THE MAKING OF A NATION - The American Civil War: Election of

THE MAKING OF A NATION - The American Civil War: Election of 1864
By Frank Beardsley

Broadcast: Thursday, May 19, 2005

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VOICE ONE:

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.

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America was at war in eighteen sixty-four. The Union of northern states was fighting the Confederacy of southern states. Each had its own constitution.

Under the Union constitution, a national president was to be elected every four years. Eighteen sixty-four was such an election year. And even though a great civil war was being fought, citizens of the north prepared to choose a leader.

I'm Maurice Joyce. Today, Shep O'Neal and I tell the story of that election.

VOICE TWO:

 
Abraham Lincoln
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. Radical¹ Republicans disagreed strongly. They demanded severe punishment for the southern rebels.

VOICE ONE:

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 Democrats³.

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.

VOICE TWO:

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.

VOICE ONE:

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 vice⁴ president. On the first ballot⁵, they chose Lincoln to run again. And they chose Democrat² Andrew Johnson of Tennessee to run as vice president.

VOICE TWO:

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.

VOICE ONE:

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 inauguration⁶ day. For he will have been elected on such ground that he cannot possibly save the Union afterwards."

VOICE TWO:

The Democratic Party held its nominating convention in Chicago, Illinois. Peace Democrats were in firm control.

Peace Democrats demanded an immediate⁷ end to the Civil War. They did not care if the north and south remained apart permanently⁸.

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."

VOICE ONE:

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.

VOICE TWO:

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.

VOICE ONE:

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.

VOICE TWO:

Before Lincoln's second inaugural⁹, 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.

VOICE ONE:

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 amendment¹⁰ 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.

VOICE TWO:

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.

VOICE ONE:

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 malice¹¹ 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 lasting¹² peace among ourselves and with all nations."

VOICE TWO:

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."

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VOICE ONE:

You have been listening to the Special English program, THE MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Maurice Joyce and Shep O'Neal. Our program was written by Frank Beardsley.

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1 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

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 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》

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 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。

6 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

7 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。

8 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。

9 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

10 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

11 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。

12 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。