美国学生历史 第199期:解放奴隶宣言(4)

 407. Contrabands of War. 407．战争走私品

The war had scarcely begun before slaves escaped into the Union lines. 在奴隶逃奔到联邦阵线之前，很少有大的战役打响。

One day a Confederate officer came to Fortress² Monroe and demanded his runaway³ slaves under the Fugitive⁴ Slave Act. 一天，缉私官员来到门罗要塞要求按照《逃亡奴隶法案》将那些逃跑的奴隶归还给他，

General Butler refused to give them up on the ground that they were "contraband¹ of war." 巴特勒将军拒绝交出这些奴隶，理由是他们是"战争走私品"，

By that phrase he meant that their restoration would be illegal as their services would be useful to the enemy. 他使用这个短语的意思是说归还这些奴隶不合法，因为他们的劳动对敌方有用。

President Lincoln approved this decision of General Butler, and escaping slaves soon came to be called "Contrabands." 林肯总统赞成巴特勒将军的决定，于是人们很快都把逃亡的奴隶叫做"走私品"。

408. First Steps toward Emancipation⁵, 1862. 408．走向解放奴隶的前期步骤（1862年）

Lincoln and the Republican party thought that Congress could not interfere⁶ with slavery in the states. 林肯和共和党认为国会将不会干涉各个州的奴隶制，

It might, however, buy slaves and set them free or help the states to do this. 然而，国会可以购买奴隶并把他们变成自由人，也可以帮助各个州来做这件事。

So Congress passed a law offering aid to any state which should abolish slavery within its borders. 因此，国会通过一项法律支持各个州在本周废除奴隶制，

Congress itself abolished slavery in the District of Columbia with compensation to the owners. 国会在哥伦比亚特区以补偿奴隶拥有者的方式废除奴隶制，

It abolished slavery in the territories without compensation. 而在其他地区对奴隶制的废除则没有补偿。

Lincoln had gladly helped to make these laws. 林肯高兴地帮助制定这些法律，

Moreover, by August, 1862, he had made up his mind that to free the slaves in the seceded⁷ states would help "to save the Union" and would therefore be right as a "war measure." 而且到了1862年8月，林肯坚信，解放那些在已经脱离联邦各州中的奴隶将有助于"拯救联邦"，并且，这个举措将因此而成为一项正确的"战争措施"，

For every negro taken away from forced labor⁸ would weaken the producing power of the South and so make the conquest of the South easier. 因为从压迫劳动下每解脱出一名黑人都会削弱南方联盟的生产力，都会使得征服南方联盟更为容易。

1 contraband   

n.违禁品，走私品

参考例句：

• Most of the city markets were flooded with contraband goods.大多数的城市市场上都充斥着走私货。
• The customs officers rummaged the ship suspected to have contraband goods.海关人员仔细搜查了一艘有走私嫌疑的海轮。

2 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

3 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

4 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

5 emancipation   

n.（从束缚、支配下）解放

参考例句：

• We must arouse them to fight for their own emancipation. 我们必须唤起他们为其自身的解放而斗争。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They rejoiced over their own emancipation. 他们为自己的解放感到欢欣鼓舞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

7 seceded   

v.脱离，退出( secede的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The Republic of Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903. 巴拿马共和国于1903年脱离哥伦比亚。
• One of the states has seceded from the federation. 有一个州已从联邦中退出。 来自辞典例句

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。