Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. Americans experimented with many new customs and social traditions during the nineteen twenties. There were new dances, new kinds of clothes and some of the most imaginative art and writing ever produced in the United States. But in most ways, the nineteen twenties were a conservative time in American life. Voters elected three conservative Republican presidents: Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. And they supported many conservative social and political policies. This week in our series, Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe continue the story of American conservatism during the nineteen twenties.
歡迎收聽VOA慢速英語之建國史話節目。20世紀20年代，美國人嘗試了許多新的習俗和社會傳統。有新式舞蹈，新款服裝，以及美國有史以來產生的一些最富想像力的藝術作品和文學著作。但在大多數情況下，20世紀20年代是美國生活中的一個保守時期。選民選出了三位保守派共和黨總統：沃倫·哈丁、卡爾文·柯立芝和赫伯特·胡佛。他們支持許多保守的社會和政治政策。在本周的系列節目中，凱·格蘭特和哈裡·門羅將繼續講述20世紀20年代美國保守主義的故事。
One such policy concerned immigration. Most Americans in the nineteen twenties had at least some ties through blood or marriage to the first Americans who came from Britain. Many people with these kinds of historic ties considered themselves to be real Americans, true Americans. Americans traditionally had welcomed newcomers from such western European countries as Britain, France, or Germany. But most of the people arriving in New York City and other harbors in the nineteen twenties were from the central, eastern and southern areas of Europe. Some Americans became afraid of these millions of people arriving at their shores. They worried that the immigrant newcomers might steal their jobs. Or they feared the political beliefs of the immigrants. Pressure to control immigration increased following the world war. Congress passed a bill that set a limit on how many people would be allowed to enter from each foreign country. And, the Congress and President Calvin Coolidge agreed to an even stronger immigration law in nineteen twenty-four.
其中一項政策涉及移民。20世紀20年代的大多數美國人，至少通過血緣或婚姻與第一批來自英國的美國人有一些聯繫。許多有這種歷史聯結的人認為自己是真正的美國人。美國人一直歡迎來自英國、法國或德國等西歐國家的新來者。但是在20世紀20年代，到達紐約市和其他港口的大多數人來自歐洲中部、東部和南部地區。一些美國人開始對這數以百萬計到達海岸的人感到害怕，他們擔心新移民可能會搶走他們的工作，或是他們害怕移民的政治信仰。二戰後，控制移民的壓力增大。國會通過了一項法案，規定允許每個國家的入境人數。此外，國會和總統卡爾文·庫利奇在1924年同意了一項更強有力的移民法。
Under the new law, limits on the number of immigrants from each foreign country depended on the number of Americans who had families in that country. For example, the law allowed many immigrants to enter from Britain or France, because many American citizens had families in those countries. But fewer people could come from Italy or Russia, because fewer Americans had family members in those countries. The laws were very difficult to enforce. But they did succeed in limiting the number of immigrants from certain countries. A second sign of the conservative feelings in the nineteen twenties was the nation's effort to ban the sale of alcoholic drinks, or liquor. This policy was known as Prohibition, because it prohibited -- or banned -- alcoholic drinks. Many of the strongest supporters of Prohibition were conservative Americans living in rural areas. Many of them believed that liquor was evil, the product of the devil. A number of towns and states passed laws banning alcohol sales during the first years of the twentieth century. And in nineteen nineteen, the nation passed the eighteenth amendment to the federal constitution. This amendment, and the Volstead Act, made it unlawful to make, sell or transport liquor.
根據新法律，對來自外國的移民人數的限制取決於在那個國家擁有家庭的美國人的數量。例如，法律允許許多移民從英國或法國入境，因為許多美國公民在這些國家擁有家庭。但是來自義大利或俄羅斯的人可能會減少，因為在這些國家擁有家人的美國人更少。該項法律執行起來很困難，但確實成功地限制了來自某些國家的移民數量。20世紀20年代保守情緒的第二個跡象，是國家努力禁止銷售酒精飲品或烈性酒。這項政策被稱為《禁酒令》，因為它禁止酒精飲品。《禁酒令》最強烈的反對者是生活在農村地區的保守派美國人。他們中許多人認為酒是邪惡的，是魔鬼的產物。20世紀頭幾年，一些城鎮和州通過了禁止銷售酒類的法律。在1919年，美國通過了聯邦憲法第十八修正案。這項名為《沃爾斯特德法案》的修正案，將製造、銷售或運輸烈酒定為非法。
Prohibition laws failed terribly from the start. There was only a small force of police to enforce the new laws. And millions of Americans still wanted to drink liquor. It was not possible for the police to watch every American who wanted to buy a drink secretly or make liquor in his own home. Not surprisingly, thousands of Americans soon saw a chance to make profits from the new laws. They began to import liquor illegally to sell for high prices. Criminals began to bring liquor across the long, unprotected border with Canada or on fast boats from the Caribbean islands. At the same time, private manufacturers in both cities and rural areas began to produce liquor. And shop owners in cities across the country sold liquor with little interference from local police. By the middle of the nineteen twenties, it was clear to most Americans that Prohibition laws were a failure. But the laws were not changed until the election of President Franklin Roosevelt in nineteen thirty-two. A third sign of conservatism in the nineteen twenties was the effort by some Americans to ban schoolbooks on modern science. Most of the Americans who supported these efforts were conservative rural Americans who believed in the traditional ideas of the Protestant Christian church. Many of them were fearful of the many changes that had taken place in American society.
禁酒令從一開始就非常失敗。只有少部分警察執行新的法律，數以百萬計的美國人仍然想喝酒。警察不可能監視每個想偷偷買酒或在家裡釀酒的美國人。成千上萬的美國人很快就看到了從新法律中獲利的機會，這也不足為奇。他們開始非法進口烈酒，然後高價出售。犯罪分子開始把酒帶過與加拿大無保護的漫長邊境，或者從加勒比海群島乘坐快艇。與此同時，城市和農村的私營製造商也開始生產烈酒。而全國各城市的店主出售烈酒時，當地警察很少幹預。到20世紀20年代中期，對大多數美國人來說，《禁酒令》顯然是失敗的。但直到1932年富蘭克林·羅斯福總統的當選時，這項法律才改變。20世紀20年代保守主義的第三個標誌是，一些美國人竭力禁止教授現代科學的教科書。大多數表示支持的美國人是保守的村民，他們相信基督教新教的傳統。他們中的許多人害怕美國社會發生的許多變化。
Science became an enemy to many of these traditional, religious Americans. Science seemed to challenge the most basic ideas taught in the Bible. The conflict burst into a major public debate in nineteen twenty-five in a trial over Charles Darwin's idea of evolution. British scientist Charles Darwin published his books "The Origin of the Species" and "The Descent of Man" in the nineteenth century. The books explained Darwin's idea that humans developed over millions of years from apes and other animals. Most Europeans and educated people accepted Darwin's theory by the end of the nineteenth century. But the book had little effect in rural parts of the United States until the nineteen twenties. William Jennings Bryan led the attack on Darwin's ideas. Bryan was a rural Democrat who ran twice for president. He lost both times. But Bryan remained popular among many traditional Americans. Bryan told his followers that the theory of evolution was evil, because it challenged the traditional idea that God created the world in six days. He accused scientists of violating God's words in the Bible.
科學成了許多傳統又虔誠的美國人的敵人。科學似乎在挑戰聖經中最基本的理念。這場衝突在1925年對查爾斯·達爾文的進化論思想進行了審判，並引發一場重大的公開辯論。英國科學家查爾斯·達爾文在19世紀出版了他的著作《物種起源》和《人類後裔》。這些書解釋了達爾文的觀點，即人類歷經數百萬年，從猿和其他動物那裡發展而來。到19世紀末，大多數歐洲人和受過教育的人接受達爾文的理論。但直到20世紀20年代，這本書在美國農村地區的影響還很小。威廉·詹寧斯·布賴恩領導了對達爾文思想的抨擊。布賴恩是一位鄉村民主黨人，曾兩次競選總統，兩次都落選了。但是，布萊恩在許多傳統的美國人中仍然很受歡迎。布萊恩告訴他的追隨者，進化論是邪惡的，因為它挑戰了傳統觀念，即上帝在六天內創造了世界。他指責科學家違背了聖經中上帝所說的話語。
Bryan and his supporters called on local school officials to ban the teaching of evolution. Some state legislatures in the more conservative southeastern part of the country passed laws making it a crime to teach evolution theory. In nineteen twenty-five, a young science teacher in the southern state of Tennessee challenged the state's new teaching law. The teacher -- John Scopes -- taught Darwin's evolution ideas. Officials arrested scopes and put him on trial. Some of the nation's greatest lawyers rushed to Tennessee to defend the young teacher. They believed the state had violated his right to free speech. And they thought Tennessee's law against teaching evolution was foolish in a modern, scientific society. America's most famous lawyer, Clarence Darrow, became the leader of Scopes' defense team. Bryan and other religious conservatives also rushed to the trial. They supported the right of the state of Tennessee to ban the teaching of evolution. The trial was held in the small town of Dayton, Tennessee. Hundreds of people came to watch: religious conservatives, free speech supporters, newsmen and others.
布賴恩和他的支持者呼籲當地學校官員禁止教授進化論。美國東南部一些較為保守的州立法機構通過了法律，將教授進化論定為犯罪。1925年，田納西州南部一位教授科學的年輕教師對該州的新教學法提出了挑戰。這位名為約翰·斯科普斯的教師，教授達爾文的進化論思想。官員逮捕了斯考普斯，並對他進行審判。美國一些最傑出的律師趕到田納西州，為這位年輕教師辯護。他們認為，該州侵犯了他的言論自由權。他們認為在現代科學社會裡，田納西州反對教授進化論的法律很愚蠢。美國最著名的律師克拉倫斯·達羅成為斯科普斯辯護小組的組長。布賴恩和其他宗教保守派人士也趕赴審判現場。他們支持田納西州禁止教授進化論的權利。審判在田納西州的小鎮代頓舉行。數百人前來觀看，包括宗教保守派、言論自由支持者、新聞記者等。
The high point of the trial came when Bryan himself sat before the court. Lawyer Clarence Darrow asked Bryan question after question about the bible and about science. How did Bryan know the Bible is true. Did God really create the earth in a single day. Is a day in the Bible twenty-four hours. Or can it mean a million years. Bryan answered the questions. But he showed a great lack of knowledge about modern science. The judge found Scopes guilty of breaking the law. But in the battle of ideas, science defeated conservatism. And a higher court later ruled that Scopes was not guilty. The Scopes evolution trial captured the imagination of Americans. The issue was not really whether one young teacher was innocent or guilty of breaking a law. The real question was the struggle for America's spirit between the forces of modern ideas and those of traditional rural conservatism. The trial represented this larger conflict. American society was changing in many important ways during the early part of the twentieth century. It was not yet the world superpower that it would become after World War Two. But neither was it a traditional rural society of conservative farmers and clergy. The nineteen twenties were a period of growth, of change and of struggle between the old and new values.
庭審的高潮是布賴恩本人出庭受審。律師克拉倫斯·達羅就聖經和科學問題一個接一個地向布賴恩發問。布萊恩怎麼知道聖經是真的；上帝真的在一天之內創造了地球嗎；聖經中的一天是24小時嗎，可能是一百萬年嗎。布賴恩回答了這些問題，但他表現出對現代科學知之甚少。法官判定斯考普斯違法。但在這場思想的鬥爭中，科學戰勝了保守主義。更高一級的法院後來裁定斯考普斯無罪。斯考普斯進化論審判案吸引了美國人的想像力。問題實際上並非一位年輕老師是無辜的，還是犯法了。真正的問題是現代思想力量與傳統農村保守主義力量之間在為美國精神而戰。審判代表了這個更重要的衝突。20世紀初，美國社會發生了許多重要的變化。第二次世界大戰後，它還不是世界超級大國。但它也不再是一個由保守的農民和神職人員組成的傳統農村社會。20世紀20年代是一個成長、變革，新舊價值觀念鬥爭的時期。