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Welcome to the MAKING OF A NATION –American history in VOA Special English. Andrew Jackson served as president ofthe United States from eighteen twenty-nine to eighteen thirty-seven. His firstterm seemed to be mostly a political battle with Vice President John C.Calhoun. Calhoun wanted to be the next president. Jackson believed hissecretary of state, Martin Van Buren, would be a better president. And VanBuren wanted the job. He won the president's support partly because of his helpin settling a serious political dispute. This week in our series, Harry Monroeand Kay Gallant continue the story of Andrew Jackson and his presidency.
President Jackson's cabinet was in greatdisorder. Vice President Calhoun was trying to force out Secretary of War JohnEaton. Eaton would not resign, and the president would not dismiss him. VanBuren designed a plan to gain Eaton's resignation. One morning, as Jacksondiscussed his cabinet problems, Van Buren said: "There is only one thing,general, that will bring you peace -- my resignation." "Never,"said Jackson. Van Buren explained how his resignation would solve a number ofJackson's political problems. Jackson did not want to let Van Buren go. But thenext day, he told Van Buren that he would never stop any man who wished toleave. The president wanted to discuss the resignation with his other advisers.Van Buren agreed. He also said it might be best if Secretary of War Eaton wereat the meeting. The advisers accepted Van Buren's resignation. Then they wentto Van Buren's house for dinner. On the way, Eaton said: "Gentlemen, thisis all wrong. I am the one who should resign!" Van Buren said Eaton mustbe sure of such a move. Eaton was sure. President Jackson accepted Eaton'sdecision as he had accepted Van Buren's. But he was unwilling to give upcompletely the services of his two friends. He named Van Buren to be ministerto Britain. And he told Eaton that he would help him get elected again to theSenate. Jackson then dismissed the remaining members of his cabinet. He wasfree to organize a new cabinet that would be loyal to him and not to VicePresident Calhoun.
Evenwith a new cabinet, Jackson still faced the problem of nullification. SouthCarolina politicians, led by Calhoun, continued to claim that states had theright to reject -- nullify -- a federal law which they believed was bad. Jacksonasked a congressman from South Carolina to give a message to the nullifiers inhis state. "Tell them," Jackson said, "that they can talk andwrite resolutions and print threats to their hearts' content. But if one dropof blood is shed there in opposition to the laws of the United States, I willhang the first man I can get my hands on to the first tree I can find." Someonequestioned if Jackson would go so far as to hang someone. A man answered:"When Jackson begins to talk about hanging, they can begin to look for theropes." The nullifiers held a majority of seats in South Carolina'slegislature at that time. They called a special convention. Within five days,convention delegates approved a declaration of nullification. They declaredthat the federal import tax laws of eighteen twenty-eight and eighteenthirty-two were unconstitutional, and therefore, cancelled. They said citizensof South Carolina need not pay the tax. The nullifiers also declared that ifthe federal government tried to use force against South Carolina, then thestate would withdraw from the union and form its own independent government.
President Jackson answered with adeclaration of his own. Jackson said America's constitution formed agovernment, not just an association of sovereign states. South Carolina had noright to cancel a federal law or to withdraw from the union. Disunion by forcewas treason. Jackson said: "The laws of the United States must beenforced. This is my duty under the Constitution. I have no other choice."Jackson did more. He asked Congress to give him the power to use the Army andNavy to enforce the laws of the land. Congress did so. Jackson sent eightwarships to the port of Charleston, South Carolina, and soldiers to federalmilitary bases in the state. While preparing to use force, Jackson offered hopefor a peaceful settlement. In his yearly message to Congress, he spoke ofreducing the federal import tax which hurt the sale of southern cottonoverseas. He said the import tax could be reduced, because the national debtwould soon be paid. Congress passed a compromise bill to end the import tax byeighteen forty-two. South Carolina's congressmen accepted the compromise. Andthe state's legislature called another convention. This time, the delegatesvoted to end the nullification act they had approved earlier. They did not,however, give up their belief in the idea of nullification. The idea continuedto be a threat to the American union until the issue was settled in the CivilWar which began in eighteen sixty-one.
While President Jackson battled thenullifiers, another struggle began. This time, it was Jackson against the Bankof the United States. Congress provided money to establish the Bank of theUnited States in eighteen sixteen. It gave the bank a charter to do businessfor twenty years. The bank was permitted to use the government's money to makeloans. For this, the bank paid the government one and one-half million dollarsa year. The bank was run by private citizens. The Bank of the United States wasstrong, because of the great amount of government money invested in it. Thebank's paper notes were almost as good as gold. They came close to being anational money system. The bank opened offices in many parts of the country. Asit grew, it became more powerful. By making it easy or difficult for businessesto borrow money, the bank could control the economy of almost any part of theUnited States. During Jackson's presidency, the Bank of the United States washeaded by Nicholas Biddle. Biddle was an extremely intelligent man. He hadcompleted studies at the University of Pennsylvania when he was only thirteenyears old. When he was eighteen, he was sent to Paris as secretary to theAmerican minister. Biddle worked on financial details of the purchase of theLouisiana territory from France. After America's war against Britain ineighteen twelve, Biddle helped establish the Bank of the United States. Hebecame its president when he was only thirty-seven years old.
Biddleclearly understood his power as president of the Bank of the United States. Inhis mind, the government had no right to interfere in any way with the bank'sbusiness. President Jackson did not agree. Nor was he very friendly toward thebank. Not many westerners were. They did not trust the bank's paper money. Theywanted to deal in gold and silver. Jackson criticized the bank in each of hisyearly messages to Congress. He said the Bank of the United States wasdangerous to the liberty of the people. He said the bank could build up or pulldown political parties through loans to politicians. Jackson opposed giving thebank a new charter. He proposed that a new bank be formed as part of theTreasury Department. The president urged Congress to consider the future of thebank long before the bank's charter was to end. Then, if the charter wasrejected, the bank could close its business slowly over several years. Thiswould prevent serious economic problems for the country. Many of PresidentJackson's advisers believed he should say nothing about the bank until afterthe presidential election of eighteen thirty-two. They feared he might lose thevotes of those who supported the bank. Jackson accepted their advice. He agreednot to act on the issue, if bank president Biddle would not request renewal ofthe charter before the election. Biddle agreed. Then he changed his mind. Heasked Congress for a new charter in January eighteen thirty-two. The requestbecame a hot political issue in the presidential campaign.重点解析
1.force out 封杀；挤出
They are slowly but steadily beginning to force out the illegal copies.
他们慢慢地并且稳步的排挤的盗版产品。
2.give up 放弃；断绝
After about a week, I was ready to give up.
大约一星期之后，我终于打算放弃了。
3.interfere in 干预；在某件事上打扰
The UN cannot interfere in the internal affairs of any country.
联合国不能干涉任何国家的内政。
4.pull down 拆毁；推翻
It is easy to pull down the old world than to build the new.
破坏旧世界容易，但要建设新世界就难了。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。安德鲁·杰克逊从1829年到1837年担任美国总统，他的第一个任期似乎主要是与副总统约翰·C·卡尔霍恩进行政治斗争。卡尔霍恩想做下一任总统，但杰克逊认为国务卿马丁·范布伦会是更好地人选。范布伦也想做这个职位。他赢得了总统的支持，部分原因是他帮助解决一个严重的政治争端。在本周的系列节目中，哈里·门罗和凯·格兰特将继续讲述安德鲁·杰克逊及其总统任职期间发生的故事。
总统杰克逊的内阁非常混乱，副总统卡尔霍恩试图将作战部长约翰·伊顿排挤出内阁。伊顿不会辞职，总统也不会解雇他。范布伦谋划出一个让伊顿辞职的方案。一天早上，杰克逊谈及其内阁中存在的问题时，范布伦说道：“将军，只有一件事能给您带来和平，那就是我辞职。”“绝对不行，”杰克逊说。范布伦解释了他的辞职将如何解决杰克逊的一些政治问题，杰克逊不想让范布伦离开。但第二天，他告诉范布伦，他永远不会阻止任何想离开的人。总统想和其他顾问讨论一下他辞职的问题，范布伦同意了。他还说，最好作战部长伊顿能出席会议。顾问们接受了范布伦的辞职申请，然后他们去范布伦家吃晚餐。在路上，伊顿说：“先生们，这样做不对，我才是应该辞职的人！”范布伦说伊顿对这一做法很确定，伊顿表示确定。总统杰克逊接受了伊顿的决定，因为他已经接受了范布伦的辞职申请，但他不愿意结束两位朋友的公职工作。他任命范布伦为英国事务部长，还告诉伊顿，他将帮助他再次当选参议员。杰克逊随后解散了内阁成员，他可以自由组建一个忠于他而不是忠于副总统卡尔霍恩的新内阁。
即使成立了新内阁，杰克逊仍然面临着无效原则的问题。由卡尔霍恩领导的南卡罗来纳州政客继续声称各州有权否决权，即废除他们认为恰当的联邦法律。杰克逊请南卡罗来纳州的一位国会议员告知他所在州的无效论者，杰克逊说：“告诉他们，他们可以讨论后写下决议，把他们内心感受到的各种威胁以白纸黑字的方式呈现出来。但是，如果因抵触美国法律而发生流血事件，我会把抓到的第一个肇事者吊死在我能找到的第一棵树上。”有人问杰克逊是否真的会把人吊死，一个男人回答说：“当杰克逊说要吊死某人时，他们可以开始找绳子了。”当时，无效论者在南卡罗来纳州立法机构中占多数席位。他们召集了一次特别会议，会议代表在五天内批准了一份无效宣言。他们声称1828年和1832年的联邦进口税法是违宪的，因此要被废除。他们说南卡罗来纳州的公民不需要缴付税款。无效论者还宣称，如果联邦政府试图动用武力对抗南卡罗来纳州，那么该州将退出联邦，组建自己的独立政府。
总统杰克逊发表了一份声明作为回应，杰克逊说，依据美国宪法成立的是美国政府，而不只是主权州的联盟。南卡罗来纳州无权废除联邦法律或退出联邦，武力分裂属叛国罪。必须执行美国的法律，这是宪法赋予我的职责，我别无选择。”杰克逊还做了更多的事情，他要求国会赋予他调动陆军和海军的权利，以执行国家法律。国会同意了他的请求。杰克逊派遣八艘战舰前往南卡罗来纳州的查尔斯顿港，并向该州的联邦军事基地派遣士兵。杰克逊准备动用武力的同时，也提出希望和平解决争端。在他向国会发表的年度国情咨文中谈到降低联邦进口税，因为进口税损害南方棉花在海外的销售。他说，可以降低进口税，因为国债很快就会偿清。国会通过了一项折衷法案，以便在1842年之前终止征收进口税。南卡罗来纳州的国会议员接受了折衷法案。州立法机关又召集了一次会议。这一次，代表们投票终止执行他们之前批准的无效法案。然而，他们并未放弃对无效原则抱持的信念。这一理念继续对美国联邦构成威胁，直到1861年内战爆发才得以解决。
当杰克逊总统与无效论者争斗时，另一场斗争又开始了。这一次，是杰克逊反对美国银行。国会于1816年拨款设立美国银行，为银行提供20年的经营许可权，准许其使用政府资金发放贷款，而银行每年向政府支付150万美元。这家银行由普通公民经营。由于投入了大量政府资金，美国银行实力雄厚，银行发行的纸币几乎和黄金一样值钱，几乎就是国家的货币体系。这家银行在全美许多地方开设了办事处，随着不断发展，它变得更加强大。通过放宽或缩紧对企业借贷，该银行可以控制美国几乎任何一个地区的经济。杰克逊担任总统期间，美国银行由尼古拉斯·比德尔领导。比德尔非常聪慧，他13岁时就完成了宾夕法尼亚大学学业。18岁时，他被派到巴黎担任美国部长的秘书。比德尔研究了从法国购买路易斯安那州领土的财务细节。在1812年美国对战英国的战争结束之后，比德尔帮助建立了美国银行。他年仅三十七岁就成为银行行长。
比德尔清楚地了解他作为美国银行行长的权力。在他看来，政府无权以任何方式干涉银行的业务。杰克逊总统不同意这种观点，他对银行也不是很友好。很多西方人都持有同样的态度，他们不相信银行发行的纸币，而是想买卖金银。杰克逊在给国会的年度国情咨文中都会抨击美国银行。他说，美国银行是对人民自由的威胁，银行可以通过向政客发放贷款来建立或推翻政党。杰克逊反对给银行提供新的经营许可，他提议成立一家新银行作为财政部的一部分。总统敦促国会在银行经营许可到期前，考虑银行的未来。如果该经营许可被驳回，该银行可以在几年内慢慢结束其业务，这将防止国家出现严重的经济问题。总统杰克逊的许多顾问认为，在1832年总统大选之前，他不应该对美国银行发表任何评论。他们担心他可能会失去那些支持银行的人的选票。杰克逊接受了他们的建议。如果行长比德尔在选举前不要求更新经营许可，他同意不就此问题采取行动。比德尔同意了，后来他又改变了主意。他要求国会在1832年1月提供新的经营许可。这一要求成为总统竞选中的一个热点政治问题。
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