TEXT:Washington's ragtag troops are about to face he best-equipped and most powerful fighting force in the world.June 29th. 45 British warships mass off Staten Island. Bearing down on New York City,the ultimate war machine of its day, the British ship -of -the-line. Each ship is made from over 2,000 century-old trees. Each carries hundreds more soldiers to the fight against the colonies.And each is armed with up to 64 heavy cannons capable of hurling a 24 -pound cannonball at the speed of sound, delivering it to targets over a mile away. One ship -of -the-line costs the equivalent of a modern aircraft carrier. Another 350 British ships are racing across the Atlantic to join them. The British want to terrify the Rebels into submission. Instead, they inspire them to resist. On July 2nd,there's a crisis meeting in Philadelphia. 50 delegates elected to the Continental Congress from the 13 colonies hold an emergency session. They include radicals like Ben Franklin,Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. What they're debating is nothing less than high treason -- total independence from Britain. The penalty is death. We are in the midst of a revolution, the most complete in the history of the world. It's the birth of American democracy. We have to expect a great expanse of blood to obtain it. Some don't believe the Rebels stand a chance. We are about to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper. But the doubters are outnumbered nearly five to one.
译文:华盛顿所率领的乌合之众要抗击的是当时全世界装备最精良,战斗力最强的军队。6月29日,45艘英国战舰向斯塔滕岛进发,浩浩荡荡向纽约逼近。英国海军舰队,那个时代的终极武器。每艘战舰都由2000余棵百年老树造就,搭载着数百名士兵前去镇压殖民地反抗。每艘战舰还配有64门重型火炮,能够以声速射出24磅的炮弹且射程可达1英里。建造一队战舰所花费的成本不亚于当今的航空母舰。另有350艘战船正飞速穿越大西洋前来增援,英国本想以此吓退起义军,却没想到这反而激起了他们的斗志。7月2日在费城召开了一个紧急会议,50名代表13州参加大陆会议的代表进行了紧急磋商,会议成员中的激进分子如本·富兰克林,托马斯·杰斐逊和约翰·亚当斯,他们主张发动一场不亚于叛国的革命脱离英王统治取得独立。不成功便成仁,我们正身处一场有史以来最为彻底的革命之中,这场革命促使了美国民主的诞生,这场革命需要我们为之抛头颅洒热血。然而保守派却认为革命毫无希望,我们这无异于以卵击石,持怀疑态度者最终以一比五被否决。