| Acknowledgements | 第1-4页 |
| Abstract（English） | 第4-5页 |
| Abstract（Chinese） | 第5-7页 |
| 1 Introduction | 第7-19页 |
| 1．1 General description of the study:purpose and validity | 第7-9页 |
| 1．2 Literature review | 第9-14页 |
| 1．3 Elaboration on modernization | 第14-17页 |
| 1．4 Organization of the thesis | 第17-19页 |
| 2 Liberalism and modernization before the end of American Civil War | 第19-44页 |
| 2．1 Roots of American liberalism | 第19-26页 |
| 2．1．1 Liberalism in general | 第20-21页 |
| 2．1．2 Classical liberalism | 第21-24页 |
| 2．1．3 Four tenets of American liberalism | 第24-26页 |
| 2．2 The spirit of liberalism and the cases and acts involved | 第26-44页 |
| 2．2．1 Self-made man-Andrew Jackson | 第27-28页 |
| 2．2．2 Representing the interest of the West and the "mobs” | 第28-30页 |
| 2．2．3 Federal restraint in social and economic affairs | 第30-31页 |
| 2．2．4 Encouragement for competition | 第31-34页 |
| 2．2．5 Ideology of work | 第34-36页 |
| 2．2．6 Equal opportunity and the Homestead Act | 第36-38页 |
| 2．2．7 Education and the Morrill Land Grant Act | 第38-44页 |
| 3 Liberalism and modernization after the end of American Civil War | 第44-60页 |
| 3．1 Popular economic and social theories in the second half of the nineteenth century | 第45-51页 |
| 3．1．1 Adam Smith and laissez faire | 第45-46页 |
| 3．1．2 Social Darwinism and its influence | 第46-49页 |
| 3．1．3 Liberals' reaction to laissez faire and Social Darwinism | 第49-51页 |
| 3．2 Factors affecting the stance of the federal government | 第51-53页 |
| 3．3 National government's stance and the cases involved | 第53-60页 |
| 4 Conclusion | 第60-62页 |
| Bibliography | 第62-64页 |
