美国学生历史 第59期:联邦(4)

 　　174. Claims to Western Lands. 174．西部土地的主权

　　The Confederation seemed to be falling to pieces. 联邦似乎要四分五裂，

　　That it did not actually fall to pieces was largely due to the fact that all the states were interested in the settlement of the region northwest of the Ohio River. 它没有真正地四分五裂主要是因为各个州都对俄亥俄河西北部地区的聚居地有兴趣。

　　It will be well to stop a moment and see how this came about. 应该稍停一下看看怎么会是这个局势。

　　Under their old charters Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia had claims to lands west of the Alleghanies. 马萨诸塞、康涅狄格、弗吉尼亚、卡罗莱纳和佐治亚都按照过去的特许状宣布对奥利哈尼西部的土地有主权，

　　Between 1763 and 1776 the British government had paid slight heed¹ to these claims. 在1763-1776年之间英国政府没有太在意这些主权，

　　But Daniel Boone and other colonists² had settled west of the mountains in what are now the states of Kentucky and Tennessee. 但是，丹尼尔o布恩和其他殖民者已经居住到山区西部，而这些山脉现在属于肯塔基州和田纳西州，

　　When the Revolution began the states having claims to western lands at once put them forward, and New York also claimed a right to about one-half of the disputed territory. 革命一开始，那些拥有西部主权的州就立刻提出它们对这些地区有主权，而纽约州也宣布对一半有争议的领域有主权。

　　Naturally, the states that had no claims to these lands had quite different views. 自然，那些没有宣布对这些地区有主权的州有各种不同的意见，

　　The Marylanders, for example, thought that the western lands should be regarded as national territory and used for the common benefit. 例如，马里兰人认为西部地区的土地应该被当做国家的领土，用于公共福利，

　　Maryland refused to join the Confederation until New York had ceded³ her claims to the United States, and Virginia had proposed a cession⁴ of the territory claimed by her. 除非纽约州对联邦宣布放弃它所宣称的主权，弗吉尼亚宣布割让她有主权的土地，马里兰才加入联邦。

　　175. The Land Cessions. 175．割让土地

　　In 1784 Virginia gave up her claims to the land northwest of the Ohio River with the exception of certain large tracts⁶ which she reserved for her veteran soldiers. 1784年弗吉尼亚州宣布放弃它对俄亥俄河西北部土地的主权，但是，它保留了那些留给退伍士兵的大块土地的主权；

　　Massachusetts ceded her claims in 1785. 1785年马萨诸塞州放弃它在西部的主权；

　　The next year (1786) Connecticut gave up her claims. 第二年（1786年）康涅狄格州放弃它在西部的主权，

　　But she reserved a large tract⁵ of land directly west of Pennsylvania. This was called the Connecticut Reserve or, more often, the Western Reserve. 但保留宾夕法尼亚州正西部大块土地的主权；

　　South Carolina and North Carolina ceded their lands in 1787 and 1790, 南、北卡罗莱纳州分别在1787年和1790年放弃其在西部的主权；

　　and finally Georgia gave up her claims to western lands in 1802. 最终，佐治亚州于1802年也放弃其对西部土地的主权。

1 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

2 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 ceded   

v.让给，割让，放弃( cede的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Cuba was ceded by Spain to the US in 1898. 古巴在1898年被西班牙割让给美国。
• A third of the territory was ceded to France. 领土的三分之一割让给了法国。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 cession   

n.割让，转让

参考例句：

• The cession of the territory could not be avoided because they lost the war.因为他们输了这场战争，割让领土是无法避免的。
• In 1814,Norwegians resisted the cession of their country to Sweden and adopted a new constitution.1814年挪威人反对向瑞典割让自己的国土，并且制定了新的宪法。

5 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

6 tracts   

大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文

参考例句：

• vast tracts of forest 大片大片的森林
• There are tracts of desert in Australia. 澳大利亚有大片沙漠。