林肯需要一场重大胜利

到1862年夏天，美国内战已经经历了一年多时间，南北双方各有胜负，但双方都没有把握赢得这场内战的胜利。亚伯拉罕.林肯需要一场重大的胜利。因为他正在失去政治家们和公众的支持。一场重大的胜利，不仅能够帮助他重新赢得政治家们和公众的支持，而且还将有利于他发布一项重要的公告。几个月来，他正计划就南方黑人奴隶问题发表一项公告，这就是著名的《奴隶解放宣言》。今天，我们就向你讲述林肯的《奴隶解放宣言》。

在1862年8月底，南方军队在罗伯特.李将军的指挥下，在维吉尼亚的马纳萨斯击败了北方军的主力，这个战场距华盛顿不足五十公里。一年前，南方军队就在这个战场上击败过北方军队，现在，南方军队再一次让北方军队尝到失败的苦果。在这次重大胜利的鼓舞下，李将军决定发起一场重大战役，他要将战火烧到北方各州。李将军率领他的六万大军渡过马里兰的波托马可河，他命令一部占领哈帕斯渡口的北方阵地，命令另一部占领波托马可河岸的一个小镇夏普斯博格（Sharpsburg）镇。他将部队沿着该镇外的安蒂特姆溪（Antietam Creek）驻扎。整个部队驻扎绵延三公里长。在安蒂特姆这里，他停下来了。如果尾随他的北方军队非常强大的话，那么他就能够很快地撤退到维吉尼亚。

北方军队于九月中旬到达，但北方军队并没有立即发动进攻，而是花了一整天时间沿着南方军所驻扎的安蒂特姆溪对岸布阵。第二天凌晨，北方军向南方军发动进攻。北方军指挥官麦克莱伦将军本打算向南方军全线发起进攻，但他没能做到。首先，北方军向南方军防线的尾部发起进攻，南方军防线的尾部位于长得很高的玉米地里，随后北方军又进攻南方军的中部防线，这一段由于位于一条破旧不堪、坑坑洼洼的老道上而起到了很好的防御作用。最后，北方军进攻南方军的其他防线。面对北方军的每一次攻击，李将军都能将他的部队调动到他想要到的地方。北方军触及到南方军的25米防线，但北方军没能攻破南方军的任何一处防线。

在安蒂特姆战役的第一天，李将军损失了四分之一的军队，在第二天，双方都没有火药了，他们已经无力再战了。然而，就在他们都在休息的时候，一支北方的新军投入到阵地。李将军知道明天北方军将向他发动全面进攻，他知道他无法再取得胜利了。他沉痛地命令部队回撤到维吉尼亚。这一战很明显：安蒂特姆战役北方取得了胜利，但这并不是一场全面的胜利。北方军能够追击南方军，并将南方军消灭，但麦克莱伦将军并没有这样做，他满足于他所取得的胜利，他停止了进攻。

在华盛顿，林肯总统得到了这个消息后非常高兴，为了这场胜利，他已经等待很长时间了。

在安蒂特姆战役结束的几天后，林肯召集了一次特殊的内阁会议。林肯总统在此次内阁会议上，谈到了他准备已久的有关奴隶制度的声明，这份声明将解放南方反叛各州的黑人奴隶。“也许你们记得，”林肯说，“几周前我就把这份声明放在一边，要等到一场重大的军事胜利后来公布这份声明。针对反叛者的军事行动并不如我所愿，但现在反叛者已经被赶出马里兰，而且宾夕法尼亚州也不再有受到进攻的威胁。”林肯总统认为现在是公布《奴隶解放宣言》的时候了。内阁成员对这份宣言作了一些微小的修改后，通过《奴隶解放宣言》。林肯总统签署了这份《奴隶解放宣言》。

各大报纸发表了《奴隶解放宣言》。《奴隶解放宣言》宣布：

terfere in no way with any efforts they may make for their actual freedom." 　“我，亚伯拉罕.林肯，美国总统和陆海军总司令，在此宣布：从1863年1月1日起，所有在反叛美国的各个州的奴隶将成为，并永远成为自由的人。美国政府，包括陆军和海军，将有效地保卫这些人的自由，并绝不干涉他们为取得真正自由而所采取的任何努力。”

林肯总统本来想将奴隶问题置于内战之外。对他而言，他开战的唯一目的就是：挽救美利坚合众国，对他来说，任何事务都不能阻止他防止国家的分裂。林肯总统担心，奴隶问题会削弱北方为内战所做的努力。北方民众愿意为国家的团结而战，却并不一定会为解放奴隶而战。同时，林肯还需要没有加入南部邦联的四个蓄奴州――特拉华、肯塔基、马里兰和密苏里州的支持，他不敢确信，如果他宣布内战的目的是为了解放奴隶，是否还会得到这四个州的支持。当林肯终于等到北方军的一次重大胜利而公布《奴隶解放宣言》时，他给《纽约论坛报》（New York Tribune）写了一封信，这封信是为因《奴隶解放宣言》而即将产生的公众舆论做准备的。林肯在这封信中说道：

“在此次内战中的，我最主要的目标是维护国家的统一，我发表这份宣言，既不是为了保卫奴隶制，也不是为了摧毁奴隶制。如果不用解放奴隶就能够维护国家的统一，我就不去解放奴隶。如果需要解放所有的奴隶才能维护国家的统一，那么我就去解放奴隶。如果只解放一部分奴隶，而让另一部分奴隶仍然还是奴隶的话，也能确保国家的统一，那么我也会这样去做的。对于奴隶制、对所有的有色种族，我所做的一切都是为了能够有助于挽救国家的统一。这是我的职责所在。当然这也没有改变我的愿望：作为一个人，我希望所有的人都是自由的。”

林肯总统没能做到将奴隶问题置于内战之外。当战争仍在继续时，北方的人们开始意识到解决奴隶制问题甚至比为国家的统一而斗争更为重要了，他们意识到解决奴隶制问题是为人类的自由而斗争。废奴主义者活跃起来了，在他们的演说和所写的文章中，他们一次又一次地说：奴隶制是魔鬼。当公众舆论开始转变时，反对奴隶制的国会议员在国会中获得了更多的力量。到1862年夏天，他们已经有足够的力量通过在华盛顿特区和美国的领地内结束奴隶制的相关法律，他们还推动国会通过在各个州结束奴隶制的法案。

这项法案就是《没收法》（Confiscation Act）。该法案规定，授权联邦政府没收或查封所有支持南方反叛的人的所有财产。奴隶被认为是财产。因此，任何根据此法案而被没收的奴隶随之就成为自由人。凡是从反叛的奴隶主那逃出来的奴隶也立刻获得自由。但这项法案对支持国家统一的奴隶主不起作用。林肯总统对《没收法》并不满意，他认为该法干涉了他作为战时军队最高总司令的职权。

然而，林肯面临着废奴主义者的强大压力，所以，他签署了这项新法律，但他并没有打算强制推行这项法律。他仍然希望随着时间推移，缓慢地解放奴隶。他提出这样一个方案，只在南北边界的各州推行这项法律。根据他的方案，联邦政府将从南北边界各州购买奴隶，然后解放这些购买来的奴隶。南北边界各州的立法议员们反对林肯的这项方案，而此时他决定发表《奴隶解放宣言》。下周，我们将向你讲述这一决定所带来的影响。

简评：

再明显不过。林肯所做的一切，就是为了国家的统一。为了国家的统一，他可以解放奴隶。为了国家的统一，他也可以不解放所有的奴隶。为了国家的统一，他可以解放一部分奴隶，而保留一部分奴隶。总而言之。林肯并不想解放奴隶，他想的就是国家的统一。

因此，后人将美国的奴隶解放归功于林肯，实在是有点过了。美国奴隶的解放，并不是林肯的功劳，或者说，主要功劳并不归于林肯，而应归功于那些长期以来支持解放奴隶的人们。是他们推动了林肯一步一步往前走，不得已而解放了奴隶。

这又验证了毛主席的一句话：人民，只有人民，才是推动历史前进的力量。

Lincoln Needs a Victory　　

By the summer of eighteen sixty-two, the American Civil War had been going on for more than a year. The Union had won some battles. The Confederacy had won others. But neither side was in a position to win the war. President Abraham Lincoln needed a major victory. He was losing the support of both politicians and the public. A major victory would not only help him that way. It also would make it easier for him to make an important announcement. For a number of months, he had been planning an announcement about the black people held as slaves in the South. It would come to be known as the Emancipation Proclamation. Today, we tell about Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

At the end of August, eighteen sixty-two, Confederate troops under the command of Robert E. Lee defeated the main Union army at Manassas, Virginia. The battlefield was less than fifty kilometers from Washington. The year before, Confederate troops had sent the Union army fleeing from that same battlefield. Now they had done it again. With this latest victory, General Lee decided on a major move. He would carry the war into the northern states. Lee took his army of sixty thousand men across the Potomac River into Maryland. He ordered some of his men to capture the Union position at Harpers Ferry. He moved the others to Sharpsburg, a town on the Potomac River. He put his men into position along Antietam Creek, just outside of town. His lines extended almost three kilometers. There, at Antietam, he would make his stand. He was still close enough to Virginia to withdraw, if the Union force following him proved too strong. 　

The Union force arrived in the middle of September. It did not attack immediately. It spent one full day getting into position along Antietam Creek across from the Confederate army. It attacked the following day at sunrise. The Union general, George McClellan, planned to attack all along the Confederate line at the same time. But this did not happen. First, Union troops attacked one end of the line, which extended into a field full of tall corn plants. Then they attacked the center of the line, which was in an old, deeply sunken road that gave it good protection. Finally, they attacked at the other end of the line. For each northern attack, General Lee was able to move men to where they were needed. The northern troops got within twenty-five meters of the Confederate line. But they could not break through anywhere.

On the first day of battle at Antietam, Lee lost twenty-five percent of his men. On the second day, the two armies faced each other without firing. They were too tired to fight. As they rested, however, fresh Union soldiers moved into position. Lee knew they would attack with full force the next day. He knew he could not win. Sadly, he ordered his men back to Virginia. It was now clear: Antietam was a northern victory. It was not a complete victory. The Union army could have chased the Confederate army and destroyed it. But General McClellan did not do this. He was satisfied that he had stopped the invasion.

In Washington, President Lincoln welcomed the news. He had waited a long time for a northern victory.

A few days after the battle, Lincoln held a special meeting with his cabinet. He talked about the declaration on slavery which he had prepared. It would free Negro slaves in the rebel states of the South.  "As you remember," he said, "I put the declaration aside several weeks ago, until I could issue it supported by a military victory. The action of the army against the rebels has not been exactly what I should have liked. But the rebels have been driven out of Maryland. And Pennsylvania is no longer in danger of invasion."  President Lincoln said he thought the time was right to announce the Emancipation Proclamation. The cabinet made some minor changes in the document, and Lincoln signed it.

Newspapers printed the proclamation. This is what it said:

"I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy, do hereby declare that on the first day of January, eighteen-sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any state then in rebellion against the United States, shall then become and be forever free. The government of the United States, including the military and naval forces, will recognize and protect the freedom of such persons, and will in

President Lincoln had tried to keep the question of slavery out of the Civil War. To him, there was just one reason for fighting: to save the Union. Nothing meant more to him than preventing the nation from splitting up. Lincoln feared that the issue of slavery would weaken the northern war effort. Many men throughout the north would fight to save the Union. They would not fight to free the slaves. Lincoln also needed the support of the four slave states that did not leave the Union: Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri. He could not be sure of their support if he declared that the purpose of the war was to free the slaves. As Lincoln waited for a Union victory to announce his Emancipation Proclamation, he wrote a letter to the "New York Tribune" newspaper. The letter was to prepare the public for what was to come. This is what Lincoln said: 　　

"My chief object in this struggle is to save the Union. It is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it. And if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it. And if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union. This is how I see my official duty. It does not change my wish -- as a person -- that all men everywhere could be free." 　　

President Lincoln failed to keep the question of slavery out of the Civil War. As the war went on, month after long month, people in the North began to see it as more than a struggle for national unity. They began to see it as a struggle for human freedom. Abolitionists were active. In speeches and writings, they said over and over again that slavery was evil. As public opinion began to change, anti-slavery members of Congress gained more power. By the summer of eighteen sixty-two, they had enough support to pass laws ending slavery in Washington, D.C. and United States territories. They also pushed through Congress a bill that would do much to end slavery in the states.

The bill was called the Confiscation Act. It gave the federal government the power to confiscate, or seize, the property of all persons who supported the southern rebellion. Slaves were considered property. So any slaves seized under the act would become free immediately. Slaves who escaped from rebel slave owners also would be free. The bill would not affect slaves owned by persons who supported the Union. President Lincoln did not like the Confiscation Act. He thought it interfered with his wartime powers as Commander-in-Chief.

However, Lincoln was under great pressure from Abolitionists. So he signed the new law. But he did not plan to enforce it. He still hoped for a plan that would free the slaves slowly, over time. He proposed such a plan, but only for the border states between north and south. Under his plan, the federal government would buy slaves in the border states and free them. Lawmakers from the border states rejected Lincoln's plan. And that is when he decided to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. We will tell about the effects of that decision next week. 　

http://www.21voa.com/path.asp?url=/200909/se-nation-104-abraham-lincoln-part-ten%20-01-oct-09_0.Mp3

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