If you want to understand this Yankee,

如果你想要理解北方佬
northern, market economy, society,

北方市场经济上流社会
just look at some histories of technological innovation throughout this era

只要看看这个时代的一些技术创新史
and you realize there were just thousands and thousands of patents given,

你会发现到这期间授予了成千上万的专利权
mostly to northerners,

大部分是给予了北方人
for inventing this or that kind of thing or trinket

都是一些琐碎的小玩意儿
or firearm or method of producing something

或一些火器或生产方法
or printing press or glass or musical instrument

或印刷机玻璃或乐器
or Connecticut clocks or the first refrigerators

或康涅狄格钟表或者第一台冰箱
or ice-making machines or new locks or new elevators,

或制冰机或新的锁或者新电梯
and on and on and on and on and on it goes.

等等等等诸如此类的东西
I forget who--it may have been Charles Seller

我忘了是谁说的大概是查尔斯.塞勒