美国历史(我们的故事)

美国我们的故事观后感《美国，我们的故事》是一部揭示美国历史、文化和价值观的纪录片。

通过展示美国各个方面的故事，该片向观众展示了这个国家发展的轨迹以及其独特之处。

观看完这部纪录片后，我深受启发，对美国的故事有了更深入的了解，同时也对它的发展路径和挑战有了更多的思考。

整部纪录片以美国的历史为脉络，从殖民地时期一直延伸到现代。

片中穿插了许多关键时刻以及历史上的重大事件，例如美国独立战争、南北战争、美国内战，以及全球大萧条、世界大战等。

通过这样的编排方式，观众可以直观地感受到美国历史的起伏和曲折，更加深入地理解美国所面临的困境和走过的艰辛。

纪录片对美国的文化多样性也做出了充分的展示。

从各个方面介绍了美国人民的饮食习惯、宗教信仰、音乐和艺术等，以及来自不同地区的文化风景。

这让我深刻地认识到美国是一个融合了各种文化的国家，这种多元性为美国带来了无尽的活力和创造力。

与此同时，纪录片还深入探讨了美国的核心价值观。

宪法保护的言论自由、人权和平等在美国社会中起着重要的作用。

片中通过展示不同人群的故事，告诉观众们这些核心价值观是如何在美国人民心中铸就的。

正是这些价值观的力量，让美国成为一个自由和包容的国家。

然而，纪录片也没有回避美国所面临的问题和挑战。

片中揭示了美国历史上的社会不平等，例如对待非洲裔和土著人民的不公平待遇，以及移民问题和社会分裂等。

这些问题在美国社会中一直存在，通过这部纪录片，观众们可以更加客观地看待这些现象，并思考如何更好地解决这些问题。

《美国，我们的故事》给我留下了深刻的印象。

它通过生动的故事、真实的纪录片片段和专家的解读，帮助观众更好地了解美国的历史和文化。

它不仅展示了美国独特的发展轨迹，还揭示了这个国家所面临的挑战和机遇。

这部纪录片对于理解美国的过去和现在有着重要的意义。

通过观看这部纪录片，我深深地被美国人民的坚韧精神和对自由的追求所打动。

他们在困难和危机面前保持着乐观和创造力。

作为一个国家，美国已经走过了漫长而艰辛的历程，取得了许多成就。

Episode 1（反抗）1 清教徒躲避宗教迫害乘“五月花"号（Mayflower)来到美洲大陆。

2 感恩节的由来.3 “波士顿惨案”和“波士顿倾茶案"是美国独立战争的导火索。

4 “莱克星顿第一枪”打响美国独立战争，从此，美洲大陆不再是英国人的殖民地，独立为美利坚合众国。

Episode 2（革命）1 1776年7月4日，第二次大陆会议通过了《独立宣言》（由托马斯·杰弗逊起草），它宣布新大陆13个殖民地要独立成为一个新的国家：“人人生而平等，造物主赋予了他们不可剥夺的权利，包括生存权、自由权和追求幸福的权利”。

2 英军总司令被杀是美国独立战争的转折点，此时法国舰队加入，帮助美国在海上抵抗英国舰队。

1783签署《巴黎条约》，英国承认美国独立.Episode 3 （西进运动）1 为了寻求财富，美国人向西部迁移，称为“西进运动”。

当内华达山脚下发现金矿后，“淘金热”。

2 西进运动的转折点：美国人在得克萨斯州的阿拉莫被墨西哥人打败，“阿拉莫之战”,向西部发动战争，攻占了得克萨斯州后,又买下加利福尼亚州。

3 《印第安人迁移法》迫使当地的土著民去保留地居住.4 美国的最长的河流密西西比河，从米尼苏达北部发源，一直到新奥尔良南部。

19世纪蒸汽机的发明使密西西比河促进了美国经济的发展。

Episode 4 （南北分裂)1 伊利湖使以纽约为代表的美国北方工业区更加繁荣。

2 南方种植园里的大量黑人奴隶生活悲惨，纷纷冒险逃亡到北方.3 《逃奴法案》准许南方奴隶主搜捕逃亡到北方的奴隶，激起北方民众的怨愤。

小说《汤姆叔叔的小屋》描述了黑人奴隶生不如死的生活状态，在西方其重要性仅次于《圣经》。

4 南北战争的原因:南方和北方为美国到底是实行奴隶制还是自由制而发生冲突，双方不肯退让。

5 林肯当选总统后，准备废奴，此时南方6个蓄奴州建立美利坚联盟国，准备暗杀林肯。

6 林肯就职五周后，南北战争正式打响，这是美国历史上伤亡最惨重的战争.Episode 5 （内战)1 迷你子弹使内战伤亡惨重。

1 History Channel America: The Story of US分段-赠送音频-难词标注-适合大学生使用1History has earned some inspiring look at how self-determination and innovation made America. Now, a special introduction from the President of United States.Good evening. Over two hundred years ago, the world waited and watched to see if an unlikely experiment called America would succeed. It has. Not because the success was certain, or because it was easy, but because generations of Americans dedicated their lives and the sacred honor to a cause greater than themselves.This has been especially true in moments of great trial, when a ragtag group of patriot s overthrew an empire to secure the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, when an Illinois rail splitter proved for all time that the government of, by and for the people would endure, when marcher s' brave beatings on the Alabama bridge in the name of equality, freedom and justice for all.Moments like these remind us that our American stories have never been inevitable, those made possible by ordinary people, who kept moral compass pointed straight and true, when the way seemed treacherous, when the climb seemed steep, when the future seemed uncertain, people who were recognized as the fundamental part of our American character. We can remake ourselves, and our nation to fit our larger dreams. Tonight, thorough the series, I hope you'd be inspired by these extraordinary men and women, and think about how this generation will write the next chapter in our great American story. Thank you, and enjoy the show.We are a land of many nations. We are New World explorer s. We are the huddle d masses. Yearning to breathe freedom, we'll risk it all. We have the courage to dream the impossible, and make it the truth. We stand our ground. Charge headlong towards our destiny.Adventurers sail across an ocean to start a new life. A nation is born, which becomes the envy of the world. But in search of freedom, friends become foes, and these new Americans, will wage a war against the world's greatest military power. We are pioneers and trailblazer s. We fight for freedom. We transform our dreams into the truth. Our struggles will become a nation.Episode One Rebels2 Shiploads of businessmen and true believers are crossing the Atlantic Ocean to create a new world. May 1610. 120 years after Columbus, it's still a perilous journey. One ship, The Deliverance, carries a cargo that will change America forever.All hands over here. Onboard is John Rolfe, a 24-year-old English farmer. Ambitious, self-reliant, visionary. A born entrepreneur. What takes us six hours today by plane was then a voyage of more than two months. Seven of the early adventurers out of every ten will be dead within a year.Land ahoy! But the risks are worth it. North America is the ultimate land of opportunity: A2continent of vast untapped wealth, starting with the most valuable resource of all --- land. What will be home to more than 300 million people lies under a blanket of forest covering nearly half the land. More than 50 billion trees. Further west, 9 million square miles of vast American wilderness. 60 million bison roam the plains. And underground, there are rumors of gem s, silver and the largest seam s of gold in the world. The settlers expect nothing less than El Dorado. But what Rolfe finds at the English settlement of Jamestown, is hell on Earth. More than 500 settlers made the journey before Rolfe. “Hello?” “Hello?” Barely 60 remain.3 It's called "The Starving Time". Having fed on horses and other animals, we ate boots, shoes, and any other leather we came acr oss. “Somebody, help!” Three months before Rolfe arrives, a man is burned at the stake for killing his pregnant wife and planning to eat her.The English arrive unprepared for this new world and unwilling to perform manual labor. Instead of livestock, they've brought chemical tests for gold that they never find. And this is not their land. They build Jamestown in the middle of a Native American empire. 60 starving settlers among 20,000 of the Powhatan Nation, armed with bows and arrows that are up to nine times faster to reload and fire than an English musket. They're soon enemies. Only one in ten of the original settlers is left. John Rolfe didn't come to plunder and leave like the others. He's got his own plan.There's money in tobacco, and England is addict ed. He's arrived with a supply of South American tobacco seeds, but growing it is limited to the Spanish colonies. The Spanish control the worldwide trade. Selling tobacco seeds to foreigners is punishable by death. But John Rolfe has got his hands on some. No one knows how. And in the warm, humid climate and fertile soil around the Chesapeake Bay, Rolfe's tobacco crop flourishes. The first large harvest produced by these seeds is worth more than a million dollars in today's money.The great strength of America is our people. If you wanna know what it is the defining strength of America, it is our people, our immigrant tradition, our bringing in cultures from all over the world. I know what goes into making success. And when somebody's really successful, it's rarely luck. It's talent, it's brain power, it's lots of other things.4Rolfe marries the daughter of the king of the Powhatan Empire. Her name becomes legend: Pocahontas. In England, Rolfe makes her a celebrity when her face is put on a portrait that sells all over London, advertising life in the New World. Shakespeare mentions the colony. England's rich invest money here. All of London knows about this land of plenty. Within two years, tobacco grows in every garden. From a living hell, Jamestown is America's first boomtown. Two years later, nearly 1,000 more settlers arrive, including 19 from West Africa. Slaves. But some go on to own their own land in Virginia. 12 years after the founding of Jamestown, Africans were playing a shaping role in the creation of the colonies. That's pretty incredible. 30 years later, there are over 20,000 settlers in Virginia. America is founded on tobacco. For the next century and a half, it's the continent's largest export.3 Ten years after Rolfe arrives in Jamestown, another group of English settlers lands in North America. They come ashore on a deserted beach 450 miles up the coast from Jamestown, and call the place Plymouth, after the English port they sailed from. These are a different breed of settler, a group of religious dissident s with faith at the center of their lives. They made the dangerous Atlantic crossing, seeking religious freedom in the New World.24-year-old apprentice printer Edward Winslow arrives with a group of religious sectarian s on a boat called the Mayflower. 5 By April 1621, their settlement is taking shape. The Mayflower returns to England.The Pilgrim s are on their own in an unknown land. A great hope and inward zeal we had of laying some great foundation for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ, in those remote parts of the world. They're 19 families. Goats, chickens, pigs and dogs. They have spinning wheels, chairs, books, guns. And no way home. If you create this environment as a land of opportunity, then you're gonna attract those type of people who wanna take that risk, who have-- wanna take that gamble and who believe in a better life.They were heading for the Hudson River, but they've landed 200 miles further north at the beginning of winter. They have arrived in the middle of a mini ice age, temperatures 2 degrees colder than today. Winters are longer, growing seasons shorter. The soil is poor. Little grows. Food supplies run low. In the first three months, more than half the Pilgrim s die. William Bradford is the governor of a community soon in desperate trouble. It pleased God to visit us with death daily. Disease was everywhere. The living were scarcely able to bury the dead. They died sometimes two or three a day. Of 100 and odd persons, scarce 50 remained. At times, only six are fit enough to continue building their shelter s. Susanna White's husband dies that first winter. Edward Winslow's wife perish es a month after. Within weeks, White and Winslow marry. They'll have five children.6Today more than 10% of all Americans can trace their ancestry back to the Mayflower. For a time, Plymouth provides the sanctuary they sought. “Edward! Edward! Edward, please go and look over there!” But like Jamestown, there were others here first.April 1621. The Pilgrims have been in the New World for five months. Barely half survive the first winter.But they're not the first Europeans to arrive on this coast. Five years before, European ships brought light-skinned people and plague. Almost nine out of ten of the local people are wipe d out. The Pokanoket people don't need enemies. They make peace with the Pilgrims. They teach the English how to grow crops in sandy soil, using fish for fertilizer. But they want something in return. They have a common enemy--a rival tribe.And the English have powerful weapons. The Pilgrims aren't soldiers. But in the New World, they have to fight to survive. On August 14, 1621, Pilgrims and Pokanoket, shoulder to shoulder, will launch a surprise attack that will seal their future in this new land. It was resolved to send 144men, well-armed, and to fall upon them in the night. The captain gave charge: Let none pass out. The rival tribe doesn't know what hit them. Surrounded, they have no answer for English firepower.7Pokanoket and Pilgrims find common ground...and a chance to survive. Two unlikely allies.A partnership all too rare in North America.We have found the Indian very faithful in their covenant of peace with us. They are people without any religion or knowledge of any God, yet very trusty, quick of apprehension, ripe-witted... and just. Their victory brings a period of peace to the colony. Their friendship is celebrated in a feast. In time, it will become known as Thanksgiving.One of the main theme s in the founding of America was a place to do business, a place to expand your horizon s, a place to live a life of your own, practice your own religion. Those are the basic themes that brought people to these shores to colonize. It's the start of a period of prosperity, that will transform North America. From Jamestown and Plymouth, their descendants grow across the landscape. As more and more people cross the Atlantic--thousands, tens of thousands, people with different backgrounds, different reasons for being here...America becomes the place for everybody from everywhere.Roll ing the dice, coming together to create 13 colonies. From Jamestown, agriculture spreads across the South, dirt farms transform into sprawl ing plantations. Irish, Germans, and Swedes push back the frontier. The Dutch bring commerce to a small island at the mouth of the Hudson River. In time, it will be named New York. The colonists are 2 inches taller, and far healthier, than those they left behind in Europe. The Puritan s average eight children, and they are twice as likely to survive to adulthood. They are 20% richer and pay only 1/4 of the taxes of those in England. Many still think of themselves as British, but each generation grows further from its roots. Nowhere more so than Boston.8May 9, 1768. Seven generations after John Rolfe's first tobacco harvest, the British want a bigger piece of the action. A British customs official springs a surprise raid on The Liberty, a ship belonging to John Hancock, one of the richest men in Boston. But Hancock's crew has other ideas. They're carrying 100 cask s of imported wine and don't want to pay duty. It's a radical act of rebellion against taxes imposed by a king 3,000 miles away. To the British, they're just common smuggler s. This mall skirmish changes everything. The British seize Hancock's ship, triggering riot s that sweep through Boston. We didn't wanna pay taxes to a king and to a parliament where we didn't have a voice, and we didn't have any representation. We have a natural resentment toward government, which was how we were born. The king sends 4,000 redcoats to Boston to enforce his laws. Boston was a city of commerce, culture, civilization, and revolution, unfolding right before the eyes of the colonists and the eyes of the British.October 1768. British soldiers clamp down on Boston, a port crucial to the British Empire...and a hub of global trade and commerce. Its dockyards are some of the busiest in the5 world, producing 200 ships a year from America's vast timber reserve s. 1/3 of all British shipping is built in the colonies. Timber fuel s the global economy...much like oil does today. Across New England, marks identify the tallest, strongest trees selected by the crown for British ships.9England has lost most of its forests. It wants American wood. In Boston, there's one redcoat for every four citizens. It's a city under occupation. Paul Revere is a silversmith and one of Boston's prominent businessmen...an unlikely subversive. They formed and marched with insolent parade, drums beating, fife s playing, and colors flying, each soldier having received 16 rounds of powder and ball.He is an upper-middle-class figure, someone who has risen through his own effort s, his own talent. He represent s what we have created on our own with very little help from our cousins across the Atlantic. But when revolution comes to North America...Revere will beat the center of it.Boston and the 13 colonies are an economic powerhouse, critical to Britain. Nearly 40% of everything exported from Britain, makes its way to America. The fishing fleet ships thousands of tons of salted cod to the Caribbean. Returns with sugar and molasses...raw material for rum. Taxed by the British after every exchange. In Africa, rum is the currency used to purchase the most profitable cargo of all...African slaves.Between 1700 and 1800, more than 1/4 of a million Africans are brought to the American colonies. More slaves than all those who came of their own free will. Most wind up on large plantations in the South. But they're also critical to the economy of the North. 10% of Boston's population is black. Boston is a melting pot, and tension is building.Nobody likes invader s in their homes. To have people here, foreigners on your soil, is something-- is a great incentive for people to fight. March 5, 1770. After three days of unrest, an angry mob roam s the streets. Hundreds of men who lost their jobs and blame the British gather on King Street and face off against eight redcoats with orders not to fire. What's about to happen will change America forever. A 17-year-old wig maker's apprentice, Edward Garrick, lights the fuse.10This is how wars start. Come on, let's have it! Private Hugh Montgomery is hit with a club. An African-American, Crispus Attucks, dies instantly. Everybody, run! When the smoke clears, four more are dead. How Boston reacts will change the course of history. Silversmith and political radical Paul Revere captures the moment British soldiers kill five colonists in the streets of Boston.His engraving will fuel the fires of revolution as outrage spreads across the 13 colonies. Unhappy Boston see thy sons deplore, thy hallowed walks besmear ed with guiltless gore, whilst faithless Preston and his savage bands, with murderous rancor, stretch their bloody hands. The most formidable army in the world firing on an unarmed crowd. An explosive image with a title that says it all: "The Bloody Massacre." There was the old joke, "You give me a picture, I'll give6you a war." Those who wanted to stir things up and to make a statement and maybe even lead a revolution, it made them able to rally others to their side.News spreads fast. The colonists are avid readers, a legacy from the first Bible-reading Puritans in Plymouth. Boston has the first weekly newspaper. There are now more than 40 papers across the colonies. And the new postmaster general, Benjamin Franklin...has introduced a revolutionary postal-delivery system. Night riders cut the delivery time in half. The communications network connecting the colonies is one of the best in the world. And the British have no idea. They hope the news can be contain ed. Before news reaches England, most of America knows about the Boston Massacre. It's a very American spirit of an idea, this idea that everybody should have access to knowledge. It's very much like that pioneering idea, everybody should be able to make their way in the world. A printer in Connecticut can read the exact same story as a farmer in North Carolina.11 December 1773. "The Boston Gazette" breaks another story, that will fan the flames of rebellion. The rising tide of anger and resentment forces England's hand. They repeal all taxes...except one, on tea. It's not enough. In one of the most famous acts of resistance in American history, Rebels dump over $1 million worth of tea in Boston Harbor. When someone comes along and smacks us, we don't turn the other cheek. That's not who we are. Move it! The British respond by shutting down Boston Harbor...one of America's busiest, wealthiest ports. Come on, lad. Hundreds lose their jobs. The British mean to strangle any resistance from the rebellious colony of Massachusetts. America is about to change forever. Tensions escalate far beyond Boston. Settlers are pushing west. Many have their eyes set on new land west of the Appalachians. But to protect Native. American lands, England has banned settlements, along a boundary called the Proclamation Line. Hundreds are evict ed from their homes on the frontier.September 5, 1774. We want liberty...Incensed at the British actions, 56 delegate s from across the colonies gather at the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. It's the first step on the road to American democracy. Among them are John Adams, Patrick Henry, and a gentleman landowner from Virginia named George Washington.12At a time when our lordly masters in Great Britain will be satisfied with nothing less than the deprivation of American freedom, it seems highly necessary that something should be done to maintain liberty. Across New England, people prepare to defend themselves. Smuggled arms are collected and stashed in secret hideaways. But while many expect conflict, most delegates in Philadelphia want peace with Britain. A military action would make a wound that would never be healed. That's good, we don't have all day, let's go, come on. The First Continental Congress resolve s that a British attack on any one colony will be regarded as an attack on all of them. What emerges at Philadelphia is solidarity. The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Englanders, and New Yorkers are no more. I'm not a Virginian. I am an American. The future of the 13 American colonies hangs in the balance.7 Spring 1775. Near Concord, Massachusetts. Get in here, get those weapons stacked up. We haven't got all day. Local gunsmith Isaac Davis puts the town militia through basic training. The American patriots knew that they were doing the right thing. You're starting the birth of a nation. You had to really believe in what you were doing. You've gotta keep this clean here, sir. If you keep that clean, it'll save your life. If war comes, this will be America's first line of defense. A volunteer home guard with weapons paid for by local citizens. Gentlemen, it's looking good, it's looking good. Let's have some breakfast and move out. They're farmers, blacksmiths, and store owners. A fighting force of ordinary Americans. The militiamen of any of the colonies were made up of just its citizens. It was a citizen-based protection unit. And some of them had some skills, but some of them were just the carpenters. Some of them were just the mason or the blacksmith.I mean, these were the guys that--they had something at stake to protect their colony. So they started to form together, just trying to help protect each other. Every town across the colonies has its own militia, but now they're preparing to defend themselves against the British Army. Better than yesterday, better than yesterday. For six generations across Massachusetts, men are expected to serve as militiamen. In Massachusetts, 1/3 of all men between 16 and 50 are ready to bear arms at a minute's notice. Excellent, good shot. We keep this up, we're gonna give those redcoats a scare, all right? The British will not stand for any armed resistance.13 April 19, 1775. After midnight, 900 redcoats leave their barracks in Boston for Lexington and Concord, about 20 miles away. Their orders: Arrest the rebel leaders and seize their weapons. News of the British attack also reaches Paul Revere. His midnight ride will alert local militias. Revere rides ahead of the British troops. His warning spreads from town to town, across the New England countryside. Paul Revere reaches Lexington... in time to spread the word. The British are coming. We need to warn the militia. Get 'em together. Come on! By bive in the morning, 60 militiamen line up. They're commanded by a farmer, John Parker. They're faced off against hundreds of well-armed and highly experienced British soldiers. What happens next will transform the world forever.Sunrise, April 19, 1775. On one side 60 men, poorly armed and barely trained. On the other, hundreds of the most powerful army in the world. Men who have only been active for a handful of months, An army that in the past 20 years has fought on five continents and defeated everything in its path. For these Rebels, the fight is for nothing less than freedom itself. These guys were revolutionaries, they were scallywags, they were rebels, some of them were gentlemen farmers, some of them were overeducated, some of them were undereducated. It really was the birth of a nation. The Lexington Militia gathers on the village common. Dairy farmers and shopkeepers. But also among them are free African-Americans and slaves.It is a unique experience that African-Americans have had in the military in America. African-Americans fought for the country, even before it was a country. African-Americans like Prince Estabrook. Give me training.814You give me a weapon, and I can perform as well as you can. Then there's no power on Earth that's gonna hold me down forever. Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon. But if we mean to have war, let it begin here. Captain John Parker once fought on the side of the British. 1/4 of the men standing at his side are related to him. No one knows who fires the first shot at Lexington...but it's the shot heard 'round the world. I mean, the redcoats, that's intimidating, the way they move, the way they march, the way they execute on that open space. I imagine, on some level, for the guy who works the printing press, this is overwhelming beyond anything you could possibly articulate in words.Fire! Prince Estabrook is hit in the first volley. No army in the world can stand toe-to-toe with the British, let alone a ragtag militia. Fire! The British fired up to four times the rate of the militia. Within minutes of the first shots fired at Lexington, eight Patriots are dead, ten wounded. The American Revolution has begun. The redcoats reach Concord at 9:00 in the morning. Acting on a tipoff from colonists loyal to the crown, they raid the militia's arms stash. But the Rebels have got there first...hiding almost everything.15That's good, we don't have all day, let's go, come on. They continue to search for weapons, giving the Patriots more time to spread the word. The militia gathers just outside the town of Concord. By late morning, more than 1,000 have arrived from the surrounding villages. Their plan, to defend their towns against the British. Let's go! The British soldiers left their barracks15 hours ago. And now they face a 20-mile march back to Boston. The Shattered lives...an occupied city...blood in the streets of Boston...and now Lexington. A people unified in the fight against tyranny. Now the Patriots have their chance. Gunsmith and militia leader Isaac Davis takes a bullet through the heart. The Patriots seize the upper hand and intend to make the British soldiers pay. They shadow the redcoats' march, firing on them the entire way. A third are killed or wounded. Seven generations after the first settlers left England, in search of prosperity and freedom, their descendants will have to fight for these rights. Standing in their way is the might of the world's greatest military superpower. And they're not about to give up their colonies lightly.A ragtag bunch of rebels faces the greatest military superpower of the day. It's a war they never should have won. This is the secret history of how they did it---daring, leadership, new ways of fighting and true American grit.Episode Two Revolution16New York City. Gateway to North America. Today the financial capital of the world. Population: Eight Million people. In 1776, this is a city of just 20,000. It will soon become the battleground for the biggest land invasion in American history.Three miles from Wall Street, where 23rd Street crosses Lexington Avenue today the Rebels dig in to defend New York at Kips Bay. Commander of the Rebel Army is General George Washington. He has already driven the British out of Boston. A surprise victory against superior9 forces. But they'll be back.The hour is fast approaching on which the honor and success of this army, and the safety of our bleeding country depend. Joseph Plumb Martin enlisted in the Rebel forces at 15 inspired to fight under Washington's command. A farm boy, he joins thousands of untrained volunteers. Our Revolutionary Army was quite something. It was-- in a nation that wasn't really a nation yet, just starting out, and we took on the greatest superpower of the time. Washington's ragtag troops are about to face the best-equipped and most powerful fighting force in the world.17June 29th. 45 British warships mass off Staten Island. Bearing down on New York City, the ultimate war machine of its day, the British ship-of-the-line. Each ship is made from over 2,000 century-old trees. Each carries hundreds more soldiers to the fight against the colonies. And each is armed with up to 64 heavy cannons capable of hurling a 24-pound cannonball at the speed of sound, delivering it to targets over a mile away. One ship-of-the-line costs the equivalent of a modern aircraft carrier. Another 350 British ships are racing across the Atlantic to join them. The British want to terrify the Rebels into submission. Instead, they inspire them to resist. On July 2nd, there's a crisis meeting in Philadelphia. 50 delegates elected to the Continental Congress from the 13 colonies hold an emergency session. They include radicals like Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. What they're debating is nothing less than high treason--total independence from Britain. The penalty is death. We are in the midst of a revolution, the most complete in the history of the world. It's the birth of American democracy. We have to expect a great expanse of blood to obtain it. Some don't believe the Rebels stand a chance. We are about to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper. But the doubters are outnumbered nearly five to one.18On July 4, 1776, the delegates ratify a document that will change the world, the Declaration of Independence. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights."Now think about that. They're saying that your rights come not from the king, not from the government, your rights come from God and furthermore, they can't be taken away from you. They're unalienable. Every group: blacks, women, gays--everybody looks to the Declaration as a way of saying we are Americans, too. So the Declaration is the American creed. that among these are "Life"，"Liberty" and "the pursuit of Happiness." You cannot help but be stirred when you read those words. And you feel the excitement of being on the cusp of something so profound. We can be free. Now soldiers like Plumb Martin have something worth fighting for.On July 12th, two British warships open fire on New York City. It must have been quite a shock because New York, up to that point, was pretty quiet city. It was a business city. So you had significant support for the Rebels but also significant support for the people who were still loyal to the king. A month later, Joseph Reed, secretary to George Washington, tracks the British fleet massing off New York. Over 400 ships, the largest British Naval task force until D-day.。

History Channel America: The Story of USHistory has earned some inspiring look at how self-determination and innovation made America. Now, a special introduction from the President of United States.Good evening. Over two hundred years ago, the world waited and watched to see if an unlikely experiment called America would succeed. It has. Not because the success was certain, or because it was easy, but because generations of Americans dedicated their lives and the sacred honor to a cause greater than themselves.This has been especially true in moments of great trial, when a ragtag group of patriots overthrew an empire to secure the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, when an Illinois rail splitter proved for all time that the government of, by and for the people would endure, when marchers' brave beatings on the Alabama bridge in the name of equality, freedom and justice for all.Moments like these remind us that our American stories have never been inevitable, those made possible by ordinary people, who kept moral compass pointed straight and true, when the way seemed treacherous, when the climb seemed steep, when the future seemed uncertain, people who were recognized as the fundamental part of our American character. We can remake ourselves, and our nation to fit our larger dreams. Tonight, thorough the series, I hope you'd be inspired by these extraordinary men and women, and think about how this generation will write the next chapter in our great American story. Thank you, and enjoy the show.We are a land of many nations. We are New World explorers. We are the huddled masses. Yearning to breathe freedom, we'll risk it all. We have the courage to dream the impossible, and make it the truth. We stand our ground. Charge headlong towards our destiny.Adventurers sail across an ocean to start a new life. A nation is born, which becomes the envy of the world. But in search of freedom, friends become foes, and these new Americans, will wage a war against the world's greatest military power. We are pioneers and trailblazers. We fight for freedom. We transform our dreams into the truth. Our struggles will become a nation.Episode OneShiploads of businessmen and true believers are crossing the Atlantic Ocean to create a new world. May 1610. 120 years after Columbus, it's still a perilous journey. One ship, The Deliverance, carries a cargo that will change America forever.All hands over here. Onboard is John Rolfe, a 24-year-old English farmer. Ambitious, self-reliant, visionary. A born entrepreneur. What takes us six hours today by plane was then a voyage of more than two months. Seven of the early adventurers out of every ten will be dead within a year.Land ahoy! But the risks are worth it. North America is the ultimate land of opportunity: A continent of vast untapped wealth, starting with the most valuable resource of all --- land. What will be home to more than 300 million people lies under a blanket of forest covering nearly half the land. More than 50 billion trees. Further west, 9 million square miles of vast American wilderness. 60 million bison roam the plains. And underground, there are rumors of gems, silver and the largest seams of gold in the world. The settlers expect nothing less than El Dorado. But what Rolfe finds at the English settlement of Jamestown, is hell on Earth. More than 500 settlers made the journey before Rolfe. “Hello?” “Hello?” Barely 60 remain. It's called "The StarvingTime". Having fed on horses and other animals, we ate boots, shoes, and any other leather we came across. “Somebody, help!” Three months before Rolfe arrives, a man is burned at the stake for killing his pregnant wife and planning to eat her.The English arrive unprepared for this new world and unwilling to perform manual labor. Instead of livestock, they've brought chemical tests for gold that they never find. And this is not their land. They build Jamestown in the middle of a Native American empire. 60 starving settlers among 20,000 of the Powhatan Nation, armed with bows and arrows that are up to nine times faster to reload and fire than an English musket. They're soon enemies. Only one in ten of the original settlers is left. John Rolfe didn't come to plunder and leave like the others. He's got his own plan. There's money in tobacco, and England is addicted. He's arrived with a supply of South American tobacco seeds, but growing it is limited to the Spanish colonies. The Spanish control the worldwide trade.Selling tobacco seeds to foreigners is punishable by death. But John Rolfe has got his hands on some.No one knows how. And in the warm, humid climate and fertile soil around the Chesapeake Bay, Rolfe's tobacco crop flourishes. The first large harvest produced by these seeds is worth more than a million dollars in today's money.The great strength of America is our people. If you wanna know what it is the defining strength of America, it is our people, our immigrant tradition, our bringing in cultures from all over the world.I know what goes into making success. And when somebody's really successful, it's rarely luck. It's talent, it's brain power, it's lots of other things.Rolfe marries the daughter of the king of the Powhatan Empire. Her name becomes legend: Pocahontas. In England, Rolfe makes her a celebrity when her face is put on a portrait that sells all over London, advertising life in the New World. Shakespeare mentions the colony. England's rich invest money here. All of London knows about this land of plenty. Within two years, tobacco grows in every garden. From a living hell, Jamestown is America's first boomtown. Two years later, nearly 1,000 more settlers arrive, including 19 from West Africa. Slaves. But some go on to own their own land in Virginia. 12 years after the founding of Jamestown, Africans were playing a shaping role in the creation of the colonies. That's pretty incredible. 30 years later, there are over 20,000 settlers in Virginia. America is founded on tobacco. For the next century and a half, it's the continent's largest export.Ten years after Rolfe arrives in Jamestown, another group of English settlers lands in North America. They come ashore on a deserted beach 450 miles up the coast from Jamestown, and call the place Plymouth, after the English port they sailed from. These are a different breed of settler, a group of religious dissidents with faith at the center of their lives. They made the dangerous Atlantic crossing, seeking religious freedom in the New World.24-year-old apprentice printer Edward Winslow arrives with a group of religious sectarians on a boat called the Mayflower. By April 1621, their settlement is taking shape. The Mayflower returns to England.The Pilgrims are on their own in an unknown land. A great hope and inward zeal we had of laying some great foundation for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ, in those remote parts of the world. They're 19 families. Goats, chickens, pigs and dogs. They have spinning wheels, chairs, books, guns. And no way home. If you create this environment as a land of opportunity, then you're gonna attract those type of people who wanna take that risk, whohave-- wanna take that gamble and who believe in a better life.They were heading for the Hudson River, but they've landed 200 miles further north at the beginning of winter. They have arrived in the middle of a mini ice age, temperatures 2 degrees colder than today. Winters are longer, growing seasons shorter. The soil is poor. Little grows. Food supplies run low. In the first three months, more than half the Pilgrims die.William Bradford is the governor of a community soon in desperate trouble. It pleased God to visit us with death daily. Disease was everywhere. The living were scarcely able to bury the dead. They died sometimes two or three a day. Of 100 and odd persons, scarce 50 remained. At times, only six are fit enough to continue building their shelters. Susanna White's husband dies that first winter. Edward Winslow's wife perishes a month after. Within weeks, White and Winslow marry. They'll have five children. Today more than 10% of all Americans can trace their ancestry back to the Mayflower. For a time, Plymouth provides the sanctuary they sought. “Edward! Edward! Edward, please go and look over there!” But like Jamestown, there were others here first.April 1621. The Pilgrims have been in the New World for five months. Barely half survive the first winter.But they're not the first Europeans to arrive on this coast. Five years before, European ships brought light-skinned people and plague. Almost nine out of ten of the local people are wiped out. The Pokanoket people don't need enemies. They make peace with the Pilgrims. They teach the English how to grow crops in sandy soil, using fish for fertilizer. But they want something in return. They have a common enemy--a rival tribe.And the English have powerful weapons. The Pilgrims aren't soldiers. But in the New World, they have to fight to survive. On August 14, 1621, Pilgrims and Pokanoket, shoulder to shoulder, will launch a surprise attack that will seal their future in this new land. It was resolved to send 14 men, well-armed, and to fall upon them in the night. The captain gave charge: Let none pass out. The rival tribe doesn't know what hit them. Surrounded, they have no answer for English firepower. Pokanoket and Pilgrims find common ground...and a chance to survive. Two unlikely allies. A partnership all too rare in North America.We have found the Indian very faithful in their covenant of peace with us. They are people without any religion or knowledge of any God, yet very trusty, quick of apprehension, ripe-witted... and just. Their victory brings a period of peace to the colony. Their friendship is celebrated in a feast. In time, it will become known as Thanksgiving.One of the main themes in the founding of America was a place to do business, a place to expand your horizons, a place to live a life of your own, practice your own religion. Those are the basic themes that brought people to these shores to colonize. It's the start of a period of prosperity, that will transform North America. From Jamestown and Plymouth, their descendants grow across the landscape. As more and more people cross the Atlantic--thousands, tens of thousands, people with different backgrounds, different reasons for being here...America becomes the place for everybody from everywhere.Rolling the dice, coming together to create 13 colonies. From Jamestown, agriculture spreads across the South, dirt farms transform into sprawling plantations. Irish, Germans, and Swedes push back the frontier. The Dutch bring commerce to a small island at the mouth of the Hudson River. In time, it will be named New York. The colonists are 2 inches taller, and far healthier, than those they left behind in Europe.The Puritans average eight children, and they are twice as likely to survive to adulthood. They are20% richer and pay only 1/4 of the taxes of those in England. Many still think of themselves as British, but each generation grows further from its roots. Nowhere more so than Boston.May 9, 1768. Seven generations after John Rolfe's first tobacco harvest, the British want a bigger piece of the action. A British customs official springs a surprise raid on The Liberty, a ship belonging to John Hancock, one of the richest men in Boston. But Hancock's crew has other ideas. They're carrying 100 casks of imported wine and don't want to pay duty. It's a radical act of rebellion against taxes imposed by a king 3,000 miles away. To the British, they're just common smugglers. This mall skirmish changes everything. The British seize Hancock's ship, triggering riots that sweep through Boston. We didn't wanna pay taxes to a king and to a parliament where we didn't have a voice, and we didn't have any representation. We have a natural resentment toward government, which was how we were born. The king sends 4,000 redcoats to Boston to enforce his laws. Boston was a city of commerce, culture, civilization, and revolution, unfolding right before the eyes of the colonists and the eyes of the British.October 1768. British soldiers clamp down on Boston, a port crucial to the British Empire...and a hub of global trade and commerce. Its dockyards are some of the busiest in the world, producing 200 ships a year from America's vast timber reserves. 1/3 of all British shipping is built in the colonies. Timber fuels the global economy...much like oil does today. Across New England, marks identify the tallest, strongest trees selected by the crown for British ships. England has lost most of its forests. It wants American wood. In Boston, there's one redcoat for every four citizens. It's a city under occupation. Paul Revere is a silversmith and one of Boston's prominent businessmen...an unlikely subversive. They formed and marched with insolent parade, drums beating, fifes playing, and colors flying, each soldier having received 16 rounds of powder and ball.He is an upper-middle-class figure, someone who has risen through his own efforts, his own talent. He represents what we have created on our own with very little help from our cousins across the Atlantic. But when revolution comes to North America...Revere will beat the center of it.Boston and the 13 colonies are an economic powerhouse, critical to Britain. Nearly 40% of everything exported from Britain, makes its way to America. The fishing fleet ships thousands of tons of salted cod to the Caribbean. Returns with sugar and molasses...raw material for rum. Taxed by the British after every exchange. In Africa, rum is the currency used to purchase the most profitable cargo of all...African slaves.Between 1700 and 1800, more than 1/4 of a million Africans are brought to the American colonies. More slaves than all those who came of their own free will. Most wind up on large plantations in the South. But they're also critical to the economy of the North. 10% of Boston's population is black. Boston is a melting pot, and tension is building.Nobody likes invaders in their homes. To have people here, foreigners on your soil, is something-- is a great incentive for people to fight. March 5, 1770. After three days of unrest, an angry mob roams the streets. Hundreds of men who lost their jobs and blame the British gather on King Street and face off against eight redcoats with orders not to fire. What's about to happen will change America forever. A 17-year-old wig maker's apprentice, Edward Garrick, lights the fuse.This is how wars start. Come on, let's have it! Private Hugh Montgomery is hit with a club. An African-American, Crispus Attucks, dies instantly. Everybody, run! When the smoke clears, four more are dead. How Boston reacts will change the course of history. Silversmith and political radical Paul Revere captures the moment British soldiers kill five colonists in the streets of Boston.His engraving will fuel the fires of revolution as outrage spreads across the 13 colonies. Unhappy Boston see thy sons deplore, thy hallowed walks besmeared with guiltless gore, whilst faithless Preston and his savage bands, with murderous rancor, stretch their bloody hands. The most formidable army in the world firing on an unarmed crowd. An explosive image with a title that says it all: "The Bloody Massacre." There was the old joke, "You give me a picture, I'll give you a war." Those who wanted to stir things up and to make a statement and maybe even lead a revolution, it made them able to rally others to their side.News spreads fast. The colonists are avid readers, a legacy from the first Bible-reading Puritans in Plymouth. Boston has the first weekly newspaper. There are now more than 40 papers across the colonies. And the new postmaster general, Benjamin Franklin...has introduced a revolutionary postal-delivery system. Night riders cut the delivery time in half. The communications network connecting the colonies is one of the best in the world. And the British have no idea. They hope the news can be contained. Before news reaches England, most of America knows about the Boston Massacre. It's a very American spirit of an idea, this idea that everybody should have access to knowledge. It's very much like that pioneering idea, everybody should be able to make their way in the world. A printer in Connecticut can read the exact same story as a farmer in North Carolina.December 1773. "The Boston Gazette" breaks another story, that will fan the flames of rebellion. The rising tide of anger and resentment forces England's hand. They repeal all taxes...except one, on tea. It's not enough. In one of the most famous acts of resistance in American history, Rebels dump over $1 million worth of tea in Boston Harbor. When someone comes along and smacks us, we don't turn the other cheek. That's not who we are. Move it! The British respond by shutting down Boston Harbor...one of America's busiest, wealthiest ports. Come on, lad. Hundreds lose their jobs. The British mean to strangle any resistance from the rebellious colony of Massachusetts. America is about to change forever. Tensions escalate far beyond Boston. Settlers are pushing west. Many have their eyes set on new land west of the Appalachians. But to protect Native American lands, England has banned settlements, along a boundary called the Proclamation Line. Hundreds are evicted from their homes on the frontier.September 5, 1774. We want liberty...Incensed at the British actions, 56 delegates from across the colonies gather at the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. It's the first step on the road to American democracy. Among them are John Adams, Patrick Henry, and a gentleman landowner from Virginia named George Washington. At a time when our lordly masters in Great Britain will be satisfied with nothing less than the deprivation of American freedom, it seems highly necessary that something should be done to maintain liberty. Across New England, people prepare to defend themselves. Smuggled arms are collected and stashed in secret hideaways. But while many expect conflict, most delegates in Philadelphia want peace with Britain. A military action would make a wound that would never be healed. That's good, we don't have all day, let's go, come on. The First Continental Congress resolves that a British attack on any one colony will be regarded as an attack on all of them. What emerges at Philadelphia is solidarity. The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Englanders, and New Yorkers are no more. I'm not a Virginian. I am an American. The future of the 13 American colonies hangs in the balance.Spring 1775. Near Concord, Massachusetts. Get in here, get those weapons stacked up. We haven't got all day. Local gunsmith Isaac Davis puts the town militia through basic training. The American patriots knew that they were doing the right thing. You're starting the birth of a nation. You had toreally believe in what you were doing. You've gotta keep this clean here, sir. If you keep that clean, it'll save your life. If war comes, this will be America's first line of defense. A volunteer home guard with weapons paid for by local citizens. Gentlemen, it's looking good, it's looking good. Let's have some breakfast and move out. They're farmers, blacksmiths, and store owners. A fighting force of ordinary Americans. The militiamen of any of the colonies were made up of just its citizens. It was a citizen-based protection unit. And some of them had some skills, but some of them were just the carpenters. Some of them were just the mason or the blacksmith. I mean, these were the guys that--they had something at stake to protect their colony. So they started to form together, just trying to help protect each other. Every town across the colonies has its own militia, but now they're preparing to defend themselves against the British Army. Better than yesterday, better than yesterday. For six generations across Massachusetts, men are expected to serve as militiamen. In Massachusetts, 1/3 of all men between 16 and 50 are ready to bear arms at a minute's notice. Excellent, good shot. We keep this up, we're gonna give those redcoats a scare, all right? The British will not stand for any armed resistance.April 19, 1775. After midnight, 900 redcoats leave their barracks in Boston for Lexington and Concord, about 20 miles away. Their orders: Arrest the rebel leaders and seize their weapons. News of the British attack also reaches Paul Revere. His midnight ride will alert local militias. Revere rides ahead of the British troops. His warning spreads from town to town, across the New England countryside. Paul Revere reaches Lexington... in time to spread the word. The British are coming. We need to warn the militia. Get 'em together. Come on! By five in the morning, 60 militiamen line up. They're commanded by a farmer, John Parker. They're faced off against hundreds of well-armed and highly experienced British soldiers. What happens next will transform the world forever.Sunrise, April 19, 1775. On one side 60 men, poorly armed and barely trained. On the other, hundreds of the most powerful army in the world. Men who have only been active for a handful of months, An army that in the past 20 years has fought on five continents and defeated everything in its path. For these Rebels, the fight is for nothing less than freedom itself. These guys were revolutionaries, they were scallywags, they were rebels, some of them were gentlemen farmers, some of them were overeducated, some of them were undereducated. It really was the birth of a nation. The Lexington Militia gathers on the village common. Dairy farmers and shopkeepers. But also among them are free African-Americans and slaves.It is a unique experience that African-Americans have had in the military in America. African-Americans fought for the country, even before it was a country. African-Americans like Prince Estabrook. Give me training. You give me a weapon, and I can perform as well as you can. Then there's no power on Earth that's gonna hold me down forever. Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon. But if we mean to have war, let it begin here. Captain John Parker once fought on the side of the British. 1/4 of the men standing at his side are related to him. No one knows who fires the first shot at Lexington...but it's the shot heard 'round the world. I mean, the redcoats, that's intimidating, the way they move, the way they march, the way they execute on that open space. I imagine, on some level, for the guy who works the printing press, this is overwhelming beyond anything you could possibly articulate in words.Fire! Prince Estabrook is hit in the first volley. No army in the world can stand toe-to-toe with the British, let alone a ragtag militia. Fire! The British fired up to four times the rate of the militia. Within minutes of the first shots fired at Lexington, eight Patriots are dead, ten wounded. TheAmerican Revolution has begun. The redcoats reach Concord at 9:00 in the morning. Acting on a tipoff from colonists loyal to the crown, they raid the militia's arms stash. But the Rebels have got there first...hiding almost everything.That's good, we don't have all day, let's go, come on. They continue to search for weapons, giving the Patriots more time to spread the word. The militia gathers just outside the town of Concord. By late morning, more than 1,000 have arrived from the surrounding villages. Their plan, to defend their towns against the British. Let's go! The British soldiers left their barracks 15 hours ago. And now they face a 20-mile march back to Boston. The Shattered lives...an occupied city...blood in the streets of Boston...and now Lexington. A people unified in the fight against tyranny. Now the Patriots have their chance. Gunsmith and militia leader Isaac Davis takes a bullet through the heart. The Patriots seize the upper hand and intend to make the British soldiers pay. They shadow the redcoats' march, firing on them the entire way. A third are killed or wounded. Seven generations after the first settlers left England, in search of prosperity and freedom, their descendants will have to fight for these rights. Standing in their way is the might of the world's greatest military superpower. And they're not about to give up their colonies lightly.A ragtag bunch of rebels faces the greatest military superpower of the day. It's a war they never should have won. This is the secret history of how they did it---daring, leadership, new ways of fighting and true American grit.Episode TwoNew York City. Gateway to North America. Today the financial capital of the world. Population: Eight Million people. In 1776, this is a city of just 20,000. It will soon become the battleground for the biggest land invasion in American history.Three miles from Wall Street, where 23rd Street crosses Lexington Avenue today the Rebels dig in to defend New York at Kips Bay. Commander of the Rebel Army is General George Washington. He has already driven the British out of Boston. A surprise victory against superior forces. But they'll be back.The hour is fast approaching on which the honor and success of this army, and the safety of our bleeding country depend. Joseph Plumb Martin enlisted in the Rebel forces at 15 inspired to fight under Washington's command. A farm boy, he joins thousands of untrained volunteers. Our Revolutionary Army was quite something. It was-- in a nation that wasn't really a nation yet, just starting out, and we took on the greatest superpower of the time. Washington's ragtag troops are about to face he best-equipped and most powerful fighting force in the world.June 29th. 45 British warships mass off Staten Island. Bearing down on New York City,the ultimate war machine of its day, the British ship-of-the-line. Each ship is made from over 2,000 century-old trees. Each carries hundreds more soldiers to the fight against the colonies. And each is armed with up to 64 heavy cannons capable of hurling a 24-pound cannonball at the speed of sound, delivering it to targets over a mile away. One ship-of-the-line costs the equivalent of a modern aircraft carrier. Another 350 British ships are racing across the Atlantic to join them. The British want to terrify the Rebels into submission. Instead, they inspire them to resist. On July 2nd, there's a crisis meeting in Philadelphia. 50 delegates elected to the Continental Congress from the 13 colonies hold an emergency session. They include radicals like Ben Franklin,Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. What they're debating is nothing less than high treason--totalindependence from Britain. The penalty is death. We are in the midst of a revolution, the most complete in the history of the world. It's the birth of American democracy. We have to expect a great expanse of blood to obtain it. Some don't believe the Rebels stand a chance. We are about to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper. But the doubters are outnumbered nearly five to one.On July 4, 1776, the delegates ratify a document that will change the world, the Declaration of Independence. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights."Now think about that. They're saying that your rights come not from the king, not from the government, your rights come from God and furthermore, they can't be taken away from you. They're unalienable. Every group: blacks, women, gays--everybody looks to the Declaration as a way of saying we are Americans, too. So the Declaration is the American creed. that among these are "Life"，"Liberty"and "the pursuit of Happiness." You cannot help but be stirred when you read those words. And you feel the excitement of being on the cusp of something so profound. We can be free. Now soldiers like Plumb Martin have something worth fighting for.On July 12th, two British warships open fire on New York City. It must have been quite a shock because New York, up to that point, was pretty quiet city. It was a business city. So you had significant support for the Rebels but also significant support for the people who were still loyal to the king. A month later, Joseph Reed, secretary to George Washington, tracks the British fleet massing off New York. Over 400 ships,the largest British Naval task force until D-day. 32,000 British troops prepare to storm Manhattan Island. They outnumber Patriot forces two to one. Just five of the biggest British ships carry more firepower than all the Patriot guns in the city. Reed is awed by the sight. When I look down and see the prodigious fleet they have collected, I cannot help being astonished that a people should come 3,000 miles at such risk, trouble and expense to rob, plunder and destroy another people because they will not lay their lives and fortune at their feet. It's the biggest attack on New York City until September 11, 2001. But the Rebels will stand and fight. The difference for me was that the British Army was fighting for a king and the Americans were fighting for their lives.Plumb Martin is one of 500 men standing guard at Kips Bay. Have a look. The first thing that saluted our eyes was all four ships at anchor within musket shot of us. "The Phoenix".I could read her name as distinctly as though I was directly underneath her stern.Pull out your gun! The assault begins.September 1776. New York is under fire. In one hour...2,500 British cannonballs smash the Rebel defenses at Kips Bay. 4,000 British troops storm Manhattan. Tough and battle-hardened, a British redcoat has six times more combat experience than a Patriot Army recruit. Get back in your lines! Washington watches his army collapse. Hold the line, men! They retreat along an ancient Native American path that will later be known as Broadway.September 20th. New York, now in British hands, burns. No one knows who starts the fire...but over two days it destroys a quarter of the city. It gives you a sense of the people who wanted to be free, how much they were willing to endure. The city being burned, the city being occupied. Gives you a sense of how much they wanted freedom. More than 3,000 Patriot POWs are thrown into prison ships in New York Harbor. The most notorious isthe HMS Jersey, nicknamed "Hell." One prisoner, Robert Sheffield, escaped to tell the tale. The air was so foul that at times a lamp could not be kept burning, by reason of which the bodies were not missed until they had been dead ten days. Nine in ten prisoners die. There is a memorial over。

[43:53.08] 第四集分裂[43:54.98][43:55.14]1825年1825.[43:56.83][43:57.14]全世界迎来了现代化的曙光All over the world, the modern era is being born. [44:00.13][44:01.12]工业革命来临It's the Industrial Revolution.[44:02.85][44:03.62]美国努力迎头追赶America is racing to catch up.[44:06.22][44:09.31]在纽约州北部In upstate New York,[44:10.97]一条人工运河正在郊野中开凿a man-made river is cutting through the wilderness. [44:13.81][44:14.65]伊利运河是四千年来The Erie Canal is the biggest construction project[44:18.17]西方世界规模最大的建筑工程in the Western world in the last 4,000 years.[44:21.28][44:24.32]全长超过300英里完全由手工开凿Over 300 miles long, dug entirely by hand, [44:27.65][44:27.97]而当时美国连一名像样的工程师都没有and America lacks a single qualified engineer.[44:31.66][44:33.12]美国人The United States of America[44:35.45]不会让大自然阻挡他们的去路isn't about to let nature stand in its way.[44:37.26][44:37.72]我认为美国精神是I think of the spirit of America[44:40.53]想象力与毅力的完美结合being imagination combined with tenacity.[44:44.04][44:38.43] 迈克尔·道格拉斯[著名演员][44:43.20][44:44.44]人们有兢兢业业的工作精神There's a strong work ethic,[44:47.09]有可以尽情施展的创造力a wonderful freedom of creation,[44:50.23]加上脑力与体力相得益彰combined with the mental muscle and physical labor. [44:55.07]对我来说它是人类精神的最高体现So to me, it represents the best of the human spirit.[44:59.92][45:02.48]然而大自然并不见得愿意合作But the land doesn't always cooperate.[45:04.85][45:05.73]一道60英尺高的石灰岩壁挡住了去路A wall of solid limestone 60 feet high. [45:09.31][45:15.20]仅仅30英里开外就是终点伊利湖Just 30 miles from the finish line, Lake Erie. [45:19.00][45:21.16]运河将会改变一切The canal will change everything,[45:22.81][45:23.08]将整个美国中部与大西洋连接起来linking the Atlantic Ocean to the whole middle of[45:26.47][45:28.02]它改变人们的居住地点和人生追求It changes where people live, and why,[45:30.09][45:31.56]把整个北方变成了全球经济中心and turns the North into a global economic powerhouse.[45:35.22][45:39.40]主持运河开凿的The man behind the canal[45:40.89]是满腔热忱的纽约州州长德威特·克林顿is New York's gung-ho governor, Dewitt Clinton.[45:43.76][45:46.70]出身富庶之家的他坚信一切皆可为Born to wealth, he won't take no for an answer. [45:49.88][45:51.48]他有志当总统He wants to be president.[45:52.90][45:52.95]却最终在纽约州长任上尽心竭力了20年Instead, he runs New York for 20 years. [45:56.03][45:56.71]美国历史上出现过许多独具慧眼的领导人America was blessed with many inspirational leaders,[45:59.49][45:59.50]我认为德威特·克林顿and I think Dewitt Clinton[46:00.81][46:00.82]深知纽约州的发展对美国意义重大had a real sense of how important new York could be for America.[46:04.43][45:59.39] 鲁道夫·W·朱利安尼[前纽约市市长][46:03.05][46:09.43]克林顿的愿景是让纽约州富起来Clinton's vision: to make New York rich.[46:12.34][46:15.82]从政治层面说开凿运河就像一场豪赌Politically, the canal is a huge gamble. [46:18.63][46:18.90]舆论纷纷抨击这项危险而又昂贵的工程It's savaged in the press as dangerous and too expensive.[46:21.95][46:22.24]他们将其戏称为"克林顿的大沟" They call it "Clinton's big ditch."[46:24.45][46:24.46]而这条"大沟"将永远改变纽约州But it will change New York forever.[46:27.14]这一工程比人类迄今为止所完成的It is a work more stupendous,[46:29.07][46:29.37]任何工程都更伟大更壮观more magnificent, and more beneficial[46:32.77][46:33.04]并能产生更多效益than has hither to been achieved by the human race.[46:36.13][46:38.37]所谓创业精神就是Entrepreneurship is about doing things[46:41.10] 迈克尔·R·彭博[纽约市市长][46:43.80][46:41.64]尽管你不知道结果怎样when you don't know what it's gonna look like,[46:43.38][46:43.39]也不知道该如何着手you don't know what it's gonna be made of,[46:44.79]你所凭借的只是一种直觉you just have this instinct[46:46.49]一种充满必胜信心的直觉that you can do it and it'll work.[46:47.85]这群人很有远见并且敢想敢做Those guys had visions and did it.[46:50.37][46:53.89]5万人50,000 men.[46:55.22]1100万立方码的石块11 million cubic yards of rock.[46:57.69]玫瑰碗球场可容纳92,542人[46:59.69][46:57.69]足以填满26000个玫瑰碗球场Enough to fillthe Rose Bowl 26,000 times.[47:01.54][47:07.39]工人中有很多是爱尔兰移民Crews are filled with Irish immigrants.[47:09.39][47:10.57]大卫·吉尔罗伊在这里挣的钱是家乡的5倍David Gilroy makes five times what he can earn back home,[47:14.41]但这是项危险的工作but it's hazardous work.[47:16.79][47:17.68]他们其实是在移山They're literally moving mountains,[47:19.99][47:20.00]而唯一可行的办法就是用火药and there's only one way through-- gunpowder. [47:23.66][47:24.03]这是一种由硝酸盐木炭及硫磺制成的A highly combustible mix of[47:26.74]极易燃的混合物nitrate, charcoal and sulfur.[47:28.67][47:29.12]一旦配比出错后果就是致命的The wrong proportions can be lethal.[47:31.79][47:43.14]只有一项工作比There's only one job[47:44.17]比点燃导火索更危险that's more dangerous than lighting the fuse...[47:46.52][47:48.59]那就是回去再点一次going back to relight it.[47:50.42][48:09.42]为了克服恐惧工人们喜欢喝酒To cope, workers drink.[48:11.53][48:11.99]威士忌能缓解紧张Whiskey calms the nerves--[48:14.31]同时也会麻痹大脑and clouds the brain.[48:15.63][48:16.12]一名英国游客不敢相信An English tourist can't believe[48:18.07]他们在执行爆破工作的时候还敢喝酒they're mixing alcohol and explosives. [48:20.65][48:21.00]这些爱尔兰工人变得越发莽撞大胆The Irish laborers grew so reckless of life, [48:23.49]以至于当听到爆炸的信号时that at the signal for blasting,[48:25.02][48:25.86]他们只不过拿铲子在头顶挡一下they would just hold their shovels over their heads. [48:28.01][48:36.24]我认为成长在美国I think when you're brought up in America,[48:37.75][48:36.75] 肖恩·康姆斯[著名歌手绰号"吹牛老爹"][48:40.75][48:38.03]就是成长在一段辛勤劳动的历史之中you're brought up on the history of hard work. [48:40.50][48:41.00]有那么多的移民There are so many immigrants[48:42.79]为建设这个国家献出了生命that have died to build this country.[48:45.17][48:45.52]这种精神流淌在我们美国人的血液中That's in our bloodstream,[48:47.00]深藏在我们美国人的基因里that's in our DNA as Americans.[48:48.39][48:48.67]我们不想让先辈们的牺牲付诸东流We don't want their lives to go in vain.[48:50.47][48:50.48]因此我们会比其他人更勤劳Because of that, we usually work harder than anybody else.[48:54.01][48:58.30]八年的开凿Eight years of digging.[48:59.44][48:59.77]近千人的牺牲Nearly a thousand lives lost.[49:01.43][49:01.74]七百万美元的投入相当于如今的一亿美元$7 million, more than 100 million today.[49:05.17][49:05.61]换来了伊利运河于1825年的顺利通航The Erie Canal opens in 1825,[49:08.55][49:08.56]一个工程史上的奇迹诞生了 a miracle of engineering,[49:10.79]东部和中西部从此连为一体connecting East and Midwest.[49:13.48]运河立刻成为了一条推动经济的高速公路It's an instant economic superhighway. [49:16.00][49:16.22]每年有总价值1500万美元的货物来往于河上$15 million of goods a year flow along the canal.[49:20.27][49:21.16]沿岸的小村庄迅速发展成了发达的城市Villages along the canal boom into dynamic cities--[49:24.59][49:24.60]水牛城锡拉丘兹和罗切斯特Buffalo, Syracuse and Rochester.[49:27.32][49:29.50]物价大幅下降最大降幅达到95% Goods crash in price, up to 95%.[49:34.05]昔日不得不自给自足的边陲小镇A frontier that had to be self-sufficient[49:36.27]如今各种商品应有尽有can now buy anything they want.[49:38.72][49:41.40]繁荣之火开始燎原Prosperity is on the move.[49:43.37][49:46.06]纽约市变成了一座繁华都市New York City becomes a boomtown.[49:48.65][49:53.56]华尔街迅速崛起成为了世界金融中心Wall Street takes off as a global financial center.[49:56.80][49:59.83]城市规模扩大了4倍The city quadruples in size...[50:02.04][50:04.44]并一举超越新奥尔良成为全国第一大港口and surpasses New Orleans as the nation's number-one port.[50:08.57][50:14.22]这里财富聚集There's so much money around,[50:16.01][50:16.32]"百万富翁"一词就是1840年在这里诞生的the word "Millionaire" is invented in 1840.[50:20.18][50:22.35]伊利运河仍在影响着今天的纽约州The Erie Canal still shapes New York today. [50:24.99][50:25.56]其北部80%的人口80% of the upstate population[50:27.14]依然生活在运河25英里的流域范围内still lives within 25 miles of it.[50:30.52][50:37.00]向南数百英里Hundreds of miles to the south,[50:38.65][50:39.07]一种小型作物正在创造另一种经济腾飞a small plant is creating another economic boom.[50:42.63][50:43.00]棉花Cotton.[50:44.04][50:44.22]然而这种作物也导致了后来的国家分裂But this one will eventually tear the nation apart.[50:47.71][50:49.79]棉花原产于热带地区Cotton is native to tropical regions,[50:51.85][50:52.13]因此美国南部各州成为了理想的种植区making the Southern states of the US a perfect breeding ground.[50:55.73][50:58.43]棉花有价值的部分是The valued part is the soft fiber[51:00.69]紧密地长在这种灌木黏性种子周围的柔软纤维which grows tightly around the shrub's sticky seeds.[51:05.58]全世界有30个棉花品种There are 30 species worldwide.[51:07.34][51:08.32]引进种植不成问题Growing it is no problem,[51:09.66][51:12.39]但是加工这些纤维并使之能纺织成布料but processing the fiber before it can be spun into cloth[51:15.77][51:15.78]则需要大量劳动力is labor-intensive.[51:17.23][51:17.93]特别是在除去棉籽时Especially, separating the seeds.[51:19.93][51:20.92]多年来只能通过手工来完成For years, it could only be done by hand.[51:23.73][51:24.16]仅分离一磅棉花就需要一整天的劳动One pound took an entire day.[51:26.48][51:28.34]1794年3月4日一项简单的发明A simple patent filed on March 4, 1794, [51:32.01][51:32.02]改变了这一切changes all that.[51:33.04][51:35.61]轧棉机The cotton gin.[51:36.54][51:38.00]它实现了加工过程自动化It automates the process[51:39.47][51:39.48]也加深了国家的分裂and deeply divides the country.[51:41.95][51:42.12]轧棉机不仅改变了美国The cotton gin transformed not only America,[51:44.35]也改变了世界but the world.[51:46.03]利用机器进行大规模生产的理念The concept of mass production using a machine [51:49.96]从此开始在各地流行just exploded everywhere.[51:52.43][51:46.66] 伍迪·诺里斯[发明家][51:50.66][51:53.50]一个工人现在能加工比从前多50倍的棉花One man can now process 50 times more cotton.[51:57.20][51:57.49]整个南方的棉产量因此突飞猛进Output skyrockets all over the South.[52:00.18][52:03.50]1830年美国棉产量占世界总产量的一半In 1830, America is producing half the world's cotton.[52:07.11][52:07.67]到1850 这一比例接近四分之三By 1850, it's nearly 3/4.[52:10.91][52:15.29]被喻为"白色黄金"的棉花Called white gold,[52:16.58]给南方带来了一种新式的奢华生活cotton supports a new lavish lifestyle in the South.[52:20.21][52:22.30]到1850年By 1850,[52:23.51]密西西比州的纳奇兹市的人均百万富翁数量there are more millionaires per capita in Natchez, Mississippi,[52:27.02]比全世界任何一个地方都要多than anywhere else on Earth.[52:28.86][52:31.63]城里最富有的人拥有4万英亩田地The richest man in town owns 40,000 acres, [52:34.76][52:34.77]几乎是曼哈顿岛的3倍大nearly three times the size of Manhattan Island.[52:37.83][52:43.30]南方的迅速繁荣The South is thriving[52:45.90]离不开一种人剥削人的制度on the backs of humans owning other humans.[52:48.51]也就是奴隶制It's called slavery.[52:50.69][52:51.75]北方也受到了南方繁荣的影响The North is implicated in the South's success. [52:55.38][52:58.84]工业发达的北方从南方的棉花中获益The industrial North is profiting from Southern cotton,[53:02.15][53:04.00]而对奴隶制却视而不见but turns a blind eye to slavery.[53:06.28][53:07.93]开国元勋中的许多人自己就是奴隶主Many of them slave owners themselves, [53:09.99][53:10.27]他们以为奴隶制会很快消失the Founding Fathers assumed slavery would soon disappear.[53:14.22][53:14.90]奴隶制在英国已经被废除了20年Slavery has already been abolished for 20 years in Britain[53:18.63]而且在欧洲的大多数地区属于违法and is outlawed across most of Europe.[53:20.80][53:21.09]但由于棉产量的剧增But with the cotton explosion,[53:22.82][53:23.11]奴隶制变得对南方经济极其重要slavery becomes critical to the Southern economy. [53:25.88][53:29.26]现在每个奴隶可以创造比以前多50倍的利润Each slave is now 50 times more profitable.[53:32.61][53:32.98]在轧棉机问世前只卖300美元的奴隶A slave who sold for $300 before the cotton gin[53:36.37]到1860年可以卖到近2000美元goes for nearly 2,000 by 1860.[53:39.25]人们没有真正意识到这一点People don't really realize this,[53:40.37] 詹姆斯·梅格斯[《大众机械》杂志总编[53:43.37][53:40.51]在轧棉机发明之前but slavery was actually on the decline in the South[53:42.50][53:42.51]奴隶制在南方实际是在逐渐衰退的prior to the invention of the cotton gin,[53:44.39]然而轧棉机使得棉花种植如此有利可图but then once the cotton gin made it so practical to grow cotton,[53:48.60]突然间所有南方农场主all of a sudden, every farmer in the South[53:50.59][53:50.60]都想尽可能地多种棉花wanted to plant as much cotton as possible.[53:52.58][53:54.55]然而过度种植导致了土地贫瘠But overproduction is destroying the land.[53:56.69][53:58.17]棉花种植向西部肥沃的土地进发Cotton heads west in search of fertile soil,[54:01.49]并带去了奴隶制bringing slavery with it.[54:03.42][54:06.12]而北方的废奴势力则要维护边远地区的自由But antislavery forces in the North want to keep the frontier free.[54:10.65][54:11.09]废奴战争的第一枪即将打响The stage is set for the first battles in the war over slavery.[54:15.56][54:24.90]棉花改变了美国人的生活方式Cotton is changing the way Americans live.[54:27.80][54:28.80]不久以后它还会带来国家的分裂In time, it will blow the nation apart.[54:31.82][54:33.26]对南方来说棉花就是金矿For the South, cotton is a gold mine.[54:35.92][54:36.20]而现在北方也想来分一杯羹Now the North wants a piece of the action.[54:38.49][54:38.77]这种互利共赢的合作关系It's a partnership that makes everyone rich,[54:41.54][54:42.60]建立在一种新型机器的基础上based on a new machine,[54:44.76]动力织布机the power loom.[54:45.48][54:48.34]运进来的是粗制棉绒Raw cotton comes in,[54:49.67]送出去的是精美的布料finished cloth goes out.[54:51.13][54:51.42]一切都在一个车间内完成All under one roof.[54:53.40][54:54.72]现代工厂诞生了The modern factory is born.[54:56.82][55:00.56]马萨诸塞州的洛威尔Lowell, Massachusetts,[55:01.88]这个纺织业发达的城市有着"纺锤之城"的美称is called the city of spindles, a textiles boomtown.[55:06.55]人口在短短15年内Population explodes[55:07.88]由1820年的200人骤增至近20000人from 200 in 1820 to nearly 20,000 in just 15 years.[55:13.99][55:14.55]城里超过三分之一的人在工厂里工作More than a third of the town works in the mills.[55:16.84][55:17.60]其中85%是15岁至25岁的单身女性85% are single women between 15 and 25. [55:21.36][55:23.04]哈丽特·罗宾逊只有10岁Harriet Robinson is ten.[55:24.75][55:25.05]父亲死后她就进了工厂When her father dies, she goes to work at the mill. [55:28.32][55:29.76]那情景历历在目我在走廊里来回穿梭I can see myself now, racing down the alley, [55:32.77]奔走于纺机之间between the spinning frames,[55:34.65]搬着个比自己还大的线筒箱carrying in front of me a bobbin box bigger than I was. [55:38.33]妇女第一次可以通过劳动挣钱Women earn money for the first time.[55:41.65][55:42.13]哈丽特的工钱帮助补贴家用Harriet's wages help supporther family.[55:44.64][55:45.04]工业化改变着每个人的生活Industrialization is changing everyone's lives.[55:48.65][55:51.45]所有女童工的收入都得到了合理利用All the mill girls make good use of their money.[55:53.79][55:54.06]家里的抵押被赎回来了The mortgage is lifted from the homestead,[55:56.34]农舍也被粉刷一新the farmhouse is painted.[55:57.73][55:58.00]女童工的收入能贴补守寡的母亲Mill girls help maintain widowed mothers[56:00.24]或者酗酒或者伤残的父亲and drunken or invalid fathers.[56:02.07][56:06.00]我们每周能挣2美元We were paid $2 a week.[56:07.71]当轮到我站在线筒箱上时Oh, how proud I was when[56:09.03]我是多么激动啊it came to my turn to stand up on the bobbin-box.[56:11.61][56:12.81]当妇女到纺织厂制线厂真正参与生产劳动时When women really joined the workforce in the cotton mills and the thread factories,[56:19.04][56:16.30] 玛莎·斯图尔特[著名女企业家有"家政女王"之称][56:19.30][56:19.31]这使她们有机会挣脱传统束缚I think it gave women an opportunity to get out,[56:23.13]并认真考虑自力更生了be serious about being bread winners.[56:25.61][56:25.81]这改变了整个美国的社会格局And it changed the whole fabric of America.[56:28.88][56:30.50]纺织工厂还掀起了美国人的服装革命The mills also revolutionize how Americans dress.[56:33.96][56:36.05]廉价棉布的大量生产Mass production of cheap cotton fabrics[56:38.69]振兴了美国的服装业spawns America's clothing industry.[56:40.88][56:42.29]以前大多数家庭的衣服都是自制的Previously, most families made their own clothes.[56:45.25]现在人们开始购买成衣Now, people buy ready-to-wear.[56:47.17][56:47.80]东方潮流取代了鹿皮大衣Eastern fashions replace buckskin.[56:50.20][56:50.55]到1850年By 1850,[56:52.04]服装业成了纽约市最大的制造业men's clothing is the largest manufacturing industry in New York City.[56:55.72][56:56.00]作为美国人我最自豪的一点就是For me, what makes me proudest to be an American[56:59.38][56:57.38] 吉米·威尔士[维基百科创始人之一][57:00.38][56:59.38]美国精神中的高效和乐观is that American spirit of productivity, optimism,[57:03.29]坚信人定胜天前景光明this idea that the world doesn't have to be doom and gloom,[57:06.52]我们可以利用科技让生活更美好that we can use technology to make our lives better.[57:09.09][57:11.45]时装并不是来自纺织厂的唯一新事物Fashion isn't the only innovation to come out of the mills.[57:14.61][57:15.00]这里发明的技术直接导致了硅谷的诞生Technology developed here will lead straight to Silicon Valley.[57:18.87][57:19.19]织布机上首创了穿孔卡用于生产带花纹的布料Looms pioneer punch cards to produce patterned fabric.[57:23.00][57:25.02]卡上的每个孔Each hole in the card tells[57:26.49]决定织机是否使用不同颜色的纺线the loom to use a different-colored thread, a yes-no decision.[57:30.68][57:31.38]这就是二进制代码所有现代计算机的基础It's binary code, the basis of all modern computers.[57:35.69][57:37.28]计算机和互联网的诞生The birth of the computer and Internet[57:39.45]都始于棉纺工厂里的织机began in cotton mills with these looms.[57:42.60][57:43.29]我认为在美国历史上的每一个You know, in every major development,[57:47.18][57:44.80] 约翰·拉萨特[皮克斯和迪斯尼公司创意总监][57:47.80][57:47.18]重要的发展时期I think, in the history of America,[57:49.33]科技都起到了核心作用technology has been at the center of it.[57:53.69][57:58.00]尽管轮班时间长达12个小时Despite 12-hour shifts,[57:59.47]工厂还是给妇女们带来了无限的机遇the factories offer a new world of opportunity for women.[58:02.53][58:03.83]她们通过更多的阅读和交流来提高自己They are reading more, talking more, educating themselves.[58:07.39][58:08.52]没错在上工时间读书是违规的Yeah, reading books on factory time was against the rules,[58:12.40]但我们把书藏在围裙口袋和废料桶里but we hid books in apron pockets and waste baskets.[58:15.81]有时我们也把诗贴在织机上背诵Sometimes we pasted poems on our looms to memorize.[58:19.29]美国社会第一次听到了她们的声音And for the first time in America, their voices are heard.[58:23.56][58:26.54]1836年10月October 1836.[58:28.59]洛威尔纺织厂的女工下班后有组织地聚集起来Women from the Lowell Mills gather after work and organize.[58:32.87]她们反对降薪的抗议Their protest against wage cuts[58:34.76]是美国历史上最早的罢工之一is one of the first strikes in US history.[58:37.72][58:39.38]最后她们赢了And they will win.[58:40.27][58:40.94]工厂老板作出了让步The mill boss is back down.[58:42.57][58:43.61]新一代的年轻女性后来成为了老师A generation of young women go on to become teachers,[58:46.65]作家甚至大学毕业生writers and even college graduates.[58:49.37][58:49.87]哈丽特·罗宾逊后来成了争取妇女参政权的领军人物Harriet Robinson will become a leading suffragette,[58:53.95]并在国会前作证and testify before Congress.[58:55.67][58:58.21]她们是第一批They're the first wave in a movement[58:59.88][58:59.89]争取妇女选举权运动的发起者that results in women getting the vote.[59:02.12][59:04.07]照亮她们夜间秘密会议的灯光Their secret meetings at night are only possible [59:06.85]来自一种非凡生物点燃的油灯with the light from lamps powered by an extraordinary creature.[59:10.54][59:15.10]鲸油照亮了夜晚Whale oil opened up the night,[59:16.69][59:16.70]正如许多其它革命性的新发明一样and like so many really transformative technological innovations,[59:20.43][59:16.70] 詹姆斯·梅格斯[《大众机械》杂志总编][59:19.70][59:20.43]它使人们更加自由it expanded human freedom.[59:21.86]它为人们开拓了一条多劳多得的劳动之路It created a way for people to get more, do more and achieve more.[59:26.59][59:28.90]原油在20年之后才被发现Crude oil won't be discovered for another 20 years. [59:31.73][59:33.28]在那之前是鲸油照亮着美国Until then, America runs on whale oil.[59:36.72][59:36.86]捕鲸业The whaling industry[59:38.13][59:38.14]推动了工业革命中的研发过程helped invent part of the Industrial Revolution [59:41.06]还给典型的美国工作狂帮了大忙and the classic American workaholic,[59:44.99][59:41.99]史蒂文·约翰逊[著名作家][59:44.29][59:44.99]通宵达旦的工作环境work-round-the-clock kind of environment,[59:46.99][59:47.00]在这种环境下如果你能有更多的亮光where if you have more light[59:48.30]来熬过那段不见天日的寒冬to keep you going in those dark winter days,[59:50.36]就能有更多成就赚到更多钱you could get more done, you could make more money,[59:52.79]因而在某种程度上你也推动了经济的发展and you could kind of drive the economy forward.[59:55.41][00:08.50]鲸是在地球上曾有过的最大的生物之一Whales are among the largest creatures toever live on Earth.[00:11.78][00:15.41]体重可达一百八十吨身长逾百英尺Up to 180 tons and more than 100 feet long. [00:19.18][00:25.10]一条鲸鱼可以制成A single whale can produce[00:26.23]可以高达三千加仑[约11立方米]的鲸油up to 3,000 gallons of oil.[00:28.50][00:31.30]时至今日美国航空航天局仍在使用鲸油Even today, whale oil is used by NASA. [00:33.90][00:34.34]哈勃空间望远镜就是靠鲸油工作的The Hubble space telescope runs on it.[00:37.05][00:42.67]捕鲸业是北方最大的产业之一Whaling is one of the North's biggest industries, [00:46.06][00:46.33]每年带来一千一百万美元的收入bringing in $11 million a year.[00:48.86][00:49.85]但从业者的伤亡代价也很高But the human cost is also high.[00:52.04][00:54.31]一半的捕鲸船最后会在大海里失踪Half of all ships will eventually be lost at sea. [00:57.53][00:58.00]很少有人甘冒此风险Few men are willing to take the risk.[01:00.05][01:00.35]但对于非裔美国人来说这却是一个良机But it's an opportunity for African-Americans.[01:02.67][01:03.25]两万名自由人和逃跑的奴隶选择了出海20,000 freemen and escaped slaves take to the seas.[01:06.81][01:08.10]约翰·汤普森是马里兰州一名逃跑的奴隶John Thompson is a runaway from Maryland.[01:11.03][01:12.49]我的家在费城I have a family in Philadelphia.[01:14.51][01:15.21]但我不敢再在那里多呆But fearing to remain there any longer,[01:17.41][01:17.42]我想到了去航海捕鲸I thought I would go on a whaling voyage[01:19.88]抓捕逃奴的赏金猎人们不太可能where I stood least chance of[01:22.21]跑到海上来追捕我being arrested by slave hunters.[01:23.61][01:27.93]捕鲸业所提供的平等机会超前于其所处的时代The equal opportunity offered in whaling is ahead of its time.[01:31.73][01:32.93]在这里有色人种真正被当人看待Here, a colored man is only known and looked upon as a man[01:36.39]并且他们的晋升只取决于能力和技术水平and is promoted in rank according to hisability and skill[01:40.64]干的活也和白人一样to perform the same duties as a white man.[01:42.95][01:47.63]从某种角度来说捕鲸业The whaling industry offered[01:49.47]为那些像约翰·汤普森一样当过奴隶的人an ex-slave like John Thompson[01:52.42]提供了社会经济层面的流动性the possibility of socialand economic fluidity, mobility [01:55.65][01:52.83]小亨利·路易斯·盖茨[哈佛大学非洲和非裔美国人研究所所长][01:58.00][01:55.65]和被人接受的可能性and acceptance in a way.[01:58.08]即使在北方Even in the North,[01:59.75][01:59.76]对于黑人来说这在其它行业也是不可能的that was not possible for black people otherwise.[02:02.78][02:07.30]负责瞭望的人大声叫道The man on the lookout cried out,[02:09.46]"她在那儿喷水呢" "There she blows!"[02:10.86]海面上出现了四只鲸鱼There were four whales in sight,[02:13.07]距离他们只有不到四分之三英里not more than 3/4 of a mile distant.[02:15.76][02:20.90]猎杀它们需要花费数小时的时间It takes hours to kill them.[02:22.48][02:24.06]他们用的是最先进的鱼叉They use state-of-the-art harpoons[02:26.26]路易斯·坦普[美国著名废奴主义者发明家][02:29.26][02:26.26]这是由一个名叫路易斯·坦普的逃奴发明的invented by runaway slave Lewis Temple.[02:29.22][02:31.08]杀死鲸鱼的唯一方法是在鱼鳍处捅入鱼叉The whale can only be killed by lancing him under the fin,[02:34.65][02:34.66]这需要很多练习和技巧which is a work of much skill and practice.[02:37.36][02:39.50]一头盛怒之中的猛兽A monster, terrible in his fury,[02:42.26][02:42.77]足以在摆尾之间让小船灰飞烟灭able to shiver the boat in atoms by one stroke of his tail.[02:46.57][02:50.00]但海上生活纵使再凶险And yet even the dangers at sea[02:52.49]也比可怕的奴隶生活要强得多are preferable to the horror of life as a slave.[02:56.16][02:58.74]对那些冒险逃跑的奴隶的惩罚手段极其凶残Punishment is savage for those who risk escape,[03:01.57]但仍有人为了自由不惜一切代价but some will do anything to be free.[03:04.92][03:09.56]1841年新奥尔良1841, New Orleans.[03:12.47][03:12.48]奴隶交易的中心Ground zero for the slave trade.[03:14.89][03:16.05]这一天是拍卖日It's auction day.[03:17.17]一个让所有奴隶心惊胆战的日子The day every slave fears the most.[03:19.83][03:22.60]在十九世纪上半叶In the first half of the 19th century,[03:24.76][03:25.03]超过一半的奴隶是在拍卖会上被卖出的over half a million slaves are sold at auction.[03:27.75][03:29.69]这一行业在南方经济中占了20亿美元It's a business worth $2 billion to the Southern economy.[03:33.03][03:34.00]由于棉花种植业的繁荣Since the cotton boom,[03:36.57]奴隶的价格飙升the value of slaves has skyrocketed.[03:37.93][03:38.38]现在男奴隶1000美元Now men cost $1,000.[03:40.50][03:40.94]女奴隶800美元Women, 800.[03:42.14][03:42.42]儿童500美元Children, 500.[03:43.94][03:46.16]所罗门·诺萨普Solomon Northup,[03:48.20][03:46.20]所罗门·诺萨普[曾著自传《为奴十二载》][03:51.81][03:48.21]一位来自北方的受过教育的自由人an educated freeman from the North,[03:49.65]因遭绑架而沦为奴隶was kidnapped into slavery.[03:51.81][03:53.11]你到这边来You, come over here.[03:54.68][03:56.30]他会要求我们把头抬起来He would make us hold up our heads,[03:58.52]让我们快速来回奔跑walk us briskly back and forth,[04:01.19]这样顾客们就能观察我们的手臂和躯干while customers would feel our hands and arms and bodies,[04:05.85]他让我们张开嘴巴露出牙齿make us open up our mouths and show our teeth, [04:09.03][04:09.04]简直就像一个骑师在检验马匹precisely as a jockey examines a horse,[04:12.08]然后再决定是用钱还是用货物来完成交易which he is about to barter for or purchase.[04:15.05][04:16.52]奴隶后背上的伤疤被视为Scars upon a slave's back were considered[04:19.04]该奴隶反叛或难以管束的证据evidence of a rebellious or unruly spirit,[04:22.55]因而影响售价and hurt his sale.[04:23.77][04:26.20]把上衣脱了Take your top off.[04:27.16]九成的非裔美国人都是奴隶90% of all African-Americans are slaves,[04:31.36]包括400万男人女人和小孩4 million men, women and children.[04:34.20][04:34.80]我们的建国纲领是We had based this country on[04:36.75]人人都享有不容侵犯的自由和平等权利everyone having inalienable rights to freedom and equality,[04:40.60][04:37.60]雪儿·克罗[上世纪90年代以来最受欢迎的摇滚乐女歌手之一][04:39.60][04:40.60]然而我们也创造了一套惨无人道的迫害机制and yet we created a system of abject persecution.[04:45.60][04:47.81]奴隶们被养肥了送去拍卖就像牲口一样Slaves are fattened for auction, like livestock.[04:51.22][04:51.78]深肤色的男人被买走干农活Dark-skinned men are bought for the fields,[04:54.00]而浅肤色的女人则用来做家务活light-skinned women for the house.[04:56.33][04:57.81]奴隶贩子们谎报他们的年龄Traders lie about their ages,[05:00.36]甚至会给奴隶的白发染色even dye a slave's gray hairs.[05:02.37][05:03.02]对于农场主来说For the plantation owners,[05:04.82]买奴隶就像去当地的超市买糖和面粉一样it was like just going to your local supermarket to get sugar or flour.[05:10.59][05:06.90]艾尔·夏普顿牧师[美国人权领袖][05:10.30][05:10.80]他们已经完全忘了奴隶也是人They had become so desensitized to the humanity of the slave[05:16.44]以至于根本不把奴隶当人看that they did not see them as human beings.[05:19.61][05:23.00]买家需要生育能力强的奴隶来繁衍后代Buyers demand the most fertile slaves for breeding.[05:25.60][05:26.57]身价最高的就是浅肤色未成年处女The most expensive are light-skinned teenage virgins.[05:29.77][05:30.70]强奸已是稀松平常Rape is common.[05:32.53][05:36.61]伊莱扎来自一个州立农场Eliza's from a state plantation.[05:38.99][05:41.95]和她一起被拍卖的还有她的两个孩子She's being sold, with her two children, [05:44.82]埃米莉和兰德尔Emily and Randall.[05:46.89][05:47.33]在路易斯安那州In Louisiana,[05:48.99]将11岁以下的孩子从父母身边带走是违法的it's illegal forchildren under 11 to be taken from their parents.[05:52.67]小伙子过来Boy, come over here.[05:54.14][05:54.39]但这种事屡见不鲜It happens all the time.[05:55.69][05:56.74]给我看看你的牙齿Show me your teeth.[05:58.50][05:58.88]140年的时间对于You know, 140 years is not[06:00.27]整个历史进程来说并不漫长a really long time in the context of history.[06:02.78]所以我真的不敢相信So it's hard for me to believe[06:04.55]140年前黑人在这里没有任何权利可言that blacks didn't have any rights here, [06:06.98]他们遭受的是非人的对待they weren't treated as human beings,[06:09.19][06:07.19]约翰·勒珍德[五次荣获格莱美奖的R&B歌手和歌曲作家][06:11.18][06:09.20]本质上他们的待遇和动物无异they were treated like animals, essentially.[06:11.18][06:12.50]求你了先生Sir, please![06:13.63][06:29.00]拍卖会上过半的交易都会拆散一个家庭Over half the sales at auction will tear a family apart.[06:32.83]想象一下一个八岁的孩子If you've ever been eight, to think of being[06:35.91]被迫与父母分开separated from your mother and your father[06:37.63]被人买走永远不能再见父母一面and sold and you'll never see them again. [06:39.96]想象一下这过程中的惊恐与辛酸The horror of that, the poignancy of all of that, [06:42.38][06:40.38]安妮特·戈登·里德[罗格斯大学历史学系教授][06:43.38][06:42.39]而类似事件却在整个南方屡见不鲜and yet that's the kind of thing that happened across the South[06:46.19]直到奴隶制度瓦解up until the end of slavery.[06:48.09][06:49.00]好了我最后一次出价Okay, my final offer,[06:50.31][06:51.32]这个男人我出一千那个男人我出九百I'll give you 1,000 for that man, 900 for that man.[06:54.66]。

美国我们的故事美国，一个充满梦想和机遇的国家，是许多人心中的向往之地。

它的故事，是一个充满传奇和奇迹的故事，是无数个个体的汇聚，是多元文化的交融。

从建国初期的殖民地开拓，到如今的世界超级大国，美国的发展历程承载着无数个人和族群的梦想和奋斗。

在这片土地上，每一个人都有属于自己的故事，而这些故事又交织在一起，构成了美国这个国家的多彩画卷。

美国的故事，是一个关于自由和平等的故事。

从美国独立宣言中提出的“人人生而平等，享有生命、自由和追求幸福的权利”，到废除奴隶制度、推动民权运动，美国一直在不断追求人权与平等。

这个国家的故事，是无数个体为了自由和平等而奋斗的故事，他们的努力和牺牲，为美国的发展进步贡献了巨大的力量。

美国的故事，是一个关于多元文化的故事。

美国是一个移民国家，来自世界各地的人们在这里汇聚，带来了各种不同的文化和传统。

他们在这片土地上相互交融，共同创造了一个多元、包容的社会。

美国的文化多样性，不仅丰富了这个国家的内涵，也为世界文化的发展做出了重要贡献。

美国的故事，是一个关于创新和进步的故事。

美国是世界科技和经济的领头羊，它的发展离不开无数个体的努力和智慧。

从工业革命到信息时代，美国人民一直在不断探索和创新，他们的努力和智慧，推动了世界科技和经济的发展。

美国的故事，是一个关于团结和奋斗的故事。

在美国的发展历程中，无数个体为了共同的目标团结在一起，共同奋斗。

无论是建国初期的殖民者，还是现代的劳动者，他们都在不同的历史时期为了美国的繁荣和发展做出了自己的贡献。

美国的故事，是一个关于希望和梦想的故事。

在这片土地上，每一个人都有追求幸福和梦想的权利。

无论是来自世界各地的移民，还是土生土长的美国人，他们都在这里追逐着自己的梦想，为了更美好的未来不断努力着。

美国，我们的故事，是一个充满希望和可能的故事。

在这个国家里，每一个人都有属于自己的故事，而这些故事又交织在一起，成就了这个多元、包容、充满活力的国家。

让我们一起书写美国的故事，让我们为了共同的梦想而努力，让我们共同创造更美好的未来。

美国我们的故事
美国，一个充满无限可能的国家，一个拥有丰富历史和多元文
化的国家。

我们的故事，就是关于这片土地上发生的点点滴滴，记
录着美国人民的奋斗和成就，见证着这个国家的发展和变迁。

美国的故事始于约翰·史密斯在1607年带领英国殖民者登陆维
吉尼亚的詹姆斯敦，这标志着美国殖民地的建立。

随后，殖民地不
断扩张，英国、法国、荷兰等国家纷纷在北美建立了自己的殖民地。

殖民地时期的美国经历了不少战争和磨难，但也孕育了独立精神和
民主理念。

1776年，美国宣布独立，成为世界上第一个废除君主制
度的国家，开启了美国的独立之路。

19世纪中叶，美国经历了西部大开发和南北战争，国家版图不
断扩张，工业迅速发展。

20世纪初，美国成为世界上最强大的工业
国家之一，两次世界大战的胜利更是奠定了美国在世界上的地位。

冷战时期，美国与苏联展开了长达数十年的对抗，成为了世界上的
超级大国。

如今的美国，是一个多元文化的国家，吸引着来自世界各地的
移民。

美国人民勤劳、开放、创新，他们创造了无数的奇迹和传奇。

从华盛顿到林肯，从爱迪生到乔布斯，他们的故事激励着世人不断
追求梦想，不断创造奇迹。

美国的故事，不仅仅是一个国家的历史，更是人类文明的一部分。

美国的精神，是勇往直前，永不言弃；美国的文化，是多元融合，包容开放。

美国的故事，永远在继续，它不仅仅属于美国人民，更属于全世界。

让我们一起走进美国的故事，感受这个国家的魅力，共同书写美国的未来。

RevolutionNew York City,Gateway to North America. 纽约，通向北美的必经之路。

Today the financial capital of the world. 如今已是世界金融的中心。

Population,Eight Million people. 人口多达8百万，In 1776,this is a city of just 20,000. 但在1776年这里的人口不过2万，It will soon become the battleground for the biggest land invasion in American history. 随着战事的蔓延这里即将成为美国历史上最大规模抵抗外来入侵的战场。

Three miles from Wall Street, where 23rd Street crosses Lexington Avenue today the Rebels dig into defend New York at Kips Bay. 距离华尔街3英里，在今天第23大街与莱克星顿街的交汇处，起义军为固守纽约正在基普斯湾挖掘战壕，Commander of the Rebel Army is General George Washington. 乔治·华盛顿作为总司令指挥着这支起义军。

He has already driven the British out of Boston. 他曾出奇兵将英军逐出波士顿，A surprise victory against superior forces,but they'll be back. 但一场以弱胜强的胜利并不能阻止他们卷土重来。

The hour is fast approaching on which the honor and success of this army,and the safety of our bleeding country depend. 考验我们的时候到了，我军的荣誉，国家的安危全部落在了我们的肩上。

美国历史故事3篇由于在一次车祸中受了伤，他开始思考自己的生命：在过去13年的学校教育中，为什么没有老师教导他该如何预防灾难呢？为什么那些正规教育部门没有教会学生如何处理生命中人际及情绪方面的问题呢？一个想法在他的心中酝酿：发展一套课程，让学生获得更高的自我价值感，学会处理人际关系及应付冲突的技巧！17岁那年，他着手研究课程的内容。

开创一套传授以上技能的课程势在必行。

在几位秘书的帮助下，他又和家乐氏基金会的执行长罗斯莫比博士见面了，并且和他共进午餐。

路上，他们经过一个卖冰淇淋的小摊子。

执行长问他：“要不要吃个冰淇淋？”他点点头，但他实在太焦虑了，以至于压碎了手上的冰淇淋筒，指缝间全是汁水。

他试着在执行长察觉之前，偷偷摸摸地将手上的冰淇淋汁甩掉，但执行长还是看到了，他“扑哧”一笑，走回小摊子替他拿了一叠纸巾。

接过纸巾的瞬间，他感到这次又没希望了：连一个甜筒都拿不好的人，还有什么能力指望别人赞助他的新教育课程呢？果然，两周后，执行长就给他打来电话：“你要求55000元的赞助，我们十分抱歉，董事会的成员一致否决了你的要求。

”他感到自己快要哭了，两年来，他一直为一个梦想努力拼搏，到头来，这最后的机会也成了一场空。

“但是，董事们却一致决议要赞助你13万元。

”执行长说。

他以为自己听错了，当执行长再次说要赞助他13万元时，他捧住头，蹲在地上，痛哭失声。

13万元，为他的梦想开掘出了第一条路。

之后5年时间，他陆陆续续为这个梦想募集到了1亿美元。

目前，在全球32个国家及全美50个州的3万多所学校，都有教授他的“逐梦技巧训练课程”。

因为一位17岁青年的执著，每年有300万的学童得以学习到重要的生活技能。

1989年时，因为逐梦课程的惊人成就，他扩大了他的梦想，创立了国际青年基金会，而且得到6500万美元的赞助金，这是美国历史上第二大笔的赞助金。

他就是瑞克李特，美国一个激励青年人奋发向上的传奇人物。

这位国际青年基金会的创始人，以坚持向我们证明：面对理想，永不言弃，就会成功！二：[美国历史故事]被拒绝也是一种成长你一定被人拒绝过吧。