15篇文章贯通4级词汇Unit10-Part1

　Canada Becomes a Nation

　　Before Canada became a nation in 1867, the area of North America that now composes Canada was a large expanse of widely scattered communities of British and French origins. It was an area with diverse landscapes that physically divided them from the north of the United States. There was little connection among communities politically or economically. These colonies of British North America traditionally traded with Britain and with the United States, very little among themselves. These colonies even had customs duties that, to some extent, restricted such trade. In the mid 1800s, important events and changes took place.

　　Britain repealed(废除,撤销) the Corn Laws and Navigations Acts, which had been economically beneficial to the colonies at the same rate it applied to all other trading countries, a situation to which the colonies had never been accustomed.

　　From 1861to 1864, Americans were involved in a major civil war. Britain had traditional economic ties with the southern part of the United States that provided cotton to British markets. In the meantime, since the war was essentially between the North and the South, the North resented Britain’s connection with the South. In addition, during the last year (1864) of the American Civil War, the American Government of the dominant and ultimately victorious North, refused to renew a ten-year free trade agreement with United Canada, the large British colony in the central part of British North America. These arbitrary events brought concern and even fear to these colonies. With the loss of traditional trading arrangements and the end of the civil war, the North being victorious, the colonists feared that the Americans might turn on the British colonies in retaliation(报复,报仇) for Britain’s moral support for the South.

加拿大建国

　　在1867年加拿大成为一个国家之前，组成现在的加拿大的北美地区，辽阔宽广，到处是分散的英国人和法国人的移民社区。这片土地景色多变，很自然观地将其与美国的北方分辨开来。这些社区之间很少有政治或经济上的联系。传统上，这些英属的北美殖民地与英国和美国进行贸易，而相互之间却少有往来。这些殖民地甚至还没有关税，在一定程度上限制贸易往来。19世纪中期发生的几件重大事件，使情况有了变化。

　　英国撕毁了给好几代殖民地人带来经济利益的谷物法和航行法案，并开始对殖民地课以与其他所有贸易国家同样高的税率，这是殖民地从未遇到过的情况。

　　1861到1864年，美国陷入全面内战。过去是美国南方为英国市场提供棉花，英国与之有着紧密的传统经济联系。在此期间，由于这实际上是一场南北方之间的战争，北方当然不满英国与南方之间的这种传统关系。此外，在美国内战的最后一年(1864年)，占据优势并最终获胜的北方的美国政府，拒绝延续与联合加拿大——英属北美中部最大的英国殖民地——签订的十年自由贸易协议。这些独断专横的事件带给这些殖民地的是担忧甚至是恐惧。传统贸易协议的废除和以北方作为胜利者的内战的结束，使殖民者们害怕美国人可能会转而对付英属殖民地，以报复英国对南方的道义支持。