(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. Early in eighteen fifty-seven, the United States Supreme Court announced one of its most important rulings. The high court decided the case of a slave named Dred Scott. This week in our series, Harry Monroe and Leo Scully tell us about the ruling, and the continuing national debate over slavery. Dred Scott lived in Missouri, where slavery was legal. Then he was sold to a man who took him to Illinois and Wisconsin, where slavery was not legal. After four years, he was returned to Missouri. Dred Scott demanded his freedom, because of the years he had spent in places where slavery was illegal. Congresshad banned slavery in those places under the Missouri Compromise Act of Eighteen Twenty. The Supreme Court ruled that Congress did not have the power to close territories to slavery. It said the Missouri Compromise was a violation of the United States Constitution, and that Dred Scott was not a free man. James Buchanan was sworn-in as president at the time of the Dred Scott case. Buchanan believed the Supreme Court's decision would put an end to the dispute over slavery. He believed that Americans -- North and South -- would accept the decision as the final word in the dispute. This did not happen. The Dred Scott decision did not calm the storm that divided the nation. Instead, it increased its fury.New trouble threatened to break out in the territory of Kansas between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers. In the past few years, the two sides had argued and fought over their opinions. They even had formed two separate governments. The pro-slavery forces controlled the legal government. The anti-slavery forces controlled an opposition government which had no power. Supporters of slavery wanted to organize a constitutional convention that could put Kansas into the Union as a slave state. The pro-slavery legislature passed a bill calling for such a convention. The bill gave supporters of slavery every chance to control the election of delegates to the convention. And it gave the convention complete freedom to make its own rules. The bill provided no way for the people of Kansas to vote on their own constitution. The governor of the Kansas territory, John Geary, vetoed the bill. But the legislature quickly overruled his veto. Pro-slavery men called for Geary to get out of Kansas. Some talked of shooting him if he did not leave. Governor Geary had been living under extreme tension for months. He had worked hard to keep Kansas peaceful. He was angry, because he could get no help from the federal government. He sent his resignation to President Buchanan.
Then the former governor spoke publicly. He said most of the settlers in Kansas were peace-loving people. He said only a small group was responsible for the trouble there. Geary said a few powerful men hoped to make Kansas a slave state. If this failed, Geary said, they hoped their actions would produce civil war. President Buchanan appointed a new governor for Kansas. Buchanan told him that slavery in the territory must be decided on the votes of the people of the territory. And he said the people must be given a fair chance to approve or reject a constitution for statehood. The new governor arrived in Kansas at the end of May, eighteen fifty-seven. He explained his policies in a speech to the people of Kansas. The new governor promised to enforce the laws of the pro-slavery legislature -- but only those laws which were constitutional. He urged everyone to vote in the coming election of delegates to the constitutional convention. He said he was hopeful that the convention would offer its constitution to the people for their approval or rejection. He added that Congress would not accept Kansas as a slave state, or a free state, until the people had voted on the question of slavery.
On June fifteenth, the election was held for delegates to the constitutional convention. Most anti-slavery men did not vote, because their names had been kept off the voting lists by pro-slavery officials. Others refused to vote, because they believed the election was unfair. Sixty delegates were elected. All supported slavery. They planned to meet in the autumn to begin work on a constitution for Kansas. Most of the delegates were wild, rough men who found it difficult to read and write. But these men were sure of one thing. They wanted Kansas to be a slave state. The delegates began the constitution by claiming that the right of property was higher than any constitutional power. They said a slave-owner had as much right to his property as the owner of any other kind of property. Then they wrote the different parts of the document. One part of the constitution severely limited the right of the legislature to free slaves. Another part barred free negroes from entering Kansas. And another prevented the constitution from being changed for seven years. Most of the delegates to the Kansas constitutional convention wanted to send the document directly to Congress for approval. They did not want to give the people of Kansas a chance to vote on it. They were sure that the majority of the population would reject a constitution that made slavery legal.
Some delegates, however, knew that Congress would not approve statehood for Kansas unless the people voted on the constitution. The two sides finally agreed on a compromise. The constitution itself would not be offered to the people. Instead, the people would vote only on the question of slavery. They could vote for the constitution with slavery or the constitution without slavery. If the voters approved the constitution with slavery, then Kansas would be open to new slaves. If they approved the constitution without slavery, then Kansas would be closed to new slaves. Slaves already in the territory could be kept there. This compromise brought a cry of anger from opponents of slavery in Kansas. They said the constitutional convention had only given them the right to vote for limited slavery or unlimited slavery. It had not given them the right to vote for freedom. President Buchanan had promised the people of Kansas that they would have a fair chance to vote on their constitution. But members of his cabinet told him to forget this promise. They said Americans were tired of the dispute in Kansas and would accept any settlement. They told Buchanan that approval of the constitution would end the Kansas problem. It would satisfy the South, they said, and the North would soon forget about Kansas.
Under this pressure, President Buchanan made his decision. He would ask Congress to accept the pro-slavery Kansas constitution and make the territory a slave state. In Kansas, the vote on slavery was held. Most opponents of slavery did not vote. They were waiting until they could vote against the complete statehood constitution. Many of the votes were illegal. Still, Kansas officials declared that slavery had been approved. They urged Congress to make Kansas a state under this condition. Shortly after, President Buchanan sent Congress a similar message. Buchanan's chief opponent on the statehood bill was a member of his own Democratic Party, Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois. Douglas did not oppose slavery. But he believed that the people of a territory had the right to make their own decision to accept or reject slavery. Stephen Douglas united other Democrats and members of the anti-slavery Republican Party to fight against the bill in the Senate. He lost. The Senate approved the bill to make Kansas a state where slavery was legal. The House of Representatives, however, rejected the bill. Instead, it approved a bill to let the people of Kansas vote again on their statehood constitution. The Senate approved a compromise version of this House bill. So the people of Kansas got another chance to show that they did not want a pro-slavery constitution. They voted and rejected the constitution by a large majority. The pro-slavery statehood constitution was dead. Kansas would continue as a territory for a few more years. But there would be no further attempt to make it a slave state.
重点解析
1.call for 呼吁；要求
They angrily called for Robinson's resignation.
他们愤怒地要求鲁宾逊辞职。
2.get out of 对......负责；为......负责
I could hardly wait to get out of there.
我迫不及待地要离开那里。
3.be responsible for 从事；开始
The storm is thought to be responsible for as many as four deaths.
据认为，暴风雨造成4人死亡。
4.be open to 对......开放；对......开着门
The bridge has been completed and will be open to traffic in a few days.
大桥已经落成，日内将正式通车。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。早在1857年，美国最高法院宣布了其最重要的裁决之一。高等法院裁决了一位名叫德雷德·斯科特的奴隶案件。在本周的系列节目中，哈里·门罗和利奥·史高丽将向我们讲述这项裁决，以及全国范围内持续进行的有关奴隶制的争论。德雷德·斯科特居住在密苏里州，在那里奴隶制是合法的。他后来被卖给了一个带他去伊利诺伊州和威斯康星州的人，在这些地区奴隶制是不合法的。四年后，他回到密苏里州。德雷德·斯科特要求自由，因为他在奴隶制被认为是非法的地方度过了很多年。根据1820年的密苏里州折衷法案，国会已经禁止在这些地方实施奴隶制。最高法院裁定，国会无权禁止领土实施奴隶制。最高法院表示，密苏里州折衷法案违反了美国宪法，德雷德·斯科特不是一个自由人。詹姆斯·布坎南在德雷德·斯科特一案发生时宣誓就任总统。布坎南认为，最高法院的裁决将结束有关奴隶制的争论。他相信，南北双方的美国人都会将其视为争端的最终决定。但情况并非如此。德雷德·斯科特的裁决并没有平息分裂国家的风暴。相反，它使人民更加愤怒。
在堪萨斯，支持奴隶制和反奴隶制的定居者之间可能爆发新问题。在过去几年里，双方就各自持有的意见进行了争论和斗争，他们甚至成立了两个独立的政府。支持奴隶制的势力控制着合法政府，反奴隶制一方则控制着没有实权的反对派政府。奴隶制的支持者希望组织一次制宪会议，将堪萨斯作为奴隶制州纳入联邦。支持奴隶制的立法会通过了一项法案，要求召开这样的会议。该法案使奴隶制的支持者们有机会控制与会代表的选举，使会议能够完全自由地制定自己的规章。该法案并未给堪萨斯人民提供为自己的宪法进行投票的机会。堪萨斯州长约翰·吉里否决了该法案。但立法会很快推翻了他的否决。支持奴隶制的人要求吉里离开堪萨斯。有人说如果他不离开，就开枪射杀他。州长吉里在极度紧张的环境中度过数月时光，他努力使堪萨斯保持和平态势。他很愤慨，因为他无法从联邦政府那里获取帮助。他向总统布坎南递交了辞呈。
随后，这位前州长发表公开讲话。他说，堪萨斯的大多数定居者都是爱好和平的人，只有一小部分人在那里惹是生非。一些有权势的人想把堪萨斯变成奴隶制州，如果这种努力失败了，他们则希望他们的做法能够引发内战。总统布坎南为堪萨斯任命了一位新州长。布坎南告诉他，领土是否实施奴隶制必须由居住在那里的人民投票决定，必须给人民提供公平的机会来批准或否决州宪法。新州长于1857年5月底抵达堪萨斯，他在向堪萨斯人民进行的演讲中解释了他的政策。新州长承诺执行支持奴隶制的立法会法律，但只执行那些符合宪法的法律。他敦促每个人在即将举行的制宪会议代表选举中投票。他说，他希望该会议能够让人民批准或拒绝州宪法。他还补充道，除非堪萨斯人民对奴隶制问题进行投票，否则国会不会接受堪萨斯作为奴隶制州或自由州。
6月15日，堪萨斯举行了制宪会议代表选举。大多数反奴隶制的人没有参加投票，因为他们的名字被支持奴隶制的官员从投票名单上除名。其他人则拒绝投票，因为他们认为选举并不公平。选举中选出60名代表，所有人都支持奴隶制。他们计划在秋季会面，开始为堪萨斯制定宪法。大多数代表都是些粗野狂暴之士，读写对于他们来说是件难事。但这些人在一件事的态度上很明确，他们希望堪萨斯成为一个奴隶制州。代表们在宪法的开头部分宣称财产权高于任何宪法权力，他们表示，奴隶主对自己财产所拥有的权利与其他任何财产的所有者一样多。随后，他们撰写了文件的不同部分。宪法中的一部分内容严格限制立法会释放奴隶的权利。另一部分则禁止自由黑人进入堪萨斯，还有一部分是为防止宪法在七年内被修改。堪萨斯制宪会议的大多数代表希望将该文件直接送交国会批准，他们不想给堪萨斯人民提供投票的机会。他们确信，大多数人都会反对一部使奴隶制合法化的宪法。
然而，一些代表知道，除非堪萨斯的人民投票通过宪法，否则国会不会批准堪萨斯的州制请求。双方最终达成妥协。宪法本身不会由人民裁决。相反，人民只会对奴隶制问题进行投票，他们可以投票赞成奴隶制宪法或无奴隶制宪法。如果选民通过了奴隶制宪法，那么堪萨斯将向新的奴隶开放。如果他们通过了无奴隶制宪法，那么堪萨斯将不再对新的奴隶开放。已经居住在领土上的奴隶可以留在那里。这一折衷法案引起了堪萨斯反对奴隶制者的愤怒，他们说制宪会议只赋予他们对有限奴隶制或无限奴隶制进行投票的权利。它没有赋予他们选举自由的权利。总统布坎南向堪萨斯人民承诺，他们将有公平的机会对宪法进行投票。但是，他的内阁成员让他忘记这个承诺。他们说，美国人对堪萨斯的争端感到厌倦，愿意接受任何解决办法。他们告诉布坎南，通过该宪法将结束堪萨斯问题。这将使南方人感到满意，北方则很快就会忘记堪萨斯。
在这种压力下，总统布坎南做出决定。他将要求国会接受支持奴隶制的堪萨斯宪法，并使该地区成为奴隶制州。在堪萨斯，举行了关于奴隶制的投票。大多数反对奴隶制的人没有投票，他们一直在等待投票反对完整的州宪法。许多投票都是非法的。不过，堪萨斯的官员宣布奴隶制已经获得批准。他们敦促国会可在这种情况下，宣布堪萨斯为美国的一个州。不久，总统布坎南向国会发出类似的信息。布坎南在州制法案上的主要反对者，是他所在的民主党成员，伊利诺伊州的参议员史蒂芬·道格拉斯。道格拉斯并不反对奴隶制。但是，他相信生活在一个地区的人民有权自己决定接受或拒绝奴隶制。史蒂芬·道格拉斯在参议院团结其他民主党人和反奴隶制共和党成员，一起反对该法案。他失败了。参议院批准了该法案，使堪萨斯成为奴隶制合法的州。然而，众议院拒绝了该法案。相反，它通过了一项法案，让堪萨斯人民重新对他们的州宪法进行投票。参议院批准了众议院的这版折衷法案。所以，堪萨斯人民有了另一次机会来证明他们不想要支持奴隶制的宪法，他们以多数票否决了该宪法。支持奴隶制的州宪法已经失效，堪萨斯将在今后几年里仍然作为一个地区（而非美国的一个州）存在，不再为了奴隶制州而作进一步的努力。
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