Have you heard the one about Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Territory?
你听说过托马斯·杰斐逊与路易斯安那购地案吗？
Thomas Jefferson, author of The Declaration of Independence, was not a fan of the new constitution presented in 1787.
托马斯·杰斐逊--美国独立宣言的撰稿人，并不支持在1787年起草的美国新宪法。
He was very worried that The Constitution gave too much power to the new, national government,
他感到非常担忧，因为该宪法赋予了新的国家政府过大的权力。
and not enough power to the states, an issue known as "big government".
而各个州所分得的权力远远不足，这一问题被称为“大政府”，
Jefferson only reluctantly agreed to support it
杰斐逊勉强同意支持新宪法的出台，
when his friend, James Madison, promised to propose a bill of rights after it was ratified.
当时杰斐逊的朋友詹姆斯·麦迪逊承诺在新宪法签署生效后提出一份权利宣言。
But Jefferson's fears about big government did not go away.
但是杰斐逊所担心的“大政府”并没有消失。
For example, Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, proposed a national bank in 1790,
例如，在1790年，国家财政部秘书长亚历山大·汉密尔顿提议建立中央银行，
and Jefferson knew there was no provision in The Constitution to permit such a thing.
而杰斐逊知道新宪法中并没有允许这样的事情发生的条款。
Hamilton claimed some sort of implied powers mumbo-jumbo.
汉密尔顿则主张宪法中有一些隐含权力的陈词。
Sure, it wasn't written in The Constitution, but The Constitution implied that it could be done.
当然，宪法中并没有明文规定，但事实上它默许了这样的做法。
But, Jefferson wasn't buying it.
但杰斐逊并不买账。
Nonetheless, the bank was established by Hamilton and President Washington.
尽管如此，在汉密尔顿和华盛顿总统的推动下，中央银行还是建立了。
When Jefferson was sworn in as President in 1801,
在1801年杰斐逊宣誓就任总统时，
he pledged to reduce the size and scope of the national government.
他曾保证在他执政后缩减联邦政府的规模及范围。

But, of course, things didn't go exactly as he had planned.
但是，事情不总是按照他的计划来发展。
Spain secretly transferred the Louisiana Territory to France right beneath Jefferson's nose.
在杰斐逊的眼皮底下，西班牙悄悄地把路易斯安那领地转让给了法国。
When Congress found out, they quickly began discussions with France
当国会知道这件事后，他们迅速和法国谈判，
to buy a piece of the territory along the Mississippi River for about $2 million.
想要花大约2百万美元购买密西西比河沿岸的一些土地。
But, there was one little problem: Jefferson knew there was no provision in The Constitution to buy foreign territory.
但是他们面临一个小问题：杰斐逊知道宪法中没有任何购买外国土地的条款。
So what was a strict constructionist to do?
那么这位坚定的宪法解释者会怎么做呢？
First, he tried to get an amendment to The Constitution passed that would expressly permit the purchase, but Congress wasn't willing to do it.
首先，他尝试让国会通过一项允许迅速购地的宪法修正案，但国会并不想这么做。
Then, without permission, the U.S. negotiators in France
然后，在没有得到许可的情况下，在法国进行谈判的美国方面代表
cut a deal for all of the territory for a cool $15 million dollars.
与法国达成了用1500万美元购买所有领地的协议。
That new land doubled the size of the nation!
新购买的土地使美国版图扩大了一倍！
Now Jefferson was really stuck.
现在杰斐逊被难住了。
He knew that the territory would be a great acquisition for the country,
他知道，对美国来说这是一次意义深远的土地收购，
providing lots of new land for farmers and other settlers, but how could he constitutionally justify it?
包括为农民和其他的移民者提供了许多新的土地，但是他应如何在体制上证明这次收购的合法化呢？
In the end, Jefferson turned to the argument used by his old foe Alexander Hamilton.
最后，杰斐逊找到了曾被他的夙敌亚历山大·汉密尔顿运用过的说法。
He claimed that the power to purchase the territory is implied in The Constitution's treaty-making power.
杰斐逊宣称，宪法中的缔约权，隐含了购买领土的权力。
This was the exact argument that he had mocked openly a decade before,
而正是十年前他公然嘲讽的这一说法，
so it must have crushed his pride to have to use it.
让他不得不放下自尊来使用它。
But more importantly, he may have committed the biggest big government play ever!
但更重要的是，他或许已经扮演了至今为止最有代表性的“大政府”的角色！
How ironic is it that one of the biggest opponents of big government
多么讽刺，杰斐逊--一个“大政府”体制的头号反对者，
doubled the size of the young country and did so while openly questioning its constitutionality?
在公开质疑其合宪性的同时，使年轻的美国版图扩充了一倍。
At $15 million, which is about three cents an acre,
以1500万美元，即一英亩约三美分的价格成交，
it has been called by many the greatest real estate deal in the history of the United States.
至今这笔交易仍被很多人称之为美国历史上最伟大的地产交易。