VOA慢速英语2012 THE MAKING OF A NATION - American History: States Plan for Constitutional Convention

 

THE MAKING OF A NATION - American History: States Plan for Constitutional Convention

建国史话(16)：各自为政的13州

Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

This week in our series, we begin the story of a document that defined a nation: the United States Constitution.

The 13 American colonies declared their independence from Britain in 1776. But they had to fight for that independence in a long war that followed. During that war, the states were united by an agreement called the Articles of Confederation.

But the union of 13 states was loosely organized. The Articles of Confederation created a weak central government. The document did not create courts or provide for a president or other executive to carry out laws.

1776 年，北美十三个殖民地宣布脱离英国独立。在漫长的独立战争期间，他们根据《邦联条例》，形成了松散的同盟。《邦联条例》没有组建中央政府，没有建立法院， 没有制定法律，也没有推选总统。《邦联条例》唯一的贡献是创立了国会，但国会权力非常有限，只能向13个州提供意见，请求它们采取行动，不能制定联邦立 法。

The Articles of Confederation did create a Congress. But that legislature had little power or money. When British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, a messenger brought the news to the Congress. But Congress could not even pay the messenger. So money had to be collected from each member.

*松散的邦联体制之弊*

独立战争结束后，这种体制的缺点暴露无疑。1781年英国将军康华里在维吉尼亚的约克镇投降，信使将胜利的消息通知国会，但是国会没钱，连信使的费用都付不起，必须向国会成员要钱。

The war ended in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris. Even before then, three influential¹ Americans had called for a change in this loose confederation of states. The three were George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. They urged the formation of a strong central government.

其实，独立战争结束前，乔治.华盛顿、亚历山大.汉密尔顿和詹姆斯.麦迪逊就已经提议对当时松散的邦联体制进行改革，建立一个强有力的中央政府。

George Washington commanded America's troops during the revolution. He opposed the Articles of Confederation because they provided little support for his army. His soldiers struggled with shortages of food, warm clothing, shoes and other supplies.

Here is an actor playing George Washington in a show at the National Archives. He is talking about the Articles of Confederation.

乔 治.华盛顿是独立战争期间大陆军的统帅，他反对《邦联条例》，是因为协议没有为大陆军提供足够的支持，将士们经常缺吃少穿，没有药品、毛毯，甚至没有武器 弹药。战争期间，乔治.华盛顿曾写过很多封信给国会，愤怒之情溢于言表。他在其中一封信中说，“我们生病的士兵赤身裸体，健康的士兵赤身裸体，被英国人俘 虏的士兵也是赤身裸体。”

"In my mind, it prolonged the war by several years. Every time I needed men or money to prosecute² the war, I had to go to 13 sovereign heads of state, hat in hand. Even now, under peacetime conditions, we are like a giant with 13 heads, tottering³ towards a cliff."

乔治.华盛顿的这些书信没有产生任何效果。他提出，独立战争是十三个州的共同战争，但是没有人愿意听。他发现，这些州只对自身利益感兴趣，对大陆军士兵的需要漠不关心。

战争结束后，美国出现了社会、政治和经济混乱。乔治.华盛顿再次看到，《邦联条例》下的美国毫无希望。他在写给朋友的书信中说，“我认为这样的国家无法存在下去，除非有一个中央政府，统治整个国家，就象一个州的政府统治这个州一样。”

Alexander Hamilton was a young lawyer who served as an aide to General Washington during the revolution. Hamilton called for a convention of the 13 states to create a new central government. He expressed his opinion in letters, speeches and newspaper articles.

亚历山大.汉密尔顿赞成这种看法。汉密尔顿是一个年轻律师，在独立战争期间是华盛顿的助手。战争还没有结束，汉密尔顿就呼吁召集十三个州开会，共建中央政府。他通过书信、讲话和报纸等多种渠道，推广这种想法。

Finally, there was James Madison. He was one of the authors of the state constitution in Virginia in 1776. When Madison, Hamilton and Washington looked at the Articles of Confederation, they saw an unhappy picture.

There were thirteen governments that each tried to help themselves at the expense of the others. Each state had its own army. Nine states had their own navy. The states had these forces to protect themselves – from each other.

For example, Virginia passed a law which said it could seize ships that did not pay taxes to the state. Virginia did not mean ships from Great Britain or Spain. It meant ships from other states, like Maryland and Pennsylvania.

*各自拥兵*

除 了华盛顿和汉密尔顿以外，麦迪逊也认为当时的美国前景暗淡。十三个州各自为政，互相排挤，每个州都有陆军，还有九个州拥有自己的海军，他们利用这些武装力 量保护自己，防范其他的州。例如，维吉尼亚州通过的一项立法，规定可以扣押不向维吉尼亚州纳税的船只，这里的船只，指的并不是来自英国和西班牙的船只，而 是来自马里兰、麻萨诸塞和宾夕法尼亚的船只。麦迪逊常说，这个新国家的大多数政治问题都源于经济纠纷。

“Basically, the thought was, we need a military defense⁴ structure, we need a modest army and a navy, we need to regulate trade with Europe, and individual states in a loose confederation won’t do the job.”

Akhil Reed Amar is a professor at Yale Law School. He says Americans realized a strong central government could improve their national security system.

十八世纪八十年 代，北美和欧洲的很多人都觉得美国正在走向无政府状态。其中一个明显的迹象就是货币。当时，美国没有统一货币，钱对很多美国人来说，依旧是英国的英镑和先 令。虽然美元已经出现，但是美元在各地的价值不同。在纽约，一美元价值八先令，但是在南卡罗来纳，一美元的价值却超过了32先令。更糟糕的是，当时法国、 西班牙等欧洲国家的硬币也在美国流通。

In 1786, representatives from Maryland and Virginia met to discuss opening land for new settlements along the Potomac River. The Potomac formed the border between those two states.

The representatives agreed that the issue of settling new land was too big for just two states to decide. Someone asked, Why not invite Delaware and Pennsylvania to help? Someone else said all the states should be invited. Then they could discuss all the problems that were giving the new nation so much trouble.

The idea was accepted. And a convention was set for Annapolis, Maryland.

*各州会议只来了五个州的代表*

1786 年，马里兰和维吉尼亚的代表开会，讨论沿着州界附近的波托马克河开辟新土地的问题。与会代表一致认为，开辟新土地的问题已经超过了两个州能够解决的范畴。 有人提议，邀请德拉瓦和宾夕法尼亚一起讨论，又有人提议，应该让所有的州都来参加，共同讨论这个新成立的国家所面临的所有问题。这个主意被大家接受，会议 定在马里兰的安纳波利斯召开。

The convention opened as planned. But it was not much of a meeting. Representatives came from only five states. The men who did meet at Annapolis, however, agreed that it was a beginning. They agreed, too, that a larger convention should be called. They appointed the representative from New York, Alexander Hamilton, to put the agreement in writing.

会议如期召开，但是完全没有达到预想的规模。在十三个州里，只有五个州派了代表，还有四个州虽然推选了代表，但是代表没有赴会，剩下的四个州根本没有推选代表。

So Hamilton sent a message to the legislature of each state. He called for a convention in Philadelphia in May of the next year, 1787. The purpose of the convention, he said, would be to write a constitution for the United States.

在安纳波利斯开会的人一致认为，这次会议是一个起点，应该扩大会议规模，他们指定纽约代表亚历山大.汉密尔顿把这一结论写成文字。汉密尔顿随即写信给每个州的议会，邀请他们参加次年5月，也就是1787年5月在费城召开的会议。他说，这次会议的目的是制定美国宪法。

The nation was new, but the idea of a constitution was not. Law professor Akhil Reed Amar explains that the earliest settlers had formed political agreements called compacts, charters or corporations. These agreements developed into state constitutions.

“And then, in 1787, '88, the idea becomes to try to continentalize, to take on a much bigger scale this idea of a written constitution, setting forth⁵ the rules for how people would govern themselves. What government could do and not do, what their powers would be and what the limits would be.”

Even so, he says Americans were not sure about creating such a constitution. Amar says they were afraid a new central government might be as arrogant⁶ and out of touch as the King of England had been.

However, most people slowly came to believe that a strong central government would protect their country better than the loose union of thirteen states could.

Many people also believed that a constitutional convention would not succeed without George Washington. People wanted to elect him president of the convention. But Washington did not want to go. He suffered from rheumatism⁷. His mother and sister were sick. He needed to take care of business at Mount Vernon, his farm in Virginia. And he already said he was not interested in public office.

*华盛顿举足轻重*

很多人都觉得，如果乔治.华盛顿不出席，这次制宪会议就不会成功。但是华盛顿并不想去，他本人患有风湿，家人身体也不好，又需要照顾弗农山庄的生意，而且他早就说过，对当官不感兴趣。

George Washington was the most famous man in America. Suppose only a few states sent representatives to the convention? Suppose it failed? Would he look foolish?

Two close friends -- James Madison and Edmund Randolph -- urged George Washington to go to Philadelphia.

He trusted them. So he said he would go as one of the representatives of Virginia. From that moment, it was clear the convention would be an important event. If George Washington would be there, it had to be important.

乔 治.华盛顿是美国当时最有名的人。如果只有几个州派代表参加，如果会议以失败告终，他会不会显得很愚蠢呢？乔治.华盛顿的两个好友--詹姆斯.麦迪逊和埃 德蒙.伦道夫都劝他赴会。华盛顿出于对他们的信任，同意作为维吉尼亚州的代表到费城去。从那一刻起，这次会议变得举足轻重，华盛顿的参加显著增加了会议的 份量。

The first delegate to arrive in Philadelphia for the convention was James Madison. Madison was 35 years old. He was short and losing his hair. He was not a good speaker. But he always knew what he wanted to say. He had read everything that had been published in English about governments, from the governments of ancient Greece to those of his own time.

Madison believed the United States needed a strong central government that was more powerful than the 13 states.

詹姆斯.麦迪逊是第一个抵达费城的。麦迪逊当时只有35岁，身材矮小，已经开始脱发。他虽然不善言辞，但永远知道该说些什么。他阅读了所有关于政府体制的书籍和文章，从古希腊一直到他的那个年代。麦迪逊认为，美国需要一个强大的中央政府，13个州政府应该隶属于中央。

Madison also knew that he should not push his ideas too quickly. So he planned his work quietly. He came to the convention with hundreds of books and papers. He was prepared to answer any question about government that any other representative might ask him.

不过，麦迪逊同时也很清楚，他不能把这些主张一股脑儿都拿出来，因为很多与会代表对强大的中央政府心存芥蒂，对一个权力过大的中央政府缺乏信任。因此，麦迪逊在会前做好了充分准备，他随身带去了数百本书籍和文章，准备回答与会代表可能提出的任何有关政府体制的问题。

Madison asked the other delegates from Virginia also to arrive early. He wanted to enter the convention with a plan for a strong central government. He was sure no other state would do this. Two Virginia delegates came early, as requested. Together, the three men worked on Madison's plan.

The only other delegates there were from Pennsylvania. Nobody seemed worried that there were no delegates from the other eleven states. After all, it took two weeks to ride a horse to Philadelphia from New Hampshire in the northeast. And it took as long as three weeks to get to Philadelphia from Georgia in the south.

Finally, the other delegates started coming a few at a time. Fifty-five men in all from twelve states. Pennsylvania sent the most delegates -- eight. Rhode Island sent none. A few of the delegates were very old. But many were in their twenties or thirties. The average age of the delegates was just 43 years.

From the moment the convention began, Madison kept careful records of everything everyone said. He never stopped writing. If it were not for James Madison, we would know little of what happened at that historic meeting in Philadelphia in 1787.

Later, Madison explained how he did it. He wrote:

"I sat in front of the president of the convention. All the other delegates were on my right and on my left. I could hear everything the president said. I could hear all the words of every delegate. I made notes only I could understand. Then, at night in my room, I wrote out completely all the speeches and acts. I attended the convention every day. I was there as long as the delegates were meeting and talking."

James Madison's full records of the convention were not published until thirty years later.

The Constitutional Convention will be our story next week.

(MUSIC)

You can find our series online with transcripts⁸, MP3s, podcasts and pictures at www.voanews.cn. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. I'm Steve Ember, inviting⁹ you to join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.

___

This is program #16

1 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

2 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

3 tottering   

adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠

参考例句：

• the tottering walls of the castle 古城堡摇摇欲坠的墙壁
• With power and to spare we must pursue the tottering foe. 宜将剩勇追穷寇。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 arrogant   

adj.傲慢的，自大的

参考例句：

• You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
• People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。

7 rheumatism   

n.风湿病

参考例句：

• The damp weather plays the very devil with my rheumatism.潮湿的天气加重了我的风湿病。
• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。

8 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

9 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。