(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to the MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. In eighteen forty-three, Texas was a major issue in American politics. President John Tyler wanted to make Texas a state in the Union. But his secretary of state, Daniel Webster, was cool toward the idea. Webster was a northerner who opposed having another slave-holding state in the Union. Tyler did not push the issue. He needed Webster's political support. Then, Webster resigned. The president replaced him with a southerner, Abel Upshur. Four months later, Upshur began negotiations to bring Texas into the Union. But a few weeks before those talks were completed, Upshur died in an accident. President Tyler was a member of the Whig Party. But he made a Democrat -- John C. Calhoun -- his new secretary of state. Calhoun wanted Texas in the Union. But Tyler also had another reason for wanting his help. Tyler, though a Whig, hoped to get nominated in eighteen forty-four as the presidential candidate of the Democrats. This week in our series, Maurice Joyce and Stewart Spencer talk about the election of eighteen forty-four.
Calhoun completed the talks that Upshur had begun. And the treaty with Texas was signed April twelfth, eighteen forty-four. A few days later, a letter from Calhoun to the British minister in Washington was made public. The letter was Calhoun's answer to a British note saying that Britain wished to end slavery wherever it existed. Calhoun defended slavery in the American south. He said that what was called slavery was really a political institution necessary for the peace, safety, and economic strength of those states where it existed. Calhoun said that statehood for Texas was necessary to the peace and security of the United States. He said that ending slavery in Texas would be a danger to the American south and to the Union itself. Calhoun made it seem that the United States wanted Texas -- not because of some great national interest -- but only to protect slavery in the south. The letter created great opposition to Texas statehood in the north. People called on their senators to vote against the acceptance of Texas. President Tyler sent the treaty with Texas to the Senate on April twenty-second, eighteen forty-four. This was just nine days before the Whig party opened its national convention in Baltimore. Everybody was sure that the Whigs would choose Senator Henry Clay as their presidential candidate.
Clay had been working hard for the nomination for more than two years. The Democrats were to hold their convention a month later. Former President Martin Van Buren was the choice of most Democrats. Both Clay and Van Buren opposed statehood for Texas. Clay said it would lead to war with Mexico. Van Buren agreed. As expected, Clay was chosen as the Whig Party's candidate for president. But Van Buren was given a surprise. The Democrats adopted a rule that their candidate must receive at least two-thirds of the votes -- one hundred and seventy-seven of the two-hundred and sixty-six delegates to the convention. Van Buren won a majority of the votes -- one hundred and forty-six. But that was not enough. The convention voted again. But Van Buren still fell short of the necessary two-thirds. The delegates voted again and again without giving Van Buren the number he needed. After a time, Van Buren began to lose votes. None of the names nominated seemed able to win the necessary two-thirds. At last, another name was proposed: James K. Polk. Polk was at one time governor of Tennessee and Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was a supporter of statehood for Texas. The convention delegates voted for the eighth time. Polk got only forty-four votes. Then they voted again. This time, Polk received all two-hundred sixty-six votes.
Senator Silas Wright of New York was chosen as candidate for the vice-presidency. But he refused to accept, because he did not support making Texas a state. The Democrats then chose Senator George Dallas of Pennsylvania. Two other parties offered candidates in the eighteen forty-four elections. President Tyler formed a party of his supporters and government workers. They met and nominated him for president. A fourth group, the Liberty Party, was organized by northeastern Abolitionists after the Democratic and Whig parties refused to oppose slavery. Representatives from six states met at Albany, New York. They chose James Birney for president. Texas was the chief issue of the eighteen forty-four campaign. President Tyler had sent the treaty with Texas to the Senate for approval. The Senate received it just one week after the democratic convention. Those senators who had supported Martin Van Buren were still bitter over the party's failure to nominate him as its candidate. They joined with the Whigs to defeat the treaty: thirty-five to sixteen. Tyler still hoped to get statehood for Texas. James K. Polk, the Democratic candidate, also campaigned on promises to get Texas for the United States. The Whig candidate, Henry Clay, at first opposed statehood for Texas. But this position began to cost him support in the South. Then he said statehood might be possible if most of the people wanted it. This satisfied the slave owners of the South who wanted Texas in the Union as a slave state.
Clay angered many people in the North because he softened his opposition to Texas. Some of these began supporting the Liberty Party candidate, James Birney. The Democrats were able to get President Tyler to withdraw as a candidate. They told him that he would take votes from the Democrats and might make Clay president. Wild campaign charges were made against both Polk and Clay. Clay was called a gambler, a duelist, a man of dishonest deals. Stories were told about Clay's use of strong language and his love of card games. Whig newspapers reported that a traveler saw a group of slaves being sold in Tennessee. Burned into the skin of each of the slaves, the papers said, were the letters JKP -- the initials of James K. Polk. The election was very close. Two million seven hundred thousand people voted. Polk received only thirty-eight-thousand votes more than Clay. But Polk got one-hundred-seventy electoral votes. Clay got only one-hundred-five. The election was really decided in New York state. Clay lost the state's thirty-six electoral votes. But he did so by just fifty-one hundred votes. He might have won the state had not James Birney received more than fifteen thousand votes in New York. President Tyler believed Polk's victory showed that the American people wanted statehood for Texas. But he knew that he could never get the Senate's approval of a Texas statehood treaty. It would take two-thirds of the Senate vote to do so. So Tyler proposed other action to make Texas a state.
When Congress met in December, he proposed that Texas be given statehood through a joint resolution by both the House and Senate. Such a resolution needed only a simple majority for approval. A resolution calling for the annexation of Texas was passed by the house in January, eighteen forty-five, and by the Senate on February twenty-seventh. Tyler signed the bill on March first -- just three days before he stepped down as president. The resolution invited Texas to join the Union as a state. It gave Texas the right to split itself into as many as four more states when its population was large enough. Texas could keep its public lands. But it had to pay its own debts. And Texas could enter the Union as a slave state. The Mexican minister to Washington protested the resolution. He called it an act of aggression against his country. He demanded his passport and returned to Mexico. Britain and France tried to prevent Texas from becoming a state. They got Mexico to agree to recognize Texas independence, but only if Texas would not join the United States. Texas thus had two choices. It could become a state in the United States. Or it could continue as a republic with its independence recognized by Mexico. The Texas Congress chose statehood. President Polk looked even farther to the west for more new territory.
重点解析
1.lead to 导致；引起
A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.
不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
2.short of 缺少；达不到
Government forces are running short of ammunition and fuel.
政府军队的弹药和燃料都所剩无几了。
3.refuse to 拒绝；不肯
I refuse to act that way when my kids fight.
我的孩子们打起架来时，我不会那样做。
4.at first 起先；最初
At first he insisted on the accuracy of his account, however, he agreed with what I said.
一开始他坚持他的说法准确，可他还是同意了我的论点。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。在1843年，德克萨斯是美国政界面临的一个主要问题。总统约翰·泰勒想让德克萨斯成为美国的一个州。但是国务卿丹尼尔·韦伯斯特对这个想法表现得很冷淡。韦伯斯特是一个北方人，他反对在联邦中有另一个实施奴隶制的州。泰勒没有推进这个议题，他需要韦伯斯特在政治方面的支持。随后，韦伯斯特辞职了。总统任命了一个南方人亚伯·厄普舒尔接替了他的职位。四个月后，厄普舒尔开始谈判，欲将德克萨斯纳入联邦。但在会谈结束前几周，厄普舒尔死于一场事故。总统泰勒是辉格党的成员，但他让民主党人约翰·C·卡尔霍恩担任新国务卿。卡尔霍恩想让德克萨斯加入联邦，但泰勒需要他帮忙还有另一个原因。泰勒虽然是辉格党人，但他希望能在1844年获得民主党总统候选人的提名。在本周的系列节目中，莫里斯·乔伊斯和斯图尔特·斯宾塞将讲述1844年选举中发生的故事。
卡尔霍恩完成了由厄普舒尔开启的会谈，与德克萨斯的条约也于1844年4月12日签署。几天后，卡尔霍恩写给英国驻华盛顿部长的一封信被公之于众。英国希望终结各地存在的奴隶制，这封信是卡尔霍恩对英国方面的答复。卡尔霍恩保卫了美国南部的奴隶制，他说，所谓的奴隶制实际上是一种政治制度，对于存在奴隶制的各州之间的和平、安全和经济实力是必要的。赋予德克萨斯州的身份对于美国的和平与安全来说是必不可少的。终结德克萨斯的奴隶制对美国南部和联邦本身来说都是危险的。卡尔霍恩说，美国想要德克萨斯，不是出于一些国家利益，而是为了保护南方的奴隶制。这封信引起了北方对赋予德克萨斯州地位一事的极大反对。人们呼吁参议员投票反对让德克萨斯成为美国的一个州。泰勒总统于1844年4月22日将有关德克萨斯的条约送交参议院。就在9天前，辉格党在巴尔的摩召开了全国代表大会。每个人都确信辉格党会选择参议员亨利·克莱作为总统候选人。
克莱两年多来一直在为获得提名而努力。民主党人将在一个月后召开大会，大多数民主党人选择前总统范布伦。克莱和范布伦都反对赋予德克萨斯州的地位，克莱说这将导致与墨西哥发生战争。范布伦表示同意。不出所料，克莱被选为辉格党总统候选人。但有件事让范布伦大吃一惊。民主党通过了一条规则，即他们的候选人必须获得至少三分之二的选票，即获得参与大会的266名代表中177名代表的选票。范布伦获得了146票，赢得了大多数选票，但还不足以获胜。大会再次投票，但范布伦仍然未获得必需的三分之二的选票。代表们一次次地投票，但范布伦的票数总是不够。过了一段时间，范布伦开始失去选票。提名的候选人似乎没有一位能赢得必要的三分之二票数。最后，又有一个人获得提名：詹姆斯·K·波尔克。波尔克曾任田纳西州州长和众议院议长。他支持赋予德克萨斯州的地位。大会代表第八次投票，波尔克只有44票。随后他们又进行了一轮投票。这一次，波尔克获得了全部266票。
纽约州参议员塞拉·斯赖特被选为副总统候选人。但他拒绝接受该提名，因为他不支持让德克萨斯成为美国的一个州。民主党人随后选择了宾夕法尼亚州的参议员乔治·达拉斯。另外两个政党在1844年的选举中提出了候选人。 总统泰勒组建了他的支持团队和政府公职人员。他们会面并提名泰勒连任总统。在民主党和辉格党拒绝反对奴隶制后，东北部废奴主义者组织了第四个政党，来自六个州的代表相聚纽约州奥尔巴尼，他们选出伯尼·詹姆斯伯尼为总统候选人。1844年的总统大选中，德克萨斯是主要的争议所在。总统泰勒已将有关德克萨斯的条约送交参议院批准。1844年的总统大选中，德克萨斯是主要的争议所在。总统泰勒已将有关德克萨斯的条约送交参议院批准。参议院在民主大会召开一周后就收到该条约。支持马丁·范布伦的参议员仍然对未能提名范布伦为候选人感到悲痛。他们与辉格党人一道，以35票对16票推翻此条约。 泰勒仍然希望赋予德克萨斯州的地位。民主党候选人詹姆斯·K·波尔克也在竞选中也承诺让德克萨斯成为美国的一个州。辉格党候选人亨利·克莱起初反对赋予德克萨斯州的地位。但这种观点开始让他在南方失去支持。后来他表示，如果大多数人都想让德克萨斯成为美国的一个州，那么就有可能实现。这使南方的奴隶主感到满意，他们希望德克萨斯成为联邦中实施奴隶制的一个州。
克莱因缓和了对德克萨斯问题的反对态度，而激怒了许多北方人。其中一些人开始支持自由党候选人詹姆斯·伯尼。民主党人不再让泰勒作为总统候选人。他们告诉他，他会从民主党人那里获得选票，致使克莱成为总统。人们纷纷对波尔克和克莱提出疯狂的竞选指控。克莱被称为赌徒、决斗者、投机取巧者。有人说克莱讲粗话，还沉迷于纸牌游戏。辉格党报纸报道说，一个旅行者看到在田纳西州有人贩卖奴隶。报道中还提到，每个奴隶的皮肤上都烙有字母JKP，这是詹姆斯·K·波尔克名字的首写字母。选举结果非常接近，270万人投票。波尔克只比克莱多得到38000张选票。但是波尔克获得了170张选举团投票，而克莱只获得105张。选举结果最终在纽约州确定，克莱失去了该州36张选举团投票。但他获得了50对100的票数。如果不是詹姆斯·伯尼在纽约州获得超过15000张选票，他可能会赢得该州投票。总统泰勒相信，波尔克的胜利表明美国人民希望赋予德克萨斯州的地位。但他知道，他永远无法得到参议院对赋予德克萨斯州地位条约的批准。这样做需要获得参议院三分之二的选票。因此，泰勒提议采取其他行动使德克萨斯成为美国的一个州。
当国会在12月会面时，他提议通过众议院和参议院的联合决议，赋予德克萨斯州的地位。这项决议只需获得多数票通过即可。1845年1月，众议院通过了一项要求吞并德克萨斯的决议，参议院于2月27日予以通过。泰勒在3月1日签署该项法案，此时离他卸任总统一职还有3天。该决议要求德克萨斯成为联邦的一个州，当德克萨斯人口足够充足时，它有权再分裂成四个州。德克萨斯可以保留公共土地，但必须偿还自己的债务，德克萨斯可以作为实施奴隶制的州加入联邦。墨西哥驻华盛顿部长对该决议表示抗议，他称此为对国家的一种侵略行为。他要求要回护照，并返回墨西哥。英国和法国试图阻止德克萨斯成为一个州，他们让墨西哥同意承认德克萨斯的独立，但前提是德克萨斯不会加入美国。因此，德克萨斯有两种选择。它可以成为美国的一个州，或是继续作为一个独立的共和国存在，墨西哥承认其独立地位。德克萨斯议会选择了接受州地位的方案，总统波尔克甚至向西寻求更广阔的新领地。
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