7.Europeans Invaded Africa and Kidnapped the Slaves
7.欧洲人侵入非洲拐卖奴隶
This isn't meant to trivialize slavery, or pardon any of the people who took part in it, or condone it in any way. But let's face it: most Americans are under the impression that colonial-era slavery got its start with white people sailing over to Africa, kidnapping hundreds of thousands of people, and bringing them back to Europe and America in chains.
我并非打算将奴隶制度视为无足轻重的存在，或赦免那些参与者的罪过，也并非拟将以某种方式宽恕这种行为。而是想让大家正视这个问题：大多数美国人认为，白人航行至欧洲，绑架了数以万计的奴隶，并将他们束以枷锁带回欧洲和美国，由此拉开了殖民时代奴隶制的序幕。
Parts of that are true. There were a lot of chains, and many Africans were certainly kidnapped. But despite the picture painted by many history textbooks, the majority of those slaves were actually sold to Europeans by other African slave traders—slave traders who had been operating on the continent for thousands of years. Slavery is nothing new to the world; it was actually pretty normal around that time. In fact, Egyptians were using Caucasian slaves in their armies during the thirteenth century. Heck, even the Bible endorsed the practice!
这样的看法在很大程度上是正确的，确实曾有许多非洲人被绑架并束以枷锁。但不管历史课本上出现的那些图片描绘的是何情形，大多数奴隶实际上是被其他非洲奴隶贩子卖到欧洲的——奴隶制度已经在这片大陆存在了数千年之久。现今奴隶制度对世界而言并不新奇，而实际上早在那时奴隶制就已是极为平常的存在。事实上，13世纪左右的埃及人就曾组建白人奴隶军队。见鬼的是，就连《圣经》都认可奴隶制的存在。
As far as the Atlantic Slave Trade was concerned, in-country African slaves were typically members of a defeated tribe. But as soon as slave traders realized that Europeans would pay for their slaves, they actively began kidnapping people just to sell them on the Nigerian coast.
就大西洋奴隶贸易而言，以往非洲国内的奴隶一般都是战败部落的成员。但自从奴隶贸易兴起，奴隶贩卖便越发有利可图，非洲的奴隶贩子开始活跃起来，他们绑架本国奴隶，并在尼日利亚海岸将其拍卖。
And speaking of lies about slavery…
然后他们便开始散播关于奴隶制的各种“谎言”……
6.Abraham Lincoln Was Strongly Opposed to Slavery
6.亚伯拉罕·林肯强烈反对奴隶制度
Abraham Lincoln is often put on a pedestal as one of the greatest opponents of slavery for freeing the slaves with his Emancipation Proclamation in 1862. In fact, he struggled with conflicting and ambiguous views on slavery—not to mention sexuality—during his entire Presidential career. He wasn't a stalwart supporter of abolition; he only wanted to do what would make the Union stronger (remember, this was a time when the Confederate states had split from the Union and were at war).
亚伯拉罕·林肯在1862年颁布的《解放奴隶宣言》使奴隶们重获自由，他也因此常被尊崇为最伟大的奴隶制反对者之一。但实际上，在整个总统生涯中，他对奴隶制的看法总是模棱两可。他并没有坚定地主张废除奴隶制度，他这样做仅仅只是一种战略上的需要，为使联邦更为强大（毕竟我们不能忘了，在那期间，美利坚联盟国已经脱离联邦，并正与南部联盟交战）。
In his own words: “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union.” This is called talking out of both sides of your mouth.
他自己也曾说过：“我的终极目标是要保住联邦，而不是废除奴隶制。如果解放黑人奴隶就能够保住联邦，我会那样做；假如不这样也能达到目标，那我就不解放他们；如果只解放一部分奴隶也同样能取得成效的话，我也会照章办事。”典型的政治辞令，毫无立场。
The Emancipation Proclamation didn't really touch on racial equality or human rights. It was a wartime decision: “as a fit and necessary military measure. . . . All persons held as slaves in the Confederate states will thenceforward . . . be free.” In other words: only the enemy's slaves were freed. Hooray to the great emancipator!
《解放奴隶宣言》实际上并没有触及种族平等或人权问题。它只不过是一个战时决定，是“一项合宜且必需的军事政策……美利坚联盟国内的所有奴隶在那之后都将获得自由。”换言之：只有南部联盟的奴隶也得到解放，我们才能对这位伟大的解放者高呼“万岁”。
Let's face it—if Honest Abe really wanted equality, Martin Luther King probably wouldn't have a holiday named after him.
让我们正视现实吧——如果“正直的亚伯”（对林肯的爱称）当真想要平等，那以马丁·路德·金（Martin Luther King）命名的假日也许便不复存在了。
5.Diamonds Are Made from Coal
5.钻石由煤炭演变而成
If you believe that diamonds are made from highly compressed coal, don't worry—so does everyone else. But it's completely false: diamonds are found in vertical shafts filled with rocks formed by volcanoes, while coal is mainly found among other types of rocks—like limestone and shale.
如果你认为钻石是煤炭经过高度压缩而形成的，那也不用担心，因为几乎所有人都抱有这种看法。但这种看法却是完全错误的：钻石形成于火山喷发时的竖直熔岩通道中，而煤炭则主要形成于其他类型的岩石之中（比如石灰岩与页岩）。
Coal is almost never found in the same type of environment as diamonds. Coal is formed near the surface from plant matter, while diamonds are formed in the Earth's mantle—over ninety miles (145 km) closer to the core—and then carried up to the crust during volcanic eruptions.
煤炭与钻石的形成环境几乎也无任何相似之处。煤炭主要是由地球表面的植物残骸堆积演变而成，而钻石则形成于地幔之中——距离地心90余英里（145公里）——然后在火山爆发时被带至地壳表面。
It's true that diamonds are formed from carbon by intense heat—2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,100 degrees Celcius)—and high pressure, but it's unlikely that the carbon comes from coal. So while the idea of a lump of coal becoming a beautiful diamond makes a pretty picture, it's still one big spoonful of lies.
钻石的确是碳元素在高温（2000华氏度，即1100摄氏度）高压的环境下所形成，但这里的碳元素不可能是从煤炭中提炼而出。因此尽管把一块煤变成一颗璀璨钻石的想法美妙无比，却纯属异想天开。
On the other hand, modern science can pretty much turn anything into a diamond in the lab: even the corpse of your recently deceased loved one.
另一方面，现代科学几乎可以把任何东西都变成钻石，甚至你刚死去爱人的尸体。我不得不感叹大千世界果真无奇不有。
4.The Founding Fathers Were All Christian
4.美国的开国元勋都是基督徒
One of the prevailing myths taught in history classes is that the Founding Fathers of America were all Christian. The Declaration of Independence talks about God; the pledge of allegiance (which, incidentally, wasn't even created until more than a century later) uses the words “under God”; and it all sort of jumbles together into the idea that Washington and crew were Bible-thumping Christian men.
人们普遍认为美国的开国元勋都是基督徒，这其实也是我们在历史课上学到的谎言之一。《独立宣言》有涉及到上帝，效忠誓词中也有“在上帝庇护之下”（under god）这样的语句（顺便一提，这句话是在建国一百多年后才加上去的）。所有诸如此类的言辞给公众造成了一种错觉，即华盛顿和其他开国元勋都是宣讲福音的基督徒。
Well, they weren't. For starters, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were both believed to be deists, who don't follow the Bible explicitly but assume there's a “god” because nature is so great. George Washington most likely followed pantheism, which is the belief that nature is god. John Adams was a Unitarian, an offshoot of Christianity that believes Jesus was a great guy, but not God's Son. Alexander Hamilton was a typical Christian—but only later in life, after his son was killed.
实际上，他们并不都是基督徒。托马斯·杰斐逊和本杰明·富兰克林被认为是自然神论者，他们并不严格遵奉《圣经》为至高真理，但却坚信有“上帝”的存在，因为自然是如此妙不可言，而上帝在创造这个世界之后，就让它按照自然的不变的法则运转下去；乔治·华盛顿则很有可能是泛神论者，认为“自然即上帝”；约翰·亚当斯信奉一位论派，一位论派是基督教的一个分支，认为耶稣是一个伟大的人，但却不承认他的“神子”身份；亚历山大·汉密尔顿倒是一位典型的基督徒——但他也是在晚年丧子之后才重归于年轻时候信仰的基督教。
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