中国自己的天文观测工作。
271、陶行知是一位人民教育家，他积极推行乡村教育，以改造广大农村，进而改造中国社会。1927年，他在南京郊区创办晓庄师范，这是一所培养乡村教师的别开生面的新型学校。
272、1928年，张作霖由于拒绝日本侵略中国东北的一些条件，被日本军队炸死在沈阳附近。他的儿子张学良继任总司令。年底，张学良发表通电，宣布服从国民党政府，南京国民政府在全国范围内完成统一。
273、1931年9月18日深夜，日本关东军炸毁中国东北沈阳北郊的一段铁路，反称是中国军队破坏，并以此为借口，占领了沈阳城，这就是著名的“九·一八事变”（左图）。此后不久，东北三省100多万平方公里土地全部沦于日军之手，东北3000万同胞受尽欺凌，流离失所。
274、1932年1月28日深夜，日本军队突然进攻上海，驻守上海的十九路军在著名将领蔡廷锴、蒋光鼐的指挥下,奋起抗战，这就是“一·二八”事变。爱国将士多次打退日军进攻，迫使日军三次更换主帅。这次战事得到中国各界人士和海外侨胞广泛而有力的支援。
275、1932年，日本扶植早已退位的清朝末代皇帝溥仪在长春建立伪满洲国傀儡政权，企图把东北从中国分裂出去，东北三省沦为日本的殖民地，东北人民过着耻辱的亡国奴生活。
276、1933年，爱国将领冯玉祥、吉鸿昌等人，组织成立察哈尔民众抗日同盟军，他们痛击日军，把日军赶出察哈尔省。后来，同盟军弹尽粮绝，宣告失败。
277、1935年10月，为了北上抗日，实行战略大转移，中国工农红军经过两万五千里的长征，历时一年有余，环绕大半个中国，胜利到达甘肃。
278、1935年12月9日，北平(今北京)六七千大中学生不顾当局的禁令，冲上街头同使用水龙、警棍日军攻占沈阳的军警搏斗，向当局请愿，反对华北自治，要求停止内战一致抗日，称为一·二九运动。
279、1936年12月12日，张学良和杨虎城在西安扣押了蒋介石，要求停止内战一致抗日，这就是震守卫卢沟桥的战士惊中外的西安事变。在大敌当前的情况下，中国各个政治派别以民族利益为重，和平解决了西安事变，使中国走上停止内战进行全民族共同抗战的道路。280、1937年7月7日，日本向北平西南的芦沟桥发起进攻，全面发动侵华战争。中国军队奋起抵抗，抗日战争全面爆发。历史上称为“芦沟桥事变”，又称“七七事变”（右图）。
281、1937年8月13日，日军大举进攻上海，威胁南京，称为“八·一三事变”。中国军队奋起抗击，同日军在上海及其周围地区进行了三个月的激战，史称“松沪抗战”。
282、1937年12月，日本军队在攻陷南京后的6周时间内，屠杀中国军民达30余万，连老弱病残甚至婴儿也不放过，2万多名妇女遭受凌辱，南京市有三分之一的建筑在烈火中化为灰烬。这就是震惊中外的“南京大屠杀”。
283、第二次世界大战期间，日军在中国实施细菌战，时间长达12年，地区遍布中国20多个省，造成至少27万人死亡。这是世界上造成伤亡人数最多，损害程度最大的细菌战。
284、1937年12月，南京沦陷后，国民政府迁往重庆，把重庆作为陪都。
285、1938年春，爱国将领李宗仁指挥军队和日军在山东台儿庄展开激战，消灭日军1万多人，取得了抗战以来的重大胜利，粉碎了日本企图速战速决灭亡中国的狂妄计划。
286、中国的抗日战争得到了世界各国进步人士的有力支持，加拿大著名外科医生白求恩、印度医生柯棣华等，前来中国参战，为了中国人民的正义事业，献出了宝贵的生命。美国记者史沫特莱、埃德加·斯诺等，及时向世界报导中国人民英勇抗战的事迹。
287、1940年，八路军在彭德怀的指挥下，先后组织了100多个团在华北2000多公里的战线上向日军发动大规模的反攻，史称“百团大战”。它是中国军队主动出击日本军队中规模最大的战役。
288、1940年，日军以重兵进攻湖北枣阳和宜昌地区，以威胁重庆。在这次战役中，宜昌等地失守。著名抗日将领张自忠为国捐躯，英勇牺牲。
289、1941年12月，日本突袭美国珍珠港海军基地，太平洋战争爆发。1942年1月，美国、英国、中国等26个国家签订反对德、意、日侵略的“联合国家共同宣言”，组成世界反法西斯战争统一战线。
290、太平洋战争爆发后，日本为了把中国变成太平洋战争的后方基地，对抗日根据地展开反复的“大扫荡”，实行野蛮的烧光、杀光和抢光的“三光政策”，企图彻底消灭抗日根据地。
291、1942年初，日军进攻缅甸。应英国政府请求，中国政府派出远征军到缅甸同日军作战，4月，远征军克复仁安羌，救出被困的7000多名英军以及被俘英军、美国传教士和记者等500多人。
292、延安位于陕西省北部，抗日战争时期是中国共产党中央所在地，是全国敌后抗日根据地的指挥中枢，也是人民抗日力量的指导中心。许多工农群众、进步青年和知识分子从四面八方来到延安，又从延安把革命火种带到全国各地。
293、杨靖宇是著名的抗日英雄，1940年他率领士兵在中国东北同“围剿”的日军展开游击战。最后，杨靖宇单身一人和数百名敌人周旋了几个昼夜，壮烈牺牲。日军解剖了他的尸体，发现他的胃里竟连一粒粮食也没有，只有树皮、草根和棉絮。
294、在抗日战争过程中，广大海外侨胞节衣缩食，踊跃捐献，出人出力，为中华民族的独立作出积极的贡献。1938年10月“南洋华侨筹赈祖国难民总会”成立，简称为“南侨总会”，选举陈嘉庚为主席，庄西言、李清泉为副主席。这是东南亚华侨救亡斗争的最高领导机关。
295、1945年8月，日本宣布无条件投降，8年的抗日战争结束。9月9日，中国政府代表何应钦在南京接受日本侵略军递交的投降书（左图）。
296、1945年10月25日，日本驻台湾总督将投降书交给中国政府代表，这样，被日本统治达50年之久的台湾，终于回到中国。
297、1947——1949年，中国人民解放军进行了3年解放战争。辽沈战役、平津战役、淮海战役是解放战争中的三大战役，为解放全中国奠定了基础。
298、1949年10月1日，中华人民共和国成立。10月1日被定为国庆节，毛泽东当选为第一届中华人民共和国主席（右图）。
299、1951年，西藏和平解放，促进了全国各族人民的大团结。
300、1950年，朝鲜内战爆发，美国指挥所谓“联合国军”侵略朝鲜，应朝鲜民主主义人民共和国政府的请求，10月，以彭德怀为司令的中国人民志愿军，渡过鸭绿江，支援朝鲜军民抗击美国及联合国军。
301、1953年12月，周恩来总理在会见印度代表团时提出了和平共处五项原则：互相尊重领土完整、互不侵犯、互不干涉内政、平等互利、和平共处。中印在1954年外交协定中对此给予了正式确定。这几项原则受到世界大多数国家的欢迎，成为国际社会交往的重要原则之一。
302、1960年，中国登山队员登上了中国和尼泊尔边境上的世界第一高峰珠穆朗玛峰，最早创造了世界登山运动的最高纪录。
303、1964年10月16日，中国成功地试爆了第一颗原子弹，标志着中国核技术的重大进展，大大提高了中国的国际地位。1967年，中国成功试爆第一颗氢弹。
304、1966到1976年，中国进行的“文化大革命”，是错误的，给中国的建设事业带来了严重的破坏。
305、中国是著名的乒乓球王国，60年代中国著名选手庄则栋连续三次夺取了男子单打世界冠军。在许多重大国际比赛中，中国选手一直占有举足轻重的地位。
306、1970年4月24日，中国自行设计制造的第一颗人造地球卫星“东方红一号”由长征一号火箭成功发射。1988年9月27日，中国核潜艇水下发射运载火箭获得成功。中国空间技术进入新的时代。
307、1971年10月，在第26届联合国大会上，以压倒多数的票数通过了阿尔巴尼亚等国家提出的恢复中华人民共和国在联合国合法席位的提案。
308、1971年，中美两国互相邀请乒乓球队访问，结束了中美两国20多年来人员交流隔绝的局面，1972年2月，美国总统尼克松对中国进行友好访问，中美关系向着正常化方向发展。
309、1972年9月29日，中日两国联合发表声明，宣布从即日起结束两国间20多年的不正常状态，正式建立外交关系。
310、1976年1月8日，担任中华人民共和国政府总理达27年之久的周恩来总理与世长辞，中国人民以各种方式举行悼念，规模之大、时间之久为中外历史罕见，联合国也降半旗以示哀悼。同年9月9日，中华人民共和国的缔造者，中国杰出的政治家、中华人民共和国主席毛泽东逝世，享年83岁。
311、1976年7月28日，有100多万人口的中国工业名城唐山发生强烈地震，震级达7.8级，人员伤亡达数十万之多，造成惨重损失。
312、1978年12月，中国共产党第十一届中央委员会第三次全体会议(简称为十一届三中全会)正式召开，会议认真纠正了文化大革命的错误，确立了以改革开放和经济建设为中心的国策。
313、1979年1月1日，中美正式建立外交关系。在两国建交联合公报中，美国承认中华人民共和国是中国的唯一合法政府，台湾是中国的一部分。左图为邓小平访美。
314、80年代，袁伟民受命组建的中国女子排球队异军突起，于1981年夺得世界杯冠军，1982年获得世界锦标赛冠军，1984年获得洛杉矶奥运会冠军，1985年又夺得世界杯冠军，1986年再获世界锦标赛冠军，创造了连续五次夺得世界冠军的业绩。
315、1984年，中国科学家首次赴南极考察。第二年2月2日，中国第一个南极科学考察站中国南极长城站胜利建成。
316、1984年3月，世界上第一只试管羔羊诞生，它是由中国蒙古族兽医博士旭日干和日本筑波的科学家共同培育成功的。1988年3月，大陆首例试管婴儿郑萌珠在北京诞生。
317、为了进一步提高人民教师的政治、经济和社会地位，为了形成尊重知识、尊重人才、尊师重教的社会风气，中国政府把9月10日定为教师节。1985年9月10日是第一个教师节。
318、1990年9月到10月，第十一届亚洲运动会在中国北京举行。在这次运动会上，中国获得金牌183枚，银牌107枚，铜牌51枚，金牌和奖牌总数均名列第一。
319、1993年5月12日，河姆渡遗址博物馆在宁波余姚河姆渡镇开馆，再现了7000年前中国南方的史前文明。河姆渡遗址是中国新石器时代母系氏族公社时期的遗址。
320、1998年，中国长江、松花江和嫩江流域先后爆发特大洪水，全国人民团结一致抗洪救灾，港、澳、台同胞，海外侨胞给予了大力的支持。
321、1999年9月21日，中国台湾发生7级以上强烈地震，地震造成2000多人死亡，数千人受伤，世界华人及其他友好人士予以密切关注和大力救援。
322、华侨，历史上又叫“唐人”、“汉人”，是指定居在国外的中国公民。华人具有中国血统但不具有中国国籍。
323、鸦片战争以后的100年间，中国东南沿海省份的劳动人民，大规模出国谋生，总计出国人次超过1000万，他们遍布世界各地130多个国家，人们常说“有海水处就有华侨”。
324、目前全世界约有华侨华人3000多万，他们大部分分布在东南亚地区。
325、华侨社团、华侨学校、华侨报刊被称为传统华侨社会的三宝。
326、鸦片战争以后，有大批中国人在暴力逼迫和欺骗之下，通过签订契约的方式到国外做工，叫做“契约华工”，又被蔑称“苦力”或“猪仔”，他们过着非常悲惨的生活。
327、契约华工在坐船到外国的途中，要忍受疾病、饥饿、缺水、污浊空气等折磨，还要受到人口贩子的暴力摧残和人身侮辱，到达目的地时往往有20%30%的人员死亡。人们把这些专门运送华工的船称为“海上浮动地狱”。
328、新加坡是中国以外唯一的以华族为主体的国家。新加坡前总理李光耀曾说过，他们的历史不是祖先们到新加坡才开始，而是从5000多年前中国文明创始时就已开始。
329、陈嘉庚先生（右图）认为“教育是立国之本，兴学乃国民天职”，一生中倾资办学，在中国创办了集美学村、厦门大学等学校，在新加坡创办南洋华侨中学等，成为捐资办学的楷模，被毛泽东誉为“华侨旗帜，民族光辉”。
330、陈嘉庚的女婿李光前对他捐资办学资助甚大，同时还在祖籍地泉州捐资兴办了梅山学村。
331、著名马来西亚华人叶亚来，对吉隆坡的早期开发建设作出了重要贡献，现在，吉隆坡有以他名字命名的“叶亚来街”。
332、18世纪，许多中国人到加里曼丹岛西部开办金矿、修建市镇道路等，最有名的是东人罗芳伯和他建立的兰芳公司。
333、1901年，福建福州人黄乃裳组织带领1000多名中国人在马来西亚沙捞越的诗巫市开辟垦场，兴办学校教堂等，促进了诗巫的开发建设。这些人大多来自中国福州，他们的后代留居下来，诗巫又被称为“新福州”。
334、1844年，新加坡华侨陈笃生为了新加坡人的看病方便，带头创建医院。这所医院后来以他的名字命名为“陈笃生医院”。
335、19世纪前期，新加坡人的饮水条件不好，陈金声捐出巨款，促使政府改变这种情况。后来政府在市中心建成“陈金声纪念喷泉”，以纪念他的功绩。
Healthy Food (Cumin)
Scientific Name: Cuminum cyminumBiological Background: A seasoning that is the principal ingredient of curry powder, a blend of powdered Indian spices. Cumin is a member of the parsley family and cumin seeds resemble caraway seeds. The aromatic seed has a characteristic strong, slightly bitter taste. Traditionally cumin has been used to flavor cheese, unleavened bread, chili, and tomato sauce.Nutritional Information: Due to its use as a spice, cumin provides insignificant amount of nutrients.
Pharmacological Activity: Studies have indicated that cumin has strong anticancer activity, which may be due to its phytochemical cuminaldehyde. Cuminaldehyde also has strong antiinflammatory properties. In addition, cumin contains two phytochemicals, cuminyl ester and limonene, which have been shown to stop aflatoxin from binding to DNA to start the cancer process.Eating Tips: Use cumin to add an earthy flavor to Indian, Middle Eastern, and Mexican cuisines.Is one drink a day really healthier?There’s a real buzz in the air at the moment, don’t you think? I love how the Rugby World Cup has created a party atmosphere all over the country.I was at the opening ceremony and first game, and am really looking forward to getting along to some more of the games. I hope the All Blacks are eating for tip-top condition and performance right now, so they can once again take away that trophy!One way, we all know, to be at our best is to moderate the amount of alcohol we consume. You may have caught the news last week that women who drink ‘one drink a day’ are healthier than women who don’t drink at all. US researchers studied over 121,000 nurses enrolled in the US Nurses' Health Study which started in 1976. They compared the drinking habits of women when middle-aged with their later health status. The research suggests that women who had one standard drink of alcohol a day may be healthier when they are older, than their peers who did not drink at all, who consume more than two drinks a day, or who consume four drinks or more at the one time.The temptation for the media when research like this is done is often to jump on the headline – “drinking is good for you” – and not worry too much about the detail. As consumers, the message we get from this is that a tipple every day is ‘healthy’. Of course the truth is never quite that simple. Experts here point out that there are some issues with the way this study was done, including the fact that it involves self-reporting on the part of the participants (and don’t most of us under-estimate how much we have of things that aren’t so good for us?) and the fact that ‘confounding factors’ may exist that the researchers didn’t look for. Confounding factors are often a problem in research. What it means is that the differences in health may be due to other differences in lifestyle. In other words, women who have one drink a day may also be more likely to do other things in their diet and lifestyle which could account for their better health.All that aside, what does this research tell us? First of all, if you’re a woman and you don’t drink at all, it’s probably not worth starting just to get a health benefit. If you are a woman and you do drink, the take home message is that regular small amounts of alcohol in middle age might be good for you. By small, they do mean small: under 15g of alcohol a day, which is just above one ‘standard’ drink: a 150ml glass of wine (measure this out yourself; you might be surprised at how small it is) or one-and-a-half cans of beer. Any more than that, and you undo any potential benefit.Don’t forget alcohol still packs a hefty kilojoule count, too, so if you drink you need to be aware of the energy it’s adding to your day and compensate elsewhere. Our nutritionists still advise for everyone - men and women – to have at least two alcohol-free days each week, and don’t ‘save up’ and have all your drinks for the week in one night. Binge drinking, even if you don’t drink on any other days, is the least healthy way to drink. - You are a minor (under age 18) traveling alone. For example, minors traveling to
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