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VOA慢速英语2003年-British Relations

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Broadcast: May 9, 2003
By Nancy Steinbach

VOICE ONE:
This is Sarah Long.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Rich Kleinfeldt with the MAKING OF A NATION, A VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.
Today, we tell about relations between the American colonies and Britain after the French and Indian War about two-hundred-fifty years ago.
VOICE ONE:
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 rule North America.
The British defeated the French in North America in Seventeen-Sixty-Three. As a result, it 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 colonists2 from different groups of Indians.
This would cost a lot of money. Britain already had spent a lot of money 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.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
The colonists in 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 colonial3 legislatures1 as smaller -- but similar -- to the Parliament2 in Britain. These little parliaments had helped them 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.
VOICE ONE:
The situation had changed in England too. In Seventeen-Oh-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 decided4 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 should have this power of taxation5, too.
VOICE TWO:
The first English settlers in America considered themselves citizens of England. They had crossed a dangerous 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.
VOICE ONE:
The British, however, still believed that the purpose of a colony was to serve the mother country. The government treated colonists differently from citizens at home. It demanded special taxes from them. 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. The people asked, "From whom?"
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.
VOICE TWO:
The British government demanded that the colonists pay higher and higher taxes. One reason was that the British government wanted to show the colonists that it was in control. Another reason was that Britain was having money problems. Foreign wars had left it with big debts. The British thought the colonists should help pay some of these debts, especially those resulting from the French and Indian War.
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.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
In Seventeen-Sixty-Four, the British Parliament approved the Sugar Act. This legislation6 placed taxes on sugar, coffee, wines and other products imported to America in large amounts. It increased by two times 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 printing of paper money in the colonies.
The American colonists opposed all these new laws. Yet they could not agree about how to resist. Colonial assemblies3 approved protests against the laws, but the protest actions were all different and had no real effect. Business groups tried to organize boycotts4 of goods. But these were not very successful...until the British government approved another tax in Seventeen-Sixty-Five: a tax on stamps.
VOICE TWO:
The Stamp Act probably angered more American colonists than any earlier tax. It said 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 a 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.
History experts say the main reason the colonists were angry was because Britain had rejected the idea of 'no taxation without representation8'. Almost no colonist1 wanted to be independent of Britain at that time. Yet all of them valued their local self-rule and their rights as British citizens. They considered the Stamp Act to be the worst in a series of violations9 of these rights.
VOICE ONE:
The American colonists refused to obey the Stamp Act. They also refused to buy British goods. Almost one-thousand store owners signed non-importation agreements. This cost British businessmen so much money that they demanded that the government end the Stamp Act. Parliament finally cancelled the law in Seventeen-Sixty-Six. The colonists immediately ended their ban against British goods.
VOICE TWO:
The same day that Parliament cancelled the Stamp Act, however, 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. Most American colonists considered this statement to be illegal5.
History experts say this shows 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.
VOICE ONE:
Britain ended 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 placed taxes on glass, tea, lead, paints and paper imported into the colonies.
The American colonists rejected the Townshend Acts and started a new boycott7 of British goods. They also made efforts 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.
VOICE TWO:
In Seventeen-Sixty-Eight, the Massachusetts General Court sent a letter to the legislatures of the other colonies. It said the Townshend Acts violated10 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.
VOICE ONE:
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.
VOICE TWO:
Today's MAKING OF A NATION program was written by Nancy Steinbach. This is Rich Kleinfeldt.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Sarah Long. Join us again next week for another Special English program about the history of the United States.

1. legislature [5ledVIs7leItF[] n. 立法机关,立法机构
2. parliament [5pa:l[m[nt] n. 国会,议会
3. assembly [[5semblI] n. 集合,装配
4. boycott [5bCIk[t] n/vt. 联合抵制
5. illegal [I5li:g[l] adj. 违法的,不合规定的

 


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1 colonist TqQzK     
n.殖民者,移民
参考例句:
  • The indians often attacked the settlements of the colonist.印地安人经常袭击殖民者的定居点。
  • In the seventeenth century, the colonist here thatched their roofs with reeds and straw,just as they did in england.在17世纪,殖民者在这里用茅草盖屋,就像他们在英国做的一样。
2 colonists 4afd0fece453e55f3721623f335e6c6f     
n.殖民地开拓者,移民,殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 colonial Hq9zJ     
adj.殖民地的,关于殖民的;n.殖民地,居民
参考例句:
  • The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
  • The people of Africa have successfully fought against colonial rule.非洲人民成功地反抗了殖民统治。
4 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
5 taxation tqVwP     
n.征税,税收,税金
参考例句:
  • He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
  • The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
6 legislation q9uzG     
n.立法,法律的制定;法规,法律
参考例句:
  • They began to draft legislation.他们开始起草法规。
  • The liberals band together against the new legislation.自由党员联合一致反对新的立法。
7 boycott EW3zC     
n./v.(联合)抵制,拒绝参与
参考例句:
  • We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
  • The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。
8 representation uVFxV     
n.表现某人(或某事物)的东西,图画,雕塑
参考例句:
  • The painting is a representation of a storm at sea.这幅画描绘的是海上的暴风雨。
  • All parties won representation in the national assembly.所有政党在国民大会中都赢得了代表资格。
9 violations 403b65677d39097086593415b650ca21     
违反( violation的名词复数 ); 冒犯; 违反(行为、事例); 强奸
参考例句:
  • This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
  • These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。
10 violated e9bdc00380e8f8d539ac7e2a7aa6a9c8     
亵渎( violate的过去式和过去分词 ); 违反; 侵犯; 强奸
参考例句:
  • Note that thick, strong angles of tibia are not violated. 注意肥厚、结实的胫骨成角部分未受损坏。
  • The soldiers violated the church by using it as a stable. 士兵们把教堂当马厩,亵渎了教堂。

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