| The complex situation of Catholicism in Great Britain had results in their Colonies. |
大英帝国内天主教的复杂性也影响了其殖民地。 |
| At the time of the American revolution, Catholics formed approximately 1.6% of the total American population of the original 13 colonies. |
在美国革命期间，天主教徒占美国最初13个殖民地总人口的近百分之1.6。 |
| If Catholics were seen as potential enemies of the British state, Irish Catholics, subject to British rule, were doubly-damned. |
如果说，英国政府把所有天主教徒看作潜在的敌人，那么，被英国统治的爱尔兰天主教徒就更是受到加倍的谴责。 |
| In Ireland they had been subject to British domination. |
爱尔兰一直都处在英国的统治下。 |
| In America Catholics were still forbidden from settling in some of the colonies. |
在美国，某几个殖民地也仍然禁止天主教徒定居。 |
| Although the head of their faith dwelt in Rome, they were under the official representation of the Catholic Bishop of the London diocese, one James Talbot. |
虽然天主教的领袖是罗马教皇，但上述天主教徒的官方代表却是伦敦主教辖区的天主教主教，詹姆斯•塔尔伯特（James Talbot)。 |
| When War began, Bishop Talbot declared his faithfulness to the British Crown. |
战争开始后，塔尔伯特主教向英国政府表示了效忠。 |
| (If he had done otherwise, Catholics in England would have been in trouble. Anti-Catholic sentiment still ran high.) |
（假如他支持革命，英国的天主教徒就会陷入更大的险境。因为在美国，反对天主教的情绪依然很高。） |
| He forbade any Colonial priest to serve Communion. |
他禁止任何殖民地的神父主持教会。 |
| This made practice of the faith impossible. |
这让宗教活动无法举行。 |
| This created sympathy for the Colonial rebels. |
这也让殖民地的民众更加同情义军。 |
| The Continental Army's alliance with the French increased sympathy for the faith. |
与法国结盟，更坚定了大陆军(The Continental Army)的信念。 |
| When the French fleet arrived in Newport, Rhode Island, the colony repealed the Act of 1664 and allowed citizenship to Catholics. |
在法国舰队驶抵罗德岛的新港（Newport)后,殖民地废除了《集会法》（Act of1664),并允许天主教徒取得公民身份。 |
| (This anticipated the provision of the Constitutional Bill of Rights which would strike anti-Catholic laws from the books.) |
（这是美国宪法中《人权法案》的前奏，前者从法律上让反天主教的法律没有立足之地。） |
| After the war, the Pope created an American Bishop, John Carroll -- a descendant of the same Carrolls who had helped found Maryland -- and an American Diocese communicating directly with Rome. |
战争结束后，罗马教皇委任约翰•卡罗尔（John Carroll)当第一位美国主教——马里兰州的创建人之一正是其后人——并且，美国主教辖区可以直接跟罗马沟通。 |
| The British government commanded General Thomas Gage to enforce the Intolerable Acts and shut down the Massachusetts legislature. |
英国政府命令托马斯•盖奇（Thomas Gage)将军施行《强制法》，并关闭马萨诸塞议会。 |
| Gage decided to confiscate a stockpile of colonial arms located in Concord. |
盖奇决定没收义军在康科德（Concord)储存的大量武器。 |
| On April 19, 1775, Gage's troops marched to Concord. |
1775年4月19日，盖奇的部队向康科德进发。 |
| On the way, at the town of Lexington, Americans who had been warned in advance by Paul Revere and others of the British movements made an attempt to stop the troops. |
美国人事先接到保罗•瑞威尔（Paul Revere)等人的警告，得知英军动向，在其必经之路的莱克星顿（Lexington)镇截击。 |
| No one knows which side fired the first shot, but it sparked battle on Lexington Green between the British and the Minutemen. |
没有人知道究竟是哪一方先开了第一枪，但就是这第一枪，触发了英军和殖民地民兵之间在莱克星顿草地上的战斗。 |
| Faced against an overwhelmingly superior number of British regular troops in an open field, the Minutemen were quickly routed. |
民兵面对开阔地上压倒性多数的英国正规军，很快败下阵来。 |
| Nevertheless, alarms sounded through the countryside. |
然而，警报已经传遍了整个乡村。 |
| The colonial militias poured in and were able to launch guerrilla attacks on the British while they marched on to Concord. |
殖民地的民兵全都聚拢过来，对继续向康科德行进的英军开展游击战。 |
| The colonials amassed of troops at Concord. |
义军在康科德集结了队伍。 |
| They engaged the British in force there, and they were able to repulse them. |
义军与英军在康科德交战，并将英军击退。 |
| They then claimed the contents of the armory. |
就这样，义军保住了军械库的装备。 |
| The British retreated to Boston under a constant and withering fire from all sides. |
在撤回波士顿的路上，英军持续受到四面八方毫不留情的火力打击。 |
| Only a reinforcing column with artillery support on the outskirts of Boston prevented the British withdrawal from becoming a total rout. |
幸亏有波士顿郊区一支装备有大炮的纵队支援，否则英军就不是撤退，而是全面溃败了。 |
| The following day the British woke up to find Boston surrounded by 20,000 armed colonists, occupying the neck of land extending to the peninsula the city stood on. |
第二天英国人一睁眼，就发现波士顿已经被20,000名全副武装的义军包围，延伸至城市所在半岛的狭长地带也已经被占领。 |
