VOA慢速英语:菲尔摩尔总统在1850年签署妥协协议

President Fillmore Signs Compromise of 1850

From VOA Learning English, welcome to The Making of a Nation, our weekly program of American history for people learningAmerican English. I’m Steve Ember.

In 1850, the northern and southern states threatened to split over the issue ofslavery. At that time, owning slaves was legal in the southern states. Manynortherners opposed slavery. And the question remained: should slavery belegal in new territories in the western part of the country?

The two sides disagreed strongly. But the issue needed to be settled. SoSenator Henry Clay of Kentucky offered a compromise. Conservativesouthern lawmakers rejected it. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina especiallyspoke against the compromise.

But other lawmakers supported it, including one of the nation's top politicalleaders. Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts said the compromisewas the only way to save the Union of states.

Four days after Webster’s speech, Senator William Seward of New Yorkpresented his ideas to the Senate – and to the nation.

Seward was a northerner. He said heopposed any compromise with the South. He said hedid not want slavery in the new western territories. And he called for a national policy to start ending slaveryeverywhere peacefully.

Seward criticized Daniel Webster for speaking againstAbolition societies. He said such groups represented amoral movement that could not be stopped. He saidthe movement would continue until all the slaves inAmerica were free.

Seward then criticized John C. Calhoun. Hedenounced Calhoun's demands for a political balancebetween the North and South. He said this forcedbalance would change the United States from a united,national democracy to an alliance of independentstates. In such a system, he said, the minority wouldbe able to veto actions of the majority.

A few weeks after Seward spoke, John C. Calhoundied. One newspaper in Calhoun's home state said: "The senator's death isbest for the country and his own honor. The slavery question will now besettled. Calhoun would have blocked a settlement."

In fact, many lawmakers had come to support the idea of Senator HenryClay's compromise. But they could not agree on which parts of it to pass first. Southern supporters were afraid that if a statehood bill for California waspassed first, then northerners would refuse to pass the other parts of thecompromise. So, southerners wanted to include all parts in one bill.

A committee of 13 men was named to write a bill based on Henry Clay'scompromise. The committee had six members from slave states and sixfrom free states. Senator Clay was named to lead it.

An 1851 portrait of William Seward

Three weeks later, the committee offered its bill. It was much like thecompromise Clay had first proposed. It made California a free state. Itcreated territorial governments for New Mexico and Utah. It settled the borderdispute between Texas and New Mexico. It ended the slave trade in thenation’s capital, the District of Columbia. And it urged approval of a new lawdealing with runaway slaves.

For about a month, the bill seemed to have the support of President ZacharyTaylor. But then the president made it clear that he would do everything hecould to defeat it.

Taylor did not think the nation was in crisis. He did not believe the disputeover slavery was as serious as others did. He had his own plan to settle onepart of the dispute. He would make the new territory of California a free state. There, slavery would be banned.

Taylor's plan did not, however, settle other parts of the dispute. It said nothingabout laws on escaped slaves. It said nothing about slavery in the District ofColumbia. It also said nothing about the border dispute between Texas andNew Mexico.

Senator Clay, who had offered the compromise, questioned PresidentTaylor's limited proposal. Clay said: "Now what is the plan of the president? Here are five problems, five wounds that are bleeding and threatening the lifeof the republic. What is the president's plan? Is it to heal all these wounds? No such thing. It is to heal one of the five and to leave the other four to bleedmore than ever."

While the debate continued in Washington, the situation in Texas and NewMexico got worse. Texas claimed a large part of New Mexico, including thecapital, Santa Fe. Early in 1850, Texas sent a representative to Santa Fe totake control of the government.

The United States military commander in New Mexico advised the people not to recognize the man. The governor of Texas was furious. He decided tosend state soldiers to enforce Texas's claims in New Mexico. He said iftrouble broke out, the United States government would be to blame.

President Taylor rejected Texas's claims. He told his secretary of war to sendan order to the military commander in New Mexico. The commander was touse force to oppose any attempt by Texas to seize the territory.

The secretary of war said he would not send such an order. He believed thatif fighting began, southerners would hurry to the aid of Texas. And that, hethought, might be the start of a southern struggle against the federalgovernment. In a short time, the North and South would be at war.

So the secretary of war refused to sign the order. President Taylor answeredsharply, "Then I will sign the order myself!"

Detail from official White House portrait of President Zachary Taylor (c.1848) by Joseph Henry BushTaylor had been a general before becoming president. He said he would take command of the army himself toenforce the law. And he said he was willing to hanganyone who rebelled against the Union.

President Taylor began writing a message to Congress on the situation. Henever finished it. On July 4th, 1850, Taylor attended an outdoor IndependenceDay ceremony. The event was held on the grounds where a monument toAmerica's first president, George Washington, was being built.

The day was very hot, and Taylor stood for a long time in the burning sun. That night, he became sick with pains in his stomach. Doctors were called to the White House. But none of their treatments worked.

Five days later, President Zachary Taylor died. His vice president, MillardFillmore, was sworn-in as president.

Millard Fillmore was from New York State. His family was poor. His earlyeducation came not from school teachers, but from whatever books he couldfind. Later, Fillmore was able to study law. He became a successful lawyer. He also served in the United States Congress for eight years.

The Whig Party chose him as its candidate for vice president in the election of 1848. He served in the office for about a year and a half before the death ofPresident Taylor.

Fillmore had disagreed with Taylor over the congressional compromise onslavery and the western territories. Unlike Taylor, Fillmore truly believed that the nation was facing a crisis. And he truly believed the compromise wouldhelp save the Union.

Now, as president, Fillmore offered his complete support to the compromisebill. Its chances of passing looked better than ever. Fillmore asked the oldcabinet to resign. He named his own cabinet members. All were strongsupporters of the Union. All supported the compromise.

Congress debated the compromise bill throughout the summer of 1850. Thebill included several proposals. Supporters decided not to vote on theproposals as one piece of legislation. They saw a better chance of successby trying to pass each proposal separately. Their idea worked.

By the end of September, both the Senate and House of Representatives hadapproved all parts of the 1850 Compromise. President Fillmore signed theminto law.

One part of the compromise permitted California to enter the Union as a freestate. One established territorial governments in New Mexico and Utah. Onesettled the dispute between Texas and New Mexico. Another ended the slavetrade in the District of Columbia.

Many happy celebrations took place when Americans heard that PresidentFillmore had signed the 1850 Compromise. Many people believed theproblem of slavery had been solved. They believed the Union had beensaved.

Others, however, believed the problem only had been postponed. They hopedthe delay would give reasonable people of the North and South time to find apermanent answer to the issue of slavery. Time was running out.

It was true the 1850 Compromise had ended a national crisis. But bothnorthern and southern extremists remained bitter. Those opposed to slaverybelieved the compromise law on runaway slaves violated the constitution.

The new law said blacks accused of being runaway slaves could not have ajury trial. It said government officials could send the suspected runaways to the individual who claimed to own them. It said blacks could not appeal sucha decision.

Those who supported slavery had a different idea of the compromise. Theydid not care about the constitutional rights of blacks. They considered thecompromise a simple law for the return of valuable property. No law approvedby Congress, and signed by the president, could change these beliefs.

The issue of slavery was linked to the issue of secession. Did states have theright to leave the Union? If southern states rejected all compromises onslavery, did they have the right to secede? The signing of the 1850Compromise cooled the debate for a time. But disagreement on the issueswas deep. It would continue to build over the next ten years.

How the situation affected slaves themselves will be our story next week.

I’m Steve Ember inviting you to join us next time for The Making of a Nation –American history from VOA Learning English.