One group of people who were called "Federalists" thought that there were many problems with the Articles of Confederation, which was the legal document that the 13 states had been following.
一群被称为“联邦党人”的人认为《邦联条例》存在诸多问题,也就是13个州一直在遵循的法律文件。
The Federalists believed that adopting the Constitution was the only way to fix the problems that the country was having.
联邦党人认为,采用宪法是解决时弊的唯一途径。
The Federalists thought that only the Constitution would be able to help the new country keep its independence (or freedom) from Britain.
联邦党人认为只有宪法才能使这个新生国家保持对英国的独立(或自由)。
Another large group of people known as the "Antifederalists" thought that the Constitution would destroy (or ruin) everything good about America.
另一大群人被称为“反联邦党人”的人认为宪法会毁掉(或摧毁)美国的一切好东西。
They thought that the Constitution would centralize the government too much (or make the national government too powerful, with little or no power for the states).
他们认为宪法会使政府的权力过于集中(或使国家政府的权力过于强大,而各州的权力很小或根本就没有)。
The Federalists and Antifederalists argued with each other for a long time, but eventually (or after a long time) the Constitution was ratified.
联邦党人和反联邦党人彼此争论了很长时间,但最终(或很长时间之后)宪法得到了批准。
The first five states ratified it very quickly, between December 1787 and January 1788.
在1787年12月到1788年1月之间,前5个州很快就批准了该宪法。
The other states took much longer, and the state of Rhode Island didn't ratify the Constitution until May of 1790.
其他州花的时间更长,而罗德岛州是直到1790年5月才批准了宪法。
But when all 13 states had finally ratified the Constitution, the whole United States was behind (or supported) the new government.
但当所有的13个州最终都批准了宪法的时候,新政府也就得到了整个美国的支持(或拥护)。