(单词翻译:单击)
After the victory over the British in the revolutionary war, the newly independent United States of America found itself in a position to build a new nation from the ground up.
在革命战争中战胜英国之后，新独立的美利坚合众国发现自己有能力从头开始建立一个新的国家。
But that left some pressing questions: how would this nation be governed?
但这留下了一些紧迫的问题：这个国家将如何治理？
how much power should be allocated to the federal government?
应该给联邦政府分配多少权力？
and how much should be allocated to the individual states?
那么应该给每个州分配多少权力呢？
and how could this new country ensure that its citizens would prosper economically?
这个新兴国家如何确保其公民在经济上繁荣昌盛?
At the center of all three of these questions was Alexander Hamilton who came from the humblest backgrounds, to rise to the very upper echelons of the new American government.
这三个问题的中心是亚历山大·汉密尔顿，他出身于最卑微的家庭，却在美国新政府中上升到最上层。
In doing so, he became one of the most impactful and controversial public servants.
因此，他成为最有影响力和最有争议的公务员之一。
The United States has ever had everything about his life seemed scripted for dramatic purposes including his vile and death at the hands of one of his political opponents,
在美国，关于他的一切似乎都是为了戏剧化的目的而写的剧本包括他的邪恶和死在他的一个政治对手手中，
and beyond political historians and musical theater, fans few people know anything about Alexander hamilton beyond the fact that his face adorns the 10 bill.
除了政治历史学家和音乐迷，几乎没有人了解亚历山大·汉密尔顿，除了他的头像印在10美元纸币上。
We hope to change that today and let you decide if Hamilton was a prophet who successfully predicted America's future rise,
我们希望今天就能改变这一点，让你们来决定汉密尔顿是否是一位成功预测美国未来崛起的预言家，
or like his opponents charged that he was Satan incarnate drawing his new country down the path of damnation.
或者像他的对手指责的那样，他是撒旦的化身，将他的新国家带入了诅咒之路。
We know very little about alexander Hamilton's childhood, because he rarely talked about it from what we do know.
我们对亚历山大·汉密尔顿的童年知之甚少，因为据我们所知，他很少谈论这件事。
It isn't hard to see why he was born on the 11th of january 1757 on the island of Nevis in the British West Indies.
不难理解为什么他于1757年1月11日出生在英属西印度群岛的尼维斯岛。
Because his parents weren't married, he was declared illegitimate, a label that would follow him all of his life and would normally have greatly impacted his standing in society.
因为他的父母没有结婚，他被宣布为私生子，这个标签将伴随他一生，通常会极大地影响他的社会地位。
Things got even worse when Alexander's father James Hamilton abandoned the family, when he was a child.
当亚历山大的父亲詹姆斯·汉密尔顿在他还是个孩子的时候抛弃了这个家庭，情况变得更加糟糕。
And soon after his mother Rachel died of yellow fever, Rachel's jealous husband Johan Lavian seized every penny of her estate, leaving Alexander and his brother James Jr impoverished orphans.
在他的母亲雷切尔死于黄热病后不久，雷切尔嫉妒的丈夫约翰·拉维安夺走了她的每一分钱，留下了亚历山大和他的兄弟小詹姆斯的贫困孤儿。
The only thing Alexander had going for him was his exceptional intelligence.
亚历山大唯一看中他的就是他出众的智力。
He was an avid reader and despite receiving little formal education, quickly figured out the merchant's trade when employed as a clerk for an import export firm in the islands.
他是一位狂热的读者，尽管几乎没有接受过正规教育，但在受雇于岛上一家进出口公司担任职员时，他很快就了解了商人的贸易。
In 1772, the 15 year old Hamilton wrote a letter to his father, describing a hurricane that had struck the Caribbean that was so well written that it was published in the newspaper.
1772年，15岁的汉密尔顿给他的父亲写了一封信，描述了袭击加勒比海的一场飓风，这场飓风写得非常好，以至于刊登在了报纸上。
And community leaders took up a collection to send this exceptional boy to North America to be educated, probably hoping that Hamilton would return to the islands to practice a skilled trade, such as doctoral lawyer.
社区领袖募集善款，把这个特别的男孩送到北美接受教育，可能是希望汉密尔顿能回到岛上从事熟练的职业，比如博士生律师。
If that was their hope, it was in vain.
如果这是他们的希望，那是徒劳的。
Alexander Hamilton left the West Indies in the fall of 1772 and never returned.
亚历山大·汉密尔顿于1772年秋天离开西印度群岛，再也没有回来。
He never saw his father or his brother again after a year at prep school in New Jersey.
在新泽西州的预科学校读了一年后，他再也没有见过他的父亲和兄弟。
Hamilton enrolled at King's college in New York city, today Columbia University.
汉密尔顿就读于纽约市的国王学院，也就是今天的哥伦比亚大学。
He wanted to become a lawyer something that suited his talent for oral and written argument well.
他想成为一名律师，这是一种非常适合他口头和书面辩论天赋的职业。
But like everyone else in America, he soon found himself caught up in the convulsions that would reverberate across the continent and eventually the world.
但就像美国的其他人一样，他很快发现自己陷入了一场震荡，这场动乱将在整个大陆产生反响，最终波及世界。
Hamilton had thrown himself wholeheartedly into the patriot cause early on writing passionate essays under pen names.
汉密尔顿很早就全心全意地投身于爱国事业，并以笔名写下了激情四射的散文。
They were published in the winter of 1774-1775 when torque devolved into war.
它们是在1774-1775年冬天发表的，当时扭矩被移交给战争。
In the spring of 1775, Hamilton like many young men, volunteered for service in the various militia companies that would soon be fashioned into the continental army.
1775年春，汉密尔顿像许多年轻人一样，自愿参加各种民兵连的服务，这些民兵连很快就会组成大陆军队。
Hamilton became captain of an artillery company and saw action against the British in the campaigns around New York city, which the British occupied after a successful invasion.
汉密尔顿成为一个炮兵连的上尉，并在纽约市周围的战役中看到了针对英国人的行动，英国人在一次成功的入侵后占领了纽约市。
In july 1776, Hamilton's talent soon attracted the attention of continental army commander George Washington who promoted him to lieutenant colonel and appointed him as his chief of staff in early 1777.
1776年7月，汉密尔顿的才华很快引起了大陆陆军司令乔治华盛顿的注意，他提升汉密尔顿为中校，并在1777年初任命他为参谋长。
As a member of Washington's military family, he was far more than a mere aide
作为华盛顿军人家庭的一员，他远远不仅仅是一个助手。
In many respects, Hamilton was washington's right-hand man, drafting orders and letters on behalf of the commander-in-chief, negotiating with the continental congress and senior army commanders on his behalf,
汉密尔顿在许多方面是华盛顿的得力助手，代表总司令起草命令和信件，代表他与大陆议会和高级陆军指挥官谈判，
and becoming involved in detailed matters of diplomacy intelligence supply and logistics and everything else needed to keep an army in the field.
并参与外交、情报供应和后勤以及保持军队在战场上所需的一切细节事务。
It was the start of a relationship that would persist for the rest of their lives.
这是一段关系的开始，这段关系将持续到他们的余生。
Washington who had no biological children probably viewed the young Hamilton as someone he could mentor as a paternal figure,
没有亲生孩子的华盛顿可能将年轻的汉密尔顿视为他可以指导的父亲般的人物，
while Hamilton who had latched on to surrogate fathers throughout his life,
而汉密尔顿一生都依赖于代理父亲，
saw a man he could emulate and admire, the relationship between the two men would in the coming decades shaped the course of American history.
他看到了一个他可以效仿和钦佩的人，两人之间的关系将在未来几十年塑造美国历史的进程。
Hamilton spent four years as Washington's chief of staff becoming well known throughout the army as Washington's man,
汉密尔顿在担任华盛顿参谋长的四年时间里，以华盛顿人的身份在军队中广为人知，
but Hamilton was a young man with the young man's thirst for glory and he desperately wanted a field command.
但汉密尔顿还是一个年轻人，有着年轻人对荣耀的渴望，他非常想要一个野战指挥部。
He finally got one in August 1781, just in time to participate in the most important battle of the revolutionary war.
1781年8月，他终于得到了一名士兵，正好参加了革命战争中最重要的一场战斗。
Washington's army in conjunction with America's French allies had surrounded the British army of Lord Cornwallis in Yorktown Virginia to complete their encirclement of Cornwallis's position.
华盛顿的军队和美国的法国盟国一起包围了位于弗吉尼亚州约克镇的康沃利斯勋爵的英军，以完成对康沃利斯阵地的包围。
Two small forts known as redoubts 9 and 10 needed to be seized.
需要占领的两个小堡垒分别是第9号和第10号堡垒。
Colonel Hamilton was named commander of the American effort to recapture redoubt number 10, while the French seized number nine.
汉密尔顿上校被任命为美军夺回10号棱堡的指挥官，而法国人则占领了9号棱堡。
In a nighttime action, on October the 14th, 400 American soldiers led by Hamilton stormed the redoubt, a bare net point, capturing the position, after heavy hand-to-hand fighting with the French, also succeeding in capturing, their target Cornwallis fate was sealed.
在10月14日的一次夜间行动中，由汉密尔顿率领的400名美国士兵突袭了棱堡，这是一个光光的网点，夺取了阵地，经过与法国人的激烈肉战，也成功地夺取了，他们的目标康沃利斯的命运已经确定。
Five days later, eight thousand soldiers marched out of Yorktown, having surrendered to the Americans and the French.
五天后，八千名士兵离开约克镇，向美国人和法国人投降。
Even though New York would be occupied by the British, until 1783, for all intents and purposes, the war was over and America had won her independence.
尽管纽约后来被英国占领，但无论如何，直到1783年，战争结束了，美国赢得了独立。
