6 The Federalist Papers

CHAPTER 6 The Federalist Papers Alexander and his friend James Madison wanted to explain exactly why America needed a strong bank and a central government. They wanted a ruling body for the country that could tax each state in order to raise money. They laid out their ideas for how the new government would work in a series of essays they called the Federalist Papers. The word federal meant an agreement between people. The word federalist meant the colonies should unite and form a more powerful

亚历山大和他的朋友詹姆斯·麦迪逊想要准确地解释为什么美国需要一个强大的银行和一个中央政府。 他们希望国家有一个统治机构，可以向每个州征税以筹集资金。 他们在一系列名为《联邦党人文集》的文章中阐述了他们对新政府如何运作的想法。 联邦这个词的意思是人民之间的协议。 联邦党人这个词意味着殖民地应该联合起来，组成一个更强大的联邦

government together in addition to each state's own governing group. Alexander wanted the states to agree to one central government. The Federalist Papers called for a government with three branches: a president (executive), a congress (legislative), and a supreme court (judicial). As members of the Continental Congress, Alexander and James Madison were not allowed to talk about this subject publicly. So no one at the time knew who was writing the Federalist Papers, but everyone was reading them in the newspapers. When the Constitution for the new government was finally written, many of its ideas came from Alexander's and James's eighty-five Federalist Papers. They describe much of what our federal government is today.

除了每个州自己的管理小组之外，还有一个共同的政府。 亚历山大希望各州同意建立一个中央政府。 《联邦党人文集》呼吁建立一个由三个部门组成的政府：总统（行政部门）、国会（立法部门）和最高法院（司法部门）。 作为大陆会议的成员，亚历山大和詹姆斯·麦迪逊不被允许公开谈论这个问题。 所以当时没人知道《联邦党人文集》是谁写的，但每个人都在报纸上读到。 当新政府的宪法最终成文时，它的许多思想来自亚历山大和詹姆斯的85篇联邦党人文集。 他们描述了我们今天的联邦政府。

The Constitution itself was written by many people working together, including James Madison, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton. In order for the Constitution to become the basis of a new government, it had to be agreed to by at least

宪法本身是由许多人共同起草的，包括詹姆斯·麦迪逊、约翰·亚当斯、托马斯·杰斐逊和亚历山大·汉密尔顿。 为了使宪法成为新政府的基础，它必须至少得到国会的同意

nine out of the thirteen states. People who supported the new Constitution became known as Federalists because they wanted a strong federal (united and central) government. Those who didn't want it were called Anti-Federalists. One by one, the states agreed to the new Constitution. When New York voted yes, they held a big celebration. Even though they didn't know Alexander had written many of the Federalist Papers, his defense of the Constitution was so well-known that they honored him along with it.

13个州中的9个。 支持新宪法的人被称为联邦主义者，因为他们想要一个强大的联邦（统一和中央）政府。 那些不赞成的人被称为反联邦主义者。 各州一个接一个地同意了新宪法。 当纽约投赞成票时，他们举行了盛大的庆祝活动。 尽管他们不知道亚历山大写了很多《联邦党人文集》，但他对宪法的捍卫是如此出名，他们也因此对他表示尊敬。

The new government became official in July 1788, just a few months after Alexander and Eliza had their fourth child, James. This new government would need a president, and Alexander knew exactly who it should be: George Washington. In 1789, George Washington won by a landslide. John Adams became the vice president. Washington had to choose men to help him run the government. These advisors were known as his cabinet. One of the cabinet positions was for a secretary of the treasury, who would be in charge of financial matters. Washington's first choice was Robert Morris, the former superintendent of finance. Morris turned down the job, but he suggested Alexander for the position.

新政府于1788年7月正式成立，就在亚历山大和伊丽莎生下第四个孩子詹姆斯几个月后。 这个新政府需要一位总统，亚历山大很清楚这个人应该是谁：乔治·华盛顿。 1789年，乔治·华盛顿以压倒性优势获胜。 约翰·亚当斯成为副总统。 华盛顿必须挑选人来帮助他管理政府。 这些顾问被称为他的内阁。 其中一个内阁职位是财政部长，他将负责财政事务。 华盛顿的第一人选是前财政总监罗伯特·莫里斯（Robert Morris）。 莫里斯拒绝了这份工作，但他推荐亚历山大担任这个职位。

The First US Election The very first presidential election was held from December 15, 1788, to January 10, 1789. Of the three million people living in the United States at that time, less than 1.3 percent voted. Votes were cast only by electors. These were men appointed or elected by each state. A state got the same number of electors as they were assigned seats in Congress. (Two states, North Carolina and Rhode Island, couldn't participate because they hadn't yet agreed to the Constitution. New York also did not vote, because it had not been able to decide on its electors.) The person who got the most votes from the state- chosen electors became president. The person who came in second, with the next largest number of votes, was elected the vice president. Washington was surprised. Even though he loved Alexander like a son, he had no idea Alexander knew anything about finances, banking, or economics! When he offered him the job, Alexander happily

第一次美国总统选举于1788年12月15日至1789年1月10日举行。 当时居住在美国的300万人中，只有不到1.3%的人参加了投票。 投票只由选举人投票。 这些人是由每个州任命或选举出来的。 一个州获得的选举人人数与他们在国会中被分配的席位相同。 (北卡罗来纳和罗德岛这两个州不能参加，因为他们还没有同意宪法。 纽约州也没有投票，因为它无法决定自己的选举人。)从州选举的选举人中获得最多选票的人成为总统。 得票第二多的人当选为副总统。 华盛顿很惊讶。尽管他像爱儿子一样爱亚历山大，但他不知道亚历山大对金融、银行或经济一无所知！当他给他这份工作时，亚历山大很高兴