The Early Settlers in North America
The North American frontier changed some of the characteristics of the pioneers of the 1750s and intensified others. They were, as a group, semiliterate, proud,and stubborn, as dogged in their insistence on their own way of life as pine roots cracking granite to grow. Perhaps their greatest resource was their capacity to endure. They outlasted recurrent plagues of smallpox and malaria and a steady progression of natural accidents. They were incredibly prolific. Squire Boones family of eight children was small by frontier standards. James Roberson, an eventual neighbor of Boones and the founder of Nashville, had eleven children. Twice married John Sevier, the first governor of Tennessee, fathered eighteen; his longtime enemy, John Tipton, also twice married, produced seventeen. The entire assets of one of these huge families often amounted, in the beginning, to little more than an axe, a hunting knife, an auger, a rifle, a horse or two, some cattle and a few pigs, a sack of corn seed and another of salt, perhaps a crosscut saw, and a loom. Those who moved first into a new region lived for months at a time on wild meat, Indian maize, and native fruits in season. Yet if they were poor at the beginning, they confidently expected that soon they would be rich. In a way almost impossible to define to urban dwellers, a slice of ground suitable for farming represented not just dollars and cents, but dignity. The obsession brought shiploads of yearners every week to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charles Towne, and Savannah. It sent them streaming westward into the wilderness after their predecessors to raise still more children who wanted still more land.
上一篇: 六级考试作文范文3
下一篇: 兴趣重要还是工资重要
体坛英语资讯:Halep notches first career win over Sharapova in Beijing
国际英语资讯:NATO chief says doors remain open for Ukraine
网友支招:如何才能快速入睡
体坛英语资讯:Guangxi to host China-ASEAN badminton tourney
国内英语资讯:China hosts 461 mln domestic tourists during holiday
国际英语资讯:Putin expects mutual interests to improve Russian-U.S. relations
川普总统周二前往波多黎各视察灾情
国内英语资讯:China Focus: China offers wisdom in global governance
国内英语资讯:U.S. sailors celebrate Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival with HK primary school students
国内英语资讯:Feature: Chinas endangered wildlife come back in pictures
枪击屠杀案调查获进展但仍未确定动机
拉斯维加斯民众排长队为枪击受害者献血
国内英语资讯:Chinese escort fleet arrives in London for friendly visit
国内英语资讯:China diverts 10 billion cubic meters of water from south to north
国际英语资讯:Memorable day for PM May, but for all wrong reasons
听说日本要收“单身税”?为什么受伤的总是单身狗?
国际英语资讯:Mexican Senators call on U.S. Congress to pass gun control legislation
盘点白领改善健康的十个简单方法
国际英语资讯:Mexico City ends rescue efforts to find quake survivors
体坛英语资讯:Nadal tested by Pouille in Beijing, Sharapova sets rematch with Halep
国内英语资讯:Angola says China remains its top export destination
国内英语资讯:No Chinese casualties in Las Vegas shooting: official
国际英语资讯:Chinas output innovative rate to surpass U.S. in 18 months: expert
体坛英语资讯:Bolivia hold Brazil to draw in World Cup qualifier
体坛英语资讯:Nominees announced for IAAF Athlete of the Year 2017
国内英语资讯:Bangladesh soldiers build Chinese relief tents to house displaced Rohingyas people
体坛英语资讯:Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay announce joint World Cup bid
国际英语资讯:Syrian army defeats IS in eastern Hama countryside
国内英语资讯:China builds worlds highest power pylon
体坛英语资讯:Neymar sends injury scare through Brazil camp