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ANNOUNCER:

Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English.

Franklin Pierce was elected the fourteenth president in eighteen fifty-two. He was forty-eight years old, one of America's youngest presidents.

Pierce was the compromise candidate of the Democratic Party. He won the nomination1 on the forty-ninth ballot2 at the party's convention. He then won a big victory in the general election over the candidate of the Whig Party, General Winfield Scott. One of Pierce's friends, the writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, helped him with his campaign.

This week in our series, Steve Ember and Shirley Griffith talk about the presidency3 of Franklin Pierce.

VOICE ONE:
 
Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce was from the northeastern state of New Hampshire. He was a lawyer and former state lawmaker. He also had served in the United States Senate and House of Representatives. He became an officer in the Army during America's war with Mexico in the late eighteen forties.

Pierce had been a public official for more than twenty years when he became president. Yet he was not a strong leader. He also faced a difficult situation in his personal life.

VOICE TWO:

Two of his children had died when they were babies. A third child was killed in a train accident shortly before Pierce was inaugurated.

In addition, his wife Jane did not like the city of Washington. She did not support her husband's campaign for president. Years earlier, she had urged him to resign from the Senate and return to New Hampshire. She did not want to go back to Washington, even to be first lady.

When her husband was elected, she agreed to live there. But she rarely saw anyone. One of her close friends took her place at public events.

VOICE ONE:

Franklin Pierce was a young man. And his inauguration4 speech was about a young America. He promised strong support for expanding the territory of the United States. He also promised a strong foreign policy.

In his foreign policy, President Pierce successfully negotiated with Britain to gain American fishing rights along the coast of Canada. However, he was unsuccessful in an attempt to buy Cuba from Spain.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:
 
Commodore Matthew Perry

One of the most important developments in foreign policy during Pierce's administration actually began earlier. Former president Millard Fillmore had sent Navy Commodore Matthew Perry to Asia. Perry finally sailed into Tokyo Bay in eighteen fifty-three. His arrival led to the establishment of diplomatic and trade relations between the United States and Japan.

VOICE ONE:

National issues presented President Pierce with more difficult decisions. The Compromise of eighteen fifty had settled the dispute over slavery in the western territories. But it did not end slavery. There was still a chance that the North and South would go to war over the issue.

Another question linked slavery and the western territories. Where should the United States build its new railroads.

VOICE TWO:

As America grew and white settlers moved west, many felt a great need for good transportation. They wanted railroads that reached across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Engineers decided5 that four new rail lines would be possible.

One could cross the northern part of the country, connecting the cities of Saint Paul and Seattle. Another could cross the middle, connecting Saint Louis and San Francisco. A third could connect Memphis and San Francisco. And a fourth could be far to the south, connecting New Orleans and San Diego.

VOICE ONE:
 
Stephen Douglas

Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois proposed that three lines be built. He said the government could give land to the railroad companies. The companies could then sell the land to get the money they needed to build the lines.

A Senate committee discussed the situation. It decided that building three railroads at the same time would be too difficult. It proposed that only one be built. But which one?

VOICE TWO:

Many congressmen believed that a southern line would be best. There would be little snow in winter. And the railroad would cross lands already organized as states or official territories. A northern or central line would face severe winter weather. And it would have to cross a wild area called Nebraska. Nebraska was neither a state nor a territory.

In trying to settle the question of railroads, the issue of slavery rose once again.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Nebraska lay north of the Missouri compromise line, which had been established in eighteen twenty. Slavery was not permitted there.

The state of Missouri lay next to Nebraska. Missouri was a slave state. Slave-holders in Missouri did not want the Nebraska area to become a free territory. They were afraid their slaves would flee to it. They felt threatened by the free states and free territories all around them.

VOICE TWO:

For years, Congressmen from Missouri had defeated all attempts to make Nebraska an official territory. When Congress met in eighteen fifty-three, it considered a new bill on Nebraska. Instead of creating one large territory, the bill would create two. The northern part would be called the Nebraska territory. The southern part would be called the Kansas territory. The proposal to split them was called the Kansas-Nebraska bill.

The bill did not clearly say if slavery would be legal, or illegal, in the two new territories.

VOICE ONE:
 
A map of the United States from 1856. Slave states are shown in gray, free states in pink and territories in green.

The purpose of the Kansas-Nebraska bill reportedly was to settle differences among opposing railroad interests in the area. Yet many Americans believed the real purpose was to permit the spread of slavery.

A group of anti-slavery Senators denounced the bill. They said it was part of a southern plan to spread slavery wherever possible. They also said it was being used by Senator Stephen Douglas for political purposes. They said he was trying to gain southern support for himself in the next presidential election. When the Senate began debate on the Kansas-Nebraska bill, Stephen Douglas was the first to defend it.

VOICE TWO:

Douglas said the bill would give people in the Kansas and Nebraska territories the right to decide if slavery would be permitted. He said the same right had been given to people in New Mexico and Utah by the compromise of eighteen fifty. And he said that same right was meant for people of all future territories.

In the past, he noted6, the national government had tried to divide free states from slave states by a line across a map. He said a geographical7 line was not the answer. He said the people of a state or territory had the right to decide for themselves.

Douglas argued that the compromise of eighteen fifty took the place of the earlier Missouri compromise of eighteen twenty. The new Kansas-Nebraska bill, he said, simply recognized the fact that the Missouri compromise was dead.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska bill quickly rejected the Senator's argument. They said Douglas was not honest in his statements about the eighteen fifty compromise. True, they said, the compromise gave the people of Utah and New Mexico the right to decide about slavery. But they said it did not give that right to the people of all future territories.

VOICE TWO:

Opposition8 to the Kansas-Nebraska bill was extremely strong in the northern United States. In city after city, big public meetings were held. Businessmen organized many of the meetings. They were angry at Senator Douglas because he had re-opened the dispute about slavery. They feared that the dispute would hurt the economy.

Northern churchmen also united against the Kansas-Nebraska bill. Thousands signed protests and sent them to Congress. Senator Douglas criticized the churchmen. He said they should stay out of politics.

In the southern United States, the Kansas-Nebraska bill caused little excitement. Most southerners were not greatly interested in it. They believed it might help the cause of slavery. But they also believed it might lead to trouble.

VOICE ONE:

Senate debate on the bill continued for more than a month. Senator Stephen Douglas was sure it would be approved. We will continue the story of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and the administration of President Franklin Pierce, next time

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Steve Ember and Shirley Griffith. Transcripts9, MP3s and podcasts of our programs can be found along with historical images at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- an American history series in VOA Special English.
___

This is program #81 of THE MAKING OF A NATION


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1 nomination BHMxw     
n.提名,任命,提名权
参考例句:
  • John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
  • Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。
2 ballot jujzB     
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。
3 presidency J1HzD     
n.总统(校长,总经理)的职位(任期)
参考例句:
  • Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
  • Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。
4 inauguration 3cQzR     
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。
5 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
6 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
7 geographical Cgjxb     
adj.地理的;地区(性)的
参考例句:
  • The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
  • These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。
8 opposition eIUxU     
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。
9 transcripts 525c0b10bb61e5ddfdd47d7faa92db26     
n.抄本( transcript的名词复数 );转写本;文字本;副本
参考例句:
  • Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样,都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
  • You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书,你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

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