VOA慢速英语2014 1864年选举决定继续或停止战争

 

Continue or Stop the War? Voters Choose in Election of 1864 1864年选举决定继续或停止战争

From VOA Learning English, this is The Making of a Nation. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

And I’m Christopher Cruise.

In 1864, the United States was still struggling in a civil war. The Union of northern states was fighting the Confederacy of southern states.

Each side had its own constitution. Under the Union constitution, Americans elected a president every four years. Eighteen sixty-four was such a year.

At that time, Abraham Lincoln was completing his first term as president. He hoped to lead the nation for another four years.

Lincoln's Republican Party was divided. Some Republicans demanded severe punishment for the southern rebels. But Lincoln and other moderate Republicans wanted to re-build the Union as soon as the war ended. They believed the southern states should be welcomed back with full rights.

So President Lincoln formed a group called the National Union Party. It included moderate Republicans and some members of the opposition¹ Democratic Party. The group supported the Union and the war effort. It opposed slavery.

On the first nominating ballot³, party delegates chose Lincoln to seek a second term. And they chose Andrew Johnson, a Democrat² from Tennessee, to run as vice⁴ president.

The Democratic Party held its presidential nominating convention in Chicago, Illinois. The Democrats⁵ demanded an immediate⁶ end to the Civil War. They did not care if the North and South remained apart permanently⁷.

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 -- including, many believed, the right to own slaves.

Convention delegates 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.

The people of the North began to understand their side was winning the war. Public opinion changed. President Lincoln and his National Union Party increasingly gained popular support.

A vote for Lincoln meant a vote for continuing the Civil War until it was won. A vote for McClellan meant a vote for stopping the war.

By the end of Election Day, it was clear that Lincoln had won. He earned only about 400,000 more popular votes than McClellan. But when electoral votes were counted, Lincoln received 212 to McClellan's 21.

On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as president for a second term. This is part of what he said:

"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 250 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 malice⁸ 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 lasting⁹ peace among ourselves and with all nations."

Words in This Story

moderate – adj. not extreme

malice – n. a desire to cause harm to another person

charity – n. giving money, food, or other kinds of help to people who are in need

strive – v. try very hard to do something         

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

7 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

8 malice   

n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋

参考例句：

• I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
• There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。

9 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。