Abi Workshop English • The American South • Vocabulary sheet

CHistory and society
Word/phrase / Usage/memory aid / Translation
abolition / → to abolish (v), abolitionist (n &adj) / Abschaffung
African American / African American history and the history of the United States began at the same time.
African American (n) / afroamerikanisch (klingt im Deutschen weniger selbstverständlich und unproblematisch als “African American” im Englischen)
ammunition / After three hours of fighting the soldiers ran out of ammunition. / Munition
antebellum / before the Civil War
→ the antebellum South; antebellum society
Sometimes, the antebellum South is referred to as the “Old South”. / vor dem Amerikanischen Bürgerkrieg
Bible Belt / southern and midwestern US where Protestant fundamentalism is dominant / von christlichem Fundamentalismus geprägtes Gebiet in den USA
black / African Americans are often still referred to as blacks. / schwarz; Schwarzer, Afroamerikaner
to be born a slave / als Sklave / Sklavin geboren werden
cavalry / → cavalryman (n) / Reiterei (beim Militär)
to charge / The army charged at sunrise.
The battery needs to be re-charged.
→ charge (n) / angreifen; aufladen
chattel / Under slavery humans are regarded as chattel. / (beweglicher) Besitz
chivalry / In a feudal system knights are collectively referred to as the chivalry.
chivalrous (adj): Today some southern gentlemen refer to courteous behavior towards woman as chivalrous behavior. / ritterliches Benehmen; Rittertum; Ritterstand
civil war / war between people living in the same country
The American Civil War has had many names, War of Secession is one of them. / Bürgerkrieg
colonist / How did the British colonists get along with the Native American Indians? / Siedler(in); Einwohner(in) einer Kolonie
colonizer (AE) / coloniser (BE)
The Spanish colonizers of the Americas often acted very brutally. / Kolonist
colored (AE) / coloured (BE)
She wore a multi-colored dress.
In the past non-whites, especially African Americans, were frequently referred to as “colored people” or even “coloreds”. Today, the term is considered inappropriate. / farbig (Die Bezeichnung von Menschen mit nicht-weißer Hautfarbe als “Farbige” ist heute nicht mehr angebracht.)
Confederate Army / In the American Civil War the Confederate Army fought against the Union Army. / Armee der Konföderierten; Südstaatenarmee
Confederate soldier / The nickname for the Confederate soldier was Johnny Reb. / Soldat der Konföderierten (Südstaaten)
Confederate States / During the Civil War, the Confederate States fought against the Union. / Südstaaten
confederation / the Swiss confederation; the Confederation of British Industry
→ confederacy (n), confederate (n) / Bund; Verband
to conquer / I came, I saw, I conquered.
William the Conqueror / besiegen; erobern
Jim Crow / Originally, Jim Crow was the name of a stereotypical funny African American character, usually played by white performers, in 19th-century American entertainment. Soon, the name came to be associated with all kinds of attempts to suppress African Americans.
→ Jim Crow laws; the Jim Crow South / (Jim Crow)
Jim Crow laws / legal barriers preventing blacks from participating in various activities with whites
After Reconstruction the Jim Crow laws led to the suppression of the blacks once again. / Rassentrennungsgesetze
(United) Daughters of the Confederacy / an association of women dedicated to honoring the memory of those who served and died in service to the Confederate States of America (CSA); membership in UDC is open to women who are of blood descent from men and women who served honorably in the Army, Navy, or Civil Service of the CSA
to defeat / → defeat (n): The Battle of Fredericksburg was one of the most one-sided defeats in American military history. The Union army lost 13,000 men during the eight-hour battle. / besiegen
diversity / When she left her small town in Kentucky, she noticed the diversity of the big world around her.
→ diverse (adj) / Vielfältigkeit
Dixie / a popular nickname for the southern United States
popular song about the South / die Südstaaten
emancipation / → the emancipation of women; the emancipation of slaves; the Emancipation Proclamation / Emanzipation
Emancipation Proclamation / President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 declared that most, but not all, slaves in the United States would now be free. / Emancipation Proclamation
to enlist / to join the military
The enlisted soldier was sent to war after boot-camp. / (in die Armee) eintreten; (für die Armee) anwerben
famine / If there isn't enough food for people, they will suffer from famine. / Hunger; Hungersnot
feudal / In a feudal system people are not considered equal but depend on the economic and legal decisions of superiors.
→ feudalism (n) / feudal
founding father / Vint Cerf has been called a founding father of the Internet.
The Founding Fathers of the United States are the people who led the struggle for independence from Britain. / Gründungsvater; Begründer
freedman / After the Civil War, a former slave was usually referred to as a freedman or freedwoman. Usually, the term “freedmen” was used to refer to the collective of former slaves, regardless of their individual sex. / ehemaliger Sklave
Freedmen’s Bureau / The Freedmen’s Bureau helped former slaves with all their problems.
integration / → to integrate (v): Integrated education means bringing together children from different ethnic, religious and social groups in the same school. / Integration
Jamestown / a village on the James River in Virginia; site of the first permanent English settlement in America in 1607
to lynch / → lynching (n), lynch mob (n)
= vigilante justice / lynchen, (brutal) Selbstjustiz üben
man of war / man-of-war / man’o’war / the most powerful ships from the 16th to the 19th centuries / Kriegsschiff (meist mit Kanonen bewaffnetes Segelschiff)
Mason-Dixon Line / Two Englishmen surveyed the Mason-Dixon Line, which came to be known as the border between the North and the South.
Dixie, the nickname for the South, may have its origin in the second surveyor’s name.
memorial / There are thousands of Civil War memorials in the United States.
→ memory (n) / Denkmal; Gedenkstätte; Denkschrift
migration / movement of people from one country or locality to another
→ emigration, immigration
→ out-migration, in-migration / Migration
mulatto (pl: mulatto or mulattoes) / old term for a person with one black and one white parent; today the word is no longer used because of its racist connotations / Mulatte/Mulattin
Native American / Today, Indians are most often called Native Americans in order to stress that there were Americans long before the European colonists arrived.
Native American (adj), ↔ to be a native American (ein gebürtiger Amerikaner sein) / Native American; Indianer(in)
Negro (pej) / Today, calling a black person a “Negro” is considered very offensive. / Neger (abwertend)
New South / Ever since the end of the Civil War commentators and politicians have again and again spoken of a “New South”. / (New South)
nonviolent / non-violent resistance / Mahatma Gandhi demonstrated how powerful non-violent resistance can be. / gewaltloser / gewaltfreier Widerstand
plantation / a huge farm / Plantage
planter / Planter’s Punch is a cocktail that has its name because plantation owners are said to have enjoyed it in the Old South.
→ to plant (v), plant (n) / „Pflanzer“; Plantagenbesitzer(in)
Plymouth Rock / a boulder in Plymouth supposed to be where the Pilgrims got off the ship from the Mayflower
postwar / post-war / ↔ prewar / pre-war / Nachkriegs-
public school (AE) / tuition free school in the US supported by taxes and controlled by a school board / staatliche Schule
Rebel flag / one of several flags used in battle during the Civil War / Fahne der Südstaaten
Reconstruction / the attempt to rebuild and completely change southern society and politics after the Civil War / (Reconstruction)
redneck (most often pej) / an uneducated, unsophisticated, or poor white person, typically used to describe residents of the rural Southern US / weißer reaktionärer Hinterwäldler; Prolet
Revolutionary War / series of military conflicts caused by the rebellion of the American Colonies against Great Britain (1775–1783) / (Amerikanischer) Unabhängigkeitskrieg
rifle / a kind of gun / Gewehr; Büchse
to secede / Some people think that Scotland should secede from Great Britain.
→ secession (n), secessionist (n & adj) / sich abspalten, austreten
secessionist / The presidential candidate has been called a secessionist.
Even today there are secessionist movements in countries all around the world.
→ secession (n), to secede (v) / Sezessionist(in) (Unterstützer einer Unabhängigkeitsbewegung); sezessionistisch
segregation / Segregation is a form of discrimination.
→ to segregate (v)
↔ integration (n) / Segregation; (Rassen-)Trennung
settler / the first people to come to a place and build a village or town
The first settlers cut down the trees and built a village.
to settle(down) (v), settlement (n) / Siedler(in)
sharecropper/share-cropper / a farmer who does not own the fields he works on and pays part of the crop as rent / Farmpächter(in)
slaveholder / Sklavenhalter
slave quarter / area on a plantation where the slaves lived, usually in slave cabins / Sklavenquartier
slavery / The history of the South cannot be explained if slavery is not taken into account.
→ to be born / sold into slavery / Sklaverei
state / The United States consists of 50 states. / (Bundes-)Staat
to surrender / to give onself up to an enemy
At the end of World War II Fascist Germany was forced to surrender unconditionally.
→ surrender (n) / sich ergeben, kapitulieren
territory / When the United States expanded westward, areas that were settled by Americans but had not yet formally become parts of the Union were called territories. / Territorium
to trench / → trench (n): trench warfare (Grabenkrieg), entrenchment (n) (Verschanzung) / einen Graben graben; mit einem Graben durchziehen
trench / The opposite army sat in their trenches and waited.
→ to trench (v) / Graben; Schützengraben
the underprivileged (pl) / → privilege (n) / die Benachteiligten; Unterprivilegierten
Union soldier / During the Civil War some families sent one son to be a Union soldier and one to fight for the Confederacy. / Soldat der Unionsarmee (Nordstaaten)
to vanquish / to conquer / (völlig) besiegen
warfare / → biological / chemical / nuclear / psychological warfare / Kriegsführung; Krieg
warrior / the men in a tribe who fight / Krieger
Yankee / The Yankees from the North fought against the Rebels from the South during the war.
! Calling a southerner a Yankee is often considered an insult. / Nordstaatler;
! ≠ irgendein Amerikaner
/ © Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 2008 |
Von dieser Druckvorlage ist die Vervielfältigung für den eigenen Unterrichtsgebrauch gestattet. Die Kopiergebühren sind abgegolten. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. / Abi Workshop Englisch
The American South
ISBN 978-3-12-601007-8