(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 fifty, President Zachary Taylor died after serving about a year and a half in office. Taylor's vice president, Millard Fillmore, took his place. Early in his administration, President Fillmore signed the Compromise of Eighteen Fifty. That compromise helped settle a dispute over slavery and the western territories. It ended a crisis between northern and southern states. It prevented a civil war. The eighteen fifty compromise did not, however, end slavery in the United States. So the issue was not really settled. It continued to affect the nation. And it was the most important issue of Millard Fillmore's presidency. Here are Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe with this week's program in our series.
In eighteen fifty-two, an American woman published a book about slavery. She called it "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The woman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote the book for one reason. She wanted to show how cruel slavery was. Stowe's words painted a picture of slavery that most people in the North had never seen. They were shocked. Public pressure to end slavery grew strong. Abolitionists wanted to free all slaves immediately. Even if that could be done, there was the question of what to do with the freed slaves. Their rights as citizens were limited. Some states closed their borders to negroes. Other states permitted negroes, but said they could not vote. In many places, it seemed impossible that negroes and whites could live together peacefully, in freedom. The best answer, many people thought, was to free the slaves and help them return to Africa. It was not a new idea. Forty years earlier, a group of leading Americans had formed an organization for that purpose. They called it the American Colonization Society. In eighteen twenty, the Society began helping send negroes to Africa. The negroes formed a government of their own. In eighteen forty-seven, they declared themselves independent. They called their new country the Republic of Liberia. The new country had a constitution like that of the United States.
By eighteen fifty-four, nine thousand negroes from the United States had been sent to Liberia. Some had technical skills. They knew how to make iron. They knew how to use steam engines and other machinery. The Colonization Society hoped these negroes would use their skills to help improve life for the people of Africa. The Society's plan ended a cruel life of slavery for many negroes. But it could not be denied that the plan was a way to get black people out of the United States. Many whites refused to accept the fact that most free negroes did not want to go to Africa. The negroes had grown up in the United States. It was their home. Negro slaves took great chances to escape to freedom. Many gained their freedom through the so-called "underground railroad." That was not a real railroad. It was an organization of people who secretly helped slaves escape to the North. An escaped slave would be hidden during the day by a member of the organization. Then at night, the negro would be taken to another hiding place farther north. The process was repeated every day and night until the escaped slave was safe in New England or even Canada.
The year eighteen fifty-two was a presidential election year in the United States. The eighteen fifty compromise was a major issue in the campaign. A number of men wanted to be the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. They included senators Lewis Cass of Michigan and Stephen Douglas of Illinois. Another was former secretary of state James Buchanan. Cass and Douglas supported the idea of letting the people of a territory decide if slavery would be permitted in that territory. Buchanan opposed the anti-slavery movements of the north. Because of this, he had many supporters in the South. The Democrats opened their presidential nominating convention in Baltimore on the first of June, eighteen fifty-two. The delegates agreed that a man must win two-thirds of the convention's votes to be the party's candidate. On the first ballot, no one got two-thirds of the vote. So the voting continued. Finally, on the forty-seventh ballot, support began to increase for one of the minor candidates. His name was Franklin Pierce. Pierce was from the northeastern state of New Hampshire. He had served as a congressman and senator. On the forty-ninth ballot, Pierce won. He would be the Democratic Party's candidate for president.
The Whig party held its presidential nominating convention in Baltimore two weeks after the Democrats. Three Whigs wanted to be nominated: President Millard Fillmore, Secretary of State Daniel Webster and General Winfield Scott. The same thing that happened at the Democratic convention now happened at the Whig convention. Delegates voted over and over again. But no man got enough votes to win. It took fifty-three ballots before one of the men -- General Scott -- won the nomination. The presidential campaign lasted about five months. The election was in November. Pierce, the Democrat, won a crushing victory over Scott, the Whig. The Democratic victory was so great that many people thought the Whig Party was finished. In fact, many Whigs themselves hoped their party had been destroyed. Northern Whigs wanted to form a new anti-slavery party. And southern Whigs wanted to form a party that would better represent their interests. The Democrats won the election, because they were able to bridge the differences between their northern and southern members. The Whigs were not able to do that. The new president, Franklin Pierce, was a charming man. He made friends easily. Those who knew Pierce best worried about this. They knew that under all his friendly charm, he was a weak man. They feared that the duties and problems of the presidency would be too great for him to deal with. As president in eighteen fifty-three, Pierce was forced to choose between two policies on the issue of slavery.
He could support the Compromise of Eighteen Fifty and declare it to be the final settlement of the problem. That would lead to a fight with northern and southern extremists. Or he could compromise with the extremists and give them jobs in his administration. That would be the easy way to satisfy their demands. And that was the policy Pierce chose. In putting together his cabinet, President Pierce tried to include men from every group in the Democratic Party. He named William Marcy of New York to be secretary of state. Marcy opposed the spread of slavery and all talk of splitting the Union. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was named secretary of war. Davis, more than any other man, represented the southern extremists. He had threatened to take the South out of the Union if any limits were put on slavery. Caleb Cushing of Massachusetts was named attorney general. Although a northerner, Cushing was a friend of many southern extremists. He was a very able man, but his loyalties were not clear. James Buchanan of Pennsylvania was named Minister to Britain.
All of these men had strong ideas about the future of the United States. President Pierce found it difficult to control them. One senator said the administration should not have been called the Pierce administration, because Pierce did not lead it. He said it was an administration of enemies of the Union who used the president's name and power for their own purposes. For a time, things were peaceful. The dispute over slavery had cooled. But thoughtful people did not believe that peace would last long. No permanent solution had been found to settle differences over slavery and the right of states to leave the Union. One northerner wrote: "It was said hundreds of years ago that a house divided against itself cannot stand. The truth of this saying is written on every page in history. It is likely that the history of our own country may offer fresh examples to teach this truth to future ages." We will continue our story of the presidency of Franklin Pierce next week.
重点解析
1.grow up 长大；成年
She grew up in Tokyo.
她在东京长大。
2.so-called 所谓的；号称的
These are the facts that explode their so-called economic miracle.
这些就是用来粉碎他们所谓的经济奇迹的事实。
3.serve as 作为；担任
Water may serve as a type of instability.
水可以作为不稳定性的象征。
4.over and over again 反复；一次又一次
We had to do the scene over and over again, from different angles.
我们不得不翻来覆去地从不同的角度拍这个场面。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。1850年，总统扎卡里·泰勒在任职一年半后去世。泰勒的副总统米勒德·菲尔莫尔接替了总统职位。在他执政初期，总统菲尔莫尔签署了1850年折衷法案。这一法案有助于解决奴隶制和西部领土争端。它结束了南北各州之间的危机，阻止了内战的爆发。然而，1850年折衷法案并没有终结美国的奴隶制。所以，这个问题没有真正解决，它继续影响着美国。这是总统米勒德·菲尔莫尔任期内最重要的事宜。凯格·兰特和哈里·梦露将为我们带来本周的故事。
1852年，一位美国女性出版了一本有关奴隶制的书，她为其取名为《汤姆叔叔的小屋》。这位名叫哈丽特·比彻·斯托的女性撰写这本书的原因，是想展现奴隶制的残酷。斯托描绘了一幅多数北方人从未见过的奴隶制图景，这让他们感到震惊。隶制的公众压力越来越大，废奴主义者想立即释放所有奴隶。但即使可以这样做，仍然存在一个问题，那就是如何安置那些释放后的奴隶。他们作为公民的权利受到限制，一些州不让黑人入境。其他州允许黑人进入，但表示他们不能参与投票。在许多地方，黑人和白人似乎不可能和平、自由地共处。许多人认为，最好的解决办法是解放奴隶，然后帮助他们返回非洲。这并非是一个新主意。四十年前，一群美国要人曾为此成立过一个组织，称之为美国殖民协会。1820年，该协会开始帮助黑人回到非洲。黑人组成了自己的政府。1847年，他们宣布独立，并把他们新建立的国家称作利比里亚共和国。这个新国家的宪法和美国宪法相似。
到1854年，美国有九千名黑人被送到利比里亚。有些黑人拥有技艺，他们知道如何炼铁，如何使用蒸汽机和其他机械。殖民协会希望这些黑人利用他们的技能帮助非洲人民改善生活。协会的计划结束了许多黑人残酷的奴隶生活。但不能否认，这项计划是一种让黑人离开美国的方法。许多白人拒绝接受大多数自由的黑人不想去非洲的事实。这些黑人在美国长大，那是他们的家。黑人奴隶冒着巨大的风险逃向自由。许多人通过所谓的“地下铁路”获得自由，那不是真正的铁路，而是一个秘密帮助奴隶逃往北方的组织。在白天，逃亡的奴隶会被该组织的一名成员藏起来。到了晚上，他们会把黑人带到向北更远处的另一个藏身处。这个过程日复一日的重复着，直到逃亡的奴隶在新英格兰甚至加拿大安全生活。
1852年是美国总统大选年，1850年折衷法案是竞选中的一项重大事宜。许多人想成为民主党的总统候选人，其中包括密歇根州参议员刘易斯·卡斯和伊利诺伊州参议员斯蒂芬·道格拉斯。选人是前国务卿詹姆斯·布坎南。卡斯和道格拉斯支持让一个地区的人民决定是否允许奴隶制进入该地区的想法。布坎南反对北方的反奴隶制运动，因此，他在南方拥有许多支持者。民主党人于1852年6月1日在巴尔的摩召开总统提名大会。代表们一致认为，必须赢得大会三分之二的选票才能成为该党的候选人。在第一轮投票中，没有人获得三分之二的选票。所以投票继续进行。最后，在第四十七次投票中，一位名不见经传的候选人获得的支持率开始上升，他叫富兰克林·皮尔斯。皮尔斯来自美国东北部的新罕布什尔州，曾担任过国会议员和参议员。在第四十九次投票中，皮尔斯获胜，他将成为民主党的总统候选人。
两周后，辉格党于民主党投票结束后在巴尔的摩举行了总统提名大会。有三名辉格党人希望获得提名：总统米勒德·菲尔莫尔、国务卿丹尼尔·韦伯斯特和温菲尔德·斯科特将军。民主党大会上出现的局面，现在也同样发生在辉格党大会上。代表们反复投票，但没有人能获得足够的选票获胜。在第五十三此投票中，斯科特将军赢得提名。总统竞选持续了大约五个月，选举将在十一月举行。民主党人皮尔斯，以压倒性的胜利战胜了辉格党人斯科特。民主党取得了如此巨大的胜利，许多人认为辉格党已经不行了。事实上，很多辉格党人自己也希望他们的政党能被摧毁。北方的辉格党想要组建一个新的反奴隶制政党，而南方的辉格党则希望组建一个更能代表他们利益的政党。民主党赢得了选举，因为他们能够弥合南北方成员之间的分歧，但辉格党却做不到这一点。新总统富兰克林·皮尔斯是个很有魅力的人。他很容易和别人成为朋友，熟知皮尔斯的人对此表示担心。他们知道，在他友善的魅力之下，隐藏的是一个软弱的人。他们担心总统的职责和各种问题对他来说太重了，他会难以应付。作为1853年当选的总统，皮尔斯被迫就奴隶制问题从两项政策之间做出选择。
他可以支持1850年折衷法案，宣布这是问题的最终解决办法。这将导致与南北方极端分子发生争斗。他也可以与极端分子妥协，让他们在他的政府里就职，这将是满足他们需求的简便方法。皮尔斯选择的就是第二种政策。在组建内阁的过程中，总统皮尔斯试图让民主党中每个党派的人都加入进来。他任命纽约州的威廉·马西为国务卿。马西反对奴隶制扩沿，也反对一切分裂联邦的言论。密西西比州的杰斐逊·戴维斯被任命为作战部长。戴维斯是南方极端分子中最具代表性的人物，他曾威胁说，如果奴隶制受到任何限制，他将带领南方脱离联邦。马萨诸塞州的凯莱布·顾盛被任命为司法部长。虽然顾盛是北方人，但他是许多南方极端分子的朋友。顾盛非常能干，但他并未表明自己效忠哪方。宾夕法尼亚州的詹姆斯·布坎南被任命为英国事务部长。
所有这些人对美国的未来都有着坚定的看法，总统皮尔斯发现很难驾驭他们。一位参议员表示，政府不应该被称为皮尔斯政府，因为皮尔斯并没有领导它。他说，这是一个由联邦的敌人组成的政府，依仗总统的名义和权利为他们自己获益。有一段日子，事态很平静。关于奴隶制的争论平息下来，但有识之士不相信和平态势能持续很久。目前，还未找到解决奴隶制纷争和各州脱离联邦权利问题的永久性解决方案。一位北方人写道：“几百年前有人说过，家庭不睦，万事不兴。历史鉴证了这句话的真谛。很可能我们国家的历史，可以为后世提供印证这一事实的崭新实例。”下周我们将继续讲述有关总统富兰克林·皮尔斯的故事。
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