Text 1

First There Was the Land

    How come that the United States became such a big country? How much do you know about the land? What are its geographic features? Read the following text to get a clear picture of this vast and beautiful land that has played an important role in American history.

    No single force has been responsible for shaping the background of American history. But of the many that have contributed, none played a more important role than the land itself.

    In the three centuries needed to settle the continent, pioneers marched toward the West in a never-ending procession. Whether explorers, traders, farmers, or adventurers, the pioneers all shared one thing in common. They were drawn westward by the land, a land vast in size, often free for the taking, and rich in undeveloped natural resources.

    Therefore, before beginning the story of America's history, it is essential for us to look at the background of the land itself. Since it is not always possible for students of history to fly over the area being studied, let us instead look at the map of the United States.

    First, we can divide the continental United States into three basic areas: 1) the Atlantic Seacoast west to the Appalachian Mountains; 2) the great Mississippi River Basin between the Appalachian and the Rocky Mountains; and 3) the Rockies west to the Pacific Ocean.

    The eastern one-third of the United States may be further divided into three separate areas: the Northeast and the South which are obviously different from each other, and the area between them which has the characteristics of both. The first major feature we can see on the map is that the Appalachian Mountains do not run north to south but northeast to southwest. Therefore, in the Northeast, the land extending to the Atlantic coastline is mountainous and rocky.

    In the deep South, there is a wide plain between the mountains and the sea. In the central area, there are plains on the coast which give way rapidly to the foothills of the Appalachians and then to the mountains themselves.

    In the Northeast, rivers flow only a relatively short distance from the mountains to the ocean. As a result, they flow more rapidly than the rivers in the South, which travel a longer way to the sea. The Northern rivers are more useful as sources of water power than they are as highways of commerce.

    The land of the Northeast is hilly and rocky. Much of it is still covered by heavy forests. The coastline, however, is broken by many excellent harbors which early in the history of the country became important centers of commerce and trade. Off the coast and far into the Atlantic Ocean, the warm waters of the Gulf Stream flowing north from Florida provide a continuing supply of fish, adding to the resources of the area.

    In the deep South, the more gently flowing rivers serve as highways of trade and commerce. The rivers, plains, and mild temperatures of the southeastern part of the United States make it suitable for large-scale agriculture.

    The middle area, with its many rivers and flat coastal areas, combines the characteristics of the North and the South and serves as a trade link between them.

    The whole eastern area appears to be surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains. But, since these mountains are very old and worn down, they have never been a great barrier between the East and the central Mississippi River Basin. Narrow gaps and wide valleys passing through the Appalachians allow avenues to travel westward.

    By far, the largest of the three major sections of the United States is the area between the Appalachians and the Rocky Mountains. Rivers rising in both mountain chains flow toward each other down the sides of this vast bowl, emptying into the Mississippi. Indians called this longest of North American rivers "Father of Waters". Together with the Missouri River, its chief western branch, the Mississippi flows 4 000 miles (6 400 kilometers) from its sources in the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico.

    The rivers flowing west from the Appalachians are fed not only by melting snow in spring, but also by rain throughout the year. Sometimes in the spring, more water pours into these rivers than their banks can hold, leading to serious flooding. Flood control projects have been necessary to bring this problem under control.

    On the other hand, the rivers that flow east toward the Mississippi find their main source of water supply in the spring melting of snow from the Rocky Mountains. Because the winds in the Far West blow from the Pacific Ocean eastwards, clouds bearing moisture lose it as rain or snow on the western rather than the eastern side of the Rockies. As a result, the clouds moving eastward over the greater part of the Great Plains between the Rockies and the Mississippi are dry. The area is mainly watered only during the spring melting.

    Although most of the central basin of the United States is made up of dry, flat land, there are two areas where the land is very rich. The area around the Great Lakes is one of the most fertile in the nation. Even though it is very hot in the summer and cold in the winter, it is far better suited to agriculture than the Great Plains. The Great Lakes themselves provide transportation, and plenty of rainfall makes agriculture possible on a large scale. In more recent times, this area's nearness to coal and iron resources has helped it become one of the great industrial sections of the United States.

    In the south, the soil along the banks of the Mississippi is enriched by dirt deposited by rivers flooding the Great Plains in the spring. This wide area is one of the richest agricultural regions in the United States. It extends west of the Mississippi deep into Texas and eastward almost to the Atlantic Ocean.

    The huge Mississippi River Basin is a source of great wealth to the United States in both agriculture and industry.

    The last of the three areas into which the United States is usually divided is that between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Steep mountains and high plateaus still keep most of the area unpopulated. There are two fertile sections however: the great northwestern valley where the Columbia and Snake Rivers meet and the Central Valley of California.

    In the early history of the United States, the Rockies were an almost impassable barrier for settlers going to the Pacific Coast. The so-called "South Pass" provided the only route to the rich lands of the Northwest and California. Only far to the south, where the mountains disappear, was there another way to California. Although this area was dry, its natural resources made it very valuable. In the nearby mountains, explorers discovered many metals like gold, silver, and copper.

    In California, the fertile valleys and coastal plain produced great crops of fruit and vegetables. Today, modern transportation has overcome the barriers of desert and mountain, and the western area is of great importance to the national economy.

    Although geographically separated from the other forty-eight states, Alaska and Hawaii are both richly productive and add considerable wealth to the nation. Alaska lies far to the north of the western United States from which it is separated by the provinces of Canada. It is very mountainous and cold much of the year. Although in area it is the biggest state, Alaska has a very small population. It is rich in natural resources, its economy depending largely on fishing, oil, and timber.

    Hawaii, however, is a tropical area enjoying year-round sunny weather. The state is made up of eight major islands of different sizes lying 2 000 miles (3 218 kilometers) west of the California coast. Plenty of rainfall and fertile soil permit a long growing season for its main crops of pineapples and sugar cane. Because it is in the mid-Pacific, Hawaii has always been a crossroad for trade and commerce. With today's rapid means of transportation, tourism has also become a major industry.

    Since both Alaska and Hawaii only became states in 1959, their histories are quite separate from the mainstream of American development. Each, however, has its own native culture and history.

    This brief description of American geography shows the country to be very fortunate. The fact that it is, with the exception of Alaska, in the temperate climate zone is of basic importance. Another important feature is the north-to-south direction of the mountain ranges. As a result, almost all the rivers form navigation lines for trade and commerce.

    Nature has blessed North America with rich natural resources. Except for the desert areas centered around the southern Rockies, there are large supplies of fresh water and numerous fertile valleys. Today the rivers and streams of the United States furnish nearly two-thirds of the fresh water used daily by the cities and for farm irrigation. They supply over 90 per cent of the water used by industry, and almost all the water used to create electric power.

    Moreover, about one-third of the land is forested. These wooded areas support a major industry (forest products) and prevent the wearing away of soil that leads to flooding. In addition, the nation produces millions of kilograms of iron each year for its industries. Steel, the end product, is used in the making of some 200 000 products. Of coal, a vital resource for the steel, electric power, and chemical industries, there are enough to last hundreds of years. Yet another basic industry is petroleum, and America is one of the biggest producers of oil in the world.

    Of all the geographical factors about America, however, the one which has played the greatest role in the history of the United States has been that of its physical isolation. The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans have from the beginning given the nation the gift of time, time in which to develop economically and politically. Had the land been surrounded by powerful enemies, the United States, whatever her resources, would have had a far more difficult time developing according to her own choices.

    (1 646 words) TOP

课文一

首要的是土地

    美国是如何成为这样一个大国的？你对这片土地了解多少？这片土地的地理特征是什么？阅读下面这篇文章，你能清楚地了解在美国历史进程中起重要作用的这片广袤而美丽的土地。

    美国的历史背景绝非某单一因素形成。诸多因素中，土地本身起着最重要的作用。

    在定居北美大陆所需的3个世纪中，开拓者们源源不断地向西部进军。不论是探险者、商人、农夫，还是冒险家，这些开拓者都有一个共同特征。他们被那片西部土地所吸引。这片土地幅员辽阔，通常可以无偿获得，而且未开发的资源极为丰富。

    因此，在揭开美国历史篇章之前，纵观这片土地的有关背景是至关重要的。由于我们不可能总让所有学历史的人们都飞临他们正在探究的地区，那么就让我们先看看美国地图吧。

    首先，我们可将美国大陆分为3个基本区域：1）阿巴拉契亚山脉以西的大西洋沿岸地区；2）阿巴拉契亚山脉和落基山脉之间广阔的密西西比河盆地，以及3）太平洋沿岸地区以西的落基山脉。

    美国东部约占国土总面积1/3的区域可进一步分割为3个独立的地区：地理特征有明显差异的东北地区和南部地区，以及介于它们之间兼有二者地理特点的中间地区。从地图上可以看到的第一个主要特征是，阿巴拉契亚山脉不是南北走向而是东北-西南走向。因此，在美国东北部，一直延伸到大西洋沿岸的土地，处处山峦起伏，巉岩兀立。

    在南部腹地，山脉和海洋之间舒展着辽阔的平原。在中部地区，沿海的平原与阿巴拉契亚山脉周边山麓毗邻，与连绵的群山相接。

    在东北部，从崇山峻岭流出的河流，经过相对短的流程，注入海洋。而南部河流则缓慢地流经较长的路程才注入海洋。所以，东北地区的河流往往比南部河流更为湍急。因此，北部河流作为水力资源比作为水上商贸干线，更有利用价值。

    东北部的土地丘陵起伏，岩石耸立，大部分仍为茂密的森林。然而，东北部海岸线上有许多优良港湾，它们在美国早期历史中就已成为重要的商贸中心。远离海岸的大西洋中，墨西哥湾流中的温暖海水从佛罗里达向北流，带来了捕捞不尽的鱼群，使这一地区资源更加丰富。

    在南部腹地，水流较为徐缓的江河是商业贸易的水上干线。河流、平原以及美国东南部温和的气候使这个区域适合于大规模的农业生产。

    中部地区河流众多，沿海地区地势开阔、平坦。这个地区同时具有南部和北部两个地区的特点，是南北两地的贸易枢纽。

    整个东部地区虽然看起来被阿巴拉契亚山脉环绕，但是由于年代久远、岩石风化，这些山脉从未成为东部和中部密西西比河流域的屏障。狭窄的隘口和宽阔的山谷从阿巴拉契亚山脉中穿过，成为伸向西部的大通道。

    美国3个主要区域中，最大的是位于阿巴拉契亚山脉和落基山脉之间的区域。发源于两大山脉连绵群山中的诸条河流顺着山势相向流入巨大的盆地，然后注入密西西比河。印地安人称这条北美最长的河流为“河流之父”。密西西比河从源头与向西奔流的支流密苏里河一道在落基山脉的崇山峻岭中穿行4000英里（6400公里），然后注入墨西哥湾。

    从阿巴拉契亚山向西奔流的江河中，不仅流淌着春季冰雪消融时的雪水，而且全年都有雨水汇入。春季有时会由于注入河流的雨雪水过多,泛滥成灾。为了解决这个问题，防洪工程一直是必须的。

    另一方面，向东注入密西西比河的河流主要源于春季落基山上消融的雪水。遥远的西部的风从太平洋向东吹来，携带大量水分的云系在落基山西面降下大量雨雪，东面降水却较少。结果，向东经过落基山脉和密西西比河之间大平原的大部分地区的空中云系携带雨水较少，因此，这一区域主要在春天融雪时期才能得到灌溉。

    尽管美国中部盆地的绝大部分土地干燥、平坦，但有两个地区的土地十分肥沃。五大湖的周边地区是这个国家土地最肥沃的地方之一。尽管这里夏季非常炎热，冬季寒冷，但是与大平原相比，这个地区更适于农业生产。五大湖本身就为这个地区提供了便利的交通；充裕的降雨使人们能够从事大规模的农业生产。在近代，由于附近有丰富的煤、铁资源，这一地区已成为美国的大工业区之一。

    在南部，春季河流泛滥，大量淤泥沉积在大平原上，因此，密西西比河沿岸的土地十分肥沃。这个广阔的地区是美国最富饶的农业区之一。它由密西西比河向西一直延伸到德克萨斯州腹地；向东几乎延伸到大西洋沿岸。

    广袤的密西西比河流域是美国工农业生产的巨大财源。

    三大区域中最后一个位于落基山脉和太平洋之间。陡峭的山峦和高原使这块土地的大部分至今人迹罕见。然而，这儿有两个地区的土地十分肥沃：一个是西北谷地，哥伦比亚河及蛇河交汇处；另一个是加利福尼亚的中部谷地。

    在美国早期历史上，落基山脉曾经是早期开拓者向太平洋海岸迁徙时一道几乎不可逾越的屏障。人们所称的“南部隘口”是前往西北沃土和加利福尼亚的唯一通道。只有到了遥远的、见不到群山的南方，才有另一条可通往加利福尼亚州的道路。尽管这一带气候干旱，自然资源却使它有很高的经济价值。在临近的群山中，勘探者发现了诸如金、银、铜等多种金属。

    在加利福尼亚州，肥沃的谷地和大洋沿岸的平原盛产水果和蔬菜。今天，现代运输手段已突破沙漠和山地屏障，西部地区在国民经济中占有重要的地位。

    阿拉斯加州和夏威夷州虽然在地理位置上与其它48个州分离，但它们都是物产丰富的地区，为国家增添了相当大的财富。阿拉斯加州远在美国的西北部，被加拿大的省份隔开。这是一个多山而且气候长年严寒的地区。尽管阿拉斯加是美国面积最大的州，但人口稀少。这个州的自然资源十分丰富，经济在很大程度上依赖于渔业、石油开采及林业。

    夏威夷州则属热带气候，终年阳光明媚。这个州是由距加利福尼亚海岸2000英里（合3218公里）的面积不一的8个大岛屿构成。充裕的降水和肥沃的土壤使当地长年盛产菠萝、甘蔗等主要作物。由于地处太平洋中部，夏威夷州一直是商贸活动的枢纽。现今快捷的交通手段已使旅游业成为当地一个主要产业。

    由于阿拉斯加和夏威夷都在1959年才成为并入美国，它们的历史与美国主流历史的发展颇为不同。它们有着各自的地方文化和历史。

    这段对美国地理的简要描述充分表明，这个国家是相当幸运的。除阿拉斯加州外，这个国家处于温带气候区这一事实至关重要。另一个重要特点是，诸多山脉的走向由北向南。结果，几乎所有的河流都成了沟通商贸联系的航道。

    大自然赋予北美大陆丰富的自然资源。除环绕落基山脉南部的沙漠地区，有大量的淡水资源和无数的肥沃谷地。今天，美国境内的江河、溪流几乎提供了城市日常用水和农业灌溉用水的2/3。它们提供了90%以上的工业用水以及几乎全部的发电用水。

    不仅如此，约占美国国土1/3的土地为森林覆盖，这些林区不仅维持了林业这一大产业，还防止了造成水灾的水土流失。此外，这个国家每年还为各工业部门生产数百万吨铁，其成品钢，用来生产大约20万种产品。钢铁工业、电力、化工的最主要能源——煤的储量足够全美国使用几百年。另一项基础产业是石油工业。美国是世界上最大的产油国之一。

    然而，在美国历史上起最大作用的是它远离其它大陆的地理位置。大西洋、太平洋从一开始就赋予美国时间的恩赐——美国在政治、经济上发展所需要的时间。如果美国被强敌包围，那么，不论她拥有何种资源，在自己选择的发展道路上，都会历经更多的磨难。

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Text 2

The Birth of the Modern World

    The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw an extraordinary migration of peoples from England and the continent of Europe to the New World. In those years, the modern European world was formed. Its formation was marked by growth of trade and commerce, the rise of the middle class, the evolution of national states, the reformation of the Christian Church, and the development of representative government. These changes, gradually developing over many years, led directly to the discovery and the settlement of the New World.

    The feudal system had depended upon the organization of society into two classes, those who owned the land and those who worked it. It also depended upon the institution of the Roman Catholic Church, headed by the Pope in Rome. The Church was a kind of super-government, holding together the different elements of European society in Christian unity.

    The final breakup of the feudal system had three main causes. First, feudalism overlooked the fact that men are not created with the same talents, ideas or imagination. Second, the Church found it increasingly difficult to keep control over all the parts of the European society. Third, Christian Europe, at the end of the eleventh century, changed its whole pattern of life by engaging in the Crusades. After experiencing other ways of living, they did not want to return to the narrow world that they had left. This physical freedom and movement of large numbers of people helped toward ending the close society of the medieval world.

    Economically, the most immediate change to result from the Crusades was the rise of trade and commerce. When the Crusaders went to the Near East, they were introduced to many things that made living more pleasant. It took little imagination for men to see the possibilities of developing trade by bringing such Eastern goods to the people of Europe. Venice was the first of the European cities to realize this, but it was not long before other Mediterranean cities began transporting Eastern goods back to Europe. Soon Westerners found their lives changed by such trade.

    At first, these goods were carried to places where they were bartered. To barter means to trade goods for goods. But the barter system soon proved impractical for two basic reasons. One was that the bartering process would not always work. The solution to this problem was in the wider use of money, since without a commonly accepted and practical means of determining value and price, the growth of trade would remain slow.

    The other reason was the inconvenient system of carrying the goods to the buyer, rather than having the buyer come to the goods. Only small amounts could be carried over long distances. The solution to this problem was in the development of trading centers. New towns generally grew up along well-traveled roads or on the river banks where communication and transportation were easy.

    With the gradual breakup of feudalism, however, a new group came into existence consisting of townsmen who made their living from banking and trade and the workers who provided goods and services for them. The activities and ideas of this growing group affected almost every aspect of life － political, social, economic, intellectual, and spiritual. Money, not land, became the source of wealth to these people, and it is to their group that the modern world largely owes its birth.

    In earlier years, land had been the only source of wealth, and the rich were only those who held and controlled property. Because land was usually passed from the father to the first-born son under the feudal law, the system offered little or no chance for the poor man to acquire the land he would need to make himself prosperous. However, with the rise of bankers and traders in the society, money became a more important source of wealth, and a man with talent and imagination could at last break the bonds on him by birth.

    Following closely on these economic changes came a breakup in the political foundations of the medieval world. Before the Crusades, kings had existed, but their role was more or less that of a figurehead, a chief in name only, in the complicated feudal system.

    In the period during and following the Crusades, the power of kings, however, began to grow. This happened for three main reasons. First, because of the absence of Crusaders from Europe or because of their death abroad, most of their property was left unprotected and taken over by the kings. Second, kings made use of the developing towns to add to their power. With the money collected from the towns, the king could then afford to raise an army loyal to himself with which to protect the towns. Third, kings began to levy taxes on their subjects instead of demanding service, which had been the custom in earlier times. The taxes enabled a king to buy services, thus increasing his power. Gradually, political authority was gathered into the hands of the king, and slowly the national states of modern Europe began to appear.
    Although English kings continued to build up their royal authority in many ways from 1215 to the seventeenth century, on the whole, they respected the principle of the Magna Carta. British royal authority was based on the principle of contract between the ruler and the ruled. And this was to be of great importance to the future history of the New World.
    Along with the social, economic, and political changes that overturned medieval Europe came the most exciting and liberating change of all: the revolution of men's minds. The intellectual movement which began in Italy in the fourteenth century and had swept through all of Europe by the sixteenth century is called the Renaissance. Renaissance means rebirth, and intellectually, men were indeed born again in this period. It was a many-sided movement that introduced a search for truth and knowledge that has never stopped.

    The medieval view to life had been a narrow one. This view, in general, was that God had created the world and man could not change its conditions. The Renaissance spirit, however, was in direct contrast to this view. The world was man's to explore, to use, and to change as he chose. This view to life encouraged action and gave people confidence in themselves and in their powers of reasoning. They dared to ask questions and wanted to find out the answers for themselves.

    This sudden curiosity about the world exploded in two main directions: the exploration of the physical world and the re-examination of religious beliefs. The former led to the discovery of faraway places all over the globe, including the New World, and the latter led to a change in the last great medieval institution, the single Christian Church. First, we will examine the exploration of the physical world.

    In the mid-fifteenth century, a great number of long ocean voyages took place. There were several practical reasons for this sudden exploration of the unknown. For one thing, Venice had built a monopoly on the Mediterranean trade and kept others from sharing this wealth. Eastern goods were in great demand in Europe, and Venice, being the chief source of supply, could charge high prices. As England, France, Spain, and Portugal appeared as nations, they wanted to break Venice's hold on this trade and to get their share of it. Their ships could not fight in the Mediterranean so they sent out explorers to seek other routes to the East.

    Another reason that some sailors dared to sail beyond the sight of land into the great Atlantic Ocean was the improvement in navigation. Better maps reduced fears of the unknown, and the earlier invention of the compass took the guess work out of sailing a ship on course.

    The last reason for the many sea voyages of this period was simply the great spirit of adventure which swept over the people of Europe. One voyage led to another, and a growing sense of competition encouraged each nation to send its ships to sea. In 1492, Christopher Columbus, encouraged and financed by the king and queen of Spain, sailed west in search of the East Indies and discovered instead the islands of the Caribbean which he called the West Indies. He had, however, found the New World.

    Not to be outdone by Spain, England sent John Cabot, an Italian explorer who had become an English citizen, across the Atlantic in 1497 and again in 1498 to explore the coast of North America. Upon his voyages, England rested its claims to the lands which would finally become the United States. In less than 100 years, from 1492 to 1534, Europeans had discovered two new continents of North and South America and had broadened their land to include the whole globe.

    This revolutionary spirit of exploration which led men to expand their physical world, also encouraged them to take a new look at their spiritual world. The questions and conclusions of these spiritual explorers led to the Reformation, the movement to reform the Roman Catholic Church. Just as the discovery of new lands was the result of the sea explorers, the evolvement of new ways of explaining the Christian beliefs was the result of intellectual explorers.

    One of the basic causes for this religious questioning was that by the beginning of the fifteenth century, education in Europe was spreading. The Bible had been translated from Latin into other languages. More and more people for the first time were able to read the Bible, and as a result, they began to develop their own ideas as to the meaning of Christianity. For this and other reasons, the sixteenth century saw the breakup of the one Roman Catholic Church into many different sects.

    With the Reformation, the modern European world was born. Almost every way of life in the medieval period was washed away by the tide of change. The rigid class social system had been replaced by the more flexible society of the middle class. National states had replaced many of the feudal powers. Trade and commerce had been allowed to expand at an ever-increasing rate. Man had sailed to new worlds, and the European had rebelled against old ideas and gained the freedom to seek truth in the world around him through the powers of his own mind.

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课文二

现代世界的诞生

    17、18世纪出现了一个罕见的从英格兰和欧洲大陆到新大陆的移民潮。在那些年代，商务和贸易的增长，中产阶级的崛起，民族国家的兴起，基督教会的改革以及代议制政府的发展，标志着现代欧洲的形成。多年的社会演进，直接导致新大陆的发现和殖民地在新大陆的建立。

    封建社会由两大社会阶层维系：土地所有者和土地耕种者。此外，封建制度还依赖以罗马教皇为首的罗马天主教的教规。教会是一种“超级政府”。它用基督教把欧洲社会的各种不同国家连为一个整体。

    封建制度的最后崩溃有3个主要原因。第一,封建主义无视这样一个事实：人类并非生来就有相同的天赋、思想或想象力；第二,教会发现它对欧洲社会各方面的控制日趋困难；第三,11世纪末，信奉基督教的欧洲，因十字军东征而改变其全部生活方式。在体验过其它的生活方式之后,人们再也不愿回到以前狭隘的世界中去了。人身自由和大量的人口流动促进了中世纪封闭社会的终结。

    经济上,十字军东征带来的最直接的变化是商业贸易的兴起。东征者们来到近东,开始了解到许多使生活更愉悦的事物。无需想象，人们就看出把东方商品运回欧洲，具有贸易价值。威尼斯是意识到这一点的第一个欧洲城市,但很快其它地中海沿岸城市也开始把东方商品运回欧洲。不久，欧洲人就发现，这种贸易已经改变了他们的日常生活。

    最初,这些商品被运到某些场所进行物物交换。物物交换就是用某一种商品换取另一种商品。然而，人们不久就发现，这种以物易物的交易方式难以实行，有两个根本原因。一是物物交换并非总能行得通。解决这个问题，需要更广泛的使用货币，因为没有一种大家公认的确定价值、价格的实用方法,贸易只能缓慢地发展。

    另一个原因是物物交换不方便,卖方必须把货送到买主面前,并非买主来买商品。如果去远方作买卖，货主只能带少量的商品。解决这一问题的办法是发展贸易中心。在人来人往、交通方便的路边、江河沿岸，新的城镇逐渐兴建起来。

    然而，随着封建社会的逐渐瓦解,一个新的群体形成了：靠经营银行、贸易谋生的市民阶层和为他们提供货物、服务的工人。这个成长中的新群体的经营活动、思想意识几乎影响了社会生活的各个领域：政治、社会、经济、知识和精神。货币取代了土地，成为他们的致富源泉。主要是这个新群体的兴起大大促进了现代社会的誕生。

   早些年,土地是财富的唯一源泉,富人只能是那些拥有并控制地产的人。依据封建社会的法律,土地往往由父亲传给长子，因此，穷人很少、甚至没有机会获得发家致富所必须拥有的土地。然而,随着银行家和贸易家在社会上的出现,金钱成了一个更加重要的致富源泉。由此，一个有天赋、有想象力的人，终于可以打破由出生加给他的种种束缚。

   跟随这些经济变革的,是中世纪社会的政治基础的瓦解。在十字军东征前，国王就已存在。但是，在复杂的封建体制中，他们手中无多少实权，徒有虚名而已。

    然而，在十字军东征期间及之后,王权开始扩张。主要原因有3个: 第一,十字军将士远离欧洲期间，或者他们在国外亡故后，他们的大部分财产留在欧洲，无人保护,于是这部分财产被国王接管；第二，国王们利用发展中的城镇，增加忠实自己的权力。国王从城镇筹集资金，组建自己的忠实军队，保护城镇；第三，国王们开始对臣民们征税，不再要他们依以往的惯例服劳役。税款可以使国王购买各种劳役，由此扩张了国王的势力。渐渐地，政治权利开始集中在国王手中，现代欧洲的民族国家也开始慢慢出现。

    从1215年到17世纪期间，虽然英国君主不断以各种方式建立王室权威，但总体而言，他们仍旧遵循大宪章的原则。不列颠王室的权力，建立在统治者与被统治者的契约原则基础上。这一点对于新大陆未来的历史有重大的意义。

    中世纪欧洲在社会、经济、政治等方面发生了翻天覆地的变化。与此同时，欧洲发生了最激动人心、最具革命性的变革：人的思想革命。这场思想文化运动被称为文艺复兴，它于14世纪在意大利兴起，继而在16世纪席卷全欧洲。文艺复兴意味着人类的新生，在思想上，人类的确在这一时期获得了新生。文艺复兴是一场涉及社会生活诸多层面的运动,它引发了对知识和真理永无止境的求索。

    中世纪的世界观是狭隘的，总体说来，人们认为上帝创造了世界，人类不能有所改变。然而，文艺复兴的精神实质与此完全相悖。这种新观点认为，世界属于人类，由人类按自己的意愿去探索、去利用、去改造。它鼓励人类积极采取行动，使人类对自身及其理性思维能力充满信心，使他们敢于提出问题并自行探索问题的答案。

    这种对世界奥秘突发的求知欲，主要表现在两个方面：积极探索物质世界和重新审视宗教信仰。前者导致了对全球各遥远地区，包括新大陆的发现。后者则导致中世纪最后一个传统宗教机构——基督教教堂——的改革。首先，我们看看人们对物质世界的探索。

    15世纪中叶，人们进行了多次远洋航行。涌现这种对未知世界探索是出于几个实用的目的。首先，威尼斯垄断了地中海周边地区的贸易，阻止其它国家的介入。因为东方商品在欧洲需求量很大，所以作为这些商品的主要供应地，威尼斯可以从中牟取暴利。英格兰、法兰西、西班牙、葡萄牙已独立建国，纷纷采取行动，试图打破威尼斯对东西方贸易的垄断，争得自己的一份利益。但是，他们的船只不能在地中海上作战，因此，他们就派出探险者，寻找通往东方的其它航道。

    航海技术的发展是一些航海家敢于远离海岸，在广袤的大西洋上航行的又一原因。较为精确的海图减少了人们对未知世界的恐惧。早先发明的指南针也使船只不必再揣测航向，能够按正确航向行驶。

    这一时期诸多远洋航行的最后一个原因，无疑是盛行于全欧各国人民中的伟大冒险精神。一次又一次的远航，竞争意识的高涨，激励各国纷纷派出自己的船队，驶向未知的海域。1492年，克里斯多弗•哥伦布受西班牙国王和王后的鼓励和资助，向西远航寻找东印度群岛。结果，却发现了被他称之为西印度群岛的加勒比海上的一些岛屿。就这样，哥伦布发现了新大陆。

    为了不让西班牙人独占鳌头，英格兰派遣意大利裔英国探险家约翰•卡博特于1497年横渡大西洋，又在1498年到北美大西洋沿岸勘察。由于卡博特的数次远航，英格兰宣称她对这片土地拥有主权，这片土地上最终建立了美国。在1492-1534不满100年的时间里，欧洲人发现了南美和北美两个新大陆，将自己的疆域扩展到整个地球。

    这一引导人们拓展物质世界的革命探索精神，也鼓励他们用新视角看精神世界。那些精神领域的探索者提出的问题和得出的结论导致了伟大的宗教改革运动：一场旨在改革罗马天主教会的运动。正如新大陆的发现是航海探险家的成果一样，解释基督教信仰的新思路是思想探索者的成就。

    对宗教信仰提出质疑的一个最基本的原因，是15世纪教育在欧洲大陆的广泛发展。《圣经》已由拉丁文译成其它欧洲语言，越来越多的人能够阅读《圣经》。结果，人们开始对基督教教义形成自己的认识。由于这个原因和其它种种原因，罗马天主教会在16世纪分裂成许多不同的宗教派别。

    宗教改革运动的同时，现代欧洲诞生了。改革浪潮荡涤了中世纪生活的几乎每个方面。等级森严的社会制度被更具灵活性的中产阶级社会代替；民族国家取代封建国家；商业和贸易不断扩展。人类已经扬起风帆驶向新世界，欧洲全体人民奋起反叛旧观念，通过理性力量争得在现实世界中不断探索真理的自由。

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