VOA慢速英语2012 THE MAKING OF A NATION - AMERICAN HISTORY: Relations Between Britain and its American Colonies

THE MAKING OF A NATION - AMERICAN HISTORY: Relations Between Britain and its American Colonies 

建国史话 (10)：北美殖民地不满英征税

From VOA Learning English, this is THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. I’m Steve Ember.

This week in our series, we tell about relations between the American colonies and Britain after the French and Indian War about two hundred fifty years ago.

The French and Indian War was one part of a world conflict between Britain and France. It was fought to decide which of the two powerful nations would control North America.为了争夺对美洲大陆的控制权，英国和法国展开战争。

The British defeated the French in North America in seventeen sixty-three. As a result, the British took control of lands that had been claimed by France. Britain now was responsible for almost two million people in the thirteen American colonies and sixty thousand French-speaking people in Canada. In addition to political and economic responsibilities, Britain had to protect all these colonists 2 from different groups of Indians.

英国于1763年击败法国，控制了法国占领的土地。这样一来，英国的势力就扩大到了美国13个殖民地的将近200万人以及加拿大讲法语的大约60000人。除了政治和经济责任外，英国还要保护殖民地的居民不受印第安部落的侵害。

This would cost a lot of money. Britain already had spent a lot sending troops and material to the colonies to fight the French and Indian War. It believed the American colonists should now help pay for that war.这就需要很多钱。为了打赢法英战争，英国消耗了大量资金，他们因此觉得，美国殖民地应该分担战争留下的债务。

The colonists in North America in seventeen sixty-three were very different from those who had settled there more than one hundred years before. They had different ideas. They had come to consider their colonial 3 legislatures as smaller, but similar to the British Parliament in London. These smaller parliaments had helped the colonists rule themselves for more than one hundred years. The colonists began to feel that their legislatures should also have the powers that the British Parliament had.1763年北美殖民地的居民与他们100多年前刚刚踏上这片土地的先行者已经迥然不同了。他们有自己的想法。他们逐渐开始觉得，殖民地的议会虽然规模不大，但和英国议会十分相似，而且已经帮助他们自行管理了100多年。因此，他们的议会也应该跟英国议会享有同等的权力。

The situation in England had changed as well. In the year seventeen-seven, the nation became officially known as Great Britain. Its king no longer controlled Parliament as he had in the early sixteen hundreds. Then, the king decided 4 all major questions, especially those concerning the colonies. But power had moved from the king to the Parliament. It was the legislature that decided major questions by the time of the French and Indian War, especially the power to tax. The parliaments in the colonies began to believe that they too should have this power of taxation 5.*大不列颠成立*

与此同时，英国也在发生变化。1707年，英格兰正式成为大不列颠，也就是英国，权力从国王转移到议会。过去，议会是在国王的控制之下，一切重大决定都是国王说了算，特别是殖民地的相关事务。到法英战争的时候，议会已经接管了所有重大问题的决定权，特别是税收。北美殖民地的议会因此觉得，他们也应该享有收税的权力。

The first English settlers in America considered themselves citizens of England. They had made a dangerous trip across the ocean to create a little England in a new place, to trade with the mother country and to spread their religion. By seventeen sixty-three, however, the colonists thought of themselves as Americans. Many of their families had been in North America for fifty to one hundred years. They had cleared the land, built homes, fought Indians and made lives for themselves far away from Britain. They had different everyday concerns than the people in Britain. Their way of life was different, too. They did not want anyone else to tell them how to govern themselves.

踏上北美大陆的第一批英国定居者认为自己是英格兰的臣民。他们远渡重洋，在一片新大陆上建立了一个小英格兰，跟祖国进行商品交易，同时传播自己的宗教。然而，到了1763年的时候，北美殖民地的人们觉得自己是美洲居民。很多家庭已经在北美大陆上生活了50年到100年。他们开荒种地、建造房屋，跟印第安人作战，在远离英国的地方建立了自己的生活。他们的生活方式也发生了变化，不需要别人告诉他们如何管理自己。

The people in Britain, however, still believed that the purpose of a colony was to serve the mother country. The government treated British citizens in the colonies differently from those at home. It demanded special taxes from the colonists. It also ordered them to feed British troops and let them live in their houses. Britain claimed that the soldiers were in the colonies to protect the people. But the people asked, "Prtect us from whom?"

然而，英国却仍然认为，殖民地的存在就是为祖国效力。英国政府区别对待本土公民和殖民地居民，要求殖民地缴纳额外的税款，还命令他们为英国军队提供食宿，理由是，英国军队到殖民地去是为了保护他们。但是殖民地的人却问：“保护我们？危险在哪里呢？”

As long as the French were nearby in Canada, the colonists needed the protection of the British army and navy. After the French were gone -- following their defeat in the French and Indian War -- the colonists felt they no longer needed British military protection.

法国军队在加拿大的时候，殖民地需要英国军队的保护，但是法英战争结束后，法国的威胁已经不复存在，殖民地的人觉得不再需要英国军队了。

The British government demanded that the colonists pay higher and higher taxes. One reason was that the government wanted to show the colonists that it was in control. Another reason was that Britain was having money problems. Foreign wars had left the country with big debts. The British thought the colonists should help pay some of these debts, especially those resulting from the French and Indian War.

*英国提高税收*

英国政府不断提高殖民地的税收，原因之一是要让殖民地知道，他们依旧在英国的统治之下。另外一个原因是，英国面临着严峻的财政困难。对外战争让英国债台高筑，英国认为殖民地应该帮着还钱，特别是战争遗留的债务。

The American colonists might have agreed, but they wanted to have a say in the decision. They wanted the right to vote about their own taxes, like the people living in Britain. But no colonists were permitted to serve in the British Parliament. So they protested that they were being taxed without being represented.

美洲殖民地的居民本来可能并不反对，但是他们希望自己能有发言权。他们希望能象英国本土的居民一样，在税收问题上有投票权。但是按照当时的规定，殖民地的人不能担任英国议会成员。殖民地对这种“纳税无代表”的状况表示抗议。

In seventeen sixty-four, the British Parliament approved the Sugar Act. This legislation 6 set taxes on sugar, coffee, some wines and other products imported to America in large amounts. It increased the taxes on European products sent to the colonies through Britain. The British government also approved new measures aimed at enforcing all trade laws. And it decided to restrict the production of paper money in the colonies.

1764年，英国议会通过了《食糖条例》，对进口到美洲的食糖、咖啡、葡萄酒等产品征税，并将经由英国运往殖民地的其他欧洲产品的税率提高了两倍。英国政府还通过了新的措施，保证所有贸易法令的执行，同时决定限制殖民地印刷纸币。

The American colonists opposed all these new laws. Yet they could not agree about how to resist. Colonial assemblies approved protests against the laws, but the protests were all different and had no real effect. Business groups attempted to organize boycotts 8 of goods. But these were not very successful...until the British government approved another tax in seventeen sixty-five: a tax on stamps.

*北美殖民地反对新法*

这些新法受到美洲殖民者的反对，但是他们又无法在如何抵制的问题上取得一致。各殖民地的议会纷纷决定抗议新法，但是抗议行动各不相同，因此没有取得实质效果。商业团体也企图抵制有关商品，但是并不成功，这种局面一直继续到1765年英国政府通过《印花税条例》。

The Stamp Act probably angered more American colonists than any earlier tax. Under this law, the colonists had to buy a British stamp for every piece of printed paper they used. That meant they would be taxed for every piece of newspaper, every document, even every playing card. The colonists refused to pay. Colonial assemblies approved resolutions suggesting that the British Parliament had no right to tax the colonies at all. Some colonists were so angry that they attacked British stamp agents.

《印花税条例》引起的美洲殖民地人民的愤怒是史无前例的。根据《印花税条例》，殖民地使用的任何纸张，都要购买英国的印花税券，也就是说，每一张报纸、每一份文件，甚至是扑克牌，都要纳税。殖民地的人拒绝接受，殖民地的议会通过决议，认为英国议会无权向殖民地征税。有些愤怒的殖民者甚至对征收印花税的官员发动袭击。

Historians 9 say the main reason the colonists were angry was because Britain had rejected the idea of 'no taxation without representation 10'. Almost no colonist 1 wanted to be independent of Britain at that time. Yet all of them valued their rights as British citizens and the idea of local self-rule. They considered the Stamp Act to be the worst in a series of violations 11 of these rights.

历史学家说，殖民地居民感到愤怒的主要原因是英国拒绝接受“无代表就不纳税”的主张。当时，殖民地其实并没有人希望从英国独立出去，但是他们都很珍视殖民地自我管理的模式，以及他们作为英国公民的权利。在他们看来，《印花税条例》是长期以来对这种权利最严重的侵犯。

The American colonists refused to obey the Stamp Act. They also refused to buy British goods. Almost one thousand storeowners signed non-importation agreements. This cost British businessmen so much money that they demanded that the government cancel the Stamp Act. Parliament finally cancelled the law in seventeen sixty-six. The colonists immediately ended their ban on British goods.

*北美洲抵制英国产品*

美洲殖民者不仅拒绝接受《印花税条例》，也对英国产品实行抵制。将近1000名商店老板联名签署了拒绝进口的协议，给英国本土的商人造成了巨大的经济损失，在他们的强烈要求下，英国议会于1766年取消了《印花税条例》，殖民地也立即结束了他们对英国产品的抵制。

But the same day that Parliament ended the Stamp Act, it approved the Declaratory Act. This was a statement saying the colonies existed to serve Britain, and that Britain could approve any law it wanted. Many American colonists considered this statement to be illegal.

然而，英国议会取消《印花税条例》的同一天又通过了一项叫做《公告》的宣言，声称殖民地的存在是为了效忠英国，英国政府有权通过任何法律。美洲殖民地大都不承认这份《公告》的合法性。

Historians say this shows just how separated the colonies had become from Britain. Colonial assemblies were able to approve their own laws, but only with the permission of the British Parliament. The colonists, however, considered the work of their assemblies as their own form of self-rule.

历史学家说，这种情况显示了殖民地跟英国之间的巨大差距。英国认为殖民地议会可以通过自己的法律，但是必须得到英国议会的批准。然而，殖民地的人却认为，通过殖民地议会的工作，他们实现了自我管理。

Britain cancelled the Stamp Act, but did not stop demanding taxes. In seventeen sixty-seven, Parliament approved a series of new taxes called the Townshend Acts. These were named after the government official who proposed them. The Townshend Acts set taxes on glass, tea, lead, paints and paper imported into the colonies.

英国虽然取消了《印花税条例》，但是并没有停止征税。1767年，英国议会通过了一系列新税法，统称《汤森条例》。《汤森条例》对殖民地进口的玻璃、茶叶、铅、油漆和纸张征税。美洲殖民者再次通过抵制英国产品的做法对抗《汤森条例》。他们同时努力提高殖民地本身的制造能力。

The American colonists rejected the Townshend Acts and started a new boycott 7 of British goods. They also took steps to increase manufacturing in the colonies. By the end of seventeen sixty-nine, they had reduced by half the amount of goods imported from Britain. The colonies also began to communicate with each other about their problems.

*英国军队进驻波士顿*

到1769年的时候，他们已经将从英国进口的物资减少了一半。在这段时间里，北美大陆各殖民地之间的联系也开始逐渐增加。

In seventeen sixty-eight, the Massachusetts General Court sent a letter to the legislatures of the other colonies. It said the Townshend Acts violated 12 the colonists' natural and constitutional rights. When news of the letter reached London, British officials ordered the colonial governor of Massachusetts to dismiss the legislature. Then they moved four thousand British troops into Boston, the biggest city in Massachusetts -- and the biggest city in the American colonies.

1768年，麻萨诸塞法院致函其他殖民地的立法机构。信中说，《汤森条例》侵犯了殖民地的自然和宪法赋予的权利。消息传到伦敦后，英国官员下令麻萨诸塞总督解散议会，并派遣4000名英国军队进驻麻萨诸塞最大的城市波士顿。

The people of Boston hated the British soldiers. The soldiers were controlling their streets and living in their houses. This tension led to violence. That will be our story next week.

英国士兵控制了波士顿的街道，住在老百姓家中，引起了波士顿人的憎恶。双方之间的紧张情绪最终演变成了暴力冲突。

You can find our series online with transcripts 13, 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, inviting 14 you to join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.