62. Stuyvesant's Rule.
62.彼得·斯特文森特的統治
Stuyvesant was a hot-tempered, energetic soldier who had lost a leg in the Company's service. He ruled New Netherland for a long time, from 1647 to 1664. And he ruled so sternly that the colonists were glad when the English came and conquered them. This unpopularity was not entirely Stuyvesant's fault. The Dutch West India Company was a failure. It had no money to spend for the defence of the colonists, and Stuyvesant was obliged to lay heavy taxes on the people.
彼得·斯特文森特是一個急性子而又精力充沛的士兵,他在服務西印度公司期間失去一條腿。彼得·斯特文森特從1647年到1664年一直在統治新荷蘭,他的統治非常嚴酷,被統治的殖民者甚至在英國人趕來征服他們時感到高興。這并非完全是斯特文森的錯。西印度公司經營不善,無錢應付殖民地防御開銷,他也是被迫向人民征收繁重的賦稅。
63. New Sweden.
63.新瑞典
When the French, the English, and the Dutch were founding colonies in America, the Swedes also thought that they might as well have a colony there too. They had no claim to any land in America. But Swedish armies were fighting the Dutchmen's battles in Europe. So the Swedes sent out a colony to settle on lands claimed by the Dutch. As long as the European war went on, the Swedes were not interfered with. But when the European war came to an end, Stuyvesant was told to conquer them. This he did without much trouble, as he had about as many soldiers as there were Swedish colonists. In this way New Sweden became a part of New Netherland.
當法國人、英國人和荷蘭人在美洲創建殖民地時,瑞典人也認為自己可以在那里擁有一個殖民地。瑞典人沒有對美洲的任何土地宣稱有什么主權,但是,瑞典的軍隊正在歐洲和荷蘭人打仗,因此,瑞典人將一些人安置到荷蘭人宣稱有主權的土地上,只要歐洲戰爭不停下來,瑞典人此舉就不會被阻礙。但是,當歐洲戰爭結束時,斯特文森特得到命令去征服瑞典人。斯特文森特毫不費力地完成了任務,因為他的士兵幾乎和瑞典的殖民者一樣多。這樣新瑞典變成了新荷蘭的一部分。
64. Summary.
64.小結
We have seen how the French, the Dutch, the Swedish, and the English colonies were established on the Atlantic seashore and in the St. Lawrence valley. South of these settlements there was the earlier Spanish colony at St. Augustine. The Spanish colonists were very few in number, but they gave Spain a claim to Florida. The Swedish colony had been absorbed by the stronger Dutch colony. We have also seen how very unlike were the two English groups of colonies. They were both settled by Englishmen, but there the likeness stops. For Virginia and Maryland were slave colonies. They produced large crops of tobacco. The New England colonists on the other hand were practically all free. They lived in towns and engaged in all kinds of industries. In the next hundred years we shall see how the English conquered first the Dutch and then the French; how they planted colonies far to the south of Virginia and in these ways occupied the whole coast north of Florida.
我們已經看到,法國人、荷蘭人、瑞典人和英國人怎樣在大西洋海濱和圣勞倫斯河流域創建他們的殖民地,在這些殖民地的南方是早期西班牙人在圣奧古斯丁建的殖民地;西班牙殖民者的人數不多,但是,他們使得西班牙擁有佛羅里達;瑞典人的殖民地則被更強大的荷蘭完全吞并。我們還看到,兩個英國殖民地如何地迥然不同;它們都是由英國人創建,但自創建之初就表現出不同:弗吉尼亞和馬里蘭是奴隸殖民地,出產大量的煙草,新英格蘭殖民者則是自由業者,它們生活在城鎮中,從事各種各樣的工業生產。在接下來的一百年里,我們將看到英國人如何先后征服荷蘭和法國,如何在遠離弗吉尼亞南部的地方培植殖民地并用這種方式占據佛羅里達北部的整個海岸。