第六章 一个新的国家

Source / 原文：https://www.americanyawp.com/text/06-a-new-nation/

I. Introduction

一、引言

On July 4, 1788, Philadelphians turned out for a “grand federal procession” in honor of the new national constitution. Workers in various trades and professions demonstrated. Blacksmiths carted around a working forge, on which they symbolically beat swords into farm tools. Potters proudly carried a sign paraphrasing from the Bible, “The potter hath power over his clay,” linking God’s power with an artisan’s work and a citizen’s control over the country. Christian clergymen meanwhile marched arm-in-arm with Jewish leaders. The grand procession represented what many Americans hoped the United States would become: a diverse but cohesive, prosperous nation.

1788年7月4日，费城居民聚集在一起参加“盛大的联邦游行”，以庆祝新国家宪法的诞生。各行各业的工人和专业人士纷纷参与示威活动。铁匠们推着移动的铁匠炉，象征性地将剑打造成农具。陶工们自豪地举着一块标语，引用了圣经中的话：“陶人有权掌控他的泥土”，将上帝的权力与工匠的工作、以及公民对国家的掌控联系在一起。同时，基督教牧师与犹太领袖手挽手前行。这场盛大的游行展现了许多美国人对未来的期望：一个多元但团结、繁荣的国家。

Over the next few years, Americans would celebrate more of these patriotic holidays. In April 1789, for example, thousands gathered in New York to see George Washington take the presidential oath of office. That November, Washington called his fellow citizens to celebrate with a day of thanksgiving, particularly for “the peaceable and rational manner” in which the government had been established.

接下来的几年里，美国人会庆祝更多这样的爱国节日。例如，在1789年4月，数千人聚集在纽约，见证乔治·华盛顿宣誓就任总统。同年11月，华盛顿号召他的同胞们以感恩日庆祝，尤其是庆祝“政府以和平、理性方式建立”。

But the new nation was never as cohesive as its champions had hoped. Although the officials of the new federal government—and the people who supported it—placed great emphasis on unity and cooperation, the country was often anything but unified. The Constitution itself had been a controversial document adopted to strengthen the government so that it could withstand internal conflicts. Whatever the later celebrations, the new nation had looked to the future with uncertainty. Less than two years before the national celebrations of 1788 and 1789, the United States had faced the threat of collapse.

然而，这个新生的国家并没有如拥护者们所希望的那样团结一致。尽管新联邦政府的官员和支持者们极力强调团结与合作，但这个国家却经常显得不那么统一。宪法本身就是一份有争议的文件，其目的是加强政府的能力，以应对内部冲突。尽管之后有各种庆祝活动，但当时的新国家对未来充满不确定性。1788年和1789年全国庆祝活动前不到两年，美国曾面临崩溃的威胁。

II. Shays’s Rebellion

二、谢伊斯叛乱

In 1786 and 1787, a few years after the Revolution ended, thousands of farmers in western Massachusetts were struggling under a heavy burden of debt. Their problems were made worse by weak local and national economies. Many political leaders saw both the debt and the struggling economy as a consequence of the Articles of Confederation, which provided the federal government with no way to raise revenue and did little to create a cohesive nation out of the various states. The farmers wanted the Massachusetts government to protect them from their creditors, but the state supported the lenders instead. As creditors threatened to foreclose on their property, many of these farmers, including Revolutionary War veterans, took up arms.

1786至1787年，在独立战争结束后的数年里，马萨诸塞州西部成千上万的农民在沉重的债务负担下挣扎。脆弱的地方经济和国家经济加剧了他们的困境。许多政治领导人认为，这些债务和低迷的经济是《邦联条例》带来的后果——这部条例未能赋予联邦政府筹集收入的方式，也未能将各州凝聚成一个统一的国家。农民们希望马萨诸塞州政府能保护他们免受债权人逼迫，但州政府却站在债权人一方。随着债权人威胁要没收他们的财产，许多农民，包括曾参与独立战争的老兵们，拿起了武器。

Led by a fellow veteran named Daniel Shays, these armed men, the “Shaysites,” resorted to tactics like the patriots had used before the Revolution, forming blockades around courthouses to keep judges from issuing foreclosure orders. These protesters saw their cause and their methods as an extension of the “Spirit of 1776”; they were protecting their rights and demanding redress for the people’s grievances.

在一位名叫丹尼尔·谢伊斯的老兵带领下，这些武装农民被称为“谢伊斯派”。他们采取了类似独立战争前爱国者的策略，在法院周围形成封锁，阻止法官发布没收令。这些抗议者将自己的事业和方法视为“1776精神”的延续，认为自己是在保护权利，并为民众的诉求争取补偿。

Governor James Bowdoin, however, saw the Shaysites as rebels who wanted to rule the government through mob violence. He called up thousands of militiamen to disperse them. A former Revolutionary general, Benjamin Lincoln, led the state force, insisting that Massachusetts must prevent “a state of anarchy, confusion and slavery.”In January 1787, Lincoln’s militia arrested more than one thousand Shaysites and reopened the courts.

马萨诸塞州州长詹姆斯·博登（James Bowdoin）将谢伊斯的支持者视为通过暴力统治政府的叛乱者。他召集了数千名民兵来驱散他们。一位前革命将领本杰明·林肯（Benjamin Lincoln）领导了州军，坚称马萨诸塞州必须防止“无政府状态、混乱和奴役”。1787年1月，林肯的民兵逮捕了超过一千名谢伊斯支持者，并重新开放了法院。

Daniel Shays and other leaders were indicted for treason, and several were sentenced to death, but eventually Shays and most of his followers received pardons. Their protest, which became known as Shays’s Rebellion, generated intense national debate. While some Americans, like Thomas Jefferson, thought “a little rebellion now and then” helped keep the country free, others feared the nation was sliding toward anarchy and complained that the states could not maintain control. For nationalists like James Madison of Virginia, Shays’s Rebellion was a prime example of why the country needed a strong central government. “Liberty,” Madison warned, “may be endangered by the abuses of liberty as well as the abuses of power.”

丹尼尔·谢伊斯和其他领导人被控叛国罪，几人被判处死刑，但最终谢伊斯和大多数追随者都获得了赦免。他们的抗议活动被称为“谢伊斯叛乱”，引发了激烈的全国性辩论。尽管一些美国人，比如托马斯·杰斐逊，认为“偶尔的小叛乱”有助于维护国家的自由，但其他人则担心国家正在滑向无政府状态，并抱怨各州无法维持控制。对于弗吉尼亚州的民族主义者詹姆斯·麦迪逊来说，谢伊斯叛乱是国家需要强大中央政府的一个典型例子。麦迪逊警告道：“自由可能受到滥用自由和滥用权力的威胁。”

III. The Constitutional Convention

三、制宪会议

The uprising in Massachusetts convinced leaders around the country to act. After years of goading by James Madison and other nationalists, delegates from twelve of the thirteen states met at the Pennsylvania state house in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. Only Rhode Island declined to send a representative. The delegates arrived at the convention with instructions to revise the Articles of Confederation.

马萨诸塞州的起义使全国各地的领导人意识到必须采取行动。在詹姆斯·麦迪逊和其他国家主义者多年的推动下，1787年夏天，来自十三个州中的十二个州的代表齐聚费城的宾夕法尼亚州议会大厦。只有罗德岛州拒绝派出代表。代表们带着修订《邦联条例》的指示参加了会议。

The biggest problem the convention needed to solve was the federal government’s inability to levy taxes. That weakness meant that the burden of paying back debt from the Revolutionary War fell on the states. The states, in turn, found themselves beholden to the lenders who had bought up their war bonds. That was part of why Massachusetts had chosen to side with its wealthy bondholders over poor western farmers.

会议需要解决的最大问题是联邦政府无法征税。这个弱点意味着革命战争的债务偿还负担落在了各州身上。各州因此不得不依赖购买战争债券的债权人。这也是马萨诸塞州选择站在富裕债券持有者一边，而不是支持贫困的西部农民的原因之一。

James Madison, however, had no intention of simply revising the Articles of Confederation. He intended to produce a completely new national constitution. In the preceding year, he had completed two extensive research projects—one on the history of government in the United States, the other on the history of republics around the world. He used this research as the basis for a proposal he brought with him to Philadelphia. It came to be called the Virginia Plan, named after Madison’s home state.

然而，詹姆斯·麦迪逊并不打算仅仅修订《邦联条例》。他打算制定一部全新的国家宪法。在前一年，他完成了两个广泛的研究项目——一个是关于美国政府历史的，另一个是关于世界各地共和国历史的。他将这些研究作为基础，提出了一个方案，并带到了费城。这个方案后来被称为“弗吉尼亚计划”，以麦迪逊的家乡弗吉尼亚州命名。

The Virginia Plan was daring. Classical learning said that a republican form of government required a small and homogenous state: the Roman republic, or a small country like Denmark, for example. Citizens who were too far apart or too different could not govern themselves successfully. Conventional wisdom said the United States needed to have a very weak central government, which should simply represent the states on certain matters they had in common. Otherwise, power should stay at the state or local level. But Madison’s research had led him in a different direction. He believed it was possible to create “an extended republic” encompassing a diversity of people, climates, and customs.

弗吉尼亚计划是一次大胆的尝试。古典学问认为，共和政府形式要求国家规模小且民族同质化：例如罗马共和国，或者像丹麦这样的小国。过于分散或差异过大的公民无法成功地自我治理。传统的智慧认为，美国需要一个非常弱的中央政府，中央政府只应在一些共同事务上代表各州。否则，权力应该保持在州或地方政府层面。然而，麦迪逊的研究引导他走上了不同的道路。他相信，可以建立一个“扩展的共和国”，涵盖多样化的人民、气候和风俗。

The Virginia Plan, therefore, proposed that the United States should have a strong federal government. It was to have three branches—legislative, executive, and judicial—with power to act on any issues of national concern. The legislature, or Congress, would have two houses, in which every state would be represented according to its population size or tax base. The national legislature would have veto power over state laws.

因此，弗吉尼亚计划提议美国应拥有一个强大的联邦政府。该政府将设有三个分支——立法、行政和司法——并有权处理任何涉及国家事务的问题。立法机关，即国会，将设有两院，其中每个州的代表将根据其人口规模或税基来分配。国家立法机关将拥有对州法律的否决权。

Other delegates to the convention generally agreed with Madison that the Articles of Confederation had failed. But they did not agree on what kind of government should replace them. In particular, they disagreed about the best method of representation in the new Congress. Representation was an important issue that influenced a host of other decisions, including deciding how the national executive branch should work, what specific powers the federal government should have, and even what to do about the divisive issue of slavery.

其他与会的代表普遍同意麦迪逊的看法，即《邦联条例》已经失败。但他们对于应该替代它的政府形式并没有达成一致。特别是，他们在新国会的代表方式上存在分歧。代表问题是一个重要的议题，影响着一系列其他决策，包括如何设计国家行政部门、联邦政府应拥有哪些具体权力，甚至如何处理引发争议的奴隶制问题。

For more than a decade, each state had enjoyed a single vote in the Continental Congress. William Patterson’s New Jersey Plan proposed to keep things that way. The Connecticut delegate Roger Sherman, furthermore, argued that members of Congress should be appointed by the state legislatures. Ordinary voters, Sherman said, lacked information, were “constantly liable to be misled” and “should have as little to do as may be” about most national decisions. Large states, however, preferred the Virginia Plan, which would give their citizens far more power over the legislative branch. James Wilson of Pennsylvania argued that since the Virginia Plan would vastly increase the powers of the national government, representation should be drawn as directly as possible from the public. No government, he warned, “could long subsist without the confidence of the people.”)

十多年来，每个州在大陆会议中享有一个单独的投票权。威廉·帕特森（William Patterson）的《新泽西计划》提议保持这种方式。康涅狄格州代表罗杰·谢尔曼（Roger Sherman）则认为，国会议员应该由州立法机关任命。谢尔曼表示，普通选民缺乏信息，“常常容易被误导”，他们“在大多数国家事务中应尽量少干预”。然而，大州更倾向于支持弗吉尼亚计划，因为该计划将赋予其公民更多对立法机关的控制权。宾夕法尼亚州的詹姆斯·威尔逊（James Wilson）认为，由于弗吉尼亚计划将极大地增加国家政府的权力，代表制度应该尽可能直接地从民众中选出。他警告说，“没有人民的信任，任何政府都无法长久存在。”

Ultimately, Roger Sherman suggested a compromise. Congress would have a lower house, the House of Representatives, in which members were assigned according to each state’s population, and an upper house, which became the Senate, in which each state would have one vote. This proposal, after months of debate, was adopted in a slightly altered form as the Great Compromise: each state would have two senators, who could vote independently. In addition to establishing both types of representation, this compromise also counted three-fifths of a state’s enslaved population for representation and tax purposes.

最终，罗杰·谢尔曼提出了一个折衷方案。国会将设有一个下院——众议院，其中议员根据每个州的人口分配；还将设有一个上院——参议院，每个州在参议院中拥有一个投票权。经过几个月的辩论，这一提案被略作修改后作为“大妥协”被采纳：每个州将拥有两名参议员，且可以独立投票。除了建立两种类型的代表制度外，这一妥协还规定，按人口和税收计算时，州内三分之五的奴隶人数将计入代表人数。

The delegates took even longer to decide on the form of the national executive branch. Should executive power be in the hands of a committee or a single person? How should its officeholders be chosen? On June 1, James Wilson moved that the national executive power reside in a single person. Coming only four years after the American Revolution, that proposal was extremely contentious; it conjured up images of an elected monarchy. The delegates also worried about how to protect the executive branch from corruption or undue control. They endlessly debated these questions, and not until early September did they decide the president would be elected by a special electoral college.

代表们花了更长的时间来决定国家行政部门的形式。行政权力应该集中在一个委员会手中还是一个人手中？其官员应如何选举产生？在6月1日，詹姆斯·威尔逊提出国家行政权力应集中于一个人手中。这个提案距美国独立战争仅四年，因此极具争议；它让人联想到一个选举产生的君主制。代表们还担心如何保护行政部门免受腐败或过度控制的影响。他们就这些问题进行了无休止的辩论，直到九月初才决定总统将通过特别的选举团选举产生。

In the end, the Constitutional Convention proposed a government unlike any other, combining elements copied from ancient republics and English political tradition but making some limited democratic innovations—all while trying to maintain a delicate balance between national and state sovereignty. It was a complicated and highly controversial scheme.

最终，制宪会议提出了一种前所未有的政府形式，结合了来自古代共和国和英国政治传统的元素，同时进行了一些有限的民主创新——所有这些都旨在维持国家主权和州主权之间的微妙平衡。这是一个复杂且高度争议的方案。

IV. Ratifying the Constitution

四、批准宪法

The convention voted to send its proposed Constitution to Congress, which was then sitting in New York, with a cover letter from George Washington. The plan for adopting the new Constitution, however, required approval from special state ratification conventions, not just Congress. During the ratification process, critics of the Constitution organized to persuade voters in the different states to oppose it.

会议投票决定将拟定的宪法送交当时在纽约开会的国会，并附上乔治·华盛顿的推荐信。然而，采用新宪法的计划需要得到各州特别审议大会的批准，而不仅仅是国会的批准。在批准过程中，宪法的批评者组织起来，试图说服各州选民反对这部宪法。

Importantly, the Constitutional Convention had voted down a proposal from Virginia’s George Mason, the author of Virginia’s state Declaration of Rights, for a national bill of rights. This omission became a rallying point for opponents of the document. Many of these Anti-Federalists argued that without such a guarantee of specific rights, American citizens risked losing their personal liberty to the powerful federal government. The pro-ratification Federalists, on the other hand, argued that including a bill of rights was not only redundant but dangerous; it could limit future citizens from adding new rights.

重要的是，制宪会议投票否决了来自弗吉尼亚州乔治·梅森（George Mason）的提案，他是弗吉尼亚州《权利宣言》的作者，提议设立一部全国性的权利法案。这个遗漏成为了宪法反对者的号召点。许多反联邦主义者（Anti-Federalists）认为，如果没有这种对特定权利的保障，美国公民将面临失去个人自由的风险，尤其是面对强大的联邦政府。而支持宪法批准的联邦主义者（Federalists）则认为，加入权利法案不仅是多余的，而且是危险的，因为它可能限制未来公民新增权利的能力。

Citizens debated the merits of the Constitution in newspaper articles, letters, sermons, and coffeehouse quarrels across America. Some of the most famous, and most important, arguments came from Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison in the Federalist Papers, which were published in various New York newspapers in 1787 and 1788. The first crucial vote came at the beginning of 1788 in Massachusetts. At first, the Anti-Federalists at the Massachusetts ratifying convention probably had the upper hand, but after weeks of debate, enough delegates changed their votes to narrowly approve the Constitution. But they also approved a number of proposed amendments, which were to be submitted to the first Congress. This pattern—ratifying the Constitution but attaching proposed amendments—was followed by other state conventions.

公民们通过报纸文章、信件、讲道和咖啡馆的争论，在全美范围内讨论宪法的优点。一些最著名、最重要的论述来自亚历山大·汉密尔顿、约翰·杰伊和詹姆斯·麦迪逊，他们在《联邦党人文集》中提出了强有力的辩论，这些文章于1787年和1788年在纽约的各大报纸上发表。第一次关键投票发生在1788年初的马萨诸塞州。起初，马萨诸塞州审议大会上的反联邦主义者可能占据上风，但经过几周的辩论，足够多的代表改变了他们的投票，最终勉强通过了宪法。然而，他们也批准了若干提议的修正案，这些修正案将提交给首届国会。其他州的审议大会也遵循了这种模式——批准宪法的同时附加提议的修正案。

The most high-profile convention was held in Richmond, Virginia, in June 1788, when Federalists like James Madison, Edmund Randolph, and John Marshall squared off against equally influential Anti-Federalists like Patrick Henry and George Mason. Virginia was America’s most populous state, it had produced some of the country’s highest-profile leaders, and the success of the new government rested upon its cooperation. After nearly a month of debate, Virginia voted 89 to 79 in favor of ratification.

最引人注目的审议大会于1788年6月在弗吉尼亚州里士满召开，在这次大会上，联邦主义者如詹姆斯·麦迪逊、埃德蒙·兰道夫和约翰·马歇尔与同样有影响力的反联邦主义者如帕特里克·亨利和乔治·梅森展开了激烈辩论。弗吉尼亚是美国人口最多的州，它培养了该国一些最具影响力的领导人，而新政府的成功也依赖于弗吉尼亚的合作。经过近一个月的辩论，弗吉尼亚以89票对79票通过了宪法的批准。

On July 2, 1788, Congress announced that a majority of states had ratified the Constitution and that the document was now in effect. Yet this did not mean the debates were over. North Carolina, New York, and Rhode Island had not completed their ratification conventions, and Anti-Federalists still argued that the Constitution would lead to tyranny. The New York convention would ratify the Constitution by just three votes, and finally Rhode Island would ratify it by two votes—a full year after George Washington was inaugurated as president.

1788年7月2日，国会宣布多数州已批准宪法，并且该文件现在生效。然而，这并不意味着辩论结束。北卡罗来纳州、纽约州和罗德岛州尚未完成它们的批准大会，反联邦主义者仍然争辩认为宪法会导致暴政。纽约的审议大会仅以三票通过了宪法，而罗德岛州最终以两票通过了宪法——这发生在乔治·华盛顿宣誓就职总统整整一年之后。

V. Rights and Compromises

五、权利与妥协

Although debates continued, Washington’s election as president cemented the Constitution’s authority. By 1793, the term Anti-Federalist would be essentially meaningless. Yet the debates produced a piece of the Constitution that seems irreplaceable today. Ten amendments were added in 1791. Together, they constitute the Bill of Rights. James Madison, against his original wishes, supported these amendments as an act of political compromise and necessity. He had won election to the House of Representatives only by promising his Virginia constituents such a list of rights.

尽管辩论持续进行，但华盛顿当选总统巩固了宪法的权威。到1793年，“反联邦主义者”（Anti-Federalist）这个词几乎变得毫无意义。然而，这些辩论产生了一部分宪法，今天看来它似乎是不可替代的。1791年，十项修正案被添加到宪法中，合起来构成了《权利法案》。詹姆斯·麦迪逊违背了他最初的意愿，支持这些修正案，认为这是政治妥协和必要之举。他之所以能够当选为众议院议员，正是因为他向弗吉尼亚选民承诺将会列出一份这样的权利清单。

There was much the Bill of Rights did not cover. Women found no special protections or guarantee of a voice in government. Many states continued to restrict voting only to men who owned significant amounts of property. And slavery not only continued to exist; it was condoned and protected by the Constitution.

《权利法案》并没有涵盖许多重要内容。女性未能获得任何特别的保护或在政府中发声的保障。许多州继续将投票权限制在拥有大量财产的男性身上。而且奴隶制不仅继续存在；它还得到了宪法的容忍和保护。

Of all the compromises that formed the Constitution, perhaps none would be more important than the compromise over the slave trade. Americans generally perceived the transatlantic slave trade as more violent and immoral than slavery itself. Many northerners opposed it on moral grounds. But they also understood that letting southern states import more Africans would increase their political power. The Constitution counted each Black individual as three fifths of a person for purposes of representation, so in districts with many enslaved people, the white voters had extra influence. On the other hand, the states of the Upper South also welcomed a ban on the Atlantic trade because they already had a surplus of enslaved laborers. Banning importation meant enslavers in Virginia and Maryland could get higher prices when they sold their enslaved laborers to states like South Carolina and Georgia that were dependent on a continued slave trade.

在构成宪法的所有妥协中，也许没有比奴隶贸易妥协更为重要的了。美国人普遍认为，跨大西洋的奴隶贸易比奴隶制本身更为暴力和不道德。许多北方人出于道德原因反对奴隶贸易。但他们也明白，让南方各州进口更多非洲奴隶将增加它们的政治权力。宪法规定，在代表人数的计算上，每个黑人被视为三分之二的人，因此在拥有大量奴隶的选区，白人选民的影响力就会增加。另一方面，上南方各州也欢迎禁止大西洋奴隶贸易，因为它们已经有了过剩的奴隶劳动力。禁止进口奴隶意味着，弗吉尼亚和马里兰的奴隶主在将奴隶卖给像南卡罗来纳州和乔治亚州这样的依赖继续奴隶贸易的州时，可以获得更高的价格。

New England and the Deep South agreed to what was called a “dirty compromise” at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. New Englanders agreed to include a constitutional provision that protected the foreign slave trade for twenty years; in exchange, South Carolina and Georgia delegates had agreed to support a constitutional clause that made it easier for Congress to pass commercial legislation. As a result, the Atlantic slave trade resumed until 1808 when it was outlawed for three reasons. First, Britain was also in the process of outlawing the slave trade in 1807, and the United States did not want to concede any moral high ground to its rival. Second, the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), a successful slave revolt against French colonial rule in the West Indies, had changed the stakes in the debate. The image of thousands of armed Black revolutionaries terrified white Americans. Third, the Haitian Revolution had ended France’s plans to expand its presence in the Americas, so in 1803, the United States had purchased the Louisiana Territory from the French at a fire-sale price. This massive new territory, which had doubled the size of the United States, had put the question of slavery’s expansion at the top of the national agenda. Many white Americans, including President Thomas Jefferson, thought that ending the external slave trade and dispersing the domestic slave population would keep the United States a white man’s republic and perhaps even lead to the disappearance of slavery.

在1787年宪法会议上，新英格兰和深南方达成了所谓的“肮脏妥协”。新英格兰人同意在宪法中加入一项条款，保护外来的奴隶贸易二十年；作为交换，南卡罗来纳州和乔治亚州的代表同意支持一项使国会更容易通过商业立法的条款。因此，大西洋奴隶贸易在1808年之前得以继续，直到它因三个原因被禁止。首先，英国在1807年也在进行禁止奴隶贸易的过程，而美国不想在道德上让给其对手任何高地。第二，海地革命（1791-1804），一场成功的奴隶起义推翻了法国在西印度群岛的殖民统治，改变了辩论中的利害关系。成千上万武装的黑人革命者的形象令白人美国人感到恐惧。第三，海地革命终结了法国在美洲扩张的计划，因此美国在1803年以极低的价格从法国购买了路易斯安那领土。这个巨大的新领土使美国的面积翻倍，并将奴隶制扩展的问题推上了国家议程的最前端。许多白人美国人，包括总统托马斯·杰斐逊，认为结束外部奴隶贸易并分散国内奴隶人口，将使美国保持为白人男性的共和国，甚至可能导致奴隶制的消失。

The ban on the slave trade, however, lacked effective enforcement measures and funding. Moreover, instead of freeing illegally imported Africans, the act left their fate to the individual states, and many of those states simply sold intercepted enslaved people at auction. Thus, the ban preserved the logic of property ownership in human beings. The new federal government protected slavery as much as it expanded democratic rights and privileges for white men.

然而，禁止奴隶贸易的法令缺乏有效的执行措施和资金支持。此外，该法案没有释放非法进口的非洲奴隶，而是将其命运交给各州处理，许多州只是将截获的奴隶通过拍卖出售。因此，这项禁令实际上维持了将人类视为财产的逻辑。新成立的联邦政府在扩展白人男性的民主权利和特权的同时，也保护了奴隶制。

VI. Hamilton’s Financial System

六、汉密尔顿的金融体系

President George Washington’s cabinet choices reflected continuing political tensions over the size and power of the federal government. The vice president was John Adams, and Washington chose Alexander Hamilton to be his secretary of the treasury. Both men wanted an active government that would promote prosperity by supporting American industry. However, Washington chose Thomas Jefferson to be his secretary of state, and Jefferson was committed to restricting federal power and preserving an economy based on agriculture. Almost from the beginning, Washington struggled to reconcile the Federalist and Republican (or Democratic-Republican) factions within his own administration.

乔治·华盛顿总统的内阁人选反映了关于联邦政府规模和权力的持续政治紧张局势。副总统是约翰·亚当斯，而华盛顿选择亚历山大·汉密尔顿担任财政部长。这两个人都希望建立一个积极的政府，通过支持美国工业来促进繁荣。然而，华盛顿选择托马斯·杰斐逊担任国务卿，而杰斐逊则致力于限制联邦政府的权力，保持以农业为基础的经济。几乎从一开始，华盛顿就面临着如何调和内阁中联邦党和共和党（或民主共和党）派系之间的矛盾。

Alexander Hamilton believed that self-interest was the “most powerful incentive of human actions.” Self-interest drove humans to accumulate property, and that effort created commerce and industry. According to Hamilton, government had important roles to play in this process. First, the state should protect private property from theft. Second, according to Hamilton, the state should use human “passions” and “make them subservient to the public good.” In other words, a wise government would harness its citizens’ desire for property so that both private individuals and the state would benefit.

亚历山大·汉密尔顿认为，自我利益是“人类行动最强大的动力”。自我利益驱使人类积累财产，而这种努力创造了商业和工业。根据汉密尔顿的观点，政府在这一过程中有着重要的作用。首先，国家应该保护私人财产不受盗窃。其次，汉密尔顿认为，国家应该利用人类的“激情”，并“使其服从于公共利益”。换句话说，一个明智的政府应当利用公民对财产的渴望，使得私人个体和国家都能从中受益。

Hamilton, like many of his contemporary statesmen, did not believe the state should ensure an equal distribution of property. Inequality was understood as “the great & fundamental distinction in Society,” and Hamilton saw no reason why this should change. Instead, Hamilton wanted to tie the economic interests of wealthy Americans, or “monied men,” to the federal government’s financial health. If the rich needed the government, then they would direct their energies to making sure it remained solvent.

像许多同时代的政治家一样，汉密尔顿并不认为国家应该确保财产的平等分配。不平等被视为“社会中的重大且基本的区分”，汉密尔顿认为没有理由改变这一点。相反，汉密尔顿希望将富裕美国人或“有钱人”的经济利益与联邦政府的财政健康联系起来。如果富人需要政府，那么他们就会将精力集中在确保政府保持偿付能力上。

Hamilton, therefore, believed that the federal government must be “a Repository of the Rights of the wealthy.” As the nation’s first secretary of the treasury, he proposed an ambitious financial plan to achieve just that.

因此，汉密尔顿认为，联邦政府必须成为“富人权利的仓库”。作为美国第一任财政部长，他提出了一个雄心勃勃的财务计划，旨在实现这一目标。

The first part of Hamilton’s plan involved federal “assumption” of state debts, which were mostly left over from the Revolutionary War. The federal government would assume responsibility for the states’ unpaid debts, which totaled about $25 million. Second, Hamilton wanted Congress to create a bank—a Bank of the United States.

汉密尔顿计划的第一部分涉及联邦政府“承担”各州的债务，这些债务大多是从美国独立战争中遗留下来的。联邦政府将承担各州未偿还的债务，总额约为2500万美元。其次，汉密尔顿希望国会创建一家银行——即美国银行。

The goal of these proposals was to link federal power and the country’s economic vitality. Under the assumption proposal, the states’ creditors (people who owned state bonds or promissory notes) would turn their old notes in to the treasury and receive new federal notes of the same face value. Hamilton foresaw that these bonds would circulate like money, acting as “an engine of business, and instrument of industry and commerce.” This part of his plan, however, was controversial for two reasons.

这些提案的目标是将联邦权力与国家的经济活力联系起来。在债务承担提案下，各州的债权人（拥有州债券或借款单据的人）将把旧债券交给财政部，换取面值相同的新联邦债券。汉密尔顿预见到，这些债券将像货币一样流通，成为“商业的引擎，工业和贸易的工具”。然而，他计划的这一部分存在争议，原因有两个。

First, many taxpayers objected to paying the full face value on old notes, which had fallen in market value. Often the current holders had purchased them from the original creditors for pennies on the dollar. To pay them at full face value, therefore, would mean rewarding speculators at taxpayer expense. Hamilton countered that government debts must be honored in full, or else citizens would lose all trust in the government. Second, many southerners objected that they had already paid their outstanding state debts, so federal assumption would mean forcing them to pay again for the debts of New Englanders. Nevertheless, President Washington and Congress both accepted Hamilton’s argument. By the end of 1794, 98 percent of the country’s domestic debt had been converted into new federal bonds.

首先，许多纳税人反对按旧债券的面值全额支付，因为这些债券的市场价值已经下降。许多现有持有者以极低的价格从原债权人手中购买了这些债券。因此，按面值全额支付将意味着用纳税人的钱奖励投机者。汉密尔顿反驳说，政府的债务必须全额偿还，否则公民将失去对政府的信任。其次，许多南方人反对，因为他们已经偿还了各自州的未偿债务，因此联邦政府承担债务将意味着迫使他们再次为新英格兰的债务买单。然而，华盛顿总统和国会都接受了汉密尔顿的论点。到1794年底，国家98%的国内债务已被转化为新的联邦债券。

Hamilton’s plan for a Bank of the United States, similarly, won congressional approval despite strong opposition. Thomas Jefferson and other Republicans argued that the plan was unconstitutional; the Constitution did not authorize Congress to create a bank. Hamilton, however, argued that the bank was not only constitutional but also important for the country’s prosperity. The Bank of the United States would fulfill several needs. It would act as a convenient depository for federal funds. It would print paper banknotes backed by specie (gold or silver). Its agents would also help control inflation by periodically taking state bank notes to their banks of origin and demanding specie in exchange, limiting the amount of notes the state banks printed. Furthermore, it would give wealthy people a vested interest in the federal government’s finances. The government would control just 20 percent of the bank’s stock; the other eighty percent would be owned by private investors. Thus, an “intimate connexion” between the government and wealthy men would benefit both, and this connection would promote American commerce.

汉密尔顿的美国银行计划同样获得了国会的批准，尽管遭遇了强烈反对。托马斯·杰斐逊和其他共和党人认为该计划违宪；宪法并未授权国会创建银行。然而，汉密尔顿辩称，银行不仅合宪，而且对国家的繁荣至关重要。美国银行将满足多个需求。它将作为联邦资金的便捷存放地，发行由贵金属（黄金或白银）支持的纸币。银行的代理人还将通过定期将各州银行的纸币带回原银行，并要求以贵金属兑换，从而帮助控制通货膨胀，限制州银行发行纸币的数量。此外，银行将使富人对联邦政府的财政产生直接利益。政府只会控制银行20%的股份；剩余的80%将由私人投资者持有。因此，政府与富裕阶层之间的“亲密联系”将使双方受益，并促进美国商业的发展。

In 1791, therefore, Congress approved a twenty-year charter for the Bank of the United States. The bank’s stocks, together with federal bonds, created over $70 million in new financial instruments. These spurred the formation of securities markets, which allowed the federal government to borrow more money and underwrote the rapid spread of state-charted banks and other private business corporations in the 1790s. For Federalists, this was one of the major purposes of the federal government. For opponents who wanted a more limited role for industry, however, or who lived on the frontier and lacked access to capital, Hamilton’s system seemed to reinforce class boundaries and give the rich inordinate power over the federal government.

因此，1791年，国会批准了美国银行的二十年特许经营权。该银行的股票以及联邦债券一同创造了超过7000万美元的新金融工具。这些金融工具促进了证券市场的形成，使联邦政府能够借更多的钱，并支持了1790年代州立银行和其他私人商业公司的迅速扩展。对联邦党人而言，这是联邦政府的主要目的之一。然而，对于那些希望行业角色更加有限的人，或者生活在边远地区且缺乏资本的人来说，汉密尔顿的系统似乎加剧了阶级界限，并赋予了富人对联邦政府的过度权力。

Hamilton’s plan, furthermore, had another highly controversial element. In order to pay what it owed on the new bonds, the federal government needed reliable sources of tax revenue. In 1791, Hamilton proposed a federal excise tax on the production, sale, and consumption of a number of goods, including whiskey.

此外，汉密尔顿的计划还包含了另一个备受争议的元素。为了支付新债券的利息，联邦政府需要可靠的税收来源。1791年，汉密尔顿提议对多种商品的生产、销售和消费征收联邦消费税，包括威士忌。

VII. The Whiskey Rebellion and Jay’s Treaty

七、威士忌暴乱和杰伊条约

Grain was the most valuable cash crop for many American farmers. In the West, selling grain to a local distillery for alcohol production was typically more profitable than shipping it over the Appalachians to eastern markets. Hamilton’s whiskey tax thus placed a special burden on western farmers. It seemed to divide the young republic in half—geographically between the East and West, economically between merchants and farmers, and culturally between cities and the countryside.

谷物是许多美国农民最有价值的商品作物。在西部，将谷物卖给当地的酿酒厂用于生产酒精，通常比将其运到东部市场更有利润。因此，汉密尔顿的威士忌税特别给西部农民带来了负担。这似乎把年轻的共和国分为两半——在地理上是东西分隔，在经济上是商人和农民之间的分歧，在文化上是城市和乡村之间的对立。

In the fall of 1791, sixteen men in western Pennsylvania, disguised in women’s clothes, assaulted a tax collector named Robert Johnson. They tarred and feathered him, and the local deputy marshals seeking justice met similar fates. They were robbed and beaten, whipped and flogged, tarred and feathered, and tied up and left for dead. The rebel farmers also adopted other protest methods from the Revolution and Shays’s Rebellion, writing local petitions and erecting liberty poles. For the next two years, tax collections in the region dwindled.

1791年秋天，宾夕法尼亚西部的十六名男子穿上女装，袭击了一位名叫罗伯特·约翰逊的税务员。他们将他涂上焦油并撒上羽毛，前来追捕的当地副治安官也遭遇了类似的命运。他们被抢劫、殴打、鞭打、涂上焦油和羽毛，并被绑起来抛弃在路边。当时的反叛农民还采用了许多来自革命和谢伊斯叛乱时期的抗议方式，比如写地方请愿书和竖立自由标杆。在接下来的两年里，该地区的税收几乎没有收到。

Then, in July 1794, groups of armed farmers attacked federal marshals and tax collectors, burning down at least two tax collectors’ homes. At the end of the month, an armed force of about seven thousand, led by the radical attorney David Bradford, robbed the U.S. mail and gathered about eight miles east of Pittsburgh. President Washington responded quickly.

1794年7月，武装农民团体袭击了联邦治安官和税务员，至少烧毁了两处税务员的住所。月底时，大约七千名由激进律师大卫·布拉德福德（David Bradford）领导的武装分子抢劫了美国邮政，并在匹兹堡以东约八英里的地方集结。总统华盛顿迅速作出回应。

First, Washington dispatched a committee of three distinguished Pennsylvanians to meet with the rebels and try to bring about a peaceful resolution. Meanwhile, he gathered an army of thirteen thousand militiamen in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. On September 19, Washington became the only sitting president to lead troops in the field, though he quickly turned over the army to the command of Henry Lee, a Revolutionary hero and the current governor of Virginia.

首先，华盛顿派遣了三名杰出的宾夕法尼亚州人组成的委员会，与叛乱分子会面，试图促成和平解决。同时，他在宾夕法尼亚州的卡莱尔集结了约一万三千名民兵。9月19日，华盛顿成为唯一一位亲自带领军队出征的在任总统，尽管他很快将军队指挥权交给了亨利·李（Henry Lee），一位革命英雄和当时的弗吉尼亚州州长。

As the federal army moved westward, the farmers scattered. Hoping to make a dramatic display of federal authority, Alexander Hamilton oversaw the arrest and trial of a number of rebels. Many were released because of a lack of evidence, and most of those who remained, including two men sentenced to death for treason, were soon pardoned by the president. The Whiskey Rebellion had shown that the federal government was capable of quelling internal unrest. But it also demonstrated that some citizens, especially poor westerners, viewed it as their enemy.

随着联邦军队向西推进，农民们四散逃散。为了展示联邦政府的权威，亚历山大·汉密尔顿监督了若干叛乱分子的逮捕和审判。由于证据不足，许多人被释放，剩下的部分人，包括两名因叛国罪被判处死刑的男子，很快被总统赦免。威士忌叛乱显示出联邦政府有能力平息内部骚乱，但它也表明一些公民，尤其是贫困的西部农民，将联邦政府视为敌人。

Around the same time, another national issue also aroused fierce protest. Along with his vision of a strong financial system, Hamilton also had a vision of a nation busily engaged in foreign trade. In his mind, that meant pursuing a friendly relationship with one nation in particular: Great Britain.

在同一时期，另一个国家问题也引起了激烈的抗议。与他对强大金融体系的设想相结合，汉密尔顿还有一个关于国家积极参与对外贸易的愿景。在他看来，这意味着与一个特定国家建立友好关系：英国。

America’s relationship with Britain since the end of the Revolution had been tense, partly because of warfare between the British and French. Their naval war threatened American shipping, and the impressment of men into Britain’s navy terrorized American sailors. American trade could be risky and expensive, and impressment threatened seafaring families. Nevertheless, President Washington was conscious of American weakness and was determined not to take sides. In April 1793, he officially declared that the United States would remain neutral. With his blessing, Hamilton’s political ally John Jay, who was currently serving as chief justice of the Supreme Court, sailed to London to negotiate a treaty that would satisfy both Britain and the United States.

自革命结束以来，美国与英国的关系一直紧张，部分原因是英国和法国之间的战争。这场海战威胁到美国的航运，而英国强迫美国船员服役的做法则使美国水手深感恐惧。美国的贸易可能充满风险且费用昂贵，而强制征兵则威胁到海上家庭。尽管如此，华盛顿总统意识到美国的弱势，并决心保持中立。1793年4月，他正式宣布美国将保持中立。在他的支持下，汉密尔顿的政治盟友、当时担任最高法院首席法官的约翰·杰伊，前往伦敦谈判一项既能让英国也能满足美国的条约。

Jefferson and Madison strongly opposed these negotiations. They mistrusted Britain and saw the treaty as the American state favoring Britain over France. The French had recently overthrown their own monarchy, and Republicans thought the United States should be glad to have the friendship of a new revolutionary state. They also suspected that a treaty with Britain would favor northern merchants and manufacturers over the agricultural South.

杰斐逊和麦迪逊强烈反对这些谈判。他们不信任英国，并认为该条约表明美国政府偏袒英国而非法国。法国最近推翻了自己的君主制，而共和党人认为美国应当庆幸能与一个新的革命国家建立友谊。他们还怀疑与英国签订的条约将有利于北方的商人和制造商，而不是以农业为主的南方。

In November 1794, despite their misgivings, John Jay signed a “treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation” with the British. Jay’s Treaty, as it was commonly called, required Britain to abandon its military positions in the Northwest Territory (especially Fort Detroit, Fort Mackinac, and Fort Niagara) by 1796. Britain also agreed to compensate American merchants for their losses. The United States, in return, agreed to treat Britain as its most prized trade partner, which meant tacitly supporting Britain in its current conflict with France. Unfortunately, Jay had failed to secure an end to impressment.

尽管心存疑虑，约翰·杰伊在1794年11月与英国签署了一份《友好、商业和航海条约》。这份被普遍称为《杰伊条约》的协议要求英国在1796年前撤离其在西北领土的军事驻地（特别是底特律堡、麦基诺堡和尼亚加拉堡）。英国还同意赔偿美国商人因战争所遭受的损失。作为回报，美国同意将英国视为最重要的贸易伙伴，这意味着默许支持英国与法国的当前冲突。不幸的是，杰伊未能确保结束强迫征募（impressment）的做法。

For Federalists, this treaty was a significant accomplishment. Jay’s Treaty gave the United States, a relatively weak power, the ability to stay officially neutral in European wars, and it preserved American prosperity by protecting trade. For Jefferson’s Republicans, however, the treaty was proof of Federalist treachery. The Federalists had sided with a monarchy against a republic, and they had submitted to British influence in American affairs without even ending impressment. In Congress, debate over the treaty transformed the Federalists and Republicans from temporary factions into two distinct (though still loosely organized) political parties.

对联邦党人来说，这份条约是一个重要的成就。《杰伊条约》使得美国这个相对较弱的国家能够在欧洲战争中保持正式中立，并通过保护贸易来维持美国的繁荣。然而，对杰斐逊的共和党人来说，这份条约证明了联邦党人的背叛。联邦党人站在了君主制的一方，反对共和国，他们在没有解决强迫征募问题的情况下，屈服于英国对美国事务的影响。在国会中，关于这份条约的辩论使得联邦党人和共和党人从临时性派系转变为两个独立的（尽管仍松散组织的）政党。

VIII. The French Revolution and the Limits of Liberty

八、法国大革命与自由的界限

In part, the Federalists were turning toward Britain because they feared the most radical forms of democratic thought. In the wake of Shays’s Rebellion, the Whiskey Rebellion, and other internal protests, Federalists sought to preserve social stability. The course of the French Revolution seemed to justify their concerns.

部分原因是，联邦党人之所以转向英国，是因为他们害怕最激进的民主思想。继谢伊斯叛乱、威士忌叛乱和其他国内抗议事件之后，联邦党人试图维持社会稳定。法国大革命的进程似乎证明了他们的担忧。

In 1789, news had arrived in America that the French had revolted against their king. Most Americans imagined that liberty was spreading from America to Europe, carried there by the returning French heroes who had taken part in the American Revolution.

1789年，美国传来消息称法国人民起义反抗国王。大多数美国人认为，自由从美国传播到欧洲，带来了那些曾参与美国革命的法国英雄们。

Initially, nearly all Americans had praised the French Revolution. Towns all over the country hosted speeches and parades on July 14 to commemorate the day it began. Women had worn neoclassical dress to honor republican principles, and men had pinned revolutionary cockades to their hats. John Randolph, a Virginia planter, named two of his favorite horses Jacobin and Sans-Culotte after French revolutionary factions.

最初几乎所有的美国人都称赞法国大革命。全国各地的城镇在7月14日举行演讲和游行活动，以纪念革命的爆发。妇女们穿上新古典风格的服装，以表达对共和原则的敬意，男人们则在帽子上别上革命徽章。弗吉尼亚种植园主约翰·兰道夫将他最喜欢的两匹马分别命名为“雅各宾派”和“无裤党”，这些名字源自法国革命的派别。

In April 1793, a new French ambassador, “Citizen” Edmond-Charles Genêt, arrived in the United States. During his tour of several cities, Americans greeted him with wild enthusiasm. Citizen Genêt encouraged Americans to act against Spain, a British ally, by attacking its colonies of Florida and Louisiana. When President Washington refused, Genêt threatened to appeal to the American people directly. In response, Washington demanded that France recall its diplomat. In the meantime, however, Genêt’s faction had fallen from power in France. Knowing that a return home might cost him his head, he decided to remain in America.

1793年4月，新的法国大使“公民”埃德蒙·查尔斯·热内抵达美国。在他访问多个城市期间，美国人以热烈的热情迎接他。热内鼓励美国人对西班牙发动攻击，西班牙是英国的盟友，热内提议袭击西班牙的佛罗里达和路易斯安那殖民地。当总统华盛顿拒绝时，热内威胁要直接向美国人民呼吁。作为回应，华盛顿要求法国召回其外交官。然而，在此期间，热内在法国的派系已失去权力。知道如果回国可能会丧命，他决定留在美国。

Genêt’s intuition was correct. A radical coalition of revolutionaries had seized power in France. They initiated a bloody purge of their enemies, the Reign of Terror. As Americans learned about Genêt’s impropriety and the mounting body count in France, many began to have second thoughts about the French Revolution.

热内的直觉是正确的。一个激进的革命者联盟在法国夺取了政权。他们开始了对敌人的血腥清洗——恐怖统治。随着美国人了解到热内的不当行为以及法国越来越多的死亡人数，许多人开始重新思考法国革命。

Americans who feared that the French Revolution was spiraling out of control tended to become Federalists. Those who remained hopeful about the revolution tended to become Republicans. Not deterred by the violence, Thomas Jefferson declared that he would rather see “half the earth desolated” than see the French Revolution fail. “Were there but an Adam and an Eve left in every country, and left free,” he wrote, “it would be better than as it now is.” Meanwhile, the Federalists sought closer ties with Britain.

那些担心法国革命失控的美国人倾向于成为联邦党人。那些依然对革命抱有希望的人则倾向于成为共和党人。托马斯·杰斐逊毫不畏惧暴力，他宣称他宁愿看到“半个地球被摧毁”，也不愿看到法国革命失败。他写道：“如果每个国家只剩下亚当和夏娃，并且自由地生活，那将比现在的情况要好。”与此同时，联邦党人则寻求与英国建立更紧密的关系。

Despite the political rancor, in late 1796 there came one sign of hope: the United States peacefully elected a new president. For now, as Washington stepped down and executive power changed hands, the country did not descend into the anarchy that many leaders feared.

尽管政治对立激烈，但在1796年底，出现了一个希望的迹象：美国和平地选举出了新总统。此时，随着华盛顿卸任，行政权力顺利交接，国家没有如许多领导人担心的那样陷入无政府状态。

The new president was John Adams, Washington’s vice president. Adams was less beloved than the old general, and he governed a deeply divided nation. The foreign crisis also presented him with a major test.

新总统是约翰·亚当斯，华盛顿的副总统。与那位老将军相比，亚当斯并不那么受人爱戴，而他所治理的国家则深陷分裂。外交危机也为他带来了巨大的考验。

In response to Jay’s Treaty, the French government authorized its vessels to attack American shipping. To resolve this, President Adams sent envoys to France in 1797. The French insulted these diplomats. Some officials, whom the Americans code-named X, Y, and Z in their correspondence, hinted that negotiations could begin only after the Americans offered a bribe. When the story became public, this XYZ Affair infuriated American citizens. Dozens of towns wrote addresses to President Adams, pledging him their support against France. Many people seemed eager for war. “Millions for defense,” toasted South Carolina representative Robert Goodloe Harper, “but not one cent for tribute.”

为了回应《杰伊条约》，法国政府授权其舰船攻击美国商船。为了解决这一问题，亚当斯总统于1797年派遣了外交使节前往法国。法国侮辱了这些外交官。一些官员在与美国的通信中被代号为X、Y和Z，他们暗示，只有在美国人提供贿赂之后，谈判才可能开始。当这一事件曝光后，XYZ事件激怒了美国公民。许多城镇纷纷向亚当斯总统表示支持，誓言支持他对抗法国。许多人似乎渴望战争。南卡罗来纳州代表罗伯特·古德洛·哈珀（Robert Goodloe Harper）举杯说道：“为防卫而百万军费，但对贿赂一分钱也不出。”

By 1798, the people of Charleston watched the ocean’s horizon apprehensively because they feared the arrival of the French navy at any moment. Many people now worried that the same ships that had aided Americans during the Revolutionary War might discharge an invasion force on their shores. Some southerners were sure that this force would consist of Black troops from France’s Caribbean colonies, who would attack the southern states and cause their enslaved laborers to revolt. Many Americans also worried that France had covert agents in the country. In the streets of Charleston, armed bands of young men searched for French disorganizers. Even the little children prepared for the looming conflict by fighting with sticks.

到1798年，查尔斯顿的居民焦虑地看着海平线，因为他们担心法国海军随时可能到来。许多人现在担心，那些曾在美国独立战争中帮助过美国的舰船，可能会在他们的海岸上发动入侵。一些南方人确信，这支入侵力量将由来自法国加勒比海殖民地的黑人军队组成，他们将袭击南方各州并引发奴隶起义。许多美国人还担心法国在美国境内有秘密特工。在查尔斯顿的街头，武装的年轻人群体在寻找法国的破坏分子。甚至连小孩子们也准备好迎接即将到来的冲突，手持棍棒进行斗争。

Meanwhile, during the crisis, New Englanders were some of the most outspoken opponents of France. In 1798, they found a new reason for Francophobia. An influential Massachusetts minister, Jedidiah Morse, announced to his congregation that the French Revolution had been hatched in a conspiracy led by a mysterious anti-Christian organization called the Illuminati. The story was a hoax, but rumors of Illuminati infiltration spread throughout New England like wildfire, adding a new dimension to the foreign threat.

与此同时，在这场危机中，新英格兰人是最直言不讳反对法国的人之一。1798年，他们找到了一个新的法国外敌理由。马萨诸塞州一位有影响力的牧师杰迪迪亚·莫尔斯（Jedidiah Morse）向他的会众宣布，法国革命是由一个神秘的反基督教组织——光明会（Illuminati）策划的。这个故事是个骗局，但有关光明会渗透的谣言在新英格兰地区如野火般传播，为外部威胁增添了新的层面。

Against this backdrop of fear, the French Quasi-War, as it would come to be known, was fought on the Atlantic, mostly between French naval vessels and American merchant ships. During this crisis, however, anxiety about foreign agents ran high, and members of Congress took action to prevent internal subversion. The most controversial of these steps were the Alien and Sedition Acts. These two laws, passed in 1798, were intended to prevent French agents and sympathizers from compromising America’s resistance, but they also attacked Americans who criticized the president and the Federalist Party.

在这种恐惧的背景下，法美准战争（French Quasi-War）爆发了，主要发生在大西洋上，法国海军与美国商船之间交战。然而，在这场危机中，对外国特工的焦虑情绪高涨，国会成员采取了行动，防止国内的颠覆行为。最具争议的措施是《外侨法》和《煽动法》。这两项法律于1798年通过，旨在防止法国特工和支持者妥协美国的抵抗，但它们也打压了批评总统和联邦党的人们。

The Alien Act allowed the federal government to deport foreign nationals, or “aliens,” who seemed to pose a national security threat. Even more dramatically, the Sedition Act allowed the government to prosecute anyone found to be speaking or publishing “false, scandalous, and malicious writing” against the government.

《外侨法》允许联邦政府驱逐那些看起来对国家安全构成威胁的外国国民，或称“外侨”。更为戏剧性的是，《煽动法》允许政府起诉那些被发现发表或出版“虚假、丑闻性和恶意的言论”来反对政府的人。

These laws were not simply brought on by war hysteria. They reflected common assumptions about the nature of the American Revolution and the limits of liberty. In fact, most of the advocates for the Constitution and the First Amendment accepted that free speech simply meant a lack of prior censorship or restraint, not a guarantee against punishment. According to this logic, “licentious” or unruly speech made society less free, not more. James Wilson, one of the principal architects of the Constitution, argued that “every author is responsible when he attacks the security or welfare of the government.”

这些法律并不仅仅是由于战争的歇斯底里情绪而颁布的。它们反映了对美国革命本质和自由界限的普遍假设。事实上，大多数支持宪法和《第一修正案》的倡导者都接受了这样的观点：言论自由仅意味着没有事先的审查或限制，而不是对惩罚的保障。根据这一逻辑，“放纵”或不羁的言论使社会变得不自由，而不是更加自由。宪法的主要设计者之一詹姆斯·威尔逊（James Wilson）认为，“每个作者在攻击政府的安全或福利时，都应该负责。”

In 1798, most Federalists were inclined to agree. Under the terms of the Sedition Act, they indicted and prosecuted several Republican printers—and even a Republican congressman who had criticized President Adams. Meanwhile, although the Adams administration never enforced the Alien Act, its passage was enough to convince some foreign nationals to leave the country. For the president and most other Federalists, the Alien and Sedition Acts represented a continuation of a conservative rather than radical American Revolution.

1798年，大多数联邦党人倾向于同意这一观点。在《煽动法》的条款下，他们起诉并起诉了几名共和党印刷商——甚至一名批评总统亚当斯的共和党国会议员。同时，尽管亚当斯政府从未执行《外侨法》，其通过本身足以说服一些外籍人士离开美国。对于总统和大多数其他联邦党人来说，《外侨法》和《煽动法》代表着一种保守而非激进的美国革命的延续。

However, the Alien and Sedition Acts caused a backlash in two ways. First, shocked opponents articulated a new and expansive vision for liberty. The New York lawyer Tunis Wortman, for example, demanded an “absolute independence” of the press. Likewise, the Virginia judge George Hay called for “any publication whatever criminal” to be exempt from legal punishment. Many Americans began to argue that free speech meant the ability to say virtually anything without fear of prosecution.

然而，《外侨法》和《煽动法》引发了两种反弹。首先，震惊的反对者提出了一个全新而广泛的自由观念。例如，纽约律师图尼斯·沃特曼（Tunis Wortman）要求实现“绝对的新闻自由”。同样，弗吉尼亚州法官乔治·海（George Hay）呼吁“任何出版物不应因刑事罪行而受到法律惩罚”。许多美国人开始认为言论自由意味着能够几乎毫无顾虑地说出任何话，而不必担心被起诉。

Second, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson helped organize opposition from state governments. Ironically, both of them had expressed support for the principle behind the Sedition Act in previous years. Jefferson, for example, had written to Madison in 1789 that the nation should punish citizens for speaking “false facts” that injured the country. Nevertheless, both men now opposed the Alien and Sedition Acts on constitutional grounds. In 1798, Jefferson made this point in a resolution adopted by the Kentucky state legislature. A short time later, the Virginia legislature adopted a similar document written by Madison.

其次，詹姆斯·麦迪逊（James Madison）和托马斯·杰斐逊（Thomas Jefferson）帮助组织了来自州政府的反对。具有讽刺意味的是，他们两人在此前几年曾支持《煽动法》的原则。例如，杰斐逊曾在1789年写信给麦迪逊，表示国家应惩罚那些说出“虚假事实”并伤害国家的公民。然而，二人现在基于宪法理由反对《外侨法》和《煽动法》。1798年，杰斐逊通过肯塔基州立法机构通过了一项决议，提出这一观点。不久后，弗吉尼亚州立法机构通过了麦迪逊起草的类似文件。

The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions argued that the national government’s authority was limited to the powers expressly granted by the U.S. Constitution. More importantly, they asserted that the states could declare federal laws unconstitutional. For the time being, these resolutions were simply gestures of defiance. Their bold claim, however, would have important effects in later decades.

《肯塔基州和弗吉尼亚州决议》主张，联邦政府的权力仅限于美国宪法明确授予的权力。更重要的是，它们断言各州可以宣布联邦法律违宪。暂时来说，这些决议仅仅是抗议的姿态。然而，它们大胆的主张将在后来的几十年中产生重要影响。

In just a few years, many Americans’ feelings toward France had changed dramatically. Far from rejoicing in the “light of freedom,” many Americans now feared the “contagion” of French-style liberty. Debates over the French Revolution in the 1790s gave Americans some of their earliest opportunities to articulate what it meant to be American. Did American national character rest on a radical and universal vision of human liberty? Or was America supposed to be essentially pious and traditional, an outgrowth of Great Britain? They couldn’t agree. It was on this cracked foundation that many conflicts of the nineteenth century would rest.

在短短几年间，许多美国人对法国的情感发生了剧变。远不是像最初那样庆祝“自由的光辉”，现在许多美国人开始害怕法国式自由的“传染”。1790年代关于法国大革命的辩论给了美国人一些最早的机会来阐明什么是美国身份。美国的民族特性是基于一个激进且普遍的人类自由的愿景吗？还是美国应该本质上是虔诚和传统的，是英国的延伸？他们无法达成一致。正是在这个脆弱的基础上，十九世纪的许多冲突将开始。

IX. Religious Freedom

九、宗教自由

One reason the debates over the French Revolution became so heated was that Americans were unsure about their own religious future. The Illuminati scare of 1798 was just one manifestation of this fear. Across the United States, a slow but profound shift in attitudes toward religion and government began.

关于法国大革命的辩论之所以变得如此激烈，部分原因是美国人对自己宗教未来的不确定性。1798年的光照会恐慌只是这种恐惧的一种表现。在美国各地，宗教与政府关系的态度开始发生缓慢但深刻的转变。

In 1776, none of the American state governments observed the separation of church and state. On the contrary, all thirteen states either had established, official, and tax-supported state churches, or at least required their officeholders to profess a certain faith. Most officials believed this was necessary to protect morality and social order. Over the next six decades, however, that changed. In 1833, the final state, Massachusetts, stopped supporting an official religious denomination. Historians call that gradual process disestablishment.

1776年，美国所有州政府都没有实行政教分离。相反，所有13个州都或多或少地建立了官方的国教，或者至少要求公职人员必须信奉某种宗教信仰。大多数官员认为，这样做有助于维护道德和社会秩序。然而，在接下来的六十年里，这种状况发生了变化。到1833年，最后一个州——马萨诸塞州——也停止了对官方宗教派别的支持。历史学家将这一渐进过程称为“政教分离”。

In many states, the process of disestablishment had started before the creation of the Constitution. South Carolina, for example, had been nominally Anglican before the Revolution, but it had dropped denominational restrictions in its 1778 constitution. Instead, it now allowed any church consisting of at least fifteen adult males to become “incorporated,” or recognized for tax purposes as a state-supported church. Churches needed only to agree to a set of basic Christian theological tenets, which were vague enough that most denominations could support them.

在许多州，政教分离的进程在宪法制定之前就已开始。例如，南卡罗来纳州在革命前名义上是英国国教（圣公会）信徒，但在1778年通过的州宪法中，已经取消了对宗派的限制。该州现在允许任何由至少十五名成年男性组成的教会成为“法人团体”，即被视为获得州政府支持的宗教机构。这些教会只需同意一套基本的基督教神学原则，这些原则足够模糊，以至于大多数宗派都能接受。

South Carolina tried to balance religious freedom with the religious practice that was supposed to be necessary for social order. Officeholders were still expected to be Christians; their oaths were witnessed by God, they were compelled by their religious beliefs to tell the truth, and they were called to live according to the Bible. This list of minimal requirements came to define acceptable Christianity in many states. As new Christian denominations proliferated between 1780 and 1840, however, more and more Christians fell outside this definition.

南卡罗来纳州试图在宗教自由和被认为对社会秩序至关重要的宗教实践之间找到平衡。官员仍然被要求是基督徒；他们的誓言要以上帝为见证，他们受到宗教信仰的约束，必须讲真话，并且被召唤按照《圣经》生活。这些最低限度的要求成为许多州对基督教的接受标准。然而，随着1780年到1840年间新基督教教派的激增，越来越多的基督徒不再符合这一标准。

South Carolina continued its general establishment law until 1790, when a constitutional revision removed the establishment clause and religious restrictions on officeholders. Many other states, though, continued to support an established church well into the nineteenth century. The federal Constitution did not prevent this. The religious freedom clause in the Bill of Rights, during these decades, limited the federal government but not state governments. It was not until 1833 that a state supreme court decision ended Massachusetts’s support for the Congregational Church.

南卡罗来纳州直到1790年才废除了其宗教设立法，当时宪法修正案删除了宗教设立条款以及对官员的宗教限制。然而，许多其他州直到十九世纪仍继续支持国教。联邦宪法并未阻止这一做法。在这些年里，《权利法案》中的宗教自由条款只对联邦政府起作用，并未限制州政府的权力。直到1833年，马萨诸塞州最高法院的一项裁决才结束了该州对公理宗教的支持。

Many political leaders, including Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, favored disestablishment because they saw the relationship between church and state as a tool of oppression. Jefferson proposed a Statute for Religious Freedom in the Virginia state assembly in 1779, but his bill failed in the overwhelmingly Anglican legislature. Madison proposed it again in 1785, and it defeated a rival bill that would have given equal revenue to all Protestant churches. Instead Virginia would not use public money to support religion. “The Religion then of every man,” Jefferson wrote, “must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate.”

许多政治领导人，包括托马斯·杰斐逊和詹姆斯·麦迪逊，支持宗教脱离国家的理念，因为他们认为教会与国家的关系是压迫的工具。杰斐逊在1779年向维吉尼亚州议会提出了一项《宗教自由法案》，但他的提案在以圣公会为主的立法机构中未能通过。麦迪逊在1785年再次提出这项法案，并击败了一项竞争性提案，后者将所有新教教会的收入平等分配。最终，维吉尼亚州决定不使用公共资金来支持宗教。杰斐逊写道：“每个人的宗教信仰，必须交由每个人的信念和良知来决定；每个人都有权根据这些信念和良知来实践自己的宗教。”

At the federal level, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 easily agreed that the national government should not have an official religion. This principle was upheld in 1791 when the First Amendment was ratified, with its guarantee of religious liberty. The limits of federal disestablishment, however, required discussion. The federal government, for example, supported Native American missionaries and congressional chaplains. Well into the nineteenth century, debate raged over whether the postal service should operate on Sundays, and whether non-Christians could act as witnesses in federal courts. Americans continued to struggle to understand what it meant for Congress not to “establish” a religion.

在联邦层面，1787年制宪会议的代表们轻松达成一致，认为联邦政府不应设立官方宗教。这个原则在1791年随着《第一修正案》的通过得到了确立，该修正案保障了宗教自由。然而，联邦脱离教会的界限仍然需要讨论。例如，联邦政府支持美洲原住民的传教士和国会牧师。直到19世纪，关于邮政服务是否应在星期天运作，以及非基督徒是否可以在联邦法院担任证人等问题，依然存在激烈的争论。美国人继续努力理解“国会不得建立宗教”意味着什么。

X. The Election of 1800

十、1800年选举

Meanwhile, the Sedition and Alien Acts expired in 1800 and 1801. They had been relatively ineffective at suppressing dissent. On the contrary, they were much more important for the loud reactions they had inspired. They had helped many Americans decide what they didn’t want from their national government.

与此同时，煽动法和外侨法在1800年和1801年到期。这些法律在压制异见方面相对无效。相反，它们更为重要的是激起了强烈的反应。它们帮助许多美国人明确了他们不希望从国家政府中得到什么。

By 1800, therefore, President Adams had lost the confidence of many Americans. They had let him know it. In 1798, for instance, he had issued a national thanksgiving proclamation. Instead of enjoying a day of celebration and thankfulness, Adams and his family had been forced by rioters to flee the capital city of Philadelphia until the day was over. Conversely, his prickly independence had also put him at odds with Alexander Hamilton, the leader of his own party, who offered him little support. After four years in office, Adams found himself widely reviled.

到1800年，亚当斯总统已经失去了许多美国人的信任。美国人让他感受到了这一点。例如，在1798年，他曾发布过一次全国感恩节的宣言。但这一天并没有成为一个庆祝和感恩的日子，反而是亚当斯和他的家人被暴徒迫使逃离费城，直到那天结束。另一方面，他那种固执的独立性也使他与自己党的领导人亚历山大·汉密尔顿发生了冲突，汉密尔顿几乎没有给予他任何支持。四年总统任期过后，亚当斯发现自己被广泛憎恶。

In the election of 1800, therefore, the Republicans defeated Adams in a bitter and complicated presidential race. During the election, one Federalist newspaper article predicted that a Republican victory would fill America with “murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest.” A Republican newspaper, on the other hand, flung sexual slurs against President Adams, saying he had “neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.” Both sides predicted disaster and possibly war if the other should win.

因此，在1800年的选举中，共和党在一场激烈而复杂的总统竞选中击败了亚当斯。在选举期间，一篇联邦党报预测，如果共和党胜利，美国将充满“谋杀、抢劫、强奸、通奸和乱伦”。而共和党的报纸则对亚当斯总统进行性别侮辱，称他“既没有男人的力量和坚定，也没有女人的温柔和敏感”。双方都预测，如果对方获胜，将会带来灾难，甚至可能引发战争。

In the end, the contest came down to a tie between two Republicans, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia and Aaron Burr of New York, who each had seventy-three electoral votes. (Adams had sixty-five.) Burr was supposed to be a candidate for vice president, not president, but under the Constitution’s original rules, a tie-breaking vote had to take place in the House of Representatives. It was controlled by Federalists bitter at Jefferson. House members voted dozens of times without breaking the tie. On the thirty-sixth ballot, Thomas Jefferson emerged victorious.

最终，竞选结果成为了两位共和党人之间的平局，分别是来自弗吉尼亚的托马斯·杰斐逊和来自纽约的亚伦·伯尔，他们各获得了73张选举人票（亚当斯得到了65票）。伯尔原本应该是副总统候选人，而非总统候选人，但根据宪法的原始规定，必须由众议院进行平票决胜。众议院由对杰斐逊心怀不满的联邦党人控制。众议员们投了几十次票，但未能打破平局。直到第36轮投票，托马斯·杰斐逊才最终获胜。

Republicans believed they had saved the United States from grave danger. An assembly of Republicans in New York City called the election a “bloodless revolution.” They thought of their victory as a revolution in part because the Constitution (and eighteenth-century political theory) made no provision for political parties. The Republicans thought they were fighting to rescue the country from an aristocratic takeover, not just taking part in a normal constitutional process.

共和党人认为他们挽救了美国免于严重危险。纽约市的共和党人集会将这次选举称为一场“无血革命”。他们之所以将胜利视为革命，部分原因在于宪法（以及18世纪的政治理论）并未为政党设立条款。共和党人认为他们的斗争是为了拯救国家免于贵族阶层的接管，而不仅仅是参与一场正常的宪法程序。

In his first inaugural address, however, Thomas Jefferson offered an olive branch to the Federalists. He pledged to follow the will of the American majority, whom he believed were Republicans, but to respect the rights of the Federalist minority. His election set an important precedent. Adams accepted his electoral defeat and left the White House peacefully. “The revolution of 1800,” Jefferson wrote years later, did for American principles what the Revolution of 1776 had done for its structure. But this time, the revolution was accomplished not “by the sword” but “by the rational and peaceable instrument of reform, the suffrage of the people.” Four years later, when the Twelfth Amendment changed the rules for presidential elections to prevent future deadlocks, it was designed to accommodate the way political parties worked.

然而，在他的第一次就职演讲中，托马斯·杰斐逊向联邦党人伸出了橄榄枝。他承诺遵循美国多数民众的意愿，而他认为多数民众是共和党人，但同时也尊重联邦党少数派的权利。他的当选树立了一个重要的先例。亚当斯接受了自己的选举失败，平静地离开了白宫。“1800年的革命，”杰斐逊多年后写道，“为美国的原则做到了1776年革命为其体制所做的事。但这一次，革命不是‘通过剑’完成的，而是通过‘理性和平的改革工具，人民的选举权’。”四年后，第十二修正案改变了总统选举的规则，以防止未来再次发生僵局，它的设计是为了适应政党的运作方式。

Despite Adams’s and Jefferson’s attempts to tame party politics, though, the tension between federal power and the liberties of states and individuals would exist long into the nineteenth century. And while Jefferson’s administration attempted to decrease federal influence, Chief Justice John Marshall, an Adams appointee, worked to increase the authority of the Supreme Court. These competing agendas clashed most famously in the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison, which Marshall used to establish a major precedent.

尽管亚当斯和杰斐逊试图平息党派政治，但联邦政府权力与各州和个人自由之间的紧张关系仍将持续存在，直到十九世纪的很长时间。而尽管杰斐逊的政府试图减少联邦政府的影响力，最高法院首席法官约翰·马歇尔（亚当斯任命）却致力于增加最高法院的权威。这些相互对立的议程在1803年的马伯里诉麦迪逊案中发生了最著名的冲突，马歇尔利用此案确立了一个重要的司法先例。

The Marbury case seemed insignificant at first. The night before leaving office in early 1801, Adams had appointed several men to serve as justices of the peace in Washington, D.C. By making these “midnight appointments,” Adams had sought to put Federalists into vacant positions at the last minute. On taking office, however, Jefferson and his secretary of state, James Madison, had refused to deliver the federal commissions to the men Adams had appointed. Several of the appointees, including William Marbury, sued the government, and the case was argued before the Supreme Court.

马伯里案最初看似微不足道。1801年初，在离开总统职位前的最后一夜，亚当斯任命了几名男子担任华盛顿特区的和平法官。通过这些“午夜任命”，亚当斯试图在最后一刻将联邦党人安置到空缺职位上。然而，在杰斐逊上任后，他和他的国务卿詹姆斯·麦迪逊拒绝将亚当斯任命的联邦委员会交给这些被任命的人。几位被任命者，包括威廉·马伯里，起诉政府，此案最终提交最高法院审理。

Marshall used Marbury’s case to make a clever ruling. On the issue of the commissions, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Jefferson administration. But Chief Justice Marshall went further in his decision, ruling that the Supreme Court reserved the right to decide whether an act of Congress violated the Constitution. In other words, the court assumed the power of judicial review. This was a major (and lasting) blow to the Republican agenda, especially after 1810, when the Supreme Court extended judicial review to state laws. Jefferson was particularly frustrated by the decision, arguing that the power of judicial review “would make the Judiciary a despotic branch.”

马歇尔在马伯里案件中作出了巧妙的裁决。关于委员会的争议，最高法院裁定支持杰斐逊政府。但首席大法官马歇尔在判决中进一步明确，最高法院保留决定国会是否违反宪法的权力。换句话说，法院自此获得了司法审查权。这对共和党议程来说是一次重大（且持久的）打击，尤其是在1810年之后，最高法院将司法审查扩展至州法。杰斐逊对这一判决特别感到沮丧，认为司法审查权“将使司法部门成为一个专制的分支”。

XI. Conclusion

十一、结论

A grand debate over political power engulfed the young United States. The Constitution ensured that there would be a strong federal government capable of taxing, waging war, and making law, but it could never resolve the young nation’s many conflicting constituencies. The Whiskey Rebellion proved that the nation could stifle internal dissent but exposed a new threat to liberty. Hamilton’s banking system provided the nation with credit but also constrained frontier farmers. The Constitution’s guarantee of religious liberty conflicted with many popular prerogatives. Dissension only deepened, and as the 1790s progressed, Americans became bitterly divided over political parties and foreign war.

一场关于政治权力的激烈辩论席卷了年轻的美利坚合众国。宪法确保了一个强大的联邦政府，能够征税、宣战和制定法律，但它无法解决年轻国家中许多相互冲突的利益群体。威士忌叛乱证明了国家能够压制内部异议，但也暴露了自由的新威胁。汉密尔顿的银行系统为国家提供了信用，但也限制了边疆农民的自由。宪法对宗教自由的保障与许多民众的特权产生了冲突。分歧愈加加深，随着1790年代的推进，美国人对于政党和对外战争的看法变得愈加尖锐和对立。

During the ratification debates, Alexander Hamilton had written of the wonders of the Constitution. “A nation, without a national government,” he wrote, would be “an awful spectacle.” But, he added, “the establishment of a Constitution, in time of profound peace, by the voluntary consent of a whole people, is a prodigy,” a miracle that should be witnessed “with trembling anxiety.” Anti-Federalists had grave concerns about the Constitution, but even they could celebrate the idea of national unity. By 1795, even the staunchest critics would have grudgingly agreed with Hamilton’s convictions about the Constitution. Yet these same individuals could also take the cautions in Washington’s 1796 farewell address to heart. “There is an opinion,” Washington wrote, “that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty.” This, he conceded, was probably true, but in a republic, he said, the danger was not too little partisanship, but too much. “A fire not to be quenched,” Washington warned, “it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.”

在宪法批准的辩论中，亚历山大·汉密尔顿曾写到宪法的奇迹。“没有国家政府的国家，”他写道，“将是一个可怕的景象。”但他接着补充道：“在深度和平的时期，由全体人民自愿同意建立宪法，这是一个奇迹。”反联邦党人对宪法有着严重的担忧，但即便是他们也能庆祝国家统一的理念。到了1795年，即便是最坚决的批评者也不得不勉强同意汉密尔顿对宪法的信念。然而，这些人也同样会认真倾听华盛顿1796年告别演说中的警告。“有一种观点，”华盛顿写道，“认为自由国家中的政党是对政府行政的有用制衡，并有助于保持自由精神。”他承认，这种观点可能是对的，但他指出，在一个共和国中，危险不是政党斗争太少，而是太多。“一把无法扑灭的火，”华盛顿警告道，“它需要持续的警觉，以防其爆发成火焰，否则它不仅无法温暖，反而会吞噬一切。”

For every parade, thanksgiving proclamation, or grand procession honoring the unity of the nation, there was also some political controversy reminding American citizens of how fragile their union was. And as party differences and regional quarrels tested the federal government, the new nation increasingly explored the limits of its democracy.

每一次的游行、感恩节宣言或盛大庆典，旨在庆祝国家的统一，背后也总有一些政治争议提醒美国公民，他们的联邦体制是多么脆弱。随着政党分歧和地区争斗对联邦政府提出挑战，这个新兴的国家也越来越多地探索其民主制度的边界。