there were sort of great families

都有一些大家族
who controlled or who certainly had a lot of power,

控制或掌握着不少权力
in New York politics was really largely organized

但在纽约政治局势主要是
around the clash between a handful of great families.

以几个大家族间的纷争为主导
And the Livingstons are the sort of largest

而利文斯顿家族算是纽约最大
and most noteworthy political clan in New York,

最赫赫有名的政治家族
and I can vouch to you as a historian of this time period

作为一名当代历史学家我可以保证
that when you're studying New York politics

当你们学到纽约政治家的时候
there are a million Livingstons and they're all named Philip.

有很多人姓利文斯顿而且他们都叫菲利普
Trying to tell which Livingston

想要将这几个利文斯顿
is which Livingston is really hard.

区分清楚是很困难的
There are a lot of Livingstons

许多政治家都姓利文斯顿