扔茶叶与扬基曲
本帖最后由 2333333333333 于 2018-11-28 18:13 编辑Today, we tell about the start of the American colonies' war for independence from Britain in the late seventeen hundreds. 今天，我们为您讲述18世纪末美国的独立战争。
The road to revolution lasted several years. The most serious events began in seventeen seventy. 革命之路持续了好几年，发生的最严重事件是在1770年，
War began five years later. 五年后战争开始了。
Relations between Britain and its American colonists were most tense in the colony of Massachusetts. 英国和美国殖民者之间的关系在马萨诸塞州最为紧张。
There were protests against the British policy of taxing the colonies without giving them representation in Parliament. 英国征税无代表的的政策遭到了殖民地的抗议。
To prevent trouble, thousands of British soldiers were sent to Boston, the biggest city in Massachusetts. 为了控制局势，数千名英国士兵被派往马萨诸塞州最大的城市波士顿。
On March fifth, seventeen seventy, tension led to violence. This is what happened. 1770年3月5日，紧张局势演变成暴力冲突。事情是这样的。
It was the end of winter, and the weather was very cold. 冬末，天气依然很冷。
A small group of colonists began throwing rocks and pieces of ice at soldiers guarding a public building. 一小群殖民者开始向守卫一座公共大楼的士兵投掷石块和冰块。
They were joined by others, and the soldiers became frightened. They fired their guns. 人数越来越多，士兵们都吓坏了。他们开枪了。
Five colonists were killed. The incident became known as the Boston Massacre. 五名殖民者被杀。这一事件被称为波士顿大屠杀。
The people of Massachusetts were extremely angry. The soldiers were tried in court for murder. 这一事件引起了麻萨诸塞居民的极度愤慨。士兵们因谋杀罪受审。
Most were found innocent. The others received minor punishments. 大多数人被判无罪。其他人则受到了轻微的惩罚。
Fearing more violence, the British Parliament cancelled most of its taxes. Only the tax on tea remained. 由于担心更多暴力事件的发生，英国议会取消了大部分税收。只留下茶叶税。
This eased some of the tensions for a while. Imports of British goods increased. 税务取消暂时缓解了紧张局势。殖民地进口的英国商品增加了。
The colonists seemed satisfied with the situation, until a few years later. 殖民者似乎对这种情况感到满意，几年后，
That is when the Massachusetts colony once again became involved in a dispute with Britain. 马萨诸塞殖民地再次卷入了与英国的争端。
The trouble started because the British government wanted to help improve the business of the British East India Company. 英国政府希望帮助改善英属东印度公司的业务。
That company organized all the trade between India and other countries ruled by Britain. 英属东印度公司控制着印度和英国其他殖民地之间的贸易。
By seventeen seventy-three, the company had become weak. 到了1773年，东印度公司经营越来越差。
The British government decided to permit it to sell tea directly to the American colonies. 英国政府决定允许东印度公司直接向美洲殖民地出售茶叶。
The colonies would still have to pay a tea tax to Britain. 殖民地仍需向英国缴纳茶叶税。
The Americans did not like the new plan. 美洲殖民地不喜欢这一新计划，
They felt they were being forced to buy their tea from only one company. 他们觉得自己是被迫从一家公司购买茶叶。
Officials in the colonies of Pennsylvania and New York sent the East India Company's ships back to Britain. 宾夕法尼亚和纽约殖民地的官员将东印度公司的船只送回英国。
In Massachusetts, things were different. The British governor there wanted to collect the tea tax and enforce the law. 马萨诸塞州的情况有所不同，该地的英国总督希望执行立法，按规定征税。
When the ships arrived in Boston, some colonists tried to block their way. 船只到达波士顿时，一些殖民者试图加以阻止。
The ships remained just outside the harbor without unloading their goods. 船只就只能停在港口外面，无法卸货。
On the night of December sixteenth, seventeen seventy-three, a group of colonists went out in a small boat. 1773年12月16日晚上，一群殖民者乘小船出海。
They got on a British ship and threw all the tea into the water. 他们登上一艘英国船，把所有的茶叶都扔进水里。
The colonists were dressed as American Indians so the British would not recognize them, 殖民者穿着印第安人的服装，这样英国人就认不出他们了。
but the people of Boston knew who they were. 但是波士顿人知道他们是谁。
A crowd gathered to cheer them. 一群人聚在一起为他们喝彩加油。
That incident -- the night when British tea was thrown into Boston harbor -- became known as the Boston Tea Party. 那天晚上英国茶叶被扔进波士顿，我们称之为波士顿倾茶事件。
Destroying the tea was a serious crime. The British government was angry. 毁坏茶叶是严重的罪行。英国政府大怒。
Parliament reacted to the Boston Tea Party by punishing the whole colony of Massachusetts for the actions of a few men. 虽然是少数人的行为，但国会还是惩罚了整个马萨诸塞殖民地。
It approved a series of laws that once again changed relations between the colony and Britain. 国会通过了一系列法律，把殖民地和英国之间的关系推向了紧张。
One of these laws closed the port of Boston until the tea was paid for. 国会颁布的其中一项法律是关闭波士顿港，直至茶叶的费用全部被支付。
Other laws strengthened the power of the British governor and weakened the power of local colonial officials. 其他法律强化了英国总督的权力的同时，削弱了当地殖民地官员的权力。
In June, seventeen seventy-four, the colony of Massachusetts called for a meeting of delegates from all the other colonies to consider joint action against Britain. 1774年6月，马萨诸塞殖民地召集所有其他殖民地的代表开会，打算对英国采取联合行动。
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This meeting of colonial delegates was called the First Continental Congress. 此次殖民地代表会议被称为第一届大陆会议。
It was held in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in September, seventeen seventy-four. 该会议于1774年9月在宾夕法尼亚州的费城举行。
All the colonies except one was represented. The southern colony of Georgia did not send a delegate. 除了南殖民地格鲁吉亚没有派代表，所有殖民地都派代表出席了会议。
The delegates agreed that the British Parliament had no right to control trade with the American colonies or to make any laws that affected them. 代表们一致认为，英国议会无权控制与美国殖民地的贸易，也无权制定任何殖民地的法律。
They said the people of the colonies must have the right to take part in any legislative group that made laws for them. 他们表示，殖民地人民必须有权参加任何涉及自身利益的立法会议。
The First Continental Congress approved a series of documents that condemned all British actions in the American colonies after seventeen sixty-three. 第一届大陆会议通过了一系列文件，谴责1763年后英国在美洲殖民地的所有行为。
It approved a Massachusetts proposal saying that the people could use weapons to defend their rights. 会议批准了马萨诸塞州的一项提议，声称人们可以使用武器来捍卫自己的权利。
It also organized a Continental Association to boycott British goods and to stop all exports to any British colony or to Britain itself. 还组织了一个大陆联合会以抵制英国商品，并停止向任何英国殖民地或英国出口商品。
Local committees were created to enforce the boycott. 地方委员会负责实施抵制行动。
One of the delegates to this First Continental Congress was John Adams of Massachusetts. 第一届大陆会议的代表之一是马萨诸塞州的约翰·亚当斯。
Many years later, he said that by the time the meeting was held, the American Revolution had already begun. 多年以后，他说，在这次会议召开的时候，美国革命就已经开始了。
Britain's King George the Second announced that the New England colonies were in rebellion. 英国国王乔治二世宣布新英格兰殖民地处于叛乱状态。
Parliament made the decision to use troops against Massachusetts in January, seventeen seventy-five. 1775年1月，国会决定出军镇压马萨诸塞州。
The people of Massachusetts formed a provincial assembly and began training men to fight. 马萨诸塞人组建省议会，开始进行军事训练。
Soon, groups of armed men were doing military exercises in towns all around Massachusetts and in other colonies, too. 不久，成群的武装人员在马萨诸塞州周围的城镇和其他殖民地进行军事演习。
British officers received their orders in April, seventeen seventy-five. 1775年4月，英国收到命令。
By that time, the colonists had been gathering weapons in the town of Concord, about thirty kilometers west of Boston. 当时，殖民者正在波士顿以西大约30公里的康科德镇收集武器
The British forces were ordered to seize the weapons. But the colonists knew they were coming and were prepared. 英国军队奉命没收了这些武器。但是殖民者做好了抵抗的准备。
Years later, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem about what happened. 多年后，亨利·沃兹沃斯·朗费罗写了一首诗，描述当时的情景。
The poem tells about the actions of Paul Revere, one of three men who helped warn the colonial troops that the British were coming: 这首诗写的是保罗·里维尔的行动，保罗·里维尔是帮助警告殖民地军队英国即将到来的三个人之一:
Listen my children and you shall hear 孩子们，你们听到的是
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. 保罗·里维尔午夜骑马的故事。
On the eighteenth of April in Seventy-five 七十五年四月十八日
Hardly a man is now alive 几乎没有人活到现在
Who remembers that famous day and year. 谁记得年份和日子。
He said to his friend, "If the British march 保罗·里维尔对他的朋友说：“如果英国人今晚
By land or sea from the town tonight 从镇上由水路或者陆路来到这里
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch 在钟楼拱门上挂一盏灯笼
Of the North Church tower as a signal light, -- 教堂的北塔作为信号灯
One if by land, and two if by sea; 一个指示陆路，两个指示海路;
And I on the opposite shore will be, 而我在对岸，
Ready to ride and spread the alarm 准备骑着马让警报
Through every Middlesex village and farm 响彻米德尔塞克斯的每一个村庄和农场
For the country folk to be up and to arm." 让乡下人站起来武装战斗”
When the British reached the town of Lexington, they found it protected by about seventy colonial troops. 当英国人到达莱克星顿镇时，他们发现大约70名殖民地士兵把守在那里。
These troops were called "Minute Men" because they had been trained to fight with only a minute's warning. 这些部队被称为“分钟人”，因为他们在得到通知后一分钟就参加了战斗。
Guns were fired. Eight colonists were killed. 双方开枪交火，八名殖民者被杀。
No one knows who fired the first shot in that first battle of the American Revolution. 没有人知道美国独立战争的第一场战役是谁开的第一枪。
Each side accused the other. But the meaning was very clear. It was called "the shot heard round the world." 双方互相指责。但是这一枪意思很清楚，被称为“传遍世界的一枪”。
From Lexington, the British marched to Concord, where they destroyed whatever supplies the colonists had not been able to save. 英国人从莱克星顿出发，向康科德进发，摧毁了殖民者来不及运走的一切物资。
Other colonial troops rushed to the area. A battle at Concord's north bridge forced the British to march back to Boston. 其他殖民地军队赶过来帮忙。双方在康科德镇北面的大桥附近交战，英军被迫退回波士顿。
It was the first day of America's war for independence. 这是美国独立战争的第一天。
When it was over, almost three hundred British troops had been killed. 战争结束时，将近300名英军士兵阵亡。
Fewer than one hundred Americans had died. 不到100名殖民地民兵死去。
The British troops had marched in time with their drummers and pipers. 英国军队行进时，鼓手和风笛手伴奏。
The musicians had played a song called "Yankee Doodle." The British invented the song to insult the Americans. 乐师们演奏了一首名为《扬基歌》的歌曲。英国人写这首歌专门侮辱殖民地的民兵。
They said a Yankee Doodle was a man who did not know how to fight. 他们说这首歌唱的是那些不知道怎么打仗的人。
After the early battles of the revolution, the Americans said they were glad to be Yankee Doodles. 独立战争初期战役之后，殖民地的人说他们很高兴被叫做扬基。
Following the battles at Lexington and Concord, 莱克星顿战役和康科德战役之后，
the Massachusetts government organized a group that captured Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain in New York State. 马萨诸塞州政府组织占领了纽约州尚普兰湖的提康德罗加堡。
The other colonies began sending troops to help. 其他殖民地开始增援。
And another joint colonial meeting was called: the Second Continental Congress. 另一殖民地联合会议：第二届大陆会议召开了。
That will be our story next week. 这就是我们下周要讲的故事 阳机都得尔，哈哈，塞倭喔的时候，南佬就唱这个，随后发动攻势，费城特好，我喜欢，艺术气息浓厚，人彬彬有礼，独立战争的东西都在费城，包括宪法草稿，米国拥枪，就是那时定的，无论谁当权，受民众枪支的监督，
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