7 Chapter 4 The Great Debater

Chapter 4 The Great Debater What brought Lincoln back to politics was the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. For a long time, Americans had been arguing about slavery. Should it be legal? And if so, where? In 1820, Missouri had become a state. Slavery was legal there. At that time, Congress had declared that this was as far north as slavery could go. In any land north of the Missouri border, slavery would never be allowed. Then, in 1854, Congress went back on that decision. The Kansas-Nebraska territory was north of the border limiting slavery. But now Congress said that when the territory became two separate states, the people there could decide about slavery. They could make it legal if they wanted. Had

使林肯重返政坛的是1854年的《堪萨斯-内布拉斯加法案》。 长期以来，美国人一直在争论奴隶制问题。 它应该是合法的吗?如果有，在哪里? 1820年，密苏里州成为一个州。 奴隶制在那里是合法的。当时，国会已经宣布，这是奴隶制所能到达的最北的地方。 在密苏里州边界以北的任何地方，奴隶制都是不允许的。 然后，在1854年，国会推翻了这一决定。 堪萨斯-内布拉斯加地区位于限制奴隶制的边界以北。 但是现在，国会说，当这片领土成为两个独立的州时，那里的人民可以决定奴隶制。 如果他们愿意，他们可以让它合法化。 有

Congress broken its promise? Abolitionists—people who were fighting to make slavery illegal —thought so. They hated the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Lincoln did, too, even though he was not exactly an abolitionist. He hated slavery and wanted it to end. But he thought the Constitution said slavery was legal in the United States. He was

国会违背了承诺? 废奴主义者——那些为废除奴隶制而斗争的人——是这么想的。 他们痛恨堪萨斯-内布拉斯加法案。 林肯也这样做了，尽管他并不是一个真正的废奴主义者。 他痛恨奴隶制，希望结束它。 但是他认为宪法规定奴隶制在美国是合法的。 他是

afraid that if Congress tried to force slave owners to give up their slaves, it would just lead to violence. And so, although slavery went against his own values, he supported the legal rights of slave owners. Lincoln thought slavery could end another way. He thought slavery should only be allowed in the part of the United States where it was already legal. But it should not be allowed into any new territory. Then it would die out in time. People would come to see that slavery was bad for the country. They would be willing to end it without fighting. To Lincoln, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was a terrible step in the wrong direction. Congress was opening up huge new areas of the country to slavery. So Lincoln returned to politics. The man responsible for the Kansas-Nebraska Act was Senator Stephen Douglas from Illinois. Lincoln and Douglas had been rivals for years—ever since they were in the state legislature together.

他担心，如果国会试图强迫奴隶主放弃他们的奴隶，只会导致暴力。 因此，尽管奴隶制违背了他自己的价值观，但他支持奴隶主的合法权利。 林肯认为奴隶制可以以另一种方式结束。 他认为奴隶制只应该在美国已经合法的地区被允许。 但它不应该被允许进入任何新的领域。 然后它会及时消失。 人们会逐渐认识到奴隶制对国家是有害的。 他们愿意不战而终。 对林肯来说，堪萨斯-内布拉斯加法案是朝着错误方向迈出的可怕一步。 国会为奴隶制开辟了广阔的新地区。 所以林肯回到了政界。 《堪萨斯-内布拉斯加法案》的起草人是伊利诺伊州参议员斯蒂芬·道格拉斯。 林肯和道格拉斯多年来一直是竞争对手——从他们一起在州议会任职开始。

ABOLITIONISTS MOVEMENTS OPPOSING SLAVERY BEGAN In AMERICA WHILE THE COLONIES WERE STILL UNDER BRITISH CONTROL. BY 1804, SLAVERY HAD BEEN MADE ILLEGAL In ALL THE NORTHERN STATES. In THE 1830S And 40S, An ACTIVE ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT DEVELOPED In THE UNITED STATES. ABOLITIONISTS BELIEVED THAT SLAVERY WAS EVIL And SHOULD BE COMPLETELY ILLEGAL EVERYWHERE. MANY WROTE ARTICLES And PRESSURED THE GOVERNMENT FOR REFORM. SOME WERE ACTIVE On THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD—THE

反对奴隶制的废奴运动始于美国，当时殖民地还在英国的控制之下。 到1804年，奴隶制在北方各州被定为非法。 19世纪三四十年代，美国兴起了一场活跃的废奴运动。 废奴主义者认为奴隶制是邪恶的，在任何地方都应完全禁止。 许多人写文章，向政府施压要求改革。 有些人在地下铁路上很活跃

SECRET NETWORK THAT HELPED SLAVES ESCAPE TO FREEDOM. NOT EVERYONE WHO WAS AGAINST SLAVERY WAS An ABOLITIONIST. SOME PEOPLE WERE AFRAID THAT ABOLITIONISTS WERE DANGEROUS. THEY WANTEd TO MAKE BIG CHANGES TOO QUICKLY. THE MOST EXTREME ABOLITIONIST WAS JOHN BROWN. HE TRIED TO START An ARMED SLAVE REBELLION, BUT HE WAS CAPTURED And HANGED.

帮助奴隶逃向自由的秘密网络。 并非所有反对奴隶制的人都是废奴主义者。 有些人担心废奴主义者是危险的。 他们想要很快做出大的改变。 最极端的废奴主义者是约翰·布朗。 他试图发动一场奴隶武装叛乱，但他被俘虏并被绞死。