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Thomas Jefferson's Revolutionary Words.
托马斯·杰斐逊的振聋发聩之语
By Annette Gordon-Reed
文/安妮特·戈登-里德
Thomas Jefferson began life in a monarchy, under the reign of George II, in one of Britain's North American colonies—Virginia.
托马斯·杰斐逊原本出生于乔治二世掌权的君主制时代，出生地是英国位于北美的殖民地之一——弗吉尼亚州。
In this monarchical system everyone knew his or her place, with little expectation of being able to move very far outside of it.
在当时的君主制体制下，所有人都很识时务，很少指望自己能实现多大的阶级跃迁。
Though the American provincials were not on a par with the aristocrats in the mother country,
尽管美国的乡巴佬无法与母国的贵族相提并论，
they had developed their own version of hierarchy.
但他们也建立起了自己的等级秩序。
Jefferson, by dint of his family ties, was born at the top,
因为家庭血缘的关系，杰斐逊的出生算是最高贵的，
and there would have been no reason to suspect that he would ever come to be associated with the idea of equality.
也正因为如此，我们本没有任何理由怀疑他会与“平等”两个字产生任何瓜葛。
This is especially so given that he was born into a slave society,
鉴于他出生的社会还是个奴隶社会，
and his family fully participated in the institution of slavery.
而他的家人中没有一个人是奴隶制缔造过程中的局外人，我们就更没有理由怀疑他会与“平等”两个字产生任何瓜葛了。
From an early age, he would have understood what unequal status meant,
年幼时，他或许就已懂得地位不平等意味着什么，
with his lifelong involvement in the most extreme version of it as a slave owner.
所以，身为奴隶主，他终其一生都在以最极端的方式抗争这种不平等。
The equality of humankind was simply not an expectation in his world.
在他生活的那个世界里，人类的平等并不是大家的期盼。
Yet, as a young man inspired by the books he read that introduced him to the Enlightenment,
然而，作为一个年轻人，一个受到了书籍启发而走上了启蒙道路的年轻人，
Jefferson began the process of questioning these hierarchies and status-based power.
杰斐逊开始对这些等级制度和基于地位的权力有了质疑。
As the crisis with Britain flared up,
随着殖民地与母国英国的危机愈演愈烈，
Jefferson questioned the power of the church (preferring the primacy of science and reason),
杰斐逊不仅对固守大家族权力(继承权和长子继承权)和奴隶制道德的法律，
as well as laws that entrenched the power of great families (entail and primogeniture) and the morality of slavery.
还对教会的权力也开始产生了质疑（转而更倾向于科学和理性至上的思想）。
He began to think of different ways of ordering society.
他开始思考规范社会秩序的其他办法。
There would be no assumption that a given class of people was born to rule.
在他的思想体系里，没有什么某一特定阶层的人生来就是统治者之说。
If there was to be an aristocracy, it would be one of talent, not birth.
如果硬要有贵族，那也应该由才华，而非出身来决定。
Ordinary people would have a say in how their government was to be constituted.
至于如何组建政府，普通民众也应享有发言权。
Jefferson's vision of equality was not all-inclusive.
诚然，杰斐逊的平等愿景并没有做到面面俱到。
Neither the enslaved nor women were part of it.
奴隶问题和女性问题他都没有触及。
Native peoples could be, but only if they agreed to assimilate with white people.
原住民倒是可以享有发言权，但前提是他们必须同意与白人同化。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
