Abraham Lincoln:Martyr (Part Two)

VOA Learning English presents America’s Presidents.
美国之音慢速英语介绍美国总统栏目。

Today we are continuing our story about Abraham Lincoln.
今天，我们来继续谈论亚伯拉罕·林肯的故事。

He led the United States during the Civil War, which lasted from 1861-1865. In that conflict, the Southern Confederacy battled the Union – the states that supported the federal government.
他在内战期间领导美国，内战从1861年持续到1865年。这场战争中，南部联盟与支持联邦政府的各州作战。

Southern states wanted to make their own laws, including those that protected slavery. They were afraid that President Lincoln would use the power of the federal government to ban slavery in their states, as well as in other areas.
南部诸州想要制定自己的法律，包括保护奴隶制的法律。他们害怕林肯总统会使用联邦政府的权利来取缔他们各自州的奴隶制，也包括其他一些地区。

So 11 Southern states withdrew from the rest of the country. They stopped recognizing the power of the central government.
所以，11个南方州宣布脱离联邦，他们不再承认中央政府的权利。

President Lincoln did not think states had the right to withdraw. He said he was fighting to reunite the country.
林肯总统认为各州是没有权利脱离联邦的，他会为重新统一联邦而斗争。

But in time, he accepted that the Civil War would also be a fight to end slavery.
但随着时间的推移，他承认内战也是废除奴隶制的斗争。

Commander-in-chief 总司令

Lincoln is known for several qualities as a wartime president. One was how he led the military campaign.
林肯作为战时总统展现了诸多品质，其中之一就是如何领导军事活动。

As president, Lincoln worked with top military officials to create a plan. They realized that the Union had more resources¹ and more men who could fight than the Confederate forces. So, they planned to surround the Southern states, cut off their supplies, and prevent foreign powers from helping the Confederacy.
作为总统，林肯与高级军事长官制定计划。他们意识到，联邦比联盟军事力量拥有更多的资源和可投入战斗的人力。所以，他们计划包围南部各州，切断他们的供给，阻断国外势力对联盟的帮助。

Lincoln hoped the Union’s generals could execute the plan quickly and end the war as soon as possible.
林肯希望联邦将领能够迅速执行这份计划，尽快结束这场战争。

But the generals were guarded. They did not want to harm their soldiers if they did not have to. They also knew the Confederacy had a skilled commander in General Robert E. Lee.
但这些将领都很谨慎，在不必要的情况下，他们并不想伤害他们的战士。他们也知道联盟的指挥官是富有经验的罗伯特·爱德华·李将军。

Troops under another Confederate general, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, also defeated the Union army in several early battles.
联盟的另一位将领，绰号“石墙”的托马斯·杰克逊将军率领的部队在早期的几场战役中也击败了联邦军队。

Lincoln was frustrated² with the war effort. He wanted generals who would not only win battles, but chase after the opposing forces and destroy them so they could not fight again.
林肯对于战争付出的努力很沮丧。他希望将领们不仅仅赢得战役，而且要一网打尽联盟的军事力量，让他们不能再战。

In one famous telegram, he wrote to his top general, George McClellan. Lincoln said, “If General McClellan does not want to use the Army, I would like to borrow it for a time…”
林肯在一则著名的电报中给他的最高指挥官乔治·麦克莱伦将军写道，“如果麦克莱伦将军不想使用军队，我会借用一段时间…”

Finally, Lincoln replaced McClellan. Then he replaced McClellan’s replacements.
最终，林肯撤换了麦克莱伦。然后他接替了麦克莱伦的工作。

Executive power 行政权

Lincoln changed the presidency by being actively involved as a commander-in-chief of the military. He also greatly expanded the powers of the chief executive.
林肯通过积极参与军队总司令的工作而改变了总统职位，他还大幅扩大了总统的权利。

Lincoln believed that, during war, the president had powers that were greater than those of Congress and the Supreme Court. As a result, he took many actions that critics – and even some supporters – considered illegal under the U.S. Constitution.
林肯认为，战争时期，总统权利应该大于国会和最高法院。结果，他的行为招致了批评家甚至是一些支持者的反对，认为他违反了美国宪法。

For example, Lincoln spent millions of dollars in federal money without getting permission from Congress. He also limited freedom of the press, restricted mail service, and declared martial law³ in some places, even when the situation did not require military action.
例如，林肯没有经过国会批准就挪用了联邦的数百万美元。他也限制了新闻媒体的自由，约束邮件服务，以及在一些地方宣布进行军事管制，甚至是在不需要采取军事行动的情况下。

Most notably, Lincoln temporarily suspended the writ of habeas corpus. Habeas corpus is an important right in the American legal tradition. It means that people who are under arrest have the right to appear personally in court.
最著名的是，林肯暂时中止了人身保护令。人身保护权是美国法律传统的一项重要权利，它意味着被逮捕的人有亲自出庭的权利。

But, at some periods, Lincoln ignored that right.
但是，在一段时期，林肯暂停了这项权利。

He said the Confederacy’s “rebellion” justified his actions. And, he said, extreme measures were necessary to re-unite the country.
他说，联盟的“叛乱”使他的举措合法化，并且，极端措施对于重新统一联邦是必须的。

Emancipation Proclamation 解放奴隶宣言

One of Lincoln’s most important legacies⁴ relates to slavery. The issue was at the heart of the American Civil War.
林肯最重要的关于奴隶制的遗产之一，它是美国内战的核心问题。

For most of his career, Lincoln spoke against slavery. But he did not try to bar⁵ the custom in states where it already existed. He agreed to leave slavery in the South alone.
林肯职业生涯的大部分时期都是在抨击奴隶制。但是他没有试图去禁止那些已经存在奴隶制的州。他同意奴隶制存在于南方各州。

Lincoln also did not really believe in racial equality. And he worried that if slavery ended in the United States, blacks and whites would not be able to live peacefully together.
林肯也没有真正相信种族平等，他担心如果美国废除奴隶制，黑人和白人不能够和平相处。

But as the war continued, Lincoln changed his mind about how to deal with the issue.
但随着战争的推移，林肯改变了如何处理这个问题的想法。

For one thing, anti-slavery activists were urging Lincoln to end slavery for moral reasons.
一方面，废奴积极分子因道德原因催促林肯废除奴隶制。

Lincoln also considered tactical reasons – those related to the war.
林肯还需要考虑与战争相关的战术原因。

He saw that enslaved people in the South were escaping to join Union armies in the North. Their actions helped the Union effort.
他看到南方奴隶都逃离来参加北方联邦军队，他们的行为帮助了联邦的努力。

Lincoln also wanted to prevent England or France from helping the South. The Southern states were important trading partners for Europe. But the English and French people had rejected slavery. Lincoln hoped that if the Union also rejected slavery, European countries would support the North – or at least not support the South.
林肯也要想办法阻止英国和法国对南方的援助。南方各州是欧洲很重要的贸易伙伴，但是英国人和法国人也反对奴隶制。林肯希望如果联邦也反对奴隶制，欧洲国家就能够支持北方，至少不要支持南方。

So Lincoln waited until the Union won a major battle in Antietam, Maryland. Then he announced that he was using his power as a wartime president to order the end of slavery in the Confederate states.
所以，林肯一直在等待着联邦的一场重要胜利，直到马里兰州的安提塔姆战役的胜利。然后，他宣布作为战时总统，他将使用他的权利来废除联盟各州的奴隶制。

He produced a document called the Emancipation Proclamation. It said that enslaved people in the rebelling states were “forever free.”
他起草了一份解放奴隶宣言的文件，宣言称叛乱州的奴隶将永远获得自由。

Historians note that the act was important and revolutionary. But it was mostly symbolic⁶. The federal government was not able to enforce the order at the time. And it did not deal with enslaved people in other areas.
历史学家认为解放奴隶宣言是重要的以及革命性的，但主要也是象征意义。当时，联邦政府并不能执行这项命令。而且，宣言也没有涉及到其他区域的奴隶。

But the Emancipation Proclamation was the beginning of the end of legal slavery in the country. During the rest of his presidency, Lincoln worked in support of an anti-slavery amendment to the Constitution. That amendment – the Thirteenth – was approved in 1865. It officially outlawed⁷ slavery across the country.
但是，解放奴隶宣言正式宣告了从法律上废除奴隶制的开始。在林肯总统的剩余任期内，他一直都致力于将废奴修正案写进宪法。宪法第十三条修正案于1865年通过，它在官方上彻底废除了整个国家的奴隶制。

Next week we will finish the story of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.
下周，我们将结束亚伯拉罕·林肯以及内战的故事。

原文链接

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/americas-presidents-abraham-lincoln-part-2/3893816.html

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