評論
打印
There's a school of thought,and it's still alive in a certain fringe of American scholarship,
有這么一種理論 至今仍活躍于美國學術界某些邊緣地帶
that the real cause, or immediate cause, of the Civil War was Lincoln.
此派觀點為 美國內戰的真正緣由 或說直接緣由 是為林肯
Now this argument is basically that Lincoln could have simply gently let
如今這一論點的基本思想是 林肯原本可以簡單溫和地
the South go, that he didn't need to force military action,
讓南方各州脫離聯邦 他無需采取強制性軍事行動
that he could have backed away and continued to compromise,
他本可退讓 繼續和解
that Southerners were willing to compromise on this issue or that issue.
南方也愿意在種種問題上妥協
There is no evidence that the Confederate leadership, Jefferson Davis and his growing Cabinet,
無證據可表明聯邦領導者 杰弗遜·戴維斯和他那龐大的內閣
were truly willing to compromise on any part of the expansion of slavery issue or anything else.
會誠心愿意和解 無論在奴隸制擴展的任一方面上 還是在其他任一議題上
Lincoln did not cause the Civil War.
林肯并未引發內戰
What Lincoln did was create a situation where war was possible.
他所做的是創造了一個可能引起戰爭的環境
In other words, he was willing to risk war.
換而言之 林肯甘冒戰爭風險
He put the onus on the Confederacy. They fired the first shot.
他將責任踢給了聯邦 挑起戰端的是聯邦
They weren't willing to compromise either.
他們同樣無妥協之意
While blame for the war might lie with both Lincoln and Jefferson Davis,
雖說挑起戰爭的罵名可能由林肯和杰佛遜·戴維斯同時承擔
neither side in 1861 foresaw the calamity they were about to unleash.
但在1861年 沒有哪一方預見到他們將招致何種災難
No-one in the North or the South could have imagined the kind of war it would be.
不論南北 無人能料想到這場戰爭的模樣
The military leaders on both sides didn't quite understand the significance of the technological changes.
雙方的軍事領導者都對技術變革的重要意義缺乏足夠認識
