(单词翻译:单击)
Americans used to know this.
美国人过去知道这一点。
The United States began its life purposefully as a seapower: The Constitution explicitly directed Congress “to provide and maintain a Navy.”
美国一开始就有目的地成为一个海上强国: 《宪法》明确指示国会“配备并维持一支海军”。
In contrast, the same article of the Constitution instructed the legislature “to raise and support Armies,” but stipulated that no appropriation for the army “shall be for a longer Term than two Years.”
相反，《宪法》的同一条款指示立法机关“筹集并供养军队”，但规定军队的拨款“不得超过两年”。
The Founders had an aversion to large standing armies.
美国建国者厌恶庞大的常备军。
George Washington pushed through the Naval Act of 1794, funding the Navy’s original six frigates.
乔治·华盛顿推动通过了1794年的《海军法案》，为海军最初的六艘护卫舰提供资金。
(One of these was the famous USS Constitution, “Old Ironsides,” which remains in active commission to this day.)
(其中之一就是著名的美国“宪法”号风帆护卫舰--“老铁壳”，至今仍在服役。)
In his final address to the American people, Washington advocated for a navalist foreign policy, warning against “attachments and entanglements” with foreign powers that might draw the young nation into continental European wars.
在华盛顿对美国人民的最后一次讲话中，他提倡海军至上主义的外交政策，警告不要“依恋和纠缠”可能会把这个年轻国家卷入欧洲大陆战争的外国势力。
The strategy he advised instead was to protect American trade on the high seas, and advance America’s interests through temporary agreements, not permanent alliances.
相反，他建议的策略是保护美国在公海的贸易，并通过临时协议而非永久联盟来发展美国的利益。
This seapower approach to the world became the sine qua non of early American foreign policy.
这种对世界的海权方针成为早期美国外交政策的必要条件。
In time, conditions changed. The U.S. was preoccupied by sectional conflict and by conquest of the continent.
随着时间的推移，情况发生了变化。美国的注意力曾集中在地区冲突和征服欧洲大陆上。
It turned inward, becoming a continental power.
美国的注意力转向国内，成为了一个大陆强国。
But by the end of the 19th century, that era had come to a close.
但到了19世纪末，那个时代已经结束了。
In 1890, a U.S. Navy captain named Alfred Thayer Mahan published an article in The Atlantic titled “The United States Looking Outward.”
1890年，美国海军上尉阿尔弗雷德·塞耶·马汉在《大西洋月刊》上发表了一篇题为《美国向外看》的文章。
Mahan argued that, with the closing of the frontier, the United States had in essence become an island nation looking eastward and westward across oceans.
马汉认为，随着边境的关闭，本质上，美国变成了一个横跨大洋东张西望的岛国。
The nation’s energies should therefore be focused externally: on the seas, on maritime trade, and on a larger role in the world.
因此，这个国家的精力应该集中在外部: 海洋、海上贸易，以及在世界上发挥更大的作用上。
Mahan sought to end the long-standing policy of protectionism for American industries, because they had become strong enough to compete in the global market.
马汉试图结束长期以来对美国工业的保护主义政策，因为美国工业已经强大到足以在全球市场上竞争。
By extension, Mahan also sought a larger merchant fleet to carry goods from American factories to foreign lands, and for a larger Navy to protect that merchant fleet.
此外，马汉还寻求建立一支更大的商船队，将美国工厂的货物运往国外，并建立一支更大的海军来保护这支商船队。
In a few thousand words, Mahan made a coherent strategic argument that the United States should once again become a true seapower.
马汉以千字篇幅提出了一个连贯的战略论点，即美国应该再次成为一个真正的海上强国。
