早期美国人的欧洲观及其影响

The European Visions of Early Americans and Their Influence

欧洲文化与美国文化均属西方文化的范畴，但二者从来不是一个有机的整体。在早期美国人的脑海中，欧洲多是作为一种消极的形象出现，正是欧洲的专制、腐败、堕落才凸现了美国这个新兴国家在各方面的优越，也表明了“新大陆”与“旧世界”在文化上的二元对立。这样，美国文化中体现出的“例外论”最初主要是针对欧洲而言的。早期美国人的欧洲观不见得与实际完全相符，但却成为美国彰显其对世界承担的一种特殊使命的最好理由，也对美国处理与欧洲国家的关系产生了深刻的影响。

Both European culture and American culture belong to the category of the Western culture, but they have never been an organic whole. In mind of early Americans, Europe appeared largely as a negative image. European autocracy, corruption and degeneration formed a sharp contrast with superiority of the United States in every respect, which showed a dual antithesis between both the new world and the old world in culture. Therefore, the exceptionalism in American culture was mainly directed against Europe in the early time. The European visions of early Americans were not likely consistent with reality, but for them, these visions became the best reason to protrude their special mission for the world and had a deep influence on the United States dealing with relations with European countries.