普布利乌斯之论辩:美国宪法之历史溯源

The Debates of Publius:Trancing to the Historical Source of the American Constitution

1787年9月17日,制宪会议代表聚集费城独立厅签署了前所未有的政府宪章。从纽约传出的信息使人沮丧。然而,每个人都知道,如果没有纽约这样具有战略性意义的邦签署宪法,全国政府成功地构建起来其可能性极小。鉴于此,亚历山大·汉密尔顿、詹姆斯·麦迪逊、约翰·杰伊写作了《联邦党人文集》。在一定程度上,《联邦党人文集》是制宪会议辩论的系统化。从历史分析方法而言,要解读《联邦党人文集》就必须从三个方面入手:(1)《联邦党人文集》写作的历史语景;(2)《联邦党人文集》所引用的历史事实;(3)《联邦党人文集》所评述的历史事件。

On September 17, 1787, the members of the Constitutional Convention gathered for their last meeting in Philadelphia＇ s Independence Hall to sign an unprecedented charter of government. The news from New York was less encouraging. Everyone knew, however, that the new nation stood little chance of success without the strategi- cally situated state of New York. Thereby, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay authored The Feder- alist Papers. To interpret The Federalist Papers , we need to be awae of the context of history surrounding the Fed- eralist Papers, the lessons of history referenced in it and the historical events reviewed in it.