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James Madison was the fourth President of the United States. He was born in 1751 in Virginia, the oldest of twelve children. He studied history and government at Princeton (then called the College of New Jersey). He was well read in law, which he studied because he thought it was interesting, not because he wanted to become a lawyer. He is known as the "Father of the Constitution".
詹姆斯·麥迪遜是美國的第四任總統(tǒng)，于1751年出生在美國的弗吉尼亞州。他是家中的長子，家里有12個兄弟姐妹。他曾在普林斯頓大學(xué)（當(dāng)時名為“新澤西學(xué)院”）學(xué)習(xí)歷史和政治。他通曉法律，但他之所以學(xué)習(xí)法律，并不是因為他想成為一名律師，而是因為他覺得法律很有意思。他被稱為美國“憲法之父”。
Madison started out in politics at an early age. He served in the Virginia state legislature from 1776 to 1779 and became known as a protégé of Thomas Jefferson. During this time, he helped draft the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. He served a second term in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1784 to 1786. He gained a reputation for his ability to build coalitions.
麥迪遜在早年便開始了他的政治生涯。1776年至1779年，他服務(wù)于維吉尼亞州議會，被稱為托馬斯·杰斐遜的門生。在此期間，他協(xié)助起草了《弗吉尼亞宗教自由法令》。1784年至1786年，他連任了兩屆弗吉尼亞州眾議院的代表。他善于創(chuàng)建聯(lián)盟，并因此而聞名。
Madison was 36 when he attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and made a major contribution to its ratification. He felt he hadn't earned the title of "Father of the Constitution" and wrote that it was not "the offspring of a single brain, but the work of many heads and many hands". In Congress, he helped frame the Bill of Rights and enact the first revenue legislation.
麥迪遜在36歲時參加了美國費城的制憲會議，并為它的批準(zhǔn)作出了重大貢獻(xiàn)。他覺得他并不是什么“憲法之父”，他寫道：這部憲法并不是“一個人的杰作，而是眾人的智慧與汗水的結(jié)晶。”在國會任職期間，他曾協(xié)助制定《權(quán)利法案》的框架，并頒布了第一條稅收法。
Madison served as President between 1809 and 1817. He led America into the War of 1812 to try to end British interference in American affairs. The war ended in 1815 and is often called "the Second War of American Independence". After the war he promoted a stronger national government and signed a bill that created the Second Bank of the United States. He died at the age of 85 in 1836.
1809年至1817年，麥迪遜擔(dān)任美國總統(tǒng)。他曾帶領(lǐng)美國人參加“1812年戰(zhàn)爭”，試圖結(jié)束英國干涉美國內(nèi)政的局面。該戰(zhàn)爭于1815年結(jié)束，通常被稱為美國的“第二次獨立戰(zhàn)爭”。戰(zhàn)后，他促進(jìn)了一個更強有力的美國政府的建立，并簽署了一項法案，該法案規(guī)定成立美國第二銀行。1836年，麥迪遜逝世，享年85歲。
譯文屬可可英語原創(chuàng)，未經(jīng)允許，不得轉(zhuǎn)載。
