『独立日说美国』关于美国历史的14个假故事

『独立日说美国』关于美国历史的14个假故事

关于美国历史的14个假故事

Myth #1: America Is A Democracy

误解一、美国是民主国家

In the current age, America and democracy are synonymous. Little do most Americans know they don't actually live in a democracy. America was actually founded as a Constitutional Republic, as stated in the Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance. In an Economist ranking of the world's democratic countries in 2006, America didn't even crack the top 10.

在当今的时代，美国跟民主已经是同义词了。但大部分美国人不知道的是，我们并非一个民主国家。美国事实上是一个共和立宪国家，也就是说是一切由宪法规定，且政府对宪法效忠（而非公民投票制定法律）。根据《经济学人》杂志的2006年世界各国民主指数排行榜，美国甚至进不了前十名。Myth #2: The Founding Fathers Were Christian

误解二、美国国父们都是新教徒

This is both true and false. A large number of the Founding Fathers were associated with various sects of the Christian church, like Protestantism and Lutheranism. However, many

still openly opposed organized religion. Thomas Jefferson practiced Deism, which contends that reason and observation of the natural world are enough to determine the universe has a creator without the need for organized religion.

这种说法也对也不对。大部分国父都是基督教某一分支的信徒，比如说新教或者路德教等。但也有不少人是公开反对有组织的宗教的。杰斐逊就是自然神论者，他的信仰是对自然世界的法则以及观察已经足够了，我们并不需要一个有造物主的有组织宗教。

Myth #3: Thanksgiving

误解三、感恩节

While it's true that the occasion we now know as Thanksgiving first occurred between Pilgrims and nearby Indians, it originally was three days long and served to salute the annual harvest. For the Pilgrims, Thanksgiving was intended to be a religious holiday of fasting and prayer, but only turned to a feast after the rains came during one such period in 1623.

我们现在所知道的感恩节确实是关于第一批来到美国的新移民和印第安人之间的故事，但最早这是一个三天长的庆典，庆祝的也是一年的丰收。对清教徒而言，感恩节本来应该是一个禁食和祈祷的宗教节日，直到1623年其中一天下起了大雨才成了盛宴式的节日。

Myth #4: The Native Americans were Savages

误解四、美洲土著人都是野蛮人

Hollywood has certainly popularized the image of brutes dressed in feathers and buffalo leather, aiming to harm a

good-ole tobacco spitting cowboy, but the truth of the matter is a bit more complex.

在好莱坞的刻画中，土著人都是头戴羽毛，身披水牛皮，专门和善良的嚼烟叶牛仔作对的野人，但事实却并非如此简单。

In the book "A People's History of the United States," author Howard Zinn quotes Christopher Columbus's first impressions of the Indians, saying "They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane.... They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."

在《美国人史》一书中，作者Howard Zinn引用了哥伦布对美国印第安人的第一印象说：“他们没有武器，也不知道如何使用。我给他们看了一把剑，他们一无所知地伸手握住了剑锋把自己割伤了。他们没有铁。他们的长矛是甘蔗制成的。……他们将是很好的仆人