摘要美国文化的主要内容强调的是追求民主自由，崇尚开拓竞争，讲究理性和实用，尤其强调的是个人的价值。
总所周知，美国是一个移民国家，他的祖先来自世界各地。
美国文化的形成就与这些移民有着密切的关系。
这些来自世界各地的移民带着自己的文化传统来到北美这片沃土。
各种文化的交融和北美的生活的叠加创造了美国独特的移民文化，而早期的移民文化为当今美国主流文化的形成奠定了坚实的基础。
本文将主要讨论美国早期移民文化的形成、内涵及特征。
关键词：美国文化;移民;移民文化;AbstractThe main contents of American culture emphasize the pursuit of freedom and democracy, the advocating of pioneering and competition, and pay attention to the ration and practice, especially stress on individual value. As we know, unlike most other countries in the world, America is primarily a nation of immigrants; the ancestors of Americans emigrated from many parts of the world. The formation of American culture has close relation with these immigrants who have had taken their own culture to the North America which is a fertile land. All kinds of culture blend laid a solid foundation for the formation and development of the main stream of American culture. The main contents of this paper will discuss the formation connotation and characteristics of early American immigration culture.Keywords: American culture; immigrant; immigration cultureContents摘要 (I)Abstract (II)Contents (III)1 Introduction (1)2 Background information of American emigration culture (2)2.1 Background (2)2.2 Waves of immigration (2)3 The innovation of American emigration culture (3)3.1 Freedom and Independence (3)3.2 Corporation (3)3.3 Pioneering, Innovation and Adventurous spirit (3)3.4 Equality and Competition (4)3.5 Pragmatism (4)3.6 Materialism and Money supremacy (4)3.7 Tolerance (5)4 The characteristics of America emigration culture (6)4.1 The unite of diversity and integration (6)4.2 The coexistence of fusion and conflict (6)5 Conclusion (7)Bibliography (8)1 IntroductionThe United States has many groups, including a large variety of ethnic groups coming from different races, nationalities and religions. People around the world refer to the United States as a “melting pot”. In history，there was a time, people from different countries in the world rushed to America. Immigrants brought with them their native cultural, political, and social patterns and attitudes, varied academic and religious backgrounds, as well as their ethnic arts, sports, holidays, festivals, and foods to the United States of America. These were greatly enriched American life and gradually penetrated into the American culture. After these immigrants settled down in the northeast part of America, they found the environment there was very rough. But the wise immigrants continued to move to the west and found much richer land. Finally, they found a land of democracy and a land of freedom. The immigrants accessed to every part of America and had an impact on society of America as well as change their inherent way of life. As a result, these aspects jointly created the unique culture——American immigration culture.2 Background information of American emigrationculture2.1 Background“The first Americans” were Indians. No one knows exactly how and when they got to the place which is now called America. A lot of scientists think that the first population migration movement to the Americans began about 25,000 years ago. At that time in order to look forward new hunting or escape from enemies, the tribes of Siberia crossed from Asia on the land bridge which connects Siberia and Alaska to the North America Continent. Before the discovery of the New World, American Indians had already inhabited there for thousands of years. They lived on land by hunting, gathering, fishing, and farming.The second population migration movement to Americans started from the European colonial expansion of early 16th century. In 17th century, English established a permanent resident in North America, which had an influence on their culture and enriched their life. During this time, the immigrants came not only from England but also Germany, Switzerland, France and other countries. These people combined together and created the American culture which was a blending of European cultures under new circumstances.2.2 Waves of immigrationThe first waves of immigration (1680-1880): the protestant migrating to North America descrambled the place to be a paradise which attracted a large number of European immigrants. At the same time, another group was black Africans through black slave which was also called triangle trade.The second waves of immigration (1900-1920): after the civil war, America entered the massive phrase of industrialization and urbanization. As a result, it needed abundance workers. Among them, most were from Italian、Hungary、Poland and Russia.The third waves of immigration (1965-): accounting for the bill proposed by America, the immigration came from a wide area and more countries.3 The innovation of American emigration culture 3.1 Freedom and IndependenceThe reason why the early settlers came to America was that escape from their religious persecution and social environment. Most of them were protestant from England. In England, they did not accept the doctrine of Church of Scotland, which brought them inconvenience and danger. Therefore, they pursued freedom and independence not only reflected in religion but also in economy and social life. After they moved across the ocean to America with all kinds of difficulties, the thoughts that pursuit individual rights and freedom was more firm and strong. For one thing, they needed a powerful government to maintain peace order and ensure private properties. For another thing, they pursued freedom and independence which had become their principle and belief to the maximum possible. Their dream was realized along with the publication of the Declaration of Independence and the success of war of Independence. Personal freedom was the most basic and the most important values.3.2 CorporationAs a country set up from the wilderness, accounting for ample natural resources, there were many opportunities. However, the tough environment made the immigrants realized that it was hard to one single person to survive and they must combine together to break up fallow ground and build house. Therefore, the spirit of corporation became one of the important values of American immigration culture.3.3 Pioneering, Innovation and Adventurous spiritOpportunity is a kind of magic strength that drew people to America. It not only attracted the noble who wanted to build houses in wild but also carpenter, baker, tailor who could not find job in their hometown. The most was that attract the poor without land and the homeless. It gave people a hope that was people could live a better life in America than other places. The desolate natural environment of the North America continent stimulated the immigrants to work harder. Gradually, the immigrants formed the characteristics of bearing hardships and standing hard work. And the utilization of the rich resou rces and development of North America bred America’s pioneering spirit and the spirit of adventure. A great number of immigrants who were tired about traditional system of culture came to America with rebellious spirit dominated their mind. Most of them were rarely found in traditional conservative thinking, because the dangerous and wild environment forces them to give up part of what had been desirable and traditional in the Old World. Adventure is the way for them to change their way oflife. Gradually this adventurous spirit of the American people has become the tradition. They regarded a journey of adventure as the opportunity for their development and life as a journey of adventure to explore the opportunities. In addition to the law, they thought most of the traditions were the barriers to limit their environment, resulting in being eager for challenge tradition. Americans stressed the spirit of innovation; they believe that the chance exists everywhere. They are willing to challenge tradition and precedent. American people would like to accept the new ideas as quickly as they can.3.4 Equality and CompetitionBecause America was never ruled over by King or Queen, no one has privilege in this New World. Under the condition of equal opportunity, only one’s ability could decide its own wealth. So the equality and competition are the pursuit of early America immigrants. In America, with the massive colonial land and scarce labor, each free man had the opportunity to gain financial independence. Immigrants from continental Europe brought the free thought of the bourgeoisie. In general, Americans did not envy other person, but praised and appreciated the millionaire. They believed the motto: a man’s wealth showed his ability. In the early history of United States, many immigrants from Europe resided in America because of acquiring more chances of success. In their original country, one’s success depended on their social background. Compared with American society, there was not eupatrid, and the success totally depended on your own efforts. Most of the early immigrants in the new world achieved their hope and dreams. Millions of immigrants succeeded in establishing personal beliefs in equality. With the deep understanding of the American society, they found the equality was the country’s basic belief. Admittedly, the equal opportunity to personal success was very important. In order to obtain equal chance, everyone had to pay the price. So, one of the price was equality.3.5 PragmatismWhen the first group of settlers came to the North America, they found the natural environment there was so tough, and they were isolated from the European civilization. In order to adapt themselves to the new circumstances, they became less formal but more pragmatic. The pragmatism became the philosophy of American. Because the United States had no long and splendid ancient culture, the creation of culture was in the development of North America continent. To develop this wealthy virgin, it was necessary for immigrants to break all the rules and subject to the solution of practical problems. In this historical background, the national philosophy of pragmatism was gradually formed in the United States .They expressed the belief that usefulness, effectiveness and benefit were the truth." Under the influence of the philosophy of pragmatism, Americans do not like the formal, abstract philosophy. In the eyes of the Americans, practicality was the truth, success was the truth.3.6 Materialism and Money supremacyAmerican culture is based on the material. A comfortable standard of living is their goal to pursuit. They have a sense of superiority to those whose living condition is notbetter than them. When Americans talked about person's value of early immigrants, they mainly referred to material values as the ordinary standard. One of the most fundamental reasons for early immigrants to flood into the United States is that they want to live a better life. Most of the immigrants were not become rich overnight, having a break life. However, they promoted their quality of life. When early immigrants came to this virgin territory, they were surprised by the rich natural resources of North America. Only work hard is the only way for them to survive in new world. And only by working hard can they realize their dreams. To some extent material wealth is the rewards or returns of the hard work. Wealth is one of important way to prove one’s ability.3.7 ToleranceThe United States is a country of immigrants. Its ancestors were from all over the world. When People immigrated to the United States, they not only shifted in geographical position but also changed the old customs and cultures of their host countries to adapt themselves to a new environment. Because of the obvious differences, people would not pay special attention to uniformity. Day by day, Americans developed a high degree of cultural tolerance. They could tolerant different point of view, different customs and different culture. Politically, the tolerance was the pursuit and protection of freedom. Religion, it was the coexistence of different beliefs. In life, it was the living in peace of many nationalities. In the United States, each person could choose various ideas, beliefs, and way of life. To a certain degree, people could keep their own tradition.4 The characteristics of America emigrationculture4.1 The unite of diversity and integrationThe multi-original of immigration determined the diversity of America culture. Different age, different race and different nation of immigrants in the United States left a mark on the process of American culture development.Language is the carrier of culture; a large amount of foreign words of American English reflected the diversity of American culture. In early North America colonial age, American English absorbed mass words from different immigrant language, among which still in use today. For example, the words (avalanche、prairie、depot、ragout) derived from French. The words (boss、roster、cookie sleigh、Santa Claus) originated from Dutch. The words (bronco、buckaroo、canyon、mesa、ranch、puma) stemmed from Spanish. At the same time, there were many words came from Russian, Finnish, Japanese and Chinese.4.2 The coexistence of fusion and conflictThere were diversities in heterogenous culture. The general characteristics reserved from fusion of nations and culture, which constituted the core of American culture. On the contrary, differences led to the contradictions between races and cultural conflict. Because America was made up of racial immigrants, the ethnicity, not political or social, became the main standard to distinguish American. Racial culture and traditional diversities became the main driving force to develop. But it was easy to produce prejudice, deepen racial discrimination, and caused ethical division. Racial discrimination is the social problems. The disparaged call to some nations was the best evidence.5 ConclusionThe formation of American immigration culture is closely related with the development of the United States of America. American immigration culture made a great contribution to the development of the American history. Native America or immigrants from overseas held the same dream of changing their social class and desired to make their life time dream come true through their own efforts. In order to adapt themselves to the new environments, they became less formal but more pragmatic. They grew less conservative and more outspoken. Large tracts of virgin soil promoted the development of competition and cultivated a stronger sense for liberty and variety. The formation of a new nation by people of different national origins forced social life to show more elasticity. Compromise and tolerance became a necessity. Religion thus gradually became a private affair. When the immigrants came to the American continent, they brought with them their native traditions, customs and living patterns. The immigrants from all part of the world have greatly enriched American life. The United States is a "melting pot" in which the foreigners have sometimes remained culturally and linguistically what they were in their native lands even as they move toward becoming citizens of the United States, and it is still a country whose people share a common cultural outlook and set of values which are included in the American immigration cultures.外国语学院英语系学年论文Bibliography[1] Hendrik Willem Van Loon. Tolerance, 1925.[2] Alexis de Tocqueville.De la démocratie en Amérique，1993.[3] Baugh, Albert C. A Literary History of England. London: Routledge and K. Paul,1967.[4] 刘平，刘军. 移民美国. 中国经济出版社, 2009.[5] 吴定柏. 美国文学大纲. 上海外语出版社，2000[6]李常磊. 英美文化博览. 世界图书出版公司，2000.[7]陈朝晖. 美国. 京华出版社，2001.8。
