(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to the MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. The Whig Party considered four candidates for the presidential election of eighteen forty-eight: Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky, General Zachary Taylor, General Winfield Scott and Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts. Clay was seventy years old. He knew it would be his last chance to get into the White House. He worked hard to get the support of party leaders. But they did not give Clay their support. They wanted to win the election, and they felt they had a better chance for victory with a military hero like General Taylor. Now, with this week's program in our series, here are Doug Johnson and Gwen Outen.
Taylor was sixty-three years old. He had almost no formal education. He had spent almost forty years in the West as an Indian fighter and commander of small army posts. A number of politicians did not believe he had the ability to be president. General Taylor's supporters put great energy into their campaign for his nomination. They tried to sell the idea that the old general was the only man who could defeat the candidate of the Democratic Party. On the first vote of the convention, Taylor got the most votes. But no candidate got the necessary majority. On the fourth vote, all of Webster's supporters and many of Clay's supporters gave their votes to Taylor. He finally won the Whig Party's nomination for president. The Democratic Party's candidate for president was Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan. Many Americans did not like either candidate, because of the candidates' policies on slavery. Lewis Cass saw nothing wrong with slavery if that was what the people wanted. Zachary Taylor was a slave owner. In Ohio, a group of men decided to form a new political party. They called it the Free Soil Party, because they believed in free land for free settlers. They wanted no further spread of slavery.
The Free Soil leaders proposed a convention of all who supported their ideas. Ten thousand people went to the convention in Buffalo, New York. For two days, the delegates debated the slavery issue and discussed their choice of a candidate for president. They also worked on a platform -- a statement of their party's purpose. The platform declared that slavery was an institution of the states, not the nation. It said Congress had no right to help spread slavery by permitting it in the new western territories. The platform declared that the issue should be faced with firmness. No more slave states. No more slave territory. No more compromises with slavery, anywhere. Convention delegates then voted on candidates. They chose former President Martin Van Buren as candidate for president. The people of the nation voted on November seventh. It was the first time a presidential election was held on the same day in all parts of the country. Zachary Taylor won both the popular and electoral votes. He became the twelfth president of the United States.
Congress met a few weeks after the election, long before Taylor took office. It faced serious problems. Territorial governments were needed for the areas won in the war against Mexico. California, especially, needed help. Gold had been discovered in California. Thousands were moving there. A government was needed to protect the lives and property of the new population. The dispute over slavery had prevented Congress from acting earlier. Southerners wanted the right to take slaves into the new territories. Northerners wanted to keep slavery out. Then there was the question of laws forcing northern states to return escaped slaves to their owners. The laws were not always obeyed. Southerners wanted a new law that would be easier to enforce. Congress found it difficult to act on these problems. The House of Representatives was controlled by members of the Free Soil Party, which opposed slavery. The Senate was controlled by southerners, who supported slavery. The two houses found it almost impossible to agree on anything. Early in January, eighteen forty-nine, a congressman proposed a bill to first limit, and then end, slavery in the District of Columbia. The bill would free all slaves in the district who were born after a certain time. It would permit the federal government to buy slaves and then free them.
Opposition to the bill was strong. It was amended. The new bill would simply close all places in the District of Columbia where slaves were bought and sold. Southern congressmen disliked the bill, even as amended. They organized a committee representing every one of the southern states. Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina said the committee should write a declaration explaining the position of the South. The committee agreed, and Calhoun wrote most of the declaration himself. The southern declaration accused the North of many aggressions. The South, it said, faced many dangers. Soon there would be enough free states to control both the House and the Senate. And then the Constitution would be changed and all slaves would be freed. And this, said the southern declaration, would lead to bitter hostility and war between North and South. The declaration called on the people of the South to unite and be firm in their opposition to the North. With this new firmness, southern lawmakers fought to make slavery legal in the new territories. They effectively blocked proposals for territorial governments in California and New Mexico. Congress ended its session on March fourth, eighteen forty-nine, without any progress. Zachary Taylor was sworn-in as president that same day.
The new president believed it would be easier to get statehood for California and New Mexico than to create territorial governments for them. Taylor, as we have said, was a slaveholder. But he believed that both California and New Mexico should be free states. During these years around eighteen fifty, the people of the United States were becoming more and more involved in the dispute over slavery. In the North, more people joined the anti-slavery campaign. Even those who did not wish to end slavery in the South felt that slavery should not spread further. In the South, many people felt that the constitutional equality of fifteen southern states was being questioned. Sixteen hundred million dollars worth of slave property was threatened by Abolitionists. Southerners felt that if the campaign against slavery was successful, everything they believed in would be destroyed. People hoped that President Taylor would be able to bring the North and South together again. But his message to Congress showed no signs of such leadership. Taylor asked Congress to give statehood to California immediately.
He reported that California leaders had written a state constitution. The constitution banned slavery. Settlers from both the North and South supported the document. The president also reported that the people of New Mexico would be asking for statehood soon. He said it would be best to let the people themselves decide if New Mexico would be a slave or free state. Taylor's opponents described these proposals as his "no action plan." President Taylor really had no policy. He could not support a bill to keep slavery out of the territories. That might start a quick revolt among the southern states. He could not support a bill to let slavery spread into the territories. That would make the North rise in anger. Taylor tried to be neutral. He hoped the problem of slavery would solve itself. But the problem would not solve itself. The division between North and South grew wider. That will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.a number of 大量的；很多
We have lived here quite a number of years.
我们在这儿住了好些年了。
2.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。
3.call on 呼吁；访问
I call on everyone to renounce the use of violence and armed struggle.
我呼吁每个人都放弃使用暴力和武装斗争。
4.keep out of 使不进入；把…挡在…外
People can keep out of the sun to avoid skin cancer.
人们可以通过避免阳光照射来预防皮肤癌。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。对于1848年的总统大选，辉格党考虑了四位候选人：肯塔基州的参议员亨利·克莱、扎卡里·泰勒将军、温菲尔德·斯科特将军和马萨诸塞州的参议员丹尼尔·韦伯斯特。克莱70岁了，他知道这是入主白宫的最后机会，他竭力争取党内领导人的支持。但他们并未给予他支持，他们想赢得选举，并且觉得有泰勒将军这样的军事英雄，他们的获胜几率更大。在本周的系列节目中，道格·约翰逊和格温·奥登将为我们讲述故事内容。
泰勒63岁，他几乎没有受过正规教育，他作为对抗印第安人的战士和小型军队驻地指挥官在西部度过了将近四十年的时光。许多政客并不相信他有担任总统的能力，泰勒将军的支持者们为使他获得提名投入了巨大的精力，他们试图向人们宣扬这位老将军是唯一能击败民主党候选人的人。在大会的第一次投票中，泰勒获得了最多的选票，但没有候选人获得必须的多数选票。在第四轮投票中，韦伯斯特的所有支持者和克莱的许多支持者都把选票投给了泰勒。他最终赢得辉格党总统候选人的提名。民主党总统候选人是密歇根州的参议员刘易斯·卡斯，由于候选人支持奴隶制政策，许多美国人不喜欢这两位候选人。刘易斯·卡斯认为如果人们想要奴隶制存在的话，奴隶制就没有什么问题。扎卡里·泰勒则是个奴隶主。在俄亥俄州，一群人决定组建新的政党，他们称之为“自由之土党”，因为他们相信自由移居者拥有自由的土地，他们不希望奴隶制进一步扩沿。
自由之土党的领袖们提议召开由所有支持他们想法的人参与的会议，一万人前往纽约州的布法罗参加会议。在两天的时间里，代表们讨论了奴隶制问题，以及他们对总统候选人的选择。他们还在讨论一份纲领，这是他们政党宗旨的声明。这份纲领宣布奴隶制是国家制度，而不是各州的制度，它指出国会无权经由允许奴隶制在新的西部地区传播来扩大其适用范围。该纲领宣布，应该态度坚定的面对此问题。不能再允许更多州实施奴隶制，不能再有更多的领地蓄奴，在奴隶制的问题上不能再有妥协。随后，会议代表们投票选出候选人。他们选择让前总统马丁·范布伦作总统候选人。全民大选于11月7日进行，这是美国各地第一次在同一天举行总统选举。扎卡里·泰勒赢得了民众和选举人的选票，成为美国第十二任总统。
国会在选举结束几周后举行了会议，此时离泰勒上任还有很长一段时间。国会面临着严重的问题，在对抗墨西哥的战争中赢得的地区需要领地政府的介入。尤其是加利福尼亚特别需要帮助。人们在加利福尼亚发现了黄金，成千上万的人搬到这里，需要有一个政府来保护新到人口的生命和财产。关于奴隶制的争论使国会无法更早地采取行动，南方人希望能够把奴隶带到新的领地，而北方人则希望新领地内不存在奴隶制。法律规定北方各州需要把逃亡的奴隶归还给他们的主人，但人们对这些法律存在质疑，并不总是遵守，南方人希望能有一项更容易执行的新法律。国会发现很难解决这些问题，众议院由反对奴隶制的自由之土党的成员控制，参议院则由支持奴隶制的南方人控制。双方发现几乎无法就任何问题达成一致。1849年1月初，一位国会议员提出一项法案，先限制哥伦比亚地区的奴隶制，再将其终结。这项法案将释放该地区所有在某个时间之后出生的奴隶，它将允许联邦政府购买奴隶，然后把他们释放。
反对该法案的呼声很高，因此国会对它进行了修订。新法案只关闭哥伦比亚地区所有买卖奴隶的地方。即使这项法案经过修订，南部国会议员还是不喜欢它，他们组织了一个代表南方各州的委员会。南卡罗来纳州参议员约翰·C·卡尔霍恩表示，委员会应该写一份声明来解释南方的立场。委员会表示同意，卡尔霍恩自己撰写了声明的大部分内容。南方宣言指责了北方采取的大量侵略行为。它说，南方面临着很多危险。不久，就会出现许多自由的州，数量足以控制众议院和参议院。宪法随之将被修改，所有奴隶将被释放。南方宣言中表示，这将导致南北之间出现激烈的敌对和战争。宣言呼吁南方人民团结一致，坚决反对北方。借着这一坚定姿态，南方立法者努力使奴隶制在新领地上合法化。他们有效地阻止了加利福尼亚和新墨西哥领地政府的提案。国会于1849年3月4日结束会议，该会议并未取得任何进展。扎卡里·泰勒当天宣誓就任总统。
新总统认为，比起为加利福尼亚和新墨西哥建立领地政府，给他们建立州制要容易。正如我们所说，泰勒是个奴隶主，但他认为加利福尼亚和新墨西哥都应该是自由州。在1850年前后的几年里，越来越多的美国人卷入到奴隶制的争论中。在北方，更多的人加入了反奴隶制运动。即使是那些不想在南方终结奴隶制的人也认为，奴隶制不应再进一步扩沿。在南方，许多人认为南方15个州的宪法平等性受到了质疑，价值16亿美元的奴隶财产受到废奴主义者的威胁。南方人认为，如果反奴隶制运动成功，他们所信仰的一切都将被摧毁。人们希望总统泰勒能够使南北双方再次团结起来，但他向国会发表的国情咨文却没有表现出这种领导能力。泰勒要求国会立即授予加利福尼亚州的地位。
他报告说，加利福尼亚的领导人撰写了一部州宪法。宪法中禁止奴隶制，来自北方和南方的定居者都支持这份文件。总统还报告说，新墨西哥的人民很快就会要求成为美国的一个州，最好由人民自己决定新墨西哥是否执行奴隶制。泰勒的反对者称这些建议是他的“不行动方案”。总统泰勒确实没有采取任何政策，他不能支持将奴隶制排除在领地之外的法案，这可能会在南部各州之间迅速引发一场叛乱。他也不能支持允许奴隶制扩沿的法案，这将引燃北方人民的愤怒。泰勒试图保持中立，他希望奴隶制问题能自行解决。但该问题无法自行解决。南北两方的差异不断扩大，这将是我们下周要讲述的故事。
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