VOA慢速英语 2008 0124b

Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION ‿American history in VOA Special English. I’m Doug Johnson. Today, Tony Riggs and I continue the story of the United States Constitution.

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VOICE ONE:

In May of seventeen eighty-seven, a group of America's early leaders met in Philadelphia. They planned to amend¹ the Articles of Confederation which provided a loose union of the thirteen American states. Instead, they wrote a completely new Constitution. That political document created America's system of government and recognized the rights of its citizens. It is still the law of the land.

VOICE TWO:

 
James Madison
James Madison of Virginia was the first delegate² to arrive for the convention³ in Philadelphia.

Madison asked the other delegates⁴ 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 -- George Wythe and John Blair -- came early, as requested. Together, the three men worked on Madison's plan.

VOICE ONE:

The convention was to start on May fourteenth. George Washington arrived the day before. He was welcomed outside Philadelphia by a military guard and the firing of cannons⁵.

Washington was the most famous man in America. He led the forces that won the war for independence from Britain.

The first thing Washington did in Philadelphia was to visit Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was an important political leader in America. He also was chief of Pennsylvania's delegation⁶ to the convention.

Franklin was then eighty-one years old. Age had weakened him. But his mind remained strong. Every important person who came to Philadelphia -- even the great General Washington ‿visited Benjamin Franklin.

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VOICE TWO:

 
A 1777 map of Philadelphia; at the bottom is Independence Hall
On the first day of the convention, the delegates from Virginia went to the State House where the meeting would be held. They gathered in the room where America's Declaration⁷ of Independence was signed in seventeen seventy-six.

The only other delegates there were from Pennsylvania. One was Robert Morris. He raised much of the money to fight the American Revolution. Another was Gouverneur Morris. The two men were not related.

Another Pennsylvania delegate was James Wilson. He signed the Declaration of Independence and was a member of America's early Continental⁸ Congress. Like James Madison, James Wilson wanted a strong central government for the United States.

VOICE ONE:

The men from Pennsylvania and Virginia spent that first day talking. They agreed to meet again the next morning. 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 many as three weeks to get to Philadelphia from Georgia in the south.

For a while, it seemed the other delegates would never arrive. But then they started coming one or two at a time. The delegates agreed to start the convention as soon as seven states were represented.

VOICE TWO:

New York sent three men. That was a surprise. Many people believed New York would refuse to send anyone at all. The governor of New York did not support the idea of a strong central government.

But one of the New York delegates did. He was Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton served as an assistant to General George Washington during the revolution. He firmly believed the United States needed a strong central government. In fact, some people said he wanted the country ruled by a king.

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VOICE ONE:

Day by day, more delegates arrived in Philadelphia for the convention. They included Rufus King and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. John Rutledge and Charles Pinckney of South Carolina. John Lansing and Robert Yates of New York. Luther Martin and James McHenry of Maryland. Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut.

William Few and William Pierce of Georgia. David Brearly and Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey⁹. John Langdon and Nicholas Gilman of New Hampshire. Gunning Bedford and George Read of Delaware. Alexander Martin and William Blount of North Carolina.

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 forty-three years.

VOICE TWO:

This respected group was missing two important persons ‿John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. At the time, Adams was serving as America's representative to Britain. Jefferson was serving as the representative to France.

Both men expected to continue their service to the new nation. So both were extremely interested in the convention in Philadelphia. They exchanged letters with friends to learn what was happening.

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VOICE ONE:

The convention did not have seven states represented until May twenty-fifth. On that day, it finally began its work. The delegates' first task was to name a clerk to write the reports of the meetings. They chose Major William Jackson.

Major Jackson had asked George Washington to support him for the job. General Washington did so. But Major Jackson was not a good clerk. He wrote down few details of the convention. Luckily, however, James Madison did. From the moment the convention began, Madison kept careful records of everything everyone said. He never stopped writing. Other delegates took notes, including Alexander Hamilton and Rufus King. But their reports were short and not complete.

 
Madison's notes from the constitutional convention. Here he describes the first day's events on May 25, 1787, when George Washington was elected chairman of the convention. 
If it were not for James Madison, we would know little of what happened at that historic¹⁰ meeting in Philadelphia in seventeen eighty-seven.

VOICE TWO:

Later, Madison explained how he did it.

"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."

In his reports, Madison called himself "Mister M." He wrote down everything that was said, even the unfriendly things said by others about "Mister M."

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

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VOICE ONE:

The first important decision by the delegates was choosing a president for the convention. Several urged the others to name George Washington. The delegates agreed. Washington was their choice.

George Washington then officially opened the convention with a short speech. He thanked the delegates for naming him president. But he said the honor was too great. He asked the delegates to forgive him if he made mistakes. After all, he said, he had never been chairman of a meeting before.

With those words, George Washington sat down. And for the next four months, he spoke¹¹ only when necessary.

VOICE TWO:

The first day of the convention ended well. The delegates agreed to name a small committee to write rules for the meetings. They quickly appointed three men: George Wythe of Virginia, Alexander Hamilton of New York, and Charles Pinckney of South Carolina.

So far, the business of the convention was easy. The work was done in a friendly way. It was not long, however, before a serious dispute developed.

The dispute was between the large states and the small states. How would they share power in a government of United States? Should states with bigger populations have more power than states with smaller populations?

The dispute would sharply¹² divide the delegates for the next four months. That will be our story next week.

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VOICE TWO:

Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION, an American history series in VOA Special English.  I’m Doug Johnson with Tony Riggs.

1 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

2 delegate   

n.代表，会议代表；vt.委派...为代表，授权

参考例句：

• They drafted her to serve as their delegate.他们选她当代表。
• The Chinese people delegate their power to the People's Congress.中国人民授权人民代表大会。

3 convention   

n.惯例，习俗，常规，会议，大会

参考例句：

• How many delegates have checked in at the convention?大会已有多少代表报到？
• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。

4 delegates   

代表，代表团成员( delegate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The conference was attended by delegates from 56 countries. 此次会议有来自56个国家的代表出席。
• Delegates expressed strong opposition to the plans. 代表强烈反对这些计划。

5 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

7 declaration   

n.宣布，宣告，宣言，声明（书），申报

参考例句：

• We read the declaration posted on the bulletin board.我们读了贴在布告板上的声明。
• At the recent convention a declaration was adopted.在最近举行的大会上通过了一项宣言。

8 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

9 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

10 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 sharply   

adj.锐利地，急速；adv.严厉地，鲜明地

参考例句：

• The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
• Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。