Abstract

The United States is one of the most powerful countries in the world. Throughout American history, American spirit plays a very important role in its development. Thomas Edison is an outstanding representative of the Americans to show the American spirit. In this paper, the American spirits reflected in Thomas Edison are analyzed，and the paper also points out that American spirits have made and will always make this dreamland “brighter and brighter”.

Key words:  Thomas Edison, American spirit, dreamland

摘要

美国是世界强国之一。纵看美国历史，美国精神深刻的影响了她的诞生与成长。其中，托马斯•爱迪生就是美国精神的杰出代表。文章中美国精神在爱迪生身上的表现将被一一分析，本文将着重指出美国精神已经让并将会永远让这个充满梦想的国度越来越“亮”。

关键词：托马斯•爱迪生；美国精神；梦想国度

1.    Introduction
The United States of America with a history of 235 years is a very young, but rich and developed country. The America ranks first in so many fields such as economy, military, science and technology. In order to know the essential reasons why America becomes so successful, we should trace back to the early days of the country' foundation. In the very beginning of the Declaration of Independence, there are these words: we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (Thomas Jefferson 1). America has its own spirit like individual freedom, self-reliance, equality of opportunity, competition and hard working, etc. It’s no doubt America becomes the center of the world nowadays. But we should realize that it is the famous people who grow up in this land made so many achievements. They are not only Americans’ wealth, but also the wealth of the world.
"Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration."
This well-known saying was from the famous person whose name is Thomas Alva Edison. He is a famous hero of American, even the hero of the world. Edison is an outstanding representative of America to show the American spirit—individualism, freedom and equality, criticism and creativity, positivism and optimism.