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VOA慢速英语2013 密苏里州要求建国重开奴隶制问题

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US History: Missouri's Request for Statehood Reopens Question of Slavery 密苏里州要求建国重开奴隶制问题

From VOA Learning English, welcome to The Making of a Nation, our weekly program of American history for people learning English. I’m Steve Ember.

In 1823, President James Monroe introduced one of the most important foreign policy decisions in American history. It became known as the Monroe Doctrine1.

The doctrine said the United States never had, and never would, take part in any war between the European powers. At the same time, it warned the Europeans against interfering2 in the western hemisphere. Monroe declared that the Americas are "not to be considered as subjects for future colonization3 by any European powers."

Historian Harlow Giles Unger says the Monroe Doctrine marked the end of the colonial era.

“The United States now considered the entire western hemisphere our sphere of influence. That we would keep out of their affairs but they must keep out of our affairs.”

The United States continued to grow. New states joined the Union. Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois and Alabama all became states before 1820.

Louisiana had earlier become the first state to be formed from part of the Louisiana Territory that the United States bought from France. The rest of this huge area was called the Missouri Territory. By 1819, there were enough people in part of the Missouri Territory for that part to become the state of Missouri.

But becoming a state required the approval of Congress. And historian Harlow Giles Unger says admitting Missouri would have changed the balance of power in the Senate.

“The Senate gave each state two votes. And by convention since the signing of the Constitution, the Senate was evenly divided between slave states and non-slave states. So the admission of Missouri would have added a slave state to the Senate and left the northern non-slave states as a minority. And they were not going to accept this.”

Slaves were not new in America. Spain had brought them to the West Indies hundreds of years before. In 1619, a ship brought 20 African slaves to Jamestown, Virginia. These black men were sold to farmers.

Over the years, the use of slaves spread to all the American colonies.

However, there were many more slaves in the agricultural South than in the North. The farms in the North were smaller and needed less labor4. But in the South, farms were much larger. Slaves were the least expensive form of labor.

Most of the northern states had passed laws before 1800 freeing slaves. Even the southern states made it illegal to import more slaves from Africa. But those southerners who already owned slaves believed they were necessary, and they refused to free them.

Slavery had been legal when France and Spain controlled the Louisiana Territory. The United States did nothing to change this when it purchased the territory. So slavery was permitted in the Missouri Territory at the time Missouri asked for statehood.

A New York congressman5, James Tallmadge, offered an amendment6 to Missouri's request to become a state. Tallmadge proposed that no more slaves be brought into Missouri, and that the children of slaves already there be freed at the age of 25. His proposal started a debate that lasted a year.

Supporters of Tallmadge argued that his proposed amendment was constitutional. The Constitution, they said, gave Congress the right to admit new states into the Union. This also meant, they said, that Congress could refuse to admit new states unless these states met conditions demanded by Congress.

Supporters of the amendment also said small farmers of the North and East could not compete with the southern farmers and the free labor of slaves. They argued that these northern and eastern farmers had as much right to the land of Missouri as anyone else. The Louisiana Territory had been paid for by the taxes of all Americans.

Those opposed to slavery also argued that slave-holding states would be given too great a voice in the government if Missouri joined them.

Under the Constitution, only three out of every five slaves were counted in the national population. The census7 taken every 10 years is used to set the number of members for each state in the House of Representatives. In the House. unlike the Senate, the number of votes that a state has is based on its population.   

In the past, each time a slave state was admitted to the Union, a free state had also been admitted.

Harlow Giles Unger explains what the supporters of the amendment may have been thinking:

“The problem basically was not so much a moral problem. From their point of view, it was as much moral as economic. Because the northern states could not compete with southern states. Northern states paid their labor by the piece. In the south slave labor was free of charge. So the south had a tremendous economic advantage. They could produce goods at much lower cost than the north. And the advent8 of a majority in the Senate would have tilted9 the balance of power.”

Southerners had an answer for each argument of those supporting the Tallmadge amendment. They agreed that Congress had the constitutional right to admit or reject a state. But they said Congress did not have the right to make conditions for a territory to become a state.

William Pinkney of Maryland argued that states already in the Union had joined without any conditions. If Congress, he declared, had the right to set conditions for new states, then these new states would not be equal to the old ones. The United States would no longer be a union of equal states.

The debate was intense on both sides.

The House of Representatives passed the Missouri bill with the Tallmadge amendment. But the Senate rejected it.

The people of Missouri would try again for statehood when the new Congress met in 1820.

By this time, another free state was ready to enter the Union. Maine, with the permission of Massachusetts, asked to become a separate state. The Senate joined the Maine bill with the one for unconditional10 statehood for Missouri. Senators refused to separate the two, and so they continued to debate about conditions for statehood and slavery.

Finally, Senator Jesse Thomas of Illinois offered a compromise. He said Maine could be admitted as a free state and Missouri as a state permitting slavery. But he said no other state allowing slavery could be formed from the northern part of the Louisiana Territory.

Many southerners were not satisfied. The compromise closed the door against slavery entering large new areas of land. Southerners, like any other Americans, had a right to settle in the new territory.

The Senate accepted Thomas’ compromise. Congress approved statehood for both Missouri and Maine. Now, President Monroe just needed to sign the bills.

It was the spring of 1820. James Monroe was coming to the end of his first four years as president. He wanted to be elected again. But he faced a difficult decision about whether to allow the Missouri Compromise.

President Monroe owned slaves. He understood the feelings of the South. His friends urged him to veto the compromise bill, because it limited slavery in the territory. He also understood the strong feelings of those who opposed slavery.

Monroe believed the compromise was wrong — but not because it kept slaves out of the territory. The president did not believe the Constitution gave Congress the right to make such conditions.

Monroe even wrote a veto message explaining why he could not approve the compromise. But, in the end, he did not use his veto.

He believed there might be civil war if he rejected the compromise. So Monroe signed the bill. Missouri had permission to enter the Union as a slave state.

The crisis seemed to end. But a few months later, a new problem developed. Missouri wrote a state constitution that it sent to Congress for approval. One part of this constitution did not permit free black men to enter the state. A number of lawmakers in Congress immediately opposed the state constitution. They said it violated the United States Constitution.

The United States Constitution said citizens of each state had the same rights as citizens of each of the other states. And since free black men were citizens of some states, they should have the right to be citizens of Missouri. The debate lasted several months.

Former House speaker Henry Clay finally proposed a compromise that both sides accepted. Missouri could become a state if its legislature would make this promise: it would never pass any law that would violate the rights of any citizen of another state. This second compromise ended the dispute over slavery in Missouri and the Louisiana Territory.

The compromise actions of 1820 settled the crisis of slavery for more than 20 years. But everyone knew that the settlement was only temporary.

Former president Thomas Jefferson expressed his feelings with these words: "This momentous11 question, like a fire bell in the night, awakened12 and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell13 of the Union. it is hushed indeed for the moment.

"But this is a reprieve14 only," he said, "not a final sentence."

The effect of Monroe’s decision and the election of 1820 will be our story next week.

I’m Steve Ember, inviting15 you to join us next time for The Making of a Nation – our program of American History from VOA Learning English. 


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 doctrine Pkszt     
n.教义;主义;学说
参考例句:
  • He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
  • The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。
2 interfering interfering     
adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词
参考例句:
  • He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事!
  • I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预,让我自己拿主意。
3 colonization fa0db2e0e94efd7127e1e573e71196df     
殖民地的开拓,殖民,殖民地化; 移殖
参考例句:
  • Colonization took place during the Habsburg dynasty. 开拓殖民地在哈布斯堡王朝就进行过。
  • These countries took part in the colonization of Africa. 这些国家参与非洲殖民地的开发。
4 labor P9Tzs     
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。
5 Congressman TvMzt7     
n.(美)国会议员
参考例句:
  • He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
  • The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。
6 amendment Mx8zY     
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。
7 census arnz5     
n.(官方的)人口调查,人口普查
参考例句:
  • A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
  • The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。
8 advent iKKyo     
n.(重要事件等的)到来,来临
参考例句:
  • Swallows come by groups at the advent of spring. 春天来临时燕子成群飞来。
  • The advent of the Euro will redefine Europe.欧元的出现将重新定义欧洲。
9 tilted 3gtzE5     
v. 倾斜的
参考例句:
  • Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
  • She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。
10 unconditional plcwS     
adj.无条件的,无限制的,绝对的
参考例句:
  • The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
  • My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。
11 momentous Zjay9     
adj.重要的,重大的
参考例句:
  • I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合,我深感荣幸。
  • The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。
12 awakened de71059d0b3cd8a1de21151c9166f9f0     
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到
参考例句:
  • She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
  • The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 knell Bxry1     
n.丧钟声;v.敲丧钟
参考例句:
  • That is the death knell of the British Empire.这是不列颠帝国的丧钟。
  • At first he thought it was a death knell.起初,他以为是死亡的丧钟敲响了。
14 reprieve kBtzb     
n.暂缓执行(死刑);v.缓期执行;给…带来缓解
参考例句:
  • He was saved from the gallows by a lastminute reprieve.最后一刻的缓刑令把他从绞架上解救了下来。
  • The railway line, due for closure, has been granted a six-month reprieve.本应停运的铁路线获准多运行6 个月。
15 inviting CqIzNp     
adj.诱人的,引人注目的
参考例句:
  • An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
  • The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人,使人感到亲切温馨。

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