美國英語聽力80篇4 Lesson73

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Passage 73 1850 Compromise(B)

Fillmore was from New York State.
His family was poor.
His early education came not from school teachers
but from whatever books he could find.
Later,Fillmore was avle to study law.He became a successful lawyer.
He also served in the United States congress for eight years.
He Whig Party chose him as its vice presidential candidate
in the election of 1848.
He served as vice president for about a year
and half before the death of President Taylor.
fillmore has disagreed with Taylor
over the congressional compromise on slavery and the western territories.
Unlike Taylor,Fillmore truly believed that the nation was facing a crisis.
The compromise would help save the union.
Now,as president,Fillmore offered his complete support to the bill.
Its chances of passing looked better than ever.
Fillmore asked the old cabinet to resign.
He named his own cabinet members.
All were strong supporters of the union.
All supported the compromise.
Congress debated the compromise throughout the summer of 1850.
There were several proposals in the bill.
Supporters decided not to vote on the proposals as one piece of legislation
They saw a better chance of success
by trying to pass each proposal separately.Their idea worked.
By the end of September,both the senate and House of Representatives
had approved all parts of the 1850 compromise.
President fillmore signed them into law.
One part of the compromise permitted California
to enter the union as a free state.
One established territorial governments in New Mexico and Utah.
One settled the dispute between Texas and New Mexico.
Another ended the slave trade in the district of Columbia.
Many happy celebrations took place when citizens heard
that Presisent Fillmore had signed the 1850 compromise.
Many people believed the problem of slavery had been solved.
They believed the union had been saved.
Others,however,believed the problem had only been postponed.
They hoped the delay would give reasonable men of the north
and south time to find a permanent answer to the issue of slavery.
Time was running out.
It was true that the 1850 compromise had ended a national crisis.
But both northern and southern extremists remained bitter.
Those opposed to slavery believed the compromise law
on runaway slaves violated the constitution.
The new law said Negroes accused of being runaway slaves
could not have a jury trial.
It said government officials could send Negroes
to whoever claimed to own them.
It said Negroes could not appeal such a decision.
Those who supported slavery had a different idea of the compromise.
They did not care about the constitutional rights of Negroes.
They considered the compromise a simple law
for the return of valuable property.
No law approved by congress,and signed by the president
could change these beliefs.
The issue of slavery was linked to the issue of secession.
Did states have the right to leave the union?
If Southern states rejected all compromises on slavery,
did they have the right to secede?
The signing of the 1850 compromise cooled the debate for a time.
But disagreement on the issues was deep.
It would continue to build over the next ten years.
Those were difficult years for America's presidents.