評論
打印
Chicago, May 18, 1860. A backwoods congressman comes out of nowhere to grab the new Republican Party's nomination for President. Abe Lincoln's only claim to fame-- he's lost two elections to the Senate.
1860年5月18日，芝加哥，一位來自邊區偏僻之地的不知名的議員贏得了共和黨的新總統提名。林肯此前唯一的出名之處就是他曾兩次競選參議員落敗。
Personally, Lincoln hates slavery, but he is desperate to hold the country together.
林肯個人反感奴隸制，但他也想竭力維護國家統一。
What I admire about Abraham Lincoln is that he had his beliefs and he stuck to his beliefs at a time when it was't popular to do so, especially when it was black, white and very cut-and -dry, he stuck to his beliefs.
亞伯拉罕·林肯最令我敬重的一點，是他的信仰以及對信仰的執著追求，在這種觀念還不算流行的時候，特別是在黑人白人這樣老生常談的問題上他仍然堅守陣地。
November 6, 1860. Election Day. The stakes couldn't be higher. Abraham Lincoln will be elected president of a country hurtling towards war. The South rebels, convinced he'll abolish slavery.
1860年11月6日，選舉日，一個冒著極大風險的選舉結果，亞伯拉罕·林肯將被選為這個戰事一觸即發的國家的總統。南方的反叛州確信他將廢除奴隸制，
They threaten to leave the Union. The battle lines are drawn. The North is behind him. For the South, Lincoln is the enemy.
他們威脅要脫離聯邦，戰線隨即劃定。北方聲明對他的支持，在南方眼里林肯是敵人。
An editorial in an Atlanta paper "Let the consequences be what they may. Whether the Potomac is crimsoned in human gore and Pennsylvania Avenue is paved ten fathoms with mangled bodies ,
一家亞特蘭大報紙的社論寫道，不管后果如何要么血染波托馬克河，要么讓血肉模糊的尸體在賓夕法尼亞大道上堆到十英尋高。
the South will never submit to such humiliation and degradation as the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln."
南方斷不會屈服于亞伯拉罕·林肯就任總統這樣的奇恥大辱。
The South knew that Lincoln was gonna win, and it was just a matter of time,
南方知道林肯會贏得選舉，脫離聯邦只是時間問題。
tick, tick, tick, before secession occurred. The South wants no part of a Union with Lincoln in the White House. But as he prepares to take office, the President-elect is still determined to avoid a civil war.
南方不愿成為林肯所主持的聯邦的一部分，但在他宣布就任前夕當選總統仍然決意要避免一場內戰。
Lincoln was not happy about slavery. He did not see that as congruent to "All men are created equal."
林肯對奴隸制很反感，他認為這有悖"人人生而平等"的信條，
And he had given a speech, before he ever became president, on why that was so important to him. And I think that was coming to a head, and when he got elected, that was the final straw for the South.
他在就任總統前發表了一個演講闡明為何奴隸制問題如此重要，我認為廢奴之爭已經到了緊要關頭他的當選觸及了南方所能容忍的底線。
December 20, 1860.South Carolina secedes from the Union. The ten other slave states soon follow. Lincoln's victory makes war inevitable. He's prepared to fight to preserve the Union -- and won't have to wait long.
1860年12月20日，南卡羅來納州脫離聯邦，其他十個蓄奴州旋即效仿。林肯的當選使戰爭在所難免，他做好了為保全聯邦而戰的準備，這一刻即將來臨。
In February 1861, a few weeks before his inauguration, the Confederate States of America are born.
1861年2月，就在他就職前數周，美利堅聯盟國成立。
Lincoln's princi pal objective was to save the Union and then we'll deal with slavery, but before too long, he had to both save the Union and deal with slavery.
林肯的首要目標是保全聯邦，然后才是廢除奴隸制，但馬上 他不得不同時解決這兩個問題。
Abraham Lincoln receives his first death threats before ever taking office. He'll save every one, keeping a file in his desk labeled: "Assassination."
亞伯拉罕·林肯尚未就職便收到首份死亡威脅，接下來收到的每個死亡威脅他都保存下來，全部放在案頭一個標為"刺殺"的文件夾里。
On the journey to Washington, he'll wear a disguise, just to be safe. He'll do anything to avoid war, except allow slavery to expand.
在去華盛頓的路上，他將喬裝打扮，安全第一。他會為避免戰爭而作出一切努力，但允許奴隸制擴張除外。
It is Lincoln who explains the case for freedom and says, "I'm not gonna attack slavery where it is, but I'm not gonna let it expand."
林肯闡述了他使用的自由一詞的含義，我不會干涉現有的奴隸制度，但不會任由其擴張。
At his inauguration, Abraham Lincoln reluctantly pledges that states with slaves will be allowed to keep them, but it's too little, too late. A virtual state of war already exists.
在就職典禮上，亞伯拉罕·林肯勉強承諾允許蓄奴州繼續保持奴隸制，但退步太小且為時已晚。敵對格局已明擺在眼前，
The South mobilizes an army of 800,000 men against a Union army of 2 and half Million. Five weeks after Abraham Lincoln takes office, the first shots are fired in the War Between the States.
南方動員了八十萬士兵來對抗北方的兩百萬聯邦大軍。亞伯拉罕·林肯就職五周后，南北之戰的第一槍打響。
It will spark a brutal and bloody civil war, the deadliest in American history. In the next four years, more lives will be lost than in all America's other wars put together.
它開啟了一場殘暴而血腥的內戰，美國歷史上傷亡最為慘重的戰爭。接下來的四年里死亡的人數將超過美國所有其它戰爭死亡人數的總和。
