VOA慢速英语--民主对美国宪法的立法者意味着什么?

A Committee of Five, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston, worked together to write the U.S. Declaration of Independence. They are among the leaders known as America's Founding Fathers.

The Declaration of Independence states a list of wrongs done against the people of the newly formed states by Britain's king. They include the dismissal of "Representative Houses repeatedly" because they resisted the loss of "the rights of the people."

The Declaration also notes that any form of government gets its "powers from the consent of the governed."

"Democracy was a dirty world"

Some experts note, however, that the men who would go on to write and sign the U.S. Constitution were some of the richest people in America. They also say these same men were not fully¹ open to democratic ideas.

Andrew Wehrman is an associate professor of history at Central Michigan University. He says the leading Americans who wrote the Constitution did not think of the new country as a direct democracy.

"It was never meant to be a sort of direct democracy, where all Americans would get to cast a ballot² on all issues," he said. Instead, Wehrman believes that they thought the vote was for the wealthy and educated.

Wehrman also says the founders³ expected common people, the poor and uneducated, to take part indirectly⁴. This would be through their local government, at town halls and meetings, and through protest actions like boycotts⁵. They were very concerned about rule by a mob.

Wehrman said some of the founders "thought that democracy was a dirty word." Even John Adams, he notes, did not want poor people or women to vote.

Bruce Kuklick is a retired⁶ professor of American history at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He says the framers of the Constitution had a very different idea of democracy than Americans do today.

"The founders didn't want this sort of democracy at all. The Constitution is written so that citizenship⁷ rights are very, very limited," he said. "Because once you let everybody participate... You're likely to have people come to power who appeal to the frenzy⁸ of the masses."

Wehrman notes that the framers of the Constitution saw to it that only one part, or one branch, of the federal government, the House of Representatives, was elected by the people in a direct vote.

The Electoral College chooses the president. The presidents select the Supreme⁹ Court justices and, until the early 1900s, senators were selected by state legislatures. It was only after the ratification¹⁰ of the 17th Amendment¹¹ to the Constitution in 1913 that U.S. senators were afterwards elected by direct popular vote.

Wehrman says leaders like James Madison and Alexander Hamilton believed that state legislatures had gone too far and that too many people were voting in elections.

For example, New Jersey¹² gave the right to vote to people who lived in the state and met a property requirement. That included women and African Americans, who were able to vote from 1776 until 1807, when the state restricted voting rights to white men.

"They (the founders) thought that there were too many voices in the state legislatures...that they were beholden to the interests of the common man," Wehrman said.

What would the founders think about modern America?

So what would people like Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and the other framers of the Constitution think about America today?

"I think they would all be sort of delighted that the general framework that they created is still in action," Wehrman said.

They might even be open to change. After all, they included a process for amending¹³ the Constitution. They made changes in the early days of the Republic with the ratification in 1804 of the 12th Amendment. It established separate Electoral College votes for president and vice¹⁴ president. That change kept political adversaries¹⁵ of opposing parties from serving in the same administration as president and vice president.

But even with these facts, Kuklick believes, the Founding Fathers would be considered reactionaries¹⁶ today.

"[They] didn't want what came to be." He added that in the 1800s, America changed from having a limited group taking part in government to one that people "now completely accept as being the democratic way."

Democracy in action today might not be exactly what the founders expected. However, some experts say that money and power continue to play an important part in U.S. politics.

Words in This Story

consent –n. permission for something to happen or to be done

sort (of) —n. a certain kind of something

framers –n.(pl.) often used to describe the writers of U.S. Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution; literally¹⁷ people who build the structure, frame, of a house

frenzy – n. wild or uncontrolled activity

ratification –n. the process of making a major legal document official by signing or voting on it so it becomes law

beholden –adj. owing to a favor, gift or loyalty¹⁸ to someone or something

delighted –adj. pleased, happy with something

adversaries –n. (pl.) an enemy or opponent

reactionaries –n. a person who strongly opposes new political or social ideas

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

3 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

4 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

5 boycotts   

（对某事物的）抵制( boycott的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their methods included boycotts and court action, supplemented by'sit-ins". 他们的主要方法包括联合抵制、法庭起诉，还附带进行静坐抗议。
• Are boycotts for other purposes illegal? 至于用于其它目的的联合抵制行动是否也是非法的呢？

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

7 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

8 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

9 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

10 ratification   

n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
• The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。

11 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

12 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

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

13 amending   

改良，修改，修订( amend的现在分词 )； 改良，修改，修订( amend的第三人称单数 )( amends的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Amending acts in 1933,1934, and 1935 attempted to help honest debtors rehabilitate themselves. 一九三三年，一九三四年和一九三五年通过的修正案是为了帮助诚实的债务人恢复自己的地位。
• Two ways were used about the error-amending of contour curve. 采用两种方法对凸轮轮廓曲线进行了修正。

14 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

15 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

16 reactionaries   

n.反动分子，反动派( reactionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The reactionaries are fierce in appearance but feeble in reality. 反动派看起来很强大，实际上十分虚弱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We definitely do not apply a policy of benevolence to the reactionaries. 我们对反动派决不施仁政。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

18 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。