James Madison:Scholar

译 / 陈式方程

VOA Learning English presents America’s Presidents.
美国之音慢速英语介绍美国总统栏目。

James Madison was elected in 1808. He was a capable¹ president who served two terms. But most Americans do not remember Madison for his presidency. They remember him for work he did earlier.
1808年，詹姆斯·麦迪逊当选总统。他是一位有能力的总统，任期两届。但大多数美国人并不是因为总统而记住他，而是因为他早期的工作。

After the Revolutionary War, in which the American colonists separated from Britain, Madison proposed that the new United States form a stronger national government.
独立战争结束后，美国殖民者从英国脱离出来，麦迪逊建议，新兴美国需要一个强而有力的国家政府。

Madison’s vision for a three-part government – with an executive, a legislature, and an independent Supreme Court – became the basis for the Constitution we still use today.
麦迪逊的三权分立思想 — 执法，立法，以及独立的最高法院 — 成为了今天美国一直使用的宪法的基础。

Madison went on to persuade voters to accept the proposed Constitution. He explained how a system of checks and balances would prevent any one part of government from becoming too powerful.
麦迪逊一直努力说服选民接受提议的宪法。他解释了一个系统如何自检和平衡才能阻止政府部门的任何一方过于权利集中。

And, when voters demanded more protection for individual liberties, Madison wrote the amendments that became the Bill of Rights².
并且，由于选民更加诉求保护个人自由，麦迪逊便写了修正法案，也就是后来的《人权法案》。

These actions earned Madison the name “Father of the Constitution.”
这些举动为麦迪逊赢得了“宪法之父”的称号。

Opposites attract 异性相吸

Madison did not have the appearance of most politicians. He was a short man with a soft voice who had been sick often as a child.
麦迪逊看起来不像大多数政治家。他身材矮小，声音柔弱，小时候体弱多病。

He grew up in a wealthy family in Virginia. He liked to read books, and to study. He went to college at the school that later became Princeton University in New Jersey.
他在弗吉尼亚的一个富有家庭长大，喜欢阅读和学习。他上的大学就是后来的新泽西普林斯顿大学。

When the Revolutionary War started, Madison’s intelligence and knowledge – as well as family money – helped him participate³ in debates about independence.
独立战争开始后，麦迪逊的智慧，知识以及财富帮助他参与了独立宣言的讨论。

Madison also held positions in the new American government he helped create, including as secretary of state under President Thomas Jefferson.
麦迪逊在他参与创建的新兴美国政府担任了多项职位，包括托马斯·杰斐逊总统时期的国务卿。

Madison did not have much of a personal life. Many people were surprised when he married a young widow⁴ named Dolley Payne Todd. She was 26; he was 43. The couple did not have children, but they raised Mrs. Madison’s surviving son together.
麦迪逊没有多少个人生活。许多人都惊讶于他娶了一个名叫多利·佩恩托德的年轻寡妇，多利26岁，麦迪逊43岁。他们没有孩子，但共同抚养了多利与前夫的儿子。

Stories suggest the two were very happy, although they had different personalities. Dolley Madison was energetic, warm, and social. She loved to throw parties⁵ – and her guests loved to attend them.
这意味着他们两个人会非常开心，尽管他们之间有着不同的性格。多利·麦迪逊精力充沛，热情，喜欢社交。她经常举行舞会并且大家都爱参加。

Historian Catherine Allgor notes Dolley Madison often dressed dramatically⁶ – including wearing turbans⁷ covered with peacock feathers⁸. Her weekly gatherings at the president’s house were so crowded that they became known as “squeezes⁹.”
历史学家凯瑟琳·欧格说，多利·麦迪逊经常穿着打扮的很亮眼 — 包括裹着孔雀羽毛的头巾。她每周在总统住宅举行的舞会都非常拥挤，因此被称为“狭小拥挤的总统住宅”。

As first lady, Dolley Madison did not follow her husband’s idea of a strict separation of powers. She invited officials from all parts of the government to her parties, as well as people from opposing political groups.
作为第一夫人，多利·麦迪逊并没有遵循丈夫严格的权利分立思想。她邀请所有政府官员参加她的舞会，包括反对政治阵营。

Allgor says Dolley Madison succeeded in making the president’s house a symbol of unity and glamor¹⁰. She remains one of the best- known and most-loved first ladies in U.S. history.
欧格说，多利·麦迪逊成功地让总统住宅成为了团结和魅力的象征。她仍旧是美国历史上最出名以及最受喜爱的第一夫人之一。

But his wife’s popularity could not prevent Madison from facing a difficult presidency.
但是麦迪逊妻子的名气并不能让他免于面临一个艰难的总统任期。

Conflict abroad and at home 国内外冲突

During his first term, the U.S. faced increasingly tense relations with Britain. Madison accused the British of interfering with international trade and seizing American sailors.
麦迪逊的第一届任期内，美国持续面临着与英国的紧张局势。麦迪逊指控英国干涉美国的国际贸易，并且扣押美国水兵。

At the same time, European-American settlers blamed the British for helping native tribes fight against them. But, the settlers had violated treaties between the U.S. government and the Native Americans. In 1811, native warriors attacked U.S. soldiers at the Battle of Tippecanoe in today’s state of Indiana. A U.S. general named William Henry Harrison led his troops to fight back. The result was not clear, but Harrison declared victory.
同时，欧裔美国人指责英国帮助美洲印第安部落来对付他们，但其实是他们撕毁了美国政府和美洲原住民的条约在先。1811年，印第安人在今天的印第安纳州的蒂珀卡努河战役中袭击了美国士兵。美国将军威廉·亨利·哈里森指挥了军队反击。最后的结果不是很清楚，但哈里森宣告了胜利。

The following year¹¹, Madison proposed war against Britain. Congress approved. The War of 1812¹² began.
次年，美国国会批准麦迪逊向英国宣战。1812年战争开始。

War of 1812 1812年战争

For most of the war, American forces failed.
对于大多数战役而言，美军都战败了。

But in 1813, they had two notable victories in Canada. They captured and burned the city of York, in Toronto.
但在1813年，美军在加拿大战场取得了两场重要的胜利，他们占领焚烧了多伦多约克郡。

And General Harrison had another major fight with native warriors at the Battle of the Thames. The Native Americans were defeated. The leader of the tribal alliance, Tecumseh¹³, died from the wounds he received there.
同时，哈里森将军在泰晤士河战役中战胜了印第安人。部落联盟酋长特库姆塞也在这场战役中阵亡。

That loss ended, for the most part, the efforts of eastern Native American tribes to push back white settlers.
这场战役的失败在很大程度上结束了美国东部原住民部落驱赶白人定居者的努力。

In 1814, the war turned again. British soldiers took the U.S. capital of Washington, DC.
1814年，战争再次打响（返回）。英国士兵占领了美国首都华府。

Madison had already left the president’s house to meet with generals in the field. Dolley Madison remained. But when she learned the British were approaching¹⁴ quickly, she acted. She famously¹⁵ ordered her servants, as well as a 15-year-old house slave named Paul Jennings, to take down a painting of George Washington. The servants, slaves, first lady, and painting all escaped to safety.
麦迪逊当时已经离开了总统住宅在战场上会见将军，而多利·麦迪逊则留在了家里。当她知道英军正快速涌进时，她很好地做出了行动。她命令佣人以及一个名叫保罗·詹宁斯的15岁家奴把乔治·华盛顿的画像取了下来。佣人，家奴，第一夫人，以及画像全部安全逃脱。

Major General¹⁶

Commanders of the British force took a group of men to the Capitol building¹⁷ and set it on fire. Then, they went to the president’s house. They found the table set for dinner. The British commanders stopped to toast¹⁸ the president before they burned his home.
英军指挥官带领了一群人放火焚烧了美国国会大厦，然后去了总统住宅。去了之后发现桌子上已备好了晚餐，于是英军指挥官在焚烧总统住宅前还敬了总统一杯。

By the time Washington, D.C. burned, American and British officials were already in peace talks.
在焚烧华府的时候，美国和英国双方官员已经在和谈了。

But in the U.S., one more major battle was being fought. A militia¹⁹ general named Andrew Jackson led a ragtag²⁰ army against a British attack in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Americans’ rain of bullets and shells was so deadly that only one British soldier reached the top of the American defenses.
然而在美国，一个更重要的战役正在进行。 一个名叫安德鲁·杰克逊的民兵少将率领了一个杂牌军在路易斯安那州的新奥尔良抵抗英军的袭击。美军的火力非常密集，只有一名英国士兵登上了美国的防御工事。

When the British finally withdrew, they left behind more than 2,000 dead and wounded. Five hundred other British soldiers had been captured.
当英军撤退时，他们死伤超过2000人，500个英国士兵被俘虏。

Thirteen Americans were killed.
美军则13人阵亡。

The Battle of New Orleans was considered a great victory for the U.S; however, it was not necessary. The war had ended, by treaty, two weeks earlier.
新奥尔良战役对美国来说是一场重大的胜利；然而，却是不必要的。两周前，双方已通过条约结束了战争。

Legacy 遗产

The War of 1812 almost bankrupted the U.S. government and cost the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers. It was devastating²¹ for many Native Americans. It did provide a chance for several thousand slaves to escape to freedom by serving in the British military. But it did nothing to improve the lives of most of 1 million enslaved people in the U.S. at the time.
1812年战争几乎让美国政府破产，并且牺牲了成千上万的士兵。而对于美洲印第安人来说也是毁灭性的。战争中数千个奴隶通过服务于英国军队而得到了奔向自由的机会，但那时的战争并没有给一百万奴隶中的大多数人的生活带来多少改善。

Despite all this, the war united most of the country.
尽管如此，这场战争还是统一了国家大部分地区。

Albert Gallatin, Madison’s treasury secretary, said people felt “more American” after the war. They acted more like a nation, he said.
麦迪逊的财政部长阿尔伯特·加勒廷说道，战后人们感觉更加团结了，更像一个国家了。

The song that would become the country’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” was written during the War of 1812.
后来成为美国国歌的歌曲“星条旗之歌”就是在1812年战争的时候写的。

Madison benefited from most people’s belief that the war was a success. The end of his second term began what historians call the “Era of Good Feelings.” Madison left the presidency more popular than when he had started it.
麦迪逊得益于大多数人都认为这场战争是成功的。他的第二任期的结束开始了历史学家所说的“和睦年代”。麦迪逊卸任总统时比上任那会儿更受欢迎。

After he retired, Madison lived on his Virginia estate for nearly another 20 years. He died in his bed at age 85. A niece was in the room. She says that a strange look passed her uncle’s face. She asked him what was wrong.
麦迪逊退休后，在他的弗吉尼亚庄园住了近20年，85岁时在床上去世。当时他的侄女在他身边，她发现叔叔脸上闪过异样的神情（奇怪的表情），就问怎么了。

Madison’s last words were: “Nothing more than a change of mind, my dear. I always talk better lying down.”
麦迪逊说的最后一句话是：“亲爱的，只不过是改变心态罢了，躺着时我总是能更好地说话。”

原文链接

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/americas-presidents-james-madison/3759924.html

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