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Not only is slavery growing
奴隸制不僅僅在
in the American South in the 1820s, '30s, and '40s in leaps and bounds
1820到1840年代的美國南部以極其迅速地方式增長
I mean, the American slave population doubled in 25 years between 1820 and the mid-1840s.
重點是 全美國的奴隸數在25年里翻了一番 從1820年代到1840年代中期
By the 1850s, slavery became,
到1850年代 奴隸制
slaves became the single greatest economic asset in the entire American economy.
奴隸成為支持美國經濟體的 中流砥柱
It was the engine of wealth for the American South, and frankly for a good deal of the American North,
奴隸們是美國南部的財富發動機 大量美國北部人也因此收入頗豐
especially the banking system in New York and other cities.
特別是紐約和其它城市的銀行體系
At that point, you had a nation growing in leaps and bounds,
在那個階段 這樣一個國家正在突飛猛進之中
had a sense of its infinite boundlessness,
既有無窮無盡之可能的感受
but also a sense of great anxiety and great dread of what on earth are they going to do about this problem.
也有強烈的焦慮和巨大的矛盾 對于到底如何解決奴隸制這個問題
The figure who was to do most to tip America into crisis
那個差點讓美國陷入危機的人
was the man who was also to become Abraham Lincoln's political nemesis.
最終成了亞伯拉罕·林肯政治上的死敵
Stephen A Douglas,a Democrat from Lincoln's home state of Illinois, introduced in 1854
他就是 斯蒂芬A道格拉斯 一位來自林肯老家伊利諾斯州的民主黨人 在1854年引進了
a clause that would allow slavery to spread into the new Western states of Kansas and Nebraska.
一項法律條款 允許奴隸制擴散到 新建立的西部諸州即堪薩斯州和內布拉斯加州
To oppose this, a new political party was formed in the North,the Republicans,
為了反對這一舉措 一個新的政黨在北方成立 那就是共和黨
and Abraham Lincoln abandoned his legal career to join them.
亞伯拉罕·林肯放棄了自己的律師生涯加入了共和黨
