广播电视英语短句 第 201 课：公司与自然人-2

Historian Jeff Sklansky says a slow shift to personhood for American companies began with a Supreme Court ruling in eighteen nineteen. 历史学家 Jeff Sklansky 说，美国公司缓慢演变为自然人始于 1819 年的一项高等法院裁定。

It said states cannot interfere with private contracts creating corporations. 该裁定规定，各州不得干扰设立公司的私人契约。

In the ruling, Chief Justice John Marshall described a corporation as an "artificial being" that is a "creature of the law." 在这一裁定中，美国高等法院首席法官将公司描述为“法律产物（人工人）”。

The ruling was unpopular. It came as Americans resisted big corporations like the First Bank of the United States, chartered by Congress. 这一裁定并不太见待。这一裁定的时机正好是美国人抵制大公司，如美国国会特许的美国第一银行。

Some states passed laws permitting themselves to change or even cancel corporate charters. 有些州立法，允许改变甚至取缔公司执照。