4 A New Country Is Born

Chapter 4 A New Country Is Born In January 1776, Abigail again was kept awake all night by the rumble of cannons. The windows rattled all day. The fighting went on for weeks. General George Washington was trying to drive the British out of Boston. Abigail feared the city would be burned down. In March, from the hill behind her house, she saw a huge fleet of British ships. It was an amazing sight. There were so many ships, Abigail wrote, "They look like a Forrest." One hundred seventy ships had their sails raised. They were leaving the harbor! George Washington had driven out the British! Boston was spared, but the war went on elsewhere.

1776年1月，阿比盖尔又被隆隆的炮声彻夜难眠。 窗户整天嘎嘎作响。 战斗持续了几个星期。 乔治·华盛顿将军试图把英国人赶出波士顿。 阿比盖尔担心这座城市会被烧毁。 3月，从她家后面的小山上，她看到一支庞大的英国舰队。 这是一个令人惊叹的景象。阿比盖尔写道，那里有很多船，“它们看起来就像一个福雷斯特。” 170艘船扬起了风帆。 他们要离开港口了！乔治·华盛顿赶走了英国人！波士顿幸免于难，但其他地方的战争仍在继续。

At that time, John was at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. He was working with men from each of the thirteen colonies on a declaration of independence. It would be a statement that explained why the colonies were breaking away from England. Abigail wrote to her husband about her beliefs and what she hoped to see in a new American

当时，约翰正在费城参加第二届大陆会议。 他和来自13个殖民地的人一起起草独立宣言。 这将是一份解释殖民地为什么要脱离英国的声明。 阿比盖尔写信给她的丈夫，讲述了她的信仰，以及她希望在一个新的美国人身上看到什么

government. Even though her own father still had slaves, Abigail thought there should be no slavery in a free country. She also strongly believed that women should have the same rights as men. In the late 1700s, husbands had total control over their wives. Wives could be treated almost like slaves. Abigail's own drunken brother mistreated his wife, and no one could do anything about it. Abigail wanted laws to protect wives. Women couldn't buy property. They couldn't get the same education as men. In one of her most famous letters to John, Abigail wrote, "Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors." She even half-jokingly hinted that women could revolt if they weren't treated more fairly! John answered, "I cannot but laugh."

政府。尽管她自己的父亲仍然有奴隶，阿比盖尔认为在一个自由的国家不应该有奴隶制。 她还坚信妇女应该享有与男子同样的权利。 在18世纪末，丈夫对妻子有完全的控制权。 妻子几乎可以像奴隶一样被对待。 阿比盖尔醉酒的哥哥虐待他的妻子，没有人能做任何事情。 阿比盖尔想要法律保护妻子。 女性不能购买房产。 她们无法得到和男性一样的教育。 在她写给约翰的最著名的一封信中，阿比盖尔写道：“记住女士们，要比你的祖先更慷慨、更善待她们。” 她甚至半开玩笑地暗示，如果不公平对待女性，她们可能会反抗！约翰回答说：“我忍不住笑。”

Abigail was in Boston in July 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was read to cheering crowds. Church bells rang, guns were fired in the air, and people yelled, "God Save our American States!" Abigail listened to the reading, but heard nothing about slaves or women. That

1776年7月，《独立宣言》向欢呼的人群宣读时，阿比盖尔正在波士顿。 教堂的钟声响起，枪声向空中鸣响，人们高呼：“上帝保佑我们的美国！”阿比盖尔听了朗读，但没有听到任何关于奴隶或妇女的内容。 那

must have disappointed her greatly. It took until 1865 for slavery to be ended everywhere in the United States. And only in 1920 did women finally get the right to vote.

一定让她非常失望。 直到1865年，奴隶制才在美国各地被废除。 直到1920年，妇女才终于获得了选举权。