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One such American was John Adams, a Boston lawyer and politician, deeply read in history and philosophy, and one of the most eloquent patriot leaders in the colonies.
其中一人就是约翰·亚当斯，波士顿律师和政治家，对历史和哲学造诣颇深，是殖民者中最雄辩的爱国领袖之一。
He believed fervently in those hard won liberties -- no taxation without consent, no standing armies, no martial law.
他笃信来之不易的自由--未经许可不得征税，不得有常备军，不得有军事管制。
When he looked at what Britain had become, he no longer recognised a pristine temple of liberty, and no wonder.
但当看到英国的变化后，他不再承认那个自由纯洁的庙宇，这也难怪。
Thanks to the unrelenting wars with France, Britain had become a huge military state, supporting a massive army, navy, and an insatiable tax collecting machine.
由于与法国不懈的战争，英国变成了军事大国，支持着庞大的陆军、海军，和永不知足的税收机器。
Adams's Britain, the shrine of freedom, was, of course, a fantasy, a dream Britannia.
亚当斯的英国，那个自由的神殿，无疑是空想，梦想中的大不列颠。
But this was a dream that John Adams woke up with every morning. And from such nagging visions comes action.
但这个梦，约翰·亚当斯，每天都在做。如今这无休止的梦想终于化为现实。
He would not pay the taxes, and he was not alone in this struggle.
他不再缴税，他也不是孤军奋战。
Angry, wealthy Boston in the 1760s was exactly the kind of place that might breed a revolution.
18世纪60年代，愤怒富庶的波士顿最有可能孕育革命的种子。
Adams, his friends and neighbours, argued about everything. They attended public meetings in droves.
亚当斯和他的邻居朋友议论所有的事。他们结队参加公众集会。
Gossip flew around the cobbled streets in minutes and roused the citizens to use their muscle -- fast and fierce in opposition to British taxes and those who tried to enforce them.
流言蜚语瞬间充斥了街头巷尾，唤醒市民们举起拳头，迅速而猛烈地反抗英国的税收以及试图奴役他们的人。
Stunned by this strength of feeling, the British hit on a tax by stealth.
被强烈的民意震惊，英国政府又生一计，暗中收税。
One only of interest to bureaucrats, something the mob couldn't possibly notice, or so they thought.
官僚们唯一想到的是暴民们可能发现不了，至少他们这么认为。
So, when the British government decided to put a stamp on the paper which official documents, handbills and newspapers were printed on,
于是，英国政府规定纸上都要贴印花税票，包括公文、传单和报纸，
what in London looked harmless enough, in Boston seemed like a tax on knowledge.
在伦敦看起来似乎已经足够隐蔽，在波士顿看来却是掩耳盗铃。
In that dangerously over-informed city, it really lit a fire.
在消息过分灵通的城市，燃起了一把火。
After all, who uses official documents and reads newspapers?
究竟是谁在用公文，谁在读报呢？
Well, only every single lawyer, merchant, minister, publisher and pamphleteer across the 13 colonies.
是十三个殖民洲里每一位律师、商人、牧师、出版商和小册子作者。
Anyone who has to deal with an official document now hates you. And who are they?
任何用到公文的人都会心生怨恨。他们又是谁？
Only the best educated and loudest of the colonial population.
是受过最好教育和最有号召力的殖民者。
Their leadership was prepared to mobilise anger on the Boston streets. The mob tore down the house of the Governor of Massachusetts.
他们的领导才华足以鼓动起波士顿街头的愤怒。民众拆毁了马萨诸塞州州长的府邸。
Back in Britain, this violent opposition divided parliament almost as strongly.
回到英国，如此暴力的反抗使议会产生严重分歧。
The government was outraged at the insolence of colonials who were protected by our care, and demanded that they should yield obedience.
政府对受保护下的殖民地居民如此之傲慢感到十分震怒，要求他们乖乖地屈服。
Up got William Pitt, the man who'd done most to make America British, to demand the repeal of the Stamp Act and save his empire.
但上至威廉·皮特，对北美的英国化付出最多的人，却要求废除印花税法，拯救帝国。
I rejoice that America has resisted. I would argue that even under former arbitrary reigns, parliaments were ashamed of taxing a people without their consent.
我对北美的反抗感到欣慰。我要说，即使是在从前的专制统治时期，议会也羞于向未经同意的民众收税。
The gentleman asks, "When were the colonies emancipated?" But I desire to know, when were they made slaves?
有人问，殖民地是何时获得解放的？但我想知道，他们是何时沦为奴隶的？
As the war for public opinion escalated, the American politician and publisher, Benjamin Franklin,
随着公众舆论的升级，美洲政治家和出版商本杰明·富兰克林
produced an image that quickly seized the public imagination -- a nightmare vision of a dismembered Britannia ruined by alienating her colonies.
创作了一副画，立刻唤起了公众的想象，一个噩梦般被肢解的大不列颠因怠慢殖民地而被毁。
