Ten Minute History - Westward Expansion and the American Civil War (Short Documentary) · History Matters
本视频讲述美国西进运动及内战的历史背景，适合练习美国历史、政治与社会议题。内容涵盖领土扩张、奴隶制矛盾及南北对立，帮助学习者掌握相关词汇和表达。
1845 and North America looks like this.
1845年时，北美的景象是这样的。
It was divided between the United States, the Republic of Mexico, the British Empire and finally the Republic of Texas.
这片土地曾被美国、墨西哥共和国、大英帝国先后瓜分，最终归德克萨斯共和国所有。
In 1846, after a decade of indecision, the United States annexed Texas, which upset the Mexicans.
1846年，在经历了长达十年的犹豫不决之后，美国最终吞并了德克萨斯州，这一举动令墨西哥人感到非常愤怒。
This was because Texas had itself seceded from Mexico and the two also claimed the same land,
这是因为德克萨斯州曾从墨西哥独立出来，而且这两个地区都声称对同一片土地拥有主权。
which now meant that the claims of Texas were the claims of the USA.
这意味着德克萨斯州的主张实际上就是美国的主张。
President James K.
詹姆斯·K·总统
Polk sent troops to the disputed Mexican -U .S.
波尔克将军向这片存在争议的墨西哥与美国之间的领土派遣了军队。
border and as he had hoped, fighting broke out, which meant war.
边境局势正如他所希望的那样，战斗爆发了，这意味着战争的开始。
Mexico surrendered after the U .S.
在美国的攻势下，墨西哥最终投降了。
occupied its capital, Mexico City.
该国占领了自己的首都——墨西哥城。
In the subsequent 1848 peace treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded all of this territory.
在随后于1848年签订的《瓜达卢佩-伊达尔戈和平条约》中，墨西哥割让了所有这些领土。
In the same year, the United States and Britain came to an agreement over the disputed northern territories and settled on this.
同年，美国和英国就争议中的北部领土问题达成了协议，并据此解决了相关争议。
So within only four years, the United States had grown from this to this and it was spurred on by the idea of manifest destiny.
因此，在短短四年时间里，美国就实现了这样的发展；这一进程的背后，是“天定命运”（Manifest Destiny）这一理念的推动作用。
This was the argument that the United
这就是美国所提出的论点。
States was wheeled by God and destined to spread westward and control all of this territory before making it fundamentally American.
这些州仿佛是上帝亲自指引着前进的；它们的命运注定是要向西扩张，控制所有这些地区，并将这些地方彻底变成美国的领土。
All of this new territory was not necessarily a good thing though, so America at this point was economically socially and politically divided.
然而，所有这些新的发展并不一定都是好事；因此，在当时美国在经济、社会和政治方面都处于分裂状态。
North versus south, urban versus rural, slave state versus free state and federal versus state government.
北方与南方、城市与农村、奴隶制州与自由州，以及联邦政府与州政府之间的对立与冲突。
The North was much more urbanized, industrialized and for the most part had outlawed the practice of slavery.
北方地区的城市化程度和工业化水平都要高得多，而且奴隶制在很大程度上已经被法律明令禁止。
Many of the North sources of barbaric practice, a sentiment reinforced by its high rate of European migration,
许多北欧地区存在野蛮习俗的现象，这一现象因欧洲移民的高频率而更加明显。
whom for the most part came from nations which had already outlawed its practice.
这些人大多来自那些已经将这种行为定为非法的国家。
The south was much more rural with
南部的地区更加以农村为主。
a greater focus on labor -intensive agriculture which meant that slavery was economically valuable and had to become a fact of life there.
人们更加重视劳动密集型农业；这种农业模式使得奴隶制在经济上具有价值，因此奴隶制在当地成为一种不可避免的现象。
Those who held slaves there also believed that slavery was simply the natural order of things.
那些在那里拥有奴隶的人也认为，奴隶制只是事物发展的自然规律罢了。
The reason that the US had previously hesitated on the annexation of Texas was due to these internal tensions over slavery.
美国此前在是否吞并德克萨斯州的问题上犹豫不决，主要原因就是国内存在关于奴隶制的严重矛盾和紧张局势。
In the US Senate, each state held
在美国参议院中，每个州都有一名代表（或议员）。
the same number of senators and within the Senate there was a balance between the states which allowed slavery and those which had abolished it.
参议员的数量保持不变；在参议院内部，支持奴隶制的州与已经废除奴隶制的州之间实现了平衡。
Texas was a slave state and so
德克萨斯州曾是一个奴隶制州。
the balance was upset which led to
平衡被打破了，从而导致……
fierce debates over what should happen with the new territories and how they can be used to address this imbalance.
关于这些新领土应该如何处理，以及如何利用它们来缓解这种不平衡状况，人们展开了激烈的辩论。
There were many in the US who were fiercely opposed to slavery and thus didn't want any more slave states in the Union.
在美国，有很多人强烈反对奴隶制，因此不希望联邦中再有任何奴隶制存在的州。
One example was David Wilmot who tabled
其中一个例子是戴维·威尔莫特（David Wilmot），他提交了一份提案。
the Wilmot provider which was supposed to ban any territories acquired from Mexico from permitting slavery but it got nowhere.
威尔莫特（Wilmot）法案的制定者本应禁止从墨西哥获得的领土上存在奴隶制，但这一法案最终未能取得任何实际成效。
On the opposite side Senator Jefferson Davis
在另一边的是杰斐逊·戴维斯参议员。
of Mississippi argued that the new territories should be comprised of slave states and that furthermore they should annex Cuba.
密西西比州的代表认为，新领土应该由奴隶制州组成，并且还应该吞并古巴。
Slightly more middle of the road was
稍微更偏向中间立场的观点是……
Steve and Douglas who argued for what was called popular sovereignty meaning that new states should be allowed to decide for themselves.
史蒂夫和道格拉斯主张所谓的“人民主权”原则，即新成立的州应该有权自行决定自己的命运（即是否加入联邦）。
These arguments culminated in the compromise of
这些争论最终导致了某种妥协的达成。
1850 which gave statehood to California as
1850年，加利福尼亚州获得了州地位。
a free state allowed the new territory
作为一个自由的国家，该政府允许这片新领土保持其独立地位（即不受其他国家的直接控制）。
to decide whether or not they wanted to allow slavery and importantly it implemented a new and very controversial fugitive slave law.
他们需要决定是否允许奴隶制度的存在；更重要的是，他们还颁布了一项新的、极具争议性的《逃奴法》。