(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 sixty-four the Union of northern states and the Confederacy of southern states were still fighting. The Civil War began in eighteen sixty-one. Each side had its own constitution. Under the Union constitution, Americans were supposed to elect a president every four years. Eighteen sixty-four was such a year. And even though a great civil war was being fought, citizens of the North prepared to choose a leader. This week in our series, Shep O'Neal and Maurice Joyce tell the story of the election of eighteen sixty-four. Abraham Lincoln was completing his first term as president. He hoped to lead the nation for another four years. He wanted to win the war between the states. He wanted to re-build the Union. Lincoln's Republican Party was divided. Moderate Republicans wanted to re-build the Union as soon as the war ended. They believed southern states should be welcomed back with full rights. Radical Republicans disagreed strongly. They demanded severe punishment for the southern rebels.
For many months, President Lincoln worked to build a political majority. He formed a new group called the National Union Party. It included moderate Republicans and some Democrats. Lincoln succeeded in gaining the support of state and local political leaders. It soon became clear that Lincoln would be the party's presidential candidate in the election. Several hundred radical Republicans held their own convention in Cleveland, Ohio. They formed a new political party called the Radical Democracy. They nominated explorer John Fremont as their candidate for the national election. Fremont had been the Republican presidential candidate eight years earlier. Most of the radical Republicans in Congress did not take part in the convention in Cleveland. They refused to support Fremont. They felt he had no chance to win the election. President Lincoln's new National Union Party held its convention in Baltimore, Maryland. Convention delegates quickly approved a party statement. The statement supported the Union and the war. It opposed slavery.
Delegates then were ready to nominate their candidates for president and vice president. On the first ballot, they chose Lincoln to run again. And they chose Democrat Andrew Johnson of Tennessee to run as vice president. During the campaign, Lincoln was advised to begin peace talks with the South. End the war, he was told. Bring southern states back into the Union. Settle the question of slavery later. Lincoln, however, believed his policies were right for the nation. He would not surrender them, even if they meant his defeat in the election. Lincoln hated the war. But he would not end it until military victory ended slavery and guaranteed political union. In August, eighteen sixty-four, Lincoln wrote: "For some days past, it seems that this administration probably will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to cooperate with the president-elect to save the Union. We must do this between election day and inauguration day. For he will have been elected on such ground that he cannot possibly save the Union afterwards."
The Democratic Party held its nominating convention in Chicago, Illinois. Peace Democrats were in firm control. Peace Democrats demanded an immediate end to the Civil War. They did not care if the North and South remained apart permanently. The party's statement contained these words: "After four years of failure to restore the Union by war...justice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare demand that immediate efforts be made to end the fighting. Let us look to a convention of states -- or other peaceable means -- to restore the Union." The democratic statement did not discuss slavery. It did say, however, that any state wishing to return to the Union could do so without losing any of its constitutional rights. This was believed to include the right to own slaves. Convention delegates approved the statement. Then they nominated General George McClellan as their candidate for president. Three days after the Democratic Party convention closed, the Union won an important military victory. Union troops captured Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta was one of the last remaining industrial cities of the South. Its loss seriously hurt the Confederacy. Now the people of the North could understand their side was winning the war. Public opinion began to change. The Peace Democrats lost popular support. President Lincoln and his National Union Party gained popular support.
Even some supporters of Radical Republican candidate John Fremont turned to Lincoln. Fremont withdrew from the race. When the people voted in November, their choice was between Abraham Lincoln and George McClellan. A vote for Lincoln meant a vote for continuing the Civil War until it was won. Until the Union was saved. A vote for McClellan meant a vote for stopping the war. Stopping short of victory. By midnight of election day, it was clear that Lincoln had won. He got only about a half-million more popular votes than McClellan. But when electoral votes were counted, he got two hundred twelve to McClellan's twenty-one. Before Lincoln's second inaugural, he agreed to hold peace talks with representatives of the Confederacy. The talks would be held at a Union fort on the Chesapeake Bay. Lincoln was very firm in one demand. The talks, he said, must discuss peace for "our one common country." There could be no talk, he said, of Confederate independence. The Confederate representatives said they could not accept those terms. The peace talks ended in failure.
Lincoln returned to Washington. He prepared a message that he wished to send to Congress. It contained a program he felt could end the war within a few weeks. Lincoln proposed four hundred million dollars in economic aid to the southern states. The money could be used to pay slave owners for freeing their slaves. Half the money would be paid if the southern states gave up their struggle by April first. The other half would be paid if they approved -- by July first -- a constitutional amendment ending slavery. As part of the program, Lincoln would pardon all political crimes resulting from the southern rebellion. He also would return all property seized by Union forces. Lincoln's cabinet officers rejected the program. They urged him not to send it to Congress. They said it would be seen as a sign of weakness. Lincoln was surprised by the reaction. He thought his cabinet would gladly end the war...a war that was costing the government three million dollars a day and the lives of the nation's young men. But he accepted the cabinet's advice. He did not send his message to Congress.
On March fourth, eighteen sixty-five, Abraham Lincoln was sworn-in as president for a second term. This is part of what he said: "On this occasion four years ago, all thoughts were directed to a coming Civil War. All feared it. All tried to prevent it. Both parties opposed war. But one of them would make war rather than let the nation live. And the other would accept war, rather than let it die. And the war came. "We hope -- and we pray -- that this terrible war may pass away quickly. But God may wish it otherwise. He may have it continue until the riches earned from two hundred fifty years of slavery are gone. It may continue until every drop of blood made by the slaveowner's whip is paid for by another made by the soldier's sword. "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right -- as God gives us to see the right -- let us strive on to finish the work we are in. Let us heal the nation's wounds. Let us do all possible to get and keep a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." That night, the White House was open to the public. Thousands of people went to see the President. Poet Walt Whitman gave this description: "I saw Mr. Lincoln, dressed all in black. He was shaking hands...looking very sad...as if he would give anything to be somewhere else."
重点解析
1.as soon as 一......就；一怎么样就怎么样
As soon as we found this out, we closed the ward.
我们一发现此事就关闭了病房。。
2.be ready to 准备好；准备做某事
He may now be ready to sanction the use of force.
他现在可能打算批准使用武力。
3.cooperate with 相配合；合作
Can you cooperate with us?
你能和我们合作吗？
4.pass away 消失；终止
While some things may pass away, you know that our love and affection will not.
世事难料，惟有我们的爱和情感不变。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。1864年，北方各州联盟和南方联盟国仍在战斗。内战始于1861年。双方都有各自的宪法。根据联邦宪法，美国人应该每四年选举一次总统。1864年就是这样的一年。尽管内战正在进行，北方的公民也准备选出一位领导人。在本周的系列节目中，谢普·奥尼尔和莫里斯·乔伊斯将讲述1864年选举的故事。亚伯拉罕·林肯即将完成他的第一个总统任期，他希望能再领导这个国家四年。他想赢得各州之间的战争，想重建联邦。林肯的共和党被分裂了，共和党温和派希望战争结束后尽快重建联邦。他们认为南部各州应该赋予完全的权利返回联邦。激进的共和党人强烈反对，他们要求严惩南方叛军。
几个月来，林肯总统致力于建立一支政治上的多数党。他成立了一个新的团体，叫做全国联盟党，其中包括共和党温和派和一些民主党人。林肯成功地获得了各州和地方政治领导人的支持。不久，一切就变得很明了，林肯将成为该党在选举中的总统候选人。数百名激进的共和党人在俄亥俄州的克利夫兰举行了自己的大会，他们成立了一个叫做激进民主的新政党。他们提名探险家约翰·弗雷蒙特为全国选举的候选人。八年前，佛蒙特还是共和党总统候选人。国会中大多数激进的共和党人没有参加克利夫兰的会议。他们拒绝支持弗里蒙特，他们觉得他没有机会赢得选举。林肯总统的新全国联盟党在马里兰州的巴尔的摩举行了大会，与会代表很快批准了一项政党声明。声明支持联邦和战争，反对奴隶制。
然后，代表们准备提名总统和副总统候选人。在第一次投票中，他们选择林肯再次参加竞选。他们选择田纳西州的民主党人安德鲁·约翰逊担任副总统。在竞选期间，林肯被建议开始与南方进行和平谈判。他被告知结束战争，把南部各州收回联邦，稍后解决奴隶制问题。然而，林肯认为他的政策对国家是正确的。即使他们意味着他会在选举中失败，他也不会投降。林肯痛恨这场战争，但在军事胜利结束奴隶制并保证政治联盟之前，他不会结束这场战争。1864年8月，林肯写道：“从过去几天来看，似乎本届政府不会再次当选。我有责任与当选总统一同努力，拯救联邦。我们必须在选举日和就职日之间完成这些事情，因为他当选的理由是以后不可能拯救联邦。”
民主党在伊利诺伊州芝加哥举行了提名大会，和平民主党坚定地掌控一切。和平民主党要求立即结束内战，他们不在乎南北双方是否将永久分裂。党的声明中有这样一句话：“经过四年的战争，我们没能够拯救联邦，正义、人道、自由和公共福利要求竭尽全力立即结束这场战争。”让我们看看各州的公约——或者其他和平的方式——来恢复联邦。”民主党的声明没有讨论奴隶制问题。然而，它确实说明，任何希望重返联邦的各州都可以在不丧失任何宪法权利的情况下重返联邦，这认为包括拥有奴隶的权利。大会代表批准了这一声明，随后他们提名乔治·麦克莱伦将军作为总统候选人。在民主党大会闭幕三天后，联邦赢得了一场重要的军事胜利。联邦部队占领了佐治亚州的亚特兰大市。亚特兰大是南方仅存的工业城市之一，丢掉了这座城市严重损伤了联盟国。现在北方人民可以理解他们的一方赢得了战争，舆论开始改变。和平民主党失去了民众的支持，林肯总统和他的全国联盟党得到了民众支持。
甚至一些激进共和党候选人约翰·弗雷蒙特的支持者也转向林肯，弗里蒙特退出了竞选。人民在11月投票时，他们在亚伯拉罕·林肯和乔治·麦克莱伦之间抉择。给林肯投票意味着继续内战，直到胜利为止，直到联邦获救。对麦克莱伦的投票意味着在没有取得胜利的情况下停止战争。到了选举日的午夜，林肯很明显获胜了。他比麦克莱伦多得50万张选票。在林肯第二次就职之前，他同意与联盟国的代表举行和谈，会谈将在切萨皮克湾的一个联邦要塞举行。林肯对于一项要求非常坚定，他说，会谈必须讨论“我们的共同国家”的和平问题。他说，不可能有关于联盟国独立的会谈。联盟国的代表说他们不能接受这些条款，和平谈判以失败告终。
林肯返回华盛顿。他准备了一封信，想寄到国会，其中包含一份他认为可以在几周内结束战争的计划。林肯提议向南部各州提供四亿美元的经济援助，这些钱可以支付给奴隶主，让他们解放奴隶。如果南部各州在4月1日前放弃战斗，就支付一半的款项。如果他们在7月1日前通过一项结束奴隶制的宪法修正案，就支付另一半款项。作为该计划的一部分，林肯将赦免南方叛乱引发的所有政治犯罪。他还将归还联邦部队扣押的所有财产。林肯的内阁官员拒绝接受这项方案，他们劝阻他不要将其送交国会，说这将被视为软弱的表现。林肯对此感到惊讶，他认为内阁成员很乐意结束这场战争，战争每天花费政府300万美元，还有年轻的生命。但他接受了内阁的建议，没有向国会发送这份信息。
1865年3月4日，亚伯拉罕·林肯宣誓，连任总统。以下是他就职宣言中的部分内容：“四年前的这个时候，所有的想法都指向即将到来的内战。大家都很害怕，所有人都试图阻止它爆发。双方都反对战争，但是其中一方会发动战争，不让国民生存。另一方则接受战争，不会让国家消亡。于是，战争爆发了。“我们希望，而且我们祈祷，这场可怕的战争很快就能结束。但也许上帝所想正好与之相反。他可能让战争继续下去，直到二百五十年奴隶制积累起来的财富消失殆尽。战争可能一直持续下去，直到奴隶主鞭下的每一滴血液都被士兵们剑上流淌的献血偿付。对任何人不怀恶意；对一切人宽大仁爱；坚持正义，因为上帝使我们懂得正义；让我们继续努力去完成我们正在从事的事业，让我们并肩奋战，借他国之力，弥合吾国之创伤，共同缔造公正持久之和平。”那天晚上，白宫对公众开放。成千上万的人去会见总统，诗人沃尔特·惠特曼这样描述：“我看见林肯先生，身着黑衣。他的双手在颤抖，看来很悲伤，仿佛他正在将一切交给别人似的。”
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