THE MAKING OF A NATION #077 - 1850 Compromise, Part 1

THE MAKING OF A NATION #67- Martin Van Buren, Part 2 By Frank BeardsleyBroadcast: June 17, 2004 (MUSIC)VOICE ONE:THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.(MUSIC)Martin Van Buren took office as America's eighth president in eighteen-thirty-seven. Not longafter, the United States suffered a severe economic depression. Many state banks producedmore paper money than they could guarantee with gold or silver. As more paper money wasput into use, the value of the money fell. Prices rose sharply. Some people could not buy thefood and other things they needed. In a short time, the demand on banks to exchange papermoney for gold and silver grew too heavy. The banks stopped these exchanges. They said thesituation was only temporary. But the crisis continued.VOICE TWO:Many of the weaker state banks closed after gold and silver payments were suspended. Thosethat stayed open had almost no money to lend. Businessmen could not pay back money theyowed the banks. And they could not get loans to keep their businesses open. Many factories closed. Great numbers of people were out of work.The federal government itself lost nine-million dollars because of bank failures.Businessmen said the government was to blame for the economic depression. They saidthe biggest reason was an order made by former President Andrew Jackson. Jackson hadsaid the government would not accept paper money as payment for the purchase ofgovernment land. It would accept only gold or silver.Opponents of the order said it had caused fear and mistrust. Even some of Jackson'sstrongest supporters said the order should be lifted. They said it had done its job of endingland speculation. Now, they said, it was hurting the economy.VOICE ONE: Two of President Van Buren's closest advisers urged him to continue the order. Lifting it, they argued, would flood the federal government with paper money of questionable value.Van Buren was troubled about the government's money. He wanted to make sure the government had enough money. And he wanted this money safe until needed. At the same time, Van Buren did not believe the federal government had the responsibility for ending the depression. And he did not believe the government had the right to interfere in any way with private business. So Van Buren decided to continue the order. No government land could be bought with paper money.The economy got worse. The president called a special meeting of Congress. In his message to Congress, Van Buren said "over-banking and over-trading" had caused the depression. He proposed several steps to protect the government.President MartinVan Buren Andrew JacksonVOICE TWO:Van Vuren asked Congress to postpone payment of surplus federal government money to the states. He said the money would be needed to operate the federal government in the coming year. He also asked Congress to pass a law permitting the government to keep its own money in the Treasury, instead of putting it in private banks. This was the so-called "independent treasury" bill.The opposition Whig Party denounced the president's proposals. It criticized Van Buren for thinking only of protecting the federal government...and not helping businessmen, farmers, and the states. Whig opposition was not strong enough to defeat all the president's proposals. Congress approved a bill to postpone payment of surplus federal government money to the states. But the Whigs -- together with conservative Democrats -- rejected the proposal for an independent Treasury.VOICE ONE:America's Treasury Department received money when it collected import taxes and sold land. It used this money to pay what the government owed. The Treasury did not, however, hold the money from the time it was collected to the time it was paid out. The Treasury put the money in private banks. President Van Buren wanted to end this situation. He wanted a law to permit the Treasury to keep government money in its own secure places.The Whigs argued that such a law would give presidents too much power over the economy. Some Democrats who believed strongly in states' rights also opposed it. Between them, they had enough votes in Congress to defeat the proposal.VOICE TWO:President Van Buren tried again the following year to get approval for an independent Treasury. Again, the proposal was defeated.Finally, in June, eighteen-forty, Congress passed a law permitting the Treasury Department to hold government money itself. Van Buren signed the bill. The economic depression of eighteen-thirty-seven lasted for six years. It was the major problem -- but not the only problem -- during Van Buren's one term as president.VOICE ONE:In foreign affairs, one of the chief problems Van Buren faced was a dispute with Britain about Canada. Canadian rebels had tried two times to end British rule of Canada. They failed both times. Rebel leaders were forced to flee to safety in the United States. There they found it easy to get men and supplies to help them continue their struggle.The rebels built a base on a Canadian island in the Niagara River which formed part of the border between the two countries. They used an American boat to carry supplies from the American side to their base. In December, eighteen-thirty-seven, Canadian soldiers crossed the Niagara River and seized the boat. One American was killed in the fight.VOICE TWO:For a while, Canadian forces and Canadian rebels exchanged attacks on river boats. A number of American citizens fought with the rebels. President Van Buren was troubled. He declared that the wish to help others become independent was a natural feeling among Americans. But, he said no American had a right to invade a friendly country. He warned that citizens who fought against the Canadian government, and were captured, could expect no help from the United States.VOICE ONE:Another problem between the United States and Canada at that time concerned the border along the state ofMaine. That part of the border had been in dispute ever since seventeen-eighty-three when Britain recognized the independence of the American states.Years later, the king of the Netherlands agreed to decide the dispute. The king said it was impossible to decide the border from words of the peace treaty between Britain and the United States. So he offered what he believed was a fair settlement, instead. The United States would get about two times as much of the disputed area as Canada. Britain accepted the proposal by the king of the Netherlands. The United States did not. The United States refused, because the state of Maine would not accept it.VOICE TWO:In eighteen-thirty-eight, Britain withdrew its acceptance of the proposal. And canadians entered the disputed area. The governor of Maine sent state forces to the area. The soldiers drove out the Canadians and built forts. Canada, too, began to prepare for war.President Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott to Maine. Scott was able to get the governor to withdraw his forces from the disputed area. He also received guarantees that canadian forces would not enter the area. The danger of war passed.VOICE ONE:Americans in the border area, however, were angry with President Van Buren. They believed Van Buren was weak, because he did not want war. Not only in the northeast was the president losing support. People all over the country were suffering because of the economic depression.Most people believed Van Buren was responsible for their troubles, because he did not end the depression. The economy had fallen apart because of the hard money policies of former President Andrew Jackson, and the opposition to those policies by businessmen and bankers. And Van Buren did nothing to change those policies.VOICE TWO:Van Buren had been a good political adviser to President Jackson. But he had not been a strong president. He was unable to make the people understand his policies. The opposition Whig Party was happy over these developments. It saw an excellent chance to win the next presidential election.The issues in American politics before the election of eighteen-forty will be our story in the next program of THE MAKING OF A NATION.(MUSIC)VOICE ONE:You have been listening to the Special English program, THE MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Tony Riggs and Harry Monroe. Our program was written by Frank Beardsley.Email this article to a friendPrinter Friendly Version。

THE MAKING OF A NATION #54 - Election of 1824 By Frank BeardsleyBroadcast: March 18, 2004(Theme)VOICE ONE:THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.(Theme)Four of the first five presidents of the United States came from Virginia. They were GeorgeWashington, Thomas Jefferson, James madison, and James Monroe. The second president,John Adams, was a New Englander. In the national election of eighteen-twenty-four, hisson -- John Quincy Adams -- was one of four leading candidates for the presidency. And forthe first time, the west began to make its weight felt in national politics. General AndrewJackson of Tennessee got the most electoral votes: ninety-nine. But he needed one-hundredthirty-one to win a majority. The Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, was second witheighty-four votes. Treasury Secretary William Crawford received forty -one. And HenryClay of Kentucky got thirty-seven.VOICE TWO:None of the candidates, however, got a majority of the votes. And the decision went to the House ofRepresentatives. The House voted on only the three top candidates for president. The most powerful man in Congress -- Henry Clay -- was not, therefore, a candidate. But Clay's support would be the greatest help any of the candidates could receive. All three wanted his support. Treasury Secretary Crawford had suffered a serious illness before the election, and his health was bad. Clay felt he could not support him for that reason.VOICE ONE:This left Adams and Jackson. Clay did not agree with all of Adams' policies. But hedid believe Adams had the education and ability to be president. Clay did not likeJackson, the hero of New Orleans during the war of 1812. He knew Jackson waspoorly educated and easy to anger. Clay did not think Jackson would be a goodpresident. So Clay decided to support Adams for president. He said nothing about thisfor a time. Several of Clay's friends visited Adams. They told him that Clay'ssupporters in the west would be pleased if Adams, as president, named Clay asSecretary of State. Adams told them that if the votes of the west elected him president,he would put a westerner in his cabinet. But he would not promise that the westernerwould be Clay, or that the cabinet job would be that of Secretary of State.VOICE TWO:Clay still had not said publicly which candidate he supported. But it became known that his choice was Adams. Late in January, the Philadelphia newspaper, "Columbian Observer," published an unsigned letter. The letter charged that Clay and Adams had made a secret agreement. Clay, the letter said, would give his support toAdams. In exchange, Adams would name Clay his Secretary of State. Clay was furious. He not only denied the charge, but offered to fight a duel with the letter-writer, should his name be known. Much was made of thecharge that Clay had sold his vote to Adams. But no proof was ever given. Clay demanded an investigation. But the man who accused him in the newspaper letter refused to say anything. Clay was sure Jackson's supporters were responsible.VOICE ONE:John Quincy Adams Henry ClaySnow was falling in Washington on the morning of February ninth, the day that Congress would elect thepresident. At noon, members of the Senate walked into the House of Representatives. The electoral votes were counted, and it was announced officially that no candidate had won. The Senators left, and the House began voting. Each state had one vote for president. Adams was sure he would get the votes of twelve states. Crawford had the votes of four and Jackson, seven. New York was the question. Seventeen of the New York congressmen were for Adams, and seventeen were opposed to him. Adams needed just one of these opposition votes to get the vote of New York and become president.VOICE TWO:One of those New Yorkers opposed to Adams was a rich old man who represented the Albany area, Stephen van Rensselaer. Although van Rensselaer had supported Crawford or Jackson, he really was not sure now whom to support. Henry Clay had taken the old man into his office that morning and talked to him. Daniel Webster also was there. They both told the New York congressman that the safety of the nation depended on the election of Adams as president. Clay and Webster told the old man that his was the most important vote in the wholeCongress. . . That Stephen van Rensselaer would decide who would be president. The old man's head was not too clear after listening to Clay and Webster. He still did not know what to do.VOICE ONE:When the New York congressmen voted, van Rensselaer still was not sure of his choice. And he put his head down on his desk and asked God to help him make the right choice. After this short prayer, he opened his eyes and saw on the floor at his feet a piece of paper with Adams' name on it. Van Rensselaer picked it up and put it in the ballot box as his vote. This gave Adams the vote of the state of New York and made him president of theUnited States. A committee of congressmen was sent to Mr. Adams' home to tell him of the vote. One member of the committee described the Secretary of State: "Sweat rolled down his face. He shook from head to foot and was so nervous he could hardly stand to speak."VOICE TWO:Later in the evening, Adams had control of himself. President Monroe gave a big party at the White House. Adams was there. So was Jackson, and Clay. During the party, Adamsand Jackson met face to face. Jackson had his arm around a young lady. "How do you do,Mr. Adams," said Jackson. "I give you my left hand, for the right -- as you see -- isdevoted to the fair. I hope you are well, sir?" "Very well, sir," answered Adams, coolly. "Ihope General Jackson is well."VOICE ONE:Two days later, Adams told President Monroe that he had decided to offer the job ofSecretary of State to Clay. He said he was doing so because of the western support he hadreceived. Clay thought deeply for a week about the offer. He asked a number of friendsfor advice. Most of them urged him to take the job. They told him that a man of the west was needed in thecabinet. And they said being Secretary of State would greatly help his own chances of becoming president some day. Clay accepted the offer. He said he would serve as Adams's Secretary of State. Until now, General Jackson had refused to believe the charges that Clay had sold his vote to Adams for the top cabinet job. Now he was sure of it. He wrote to a friend: "Was there ever before such bare -faced corruption? What is this trade of vote for office, if not bribery." VOICE TWO:Many of Jackson's supporters did not believe John Quincy Adams had the ability to be political leader of the party. They believed that Clay would seize the party leadership and use this power to help himself becomeelected the next president. Jackson, himself a senator, showed his feelings when the Senate was asked to approve Clay as Secretary of State. He voted no. And thirteen other senators joined him against the nomination. But they were too few to prevent Clay from getting the job. The next presidential election was four years away. General Andrew Jackson promised himself this would be one election he would not lose. Before he left Washington to return to Tennessee, Jackson wrote a letter that soon became public. "I became a soldier for the good of mycountry," Jackson wrote. "Difficulties met me at every step. I thank God that it was my duty to overcome them. I am in no way responsible to Henry Clay. There is a purer court to which I will put my case. . . to the intelligent judgment of our patriotic and honest voters."General Andrew JacksonVOICE ONE:General Jackson returned to Nashville to rest and plan. He was still a senator, and he questioned if it might not be best for him to resign from the Senate. He would be free of Washington politics and able to build his political strength for the election in eighteen-twenty-eight. He decided to resign.(Theme)VOICE TWO:You have been listening to the Special English program, THE MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Maurice Joyce and Stuart Spencer. Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. THE MAKING OF A NATION can be heard Thursdays.Email this article to a friendPrinter Friendly Version。

THE MAKING OF A NATION - Abraham Lincoln, Part 7 (Naval Battles)By Frank & Christine16 Feb 2005, 21:04 UTCBroadcast: February 17, 2005(MUSIC)VOICE ONE:THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.(MUSIC)America's Civil War during the eighteen-sixties was fought not only onland. There was a great deal of fighting between the Union andConfederate navies. Many battles took place just off the Americancoast. Many others took place far away in international waters.This part of the war is often forgotten, but it was important. The Unionvictory might not have been possible without the successes of itsnavy.American Civil WarI'm Harry Monroe. Today, Kay Gallant and I tell about the naval side of the Civil War.VOICE TWO:As soon as the war started, President Abraham Lincoln wanted to block the south's major ports. He wanted to prevent the south from shipping its agricultural products to other countries in exchange for industrial goods.Lincoln's plan was good. But it had one major weakness. The Union navy was too small for the job.The Confederate seacoast was long. It extended from Chesapeake Bay to Mexico, a distance of five-thousand six-hundred kilometers. There were not enough ships in the Union navy toblockade all of it. Many months would pass before the Union could build up an effective naval force.VOICE ONE:The Confederacy had no navy at the start of the Civil War. The Confederate government had little money to create one. And the south had no factories to build one.For a while, the Confederacy was able to get warships from Britain. Then the Union put diplomatic pressure on Britain to stop this support. For the most part, the Confederacy depended on privately-owned ships to get goods in and out of the south.About twenty of these private ships flew the Confederate flag. Most were very successful in the beginning.The "Florida," for example, captured more than thirty ships before being captured itself off the coast of Brazil in eighteen-sixty-four. The "Alabama" captured more than sixty ships. It was finally sunk in a battle with the "Kearsarge" off the coast of France.The "Shenandoah" sailed in the Pacific Ocean. It captured forty ships. After the war ended, the "Shenandoah" tied up in Liverpool, England.VOICE TWO:In addition to these victories, the Confederacy claimed responsibility for several new naval technologies during the Civil War. One was the first modern submarine.This ship was ten meters long. It sank four times while being tested. It was raised each time and put back into service. One night, it fired its torpedoes at a much larger Union ship and sank it. But the explosion was so great that it tore apart the submarine. And it sank, too.The Confederacy also developed very effective underwater explosive devices for use in the harbors.VOICE ONE:Even with its victories and technologies, however, the Confederacy could not stop the Union navy. The Union navy was bigger to begin with and grew much faster.During the first two years of the Civil War, the Union captured several southern ports: Fort Hatteras and Roanoke Island, North Carolina. Port Royal, South Carolina. Pensacola, Florida. And -- perhaps most importantly -- New Orleans, Louisiana.New Orleans lay near the mouth of the Mississippi River. It was the largest city in the south. It was the largest seaport. It had become a busy industrial center, producing war equipment forConfederate forces. If the Union could capture New Orleans, it would control the Mississippi River.President Lincoln appointed navy officer David Farragut to lead the attack on New Orleans.VOICE TWO:To reach the city, Farragut had to sail his ships past two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River. He shelled the forts for six days and nights. But the forts were so strong that the shells caused little damage. He decided not to wait any longer.One dark night, Farragut led seventeen Union warships up the river in a line. The Confederate forces heard them and began to fire. One ship was sunk. Three others were damaged so badly that they could not continue. But thirteen made it safely past the forts.When Farragut reached New Orleans, he found the city defenseless. Several thousand Confederate soldiers had fled. They knew they could not defend against the bigger Union force. Only civilians remained. Farragut captured New Orleans without a fight.The Confederate flag was lowered. And the United States flag was raised over the city.VOICE ONE:Several weeks before Farragut captured New Orleans, a new kind of navy battle was fought off Hampton Roads, Virginia. It was the first battle between iron ships.On the Confederate side was the "Virginia." It had been built from what remained of a captured Union warship called the "Merrimack." The "Virginia" was like no other warship ever seen in the world.It was eighty meters long. The part that showed above the water line was built of wood sixty centimeters thick. This part was covered with sheets of iron ten centimeters thick.Ten windows were cut into it. Behind each window was a cannon. In a battle, the windows would open, the cannons would fire, and the windows would close again. At the front was a sharp point of iron that could smash through the sides of wooden ships.The "Virginia" could not move fast. And it was difficult to control. It took almost thirty minutes to turn around. Still, there seemed to be no way to stop this iron monster. It already had destroyed two Union warships. And it was coming back for more.VOICE TWO:The Union ship chosen to fight the "Virginia" was the "Monitor." It,too, was covered with iron. But it was much smaller than the"Virginia." And it carried only two cannons.These two cannons, however, were on a part of the ship that couldturn in a complete circle. They could be aimed in any direction.The "Monitor" and the "Virginia" faced each other on the morning ofMarch ninth, eighteen-sixty-two. They moved in close -- very close --then began to fire. A Confederate cannon ball hit the iron side of the "Monitor" andbounced away. Union sailors cheered. The cannons of the "Virginia" could do no damage! but the Union sailors soon discovered that their cannons could do no damage, either.VOICE ONE:The men inside the two ships suffered from noise, heat, and smoke. The roar of their own cannons was extremely loud. Even louder was the crash of enemy cannon balls and explosive shells on the iron walls.Some of the men suffered burst eardrums. At least one man was struck unconscious from the force of a cannon ball against the iron. The men quickly learned to stay away from the walls. Smoke from the cannons filled the ships. Then it floated out over the water. At times, the two ships could not see each other.VOICE TWO:The "Virginia" and the "Monitor" fought for three hours. Neither ship scored an important hit. Neither suffered serious damage.Then the cannons of the "Virginia" fell silent. The Confederate ship had used up itsgunpowder. It also had used up much of its fuel. It was lighter now and was floating higher in the water. A well-aimed cannon ball could hit below its iron covering and sink it.The Confederate captain decided to withdraw. The Union captain, too, was ready to break off the battle. He decided not to follow.Neither ship could claim victory. But the "Monitor" had kept the "Virginia" from destroying more of the Union's wooden warships.The "Virginia" itself was to live just two more months. Union forces seized the Confederate navy base at Norfolk, where the "Virginia" was kept. And the iron monster was sunk to keep it from falling into Union hands.VOICE ONE:USS Monitor (Image:/monitor.html)The battle at Hampton Roads between the "Virginia" and the "Monitor" was undecisive. It did not have much effect on the final result of America's Civil War. But it was still an important battle. For it marked the beginning of the end of the world's wooden navies.We will continue our story of the Civil War next week.(MUSIC)VOICE TWO:You have been listening to the Special English program, THE MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Harry Monroe and Kay Gallant. Our program was written by Frank and Christine.。

THE MAKING OF A NATION - American History Series:The Final SurrenderWritten by Frank BeardsleyWelcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.President Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln did not live to see the final surrender of the armies of the Confederacy. A Confederate sympathizer shot the president at Ford's Theatre in Washington on April fourteenth, eighteen sixty-five.By that time, however, the American Civil War really was over.General Robert E. Lee surrendered in early April, bringing an end to four years of fighting. Several other Confederate armies were still in the field. But they were too small and too weak to continue the fight.This week in our series, Maurice Joyce and Leo Scully tell the story of the final surrender of the Confederate armies.VOICE ONE:General William T. ShermanOne army was in North Carolina, commanded by General Joe Johnston. Five days after Lee's surrender, Johnston asked for a meeting wi t h General William Sherman, the commander of Union forces in North Carolina.Sherman met wi t h Johnston a few days later. He offered him the same surrender terms that General Lee had accepted. He said the Confederates must give up their weapons and promise to fight no more. Then they would be free to return to their homes.Johnston said he could not accept these terms. Johnston said he had the power to surrender all the Confederate armies everywhere in the South he said he would do so if Sherman agreed on a political settlement.VOICE TWO:The two generals met again the next day. Sherman listened as Johnston explained his demands. Most of them, Sherman accepted. He believed that President Lincoln wanted to help the South as much as possible. He had heard Lincoln say that he wanted to make it easy for the southern states to return to the Union.When the agreement was completed, Sherman sent it immediately to Washington for approval by the new president, Andrew Johnson. The agreement seemed to give the South everything it wanted.VOICE ONE:General Joe JohnstonInstead of surrendering to Sherman, the Confederate Armies would break up. The soldiers would return to their homes, taking their weapons wi t h them. They would sign a promise not to fight again and to obey state and federal laws.In exchange for this, Sherman said the president would recognize state governments in the south which promised to support the Consti t ution. He said federal courts would be established in the south again. And he said the president -- as well as he could -- would protect the political rights promised to all people by the Consti t ution of the United States and the state constitutions.And Sherman said the United States government would not interfere with any of the southern people, if they remained peaceful and obeyed the laws.VOICE TWO:President Johnson held a cabinet meeting to discuss the agreement Sherman had signed. War Secretary Stanton and the other members of the cabinet were violently opposed to it. They said Sherman had no power to make any kind of political settlement.President Johnson rejected the agreement. He said Johnston's army must surrender within forty-eight hours or be destroyed. He said the surrender terms could be no better than those given General Lee.VOICE ONE:Johnston decided to surrender. On April twenty-sixth, his army laid down its weapons. One by one, the remaining armies surrendered. The soldiers began returning home.General N athan Bedford ForrestMany of them were bitter. They wanted to continue to fight. They spoke of guerrilla war against the Yankees. But most of the Confederate commanders opposed this. Many, like cavalry General Nathan Bedford Forrest, urged their men to accept defeat.Said Forrest in a farewell speech to his men:"It is a clear fact that we are beaten. We would be foolish to try to fight further. The government which we tried to establish is at an end. Civil War -- such as you have just passed through -- naturally causes feelings of bitterness and hatred. We must put these feelings aside. Whatever your responsibilities may be, meet them like men. You have been good soldiers. You can be good citizens."VOICE TWO:Confederate President Jefferson Davis fled south after the fall of his government. He hoped to get across the Mississippi River. He believed that he could form a new Confederate army. If this failed, he planned to escape to Mexico.President Lincoln had hoped that Davis would escape. He felt that punishing Davis would only create more bitterness and make reconstruction -- the rebuilding of the South -- more difficult. But President Johnson did not share Lincoln's feelings. He believed Davis had a part in the plot to kill Lincoln. He said Davis must be captured.On May tenth, Union forces found the Confederate president's camp in southern Georgia. They seized him and took him to Fort Monroe, Virginia. He remained there for many months under close guard. His trial was never held. And finally, in eighteen sixty-seven, he was freed.VOICE ONE:Union soldiers march in the GrandReview in Washington in May 1865Late in May, one hundred fifty thousand Union soldiers, representing every one of the Union armies, came to Washington. They came to take part in a big parade -- a victory march through the ci t y.For two days, the soldiers marched past the White House. Many of the marching men had fought at Bull Run, at Fredericksburg, Antietam, Gettysburg, Petersburg, and Appomattox. Sherman's western army was there from battles at Shiloh, Vicksburg, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Atlanta.The soldiers marched proudly past the president and other government leaders.VOICE TWO:All along the way, from the Capitol building to the Whi t e House, were huge crowds of cheering people. Hour after hour, the soldiers passed. Never had the ci t y seen such a celebration. Each group of soldiers had its band and carried its own battle flags. Some proudly carried flags that had been torn in fierce fighting.Finally, late on the second day, the final group of soldiers passed the White House. The grand parade was over. The battle flags were put away, and the marching bands fell silent. The war was ended. Now, men could look about them and count the cost of the war.VOICE ONE:Four years of bloody fighting had saved the Union of states. The northern victory had settled for all time the question of whether states could leave the Union. And it had put to rest the great problem of slavery, which had troubled the nation for so many years.But the costs were great. More than six hundred thousand men of the North and South lost their lives. Hundreds of thousands more were wounded. Many had lost their arms or legs.VOICE TWO:The war cost the North almost three-and-one-half thousand million dollars. It was almost as costly to the Confederates. Most of the war was fought in the southern states. And most of the war damage was there.Hundreds of cities and towns suffered damage. Some -- like Atlanta -- were completely destroyed by Union forces. The damage outside the populated areas was almost as great. Union armies had marched across the South leaving behind them widespread destruction. Farm houses and build ings had been burned; animals and crops seized or destroyed.VOICE ONE:Transport in the South was especially hard hit. Union soldiers had destroyed most of the railroads. The few Confederate trains that escaped capture were worn out from heavy use. River boats had been destroyed. And roads and bridges were in terrible condition.The South had no money to rebuild. Businessmen and rich landowners had put their money in Confederate bonds, now completely worthless. Confederate war debts would never be paid.There was also the question of the four million former slaves. They were free now. But few could take care of themselves. They needed jobs and training.VOICE TWO:The people of the South faced a difficult future. They had been defeated in battle. Their economy was destroyed. In many areas, there was little food and the people were hungry. Farmers could not plant crops, because they had no seed and no animals to break the ground. There was no money for rebuilding.President Andrew JohnsonTo add to all these problems, radical Republicans in Washington were demanding severe punishment for the South. Instead of offering aid, they demanded that the government sell the property of southerners to pay Union war debts.VOICE ONE:President Andrew Johnson, himself a southerner from Tennessee, opposed the radical plans. He had his own program of reconstruction for the South.ANNOUNCER:Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Maurice Joyce and Leo Scully. Transcripts, podcasts and historical images from our series are at . You can also comment on our programs. And we invite you to follow us on Twitter at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- an American history series in VOA Special English.。

THE MAKING OF A NATION #55 - John Quincy Adams By Frank BeardsleyBroadcast: March 25, 2004(Music)VOICE ONE:THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.(Music)John Quincy Adams was sworn in as President of the United States on March fourth, eighteen-twenty-five. A big crowd came to the capitol building for the ceremony. All the leaders of government were there: Senators; Congressmen; the Supreme Court; and James Monroe, whose term as president was ending.VOICE TWO:John Quincy Adams spoke to the crowd. The main idea in his speech was unity. Adamssaid the Constitution and the representative democracy of the United States had proveda success. The nation was free and strong. And it stretched from the Atlantic Oceanacross the continent of North America to the Pacific Ocean. During the past ten years,he noted, political party differences had eased. So now, he said, it was time for thepeople to settle their differences to make a truly national government. Adams closedhis speech by recognizing that he was a minority president. He said he needed the helpof everyone in the years to come. Then he took the oath that made him the sixthPresident of the United States. VOICE ONE:John Quincy Adams had been raised to serve his country. His father was John Adams, the second President of the United States. His mother, Abigail, made sure he received an excellent education. There were three major periods in John Quincy Adams's public life. The period as President was the shortest. For about twenty-five years, Adams held mostly appointed jobs. He was the United States ambassador to the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, and Britain. He helped lead the negotiations that ended the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States. And he served eight years as Secretary of State. He was President for four years after that. Then he served about seventeen years in the House of Representatives. He died in eighteen-forty-eight.VOICE TWO:As Secretary of State, Adams had two major successes. He was mostly responsible for the policy called the Monroe Doctrine. In that policy, President James Monroe declared that no European power should try toestablish a colony anywhere in the Americas. Any attempt to do so would be considered a threat to the peace and safety of the United States. Adams's other success was the Transcontinental Treaty with Spain. In that treaty, Spain recognized American control over Florida. Spain also agreed on the line marking the western American frontier. The line went from the Gulf of Mexico to the Rocky Mountains. From there, it went to the Pacific Ocean, along what is now the border between the states of Oregon and California.VOICE ONE:John Quincy Adams did not care for political battles. Instead, he tried to bring his political opponents and thedifferent parts of the country together in his cabinet. His opponents, however, refused to serve. And, although his cabinet included southerners, he did not really have the support of the south. Others in his administration tried to use the political power that he refused to use. One was Vice President John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. Calhoun hoped to be president himself one day. He tried to influence Adams's choices for cabinet positions. President John QuincyAdamsAdams rejected Calhoun's ideas and made his own choices. Senator James Barbour, a former Governor of Virginia, became Secretary of War. Richard Rush of Pennsylvania became Secretary of the Treasury. And William Wirt of Maryland continued as Attorney General. Adams thought he had chosen men who would represent the different interests of the different parts of the country.VOICE TWO:In his first message to Congress, President Adams described his ideas about the national government. The chief purpose of the government, he said, was to improve the lives of the people it governed. To do this, he offered a national program of building roads and canals. He also proposed a national university and a national scientific center. Adams said Congress should not be limited only to making laws to improve the nation's economic life. He said it should make laws to improve the arts and sciences, too. Many people of the west and south did not believe that the Constitution gave the national government the power to do all these things. They believed that these powers belonged to the states. Their representatives in Congress rejected Adams's proposals.VOICE ONE:The political picture in the United States began to change during the administration of John Quincy Adams. His opponents won control of both houses of Congress in the elections of eighteen-twenty-six. These men called themselves Democrats. They supported General Andrew Jackson for president in the next presidential election in eighteen-twenty-eight.VOICE Two:A major piece of legislation during President Adams's term involved import taxes. A number of western states wanted taxes on industrial goods imported from other countries. The purpose was to protect their own industries. Southern states opposed import taxes. They produced no industrial goods that needed protection. And they said the Constitution did not give the national government the right to approve such taxes. Democrats needed the support of both the west and south to get Andrew Jackson elected president. So they proposed a bill that appeared to help the west, but was sure to be defeated. They thought the west would be happy that Democrats had tried to help. And the south would be happy that there would be no import taxes.VOICE ONE:To the Democrats' surprise, many congressmen from the northeast joined with congressmen from the west to vote for the bill. They did so even though the bill would harm industries in the northeast. Their goal was to keep alive the idea of protective trade taxes. The bill passed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This left President Adams with a difficult decision. Should he sign it into law. Or should he veto it. If he signed the bill, it would show he believed that the Constitution permitted protective trade taxes. That would create even more opposition to him in the south. If he vetoed it, then he would lose support in the west and northeast. Adams signed the bill. But he made clear that Congress was fully responsible for it.VOICE TWO:There were other attempts by Democrats in Congress to weaken support for President Adams. For example, they claimed that Adams was mis-using government money. They tried to show that he, and his father before him, had become rich from government service. Others accused him of giving government jobs to his supporters. This charge was false. Top administration officials had urged Adams to give government jobs only to men who were loyal to him. Adams refused. He felt that as long as a government worker had done nothing wrong, he should continue in his job. During his four years as president, he removed only twelve people from government jobs. In each case, the person had failed to do his work or had done something criminal. Adams often gave jobs to people who did not support him politically. He believed it was completely wrong to give a person a job for political reasons. Many of Adams's supporters, who had worked hard to get him elected, could not understand this. Their support for him cooled.VOICE ONE:The political battle between Adams's Republican Party and Jackson's Democratic Party was bitter. Perhaps the worst fighting took place in the press. Each side had its own newspaper. The "Daily National Journal" supported the administration. The "United States Telegraph" supported Andrew Jackson. At first, the administration's newspaper called for national unity and an end to personal politics. Then it changed its policy. The paper had todefend charges of political wrong-doing within the Republican Party. It needed to turn readers away from these problems. So it printed a pamphlet that had been used against Andrew Jackson during an election campaign. The pamphlet accused Jackson of many bad things. The most damaging part said he had taken another man's wife. That will be our story on the next program of THE MAKING OF A NATION.(Music)VOICE TWO:You have been listening to the Special English program, THE MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Steve Ember and Shirley Griffith. Our program was written by Frank Beardsley.Email this article to a friendPrinter Friendly Version。

THE MAKING OF A NATION #224 - December 19, 2002: Ronald Reagan, part 2By Jerilyn WatsonVOICE ONE: This is Rich Kleinfeldt.VOICE TWO:And this is Warren Scheer with THE MAKING OF A NATION, a V-O-A Special English program about the history of the United States.(THEME)Today, we continue the story of America's fortieth president, Ronald Reagan.VOICE ONE:Soon after Ronald Reagan's presidency began, there was an attempt on his life. A gunman shot him in March, nineteen-eighty-one. Doctors removed the bullet. He rested, regained his strength, and returned to the White House in twelve days.The new president's main goal was to reduce the size of the federal government. He and other conservative Republicans wanted less government interference in the daily lives of Americans.VOICE TWO:President Reagan won Congressional approval for his plan to reduce taxes on earnings.Many Americans welcomed the plan. Others were concerned about its affect on thenational debt. They saw taxes go down while defense spending went up.To save money, the Reagan administration decided to cut spending for some socialprograms. This pleased conservatives. Liberals, however, said it limited poor peoples'chances for good housing, health care, and education.VOICE ONE:President Reagan also had to make decisions about using military force in othercountries. In nineteen-eighty-Ttree, he sent Marines to Lebanon. They joined other peacekeeping troops to help stop fighting among several opposing groups. On October twenty-third, a Muslim extremist exploded a bomb in the building where the Marines were living. Two-hundred forty-one Americans died.VOICE TWO:Two days later, Marines led an invasion of the Caribbean island nation of Grenada. Communist forces wererebelling against the government there. Cuban soldiers were guarding the streets. President Reagan said he feared for the safety of American students at Grenada's medical school. He sent the Marines to get them out safely. The Marines quickly defeated the communist forces. Many Americans were pleased. Others were angry. They said Grenada was invaded only to make people forget about what happened in Lebanon.((MUSIC BRIDGE))VOICE ONE:The next year, Nineteen-Eighty-Four, was another presidential election year. It looked like no one could stopPresident Reagan. His warm way with people had made him hugely popular. He gained support with the military victory in Grenada. And, by the time the campaign started, inflation was under control. The Republican Party re-nominated Ronald Reagan for president and George Bush for vice president.VOICE TWO:There were several candidates for the Democratic Party's nomination. One was the first African American to run for president, Jesse Jackson. He was a Protestant clergyman and a long-time human rights activist.The candidate who finally won the nomination was Walter Mondale. He had been a senator and had served as vice president under President Jimmy Carter. The vice presidential candidate was Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro. It was the first time a major political party in the United States had nominated a woman for national office.VOICE ONE:One of the big issues in the campaign was taxes. Most candidates try not to talk about them. Democrat Mondale did. He said taxes would have to be raised to pay for new government programs. This was a serious political mistake. President Reagan gained even more support as a result.The two candidates agreed to debate on television. During one debate, President Reagan looked old and tired. He did not seem sure of his answers. Yet his popularity was not damaged. On Election Day, he won fifty-nine percent of the popular vote. On Inauguration Day, the weather was not so kind. It was bitterly cold in Washington. All inaugural activities, including the swearing-in ceremony, were held inside.VOICE TWO:President Reagan's first term began with an attempt on his life. Six months after his second term began, he faced another threat. Doctors discovered and removed a large growth from his colon. The growth was cancerous. The president was seventy-four years old. Yet, once again, he quickly regained his strength and returned to work.((MUSIC BRIDGE))VOICE ONE:For years, the United States had accused Libyan leader Muammar Kaddafi of supporting international terrorist groups. It said he provided them with weapons and a safe place for their headquarters.In January, Nineteen-Eighty-Six, the United States announced economic restrictions against Libya. Then it began military training exercises near the Libyan coast. Libya said the Americans were violating its territory and fired missiles at them. The Americans fired back, sinking two ships.VOICE TWO:On April Fifth, a bomb destroyed a public dance club in West Berlin. Two people died, including an American soldier. The United States said Libya was responsible. President Reagan ordered bomb attacks against the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi. Muammar Kaddafi escaped unharmed. But one of his children was killed. Some Americans said the raid was cruel. Others praised it. President Reagan said the United States did what it had to do.VOICE ONE:The president also wanted to intervene in Nicaragua. About fifteen-thousand rebel troops, called Contras, were fighting the communist government there. Reagan asked for military aid for the Contras. Congress rejected the request. It banned all aid to the Contras.At that same time, Muslim terrorists in Lebanon seized several Americans. The Reagan administration looked for ways to gain the hostages' release. It decided to sell missiles and missile parts to Iran in exchange for Iran's help. After the sale, Iran told the terrorists in Lebanon to release a few American hostages.VOICE TWO:Not long after, serious charges became public. Reports said that money from the sale of arms to Iran was used to aid the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Several members of the Reagan administration resigned. It appeared that some had violated the law.President Reagan said he regretted what had happened. But he said he had not known about it. Investigations and court trials of those involved continued into the Nineteen-Nineties. Several people were found guilty of illegal activities and of lying to Congress. No one went to jail.VOICE ONE:Most Americans did not blame President Reagan for the actions of others in his administration. They still supported him and his policies. They especially supported his efforts to deal with the Soviet Union.At the beginning of his first term, President Reagan called the Soviet Union an "evil empire". To protect the United States against the Soviets, he increased military spending to the highest level in American history. Then, in Nineteen-Eighty-Five, Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union.VOICE TWO:The two leaders met in Switzerland, in Iceland, in Washington, and in Moscow. Each agreed to destroy hundreds of nuclear missiles. President Reagan also urged Mister Gorbachev to become more democratic. He spoke about the wall that communists had built to divide the city of Berlin, Germany. ((TAPE: Reagan about Berlin Wall: 25))TRANSCRIPT:"No American who sees first-hand can ever again take for granted his or her freedom or the precious gift that is America. That gift of freedom is actually the birthright of all humanity. And that is why, as I stood there, I urged the Soviet leader, Mister Gorbachev, to send a new signal of openness to the world by tearing down that wall."((MUSIC))VOICE ONE:Ronald Reagan was president as the American economy grew rapidly. He was president as a new sense of openness was beginning in the Soviet Union. Yet, at the end of his presidency, many Americans were concerned by what he left behind. Increased military spending, together with tax cuts, had made the national debt huge. The United States owed thousands of millions of dollars. The debt would be a political issue for presidents to come. (PAUSE)On our next program, we will discuss some social and cultural issues of the Reagan years.(THEME)VOICE TWO:This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by Jeri Watson and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Warren Scheer.VOICE ONE:And this is Rich Kleinfeldt.Email this article to a friendPrinter Friendly Version。

THE MAKING OF A NATION #59 - Andrew Jackson, Part 3 By Frank BeardsleyBroadcast: April 22, 2004 (MUSIC)VOICE ONE:THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.(MUSIC)In our last few programs of THE MAKING OF A NATION, we described the violence of the presidential election campaign of eighteen-twenty-eight. It split the old Republican Party of Thomas Jefferson into two hostile groups: the National Republicans of John Quincy Adams and the Democrats of Andrew Jackson. The election of Jackson deepened the split. It became more serious as a new dispute arose over import taxes. This is what happened:VOICE TWO:Congress passed a bill in eighteen-twenty-eight that put high taxes on a number of imported products. Thepurpose of the import tax was to protect American industries from foreign competition. The south opposed the tax, because it had no industry to protect. Its chief product was cotton, which was exported to Europe. TheAmerican import taxes forced European nations to put taxes on American cotton. This meant a drop in the sale of cotton and less money for the planters of the south. It also meant higher prices in the American market formanufactured goods. South Carolina refused to pay the import tax. It said the tax was not constitutional...that the constitution did not give the federal government the power to order a protective tax.VOICE ONE:At one time, the Vice President of the United States -- John C. Calhoun of SouthCarolina -- had believed in a strong central government. But he had become a strongsupporter of states' rights. Calhoun wrote a long statement against the import tax for theSouth Carolina legislature. In it, he developed the idea of nullification -- cancellingfederal powers. He said the states had created the federal government and, therefore, thestates had the greater power. He argued that the states could reject, or nullify, any act ofthe central government which was not constitutional. And, Calhoun said, the statesshould be the judge of whether an act was constitutional or not. Calhoun's idea wasdebated in the Senate by Robert Hayne of South Carolina and Daniel Webster ofMassachusetts. Hayne supported nullification, and Webster opposed it. Webster saidHayne was wrong in using the words "liberty first, and union afterwards." He said theycould not be separated. Said Webster: "Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable."VOICE TWO:No one really knew how President Andrew Jackson felt about nullification. He made nopublic statement during the debate. Leaders in South Carolina developed a plan to get thepresident's support. They decided to hold a big dinner honoring the memory of ThomasJefferson. Jackson agreed to be at the dinner. The speeches were carefully planned. Theybegan by praising the democratic ideas of Jefferson. Then speakers discussed Virginia'sopposition to the alien and sedition laws passed by the federal government in seventeen-ninety-eight. Next they discussed South Carolina's opposition to the import tax. Finally,the speeches were finished. It was time for toasts. President Jackson made the first one.He stood up, raised his glass, and looked straight at John C. Calhoun. He waited for thecheering to stop. "Our union," he said. "It must be preserved."Vice President John C.CalhounVOICE ONE: Calhoun rose with the others to drink the toast. He had not expected Jackson's opposition to nullification. His hand shook, and he spilled some of the wine from his glass. Calhoun was called on to make the next toast. The vice president rose slowly. "The union," he said, "next to our liberty, most dear." He waited a moment, thencontinued. "May we all remember that it can only be preserved by respecting the rights of the states and by giving equally the benefits and burdens of the union." President Jackson left a few minutes later. Most of those at dinner left with him.VOICE TWO:The nation now knew how the president felt. And the people were with him -- opposed to nullification. But the idea was not dead among the extremists of South Carolina. They were to start more trouble two years later. Calhoun's nullification doctrine was not the only thing that divided Jackson and the vice president. Calhoun had led a campaign against the wife of Jackson's friend and Secretary of War, John Eaton. Three members ofJackson's cabinet supported Calhoun. Mister Calhoun and the three cabinet wives would have nothing to do with Mister Eaton. Jackson saw this as a political trick to try to force Eaton from the cabinet, and make Jackson look foolish at the same time.VOICE ONE:The hostility between Jackson and his vice president was sharpened by a letter that was written by a member of President Monroe's cabinet. It told how Calhoun wanted Jackson arrested in eighteen-eighteen. The letter writer, William Crawford, was in the cabinet with Calhoun. Jackson had led a military campaign into Spanish Florida and had hanged two British citizens. Calhoun proposed during a cabinet meeting that Jackson be punished. Jackson did not learn of this until eighteen-twenty-nine. Jackson wanted no further communications withCalhoun. Several attempts were made to soften relations between Calhoun and Jackson. One of them seemed to succeed. Jackson told Secretary of State Martin van Buren that the dispute had been settled. He said theunfriendly letters that he and Calhoun sent each other would be destroyed. And he said he would invite the vice president to have dinner with him at the White House.VOICE TWO:With the dispute ended, Calhoun thought he saw a way to destroy his rival for the presidency -- Secretary of State Martin van Buren. He decided not to destroy the letters he and Jackson sent to each other. Instead, he had a pamphlet written, using the letters. The pamphlet also contained the statement of several persons denying the Crawford charges. And, it accused Mister van Buren of using Crawford to try to split Jackson and Calhoun. One of Calhoun's men took a copy of the pamphlet to Secretary Eaton and asked him to show it to President Jackson. He told Eaton that the pamphlet would not be published without Jackson's approval. Eaton did not show the pamphlet to Jackson and said nothing to Calhoun's men. Calhoun understood this silence to mean that Jackson did not object to the pamphlet. So he had it published and given to the public.VOICE ONE:Jackson exploded when he read it. Not only had Calhoun failed to destroy the letters, he had published them. Jackson's newspaper, "The Washington Globe," accused Calhoun of throwing a firebomb into the party. Jackson declared that Calhoun and his supporters had cut their own throats. Only later did Calhoun discover what had gone wrong. Eaton had not shown the pamphlet to Jackson. He had not even spoken to the president about it. This was Eaton's way of punishing those who treated his wife so badly.VOICE TWO:Jackson continued to defend Margaret Eaton's honor. He even held a cabinet meeting on the subject. All the secretaries but John Eaton were there. Jackson told them that he did not want to interfere in their private lives. But, he said it seemed that their families were trying to get others to have nothing to do with Mister Eaton. "I will not part with John Eaton," Jackson said. "And those of my cabinet who cannot harmonize with him had better withdraw. I must and I will have harmony." Jackson said any insult to Eaton would be an insult to himself. Either work with Eaton or resign. There were no resignations.VOICE ONE:President AndrewJacksonBut the problem got no better. Many people just would not accept Margaret Eaton as their social equal. Mister van Buren saw that the problem was hurting Jackson deeply. But he knew better than to propose to Jackson that he ask for Secretary Eaton's resignation. He already had heard Jackson say that he would resign as president before he would desert his friend Eaton. Mister van Buren decided on a plan of action.(MUSIC)VOICE TWO:You have been listening to the Special English program, THE MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were stuart spencer and Maurice Joyce. Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. THE MAKING OF A NATION can be heard Thursdays.Email this article to a friendPrinter Friendly Version。

THE MAKING OF A NATION #5 - American Indians（美洲印第安人）By Paul ThompsonVOICE ONE:Scientists believe that the native peoples of America came here thousands of years ago during the last Ice Age. These people settled the land from the cold northern areas to the extreme end of South America. As the groups of people settled different parts of the land, they developed their own languages, their own cultures and their own religions. Each group's story is important in the history of the Americas. However, it is perhaps the tribes of the central part of the United States that are most recognized.科学家们相信，美洲的土著大约在几千年前的上一个冰河时期来到这里。

美洲土著们的足迹从北到南遍布北美洲和南美洲。

由于他们生活在不同的地域，他们拥有不同的语言、文化和宗教信仰。

每一个部落的历史都是美国历史的一部分。

然而，只有生活在美国中部的部落的历史是非常清晰的。

VOICE TWO:In Eighteen-Oh-Four, Merriwether Lewis and William Clark led a group of explorers to the Pacific Ocean. They were the first educated Americans to see some of the native tribes of the Great Plains. And they were the first white people these Native American people had ever seen.When the group of explorers neared the eastern side of the great Rocky Mountains, they met with a tribe of Indians called the Shoshoni. Merriwether Lewis was the first to see them. Let us imagine we are with Merriwether Lewis near the Rocky Mountains almost two-hundred years ago. Across a small hill, a group of sixty Shoshoni men are riding toward us.1804年，一群探险者首次穿越北美大陆来到了太平洋沿岸。