THE MAKING OF A NATION #002 - First Peoples
THE MAKING OF A NATION #067 - Martin Van Buren, Part 2
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 #098 - Abraham Lincoln, Part 3 (Attack on Fort Sumter)
THE MAKING OF A NATION #98- Abraham Lincoln, Part 3 (Attack on Fort Sumter)By Frank BeardsleyBroadcast: January 20, 2005(MUSIC)VOICE ONE:THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.(MUSIC)Just before sunrise on the morning of April twelfth, eighteen-sixty-one, the first shot was fired in the American Civil War. A heavy mortar roared, sending a shell high over the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina. The shell dropped and exploded above Fort Sumter, a United States fort on an island in the harbor.The explosion was a signal for all southern guns surrounding the fort to open fire. Shell after shell smashed into the island fort.The booming of the cannons woke the people of Charleston. They rushed to the harbor and cheered as the bursting shells lighted the dark sky.VOICE TWO:Confederate leaders ordered the attack after President Abraham Lincolnrefused to withdraw the small force of American soldiers at Sumter. Foodsupplies at the fort were very low. And southerners expected hungerwould force the soldiers to leave. But Lincoln announced he was sendinga ship to Fort Sumter with food.Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordered his commander inCharleston, General [Pierre] Beauregard, to destroy the fort before the Abraham Lincolnfood could arrive.VOICE ONE:The attack started from Fort Johnson across the harbor from Sumter. A Virginia Congressman, Roger Pryor, was visiting Fort Johnson when the order to fire was given. The fort's commander asked Pryor if he would like the honor of firing the mortar that would begin the attack. "No," answered Pryor, and his voice shook. "I cannot fire the first gun of the war."But others could. And the attack began.VOICE TWO:At Fort Sumter, Major Robert Anderson and his men waited three hours before firing back at the Confederate guns.Anderson could not use his most powerful cannons. They were in the open at the top of the fort, where there was no protection for the gunners. Too many of his small force would be lost if he tried to fire these guns.So Anderson had his men fire the smaller cannon from better-protected positions. These, however, did not do much damage to the Confederate guns.VOICE ONE:The shelling continued all day. A big cloud of smoke rose high in the air over Fort Sumter.The smoke was seen by United States navy ships a few miles outside Charleston Harbor. They had come with the ship bringing food for the men at Sumter. There were soldiers on these ships. But they could not reach the fort to help Major Anderson. Confederate boats blocked the entrance to the harbor. And confederate guns could destroy any ship that tried to enter.The commander of the naval force, Captain [Gustavus] Fox, had hoped to move the soldiers to Sumter in small boats. But the sea was so rough that the small boats could not be used. Fox could only watch and hope for calmer seas.VOICE TWO:Confederate shells continued to smash into Sumter throughout the night and into the morning of the second day. The fires at Fort Sumter burned higher. And smoke filled the rooms where soldiers still tried to fire their cannons.About noon, three men arrived at the fort in a small boat. One of them was Louis Wigfall, a former United States senator from Texas, now a Confederate officer. He asked to see Major Anderson."I come from General Beauregard," he said. "It is time to put a stop to this, sir. The flames are raging all around you. And you have defended your flag bravely. Will you leave, sir?" Wigfall asked.VOICE ONE:Major Anderson was ready to stop fighting. His men had done all that could be expected of them. They had fought well against a much stronger enemy. Anderson said he would surrender, if he and his men could leave with honor.Wigfall agreed. He told Anderson to lower his flag and the firing would stop.Down came the United States flag. And up went the white flag of surrender. The battle of Fort Sumter was over.More than four-thousand shells had been fired during the thirty-three hours of fighting. But no one on either side was killed. One United States soldier, however, was killed the next day when a cannon exploded as Anderson's men prepared to leave the fort.VOICE TWO:The news of Anderson's surrender reached Washington late Saturday, April thirteenth. President Lincoln and his cabinet met the next day and wrote a declaration that the president would announce on Monday.In it, Lincoln said powerful forces had seized control in seven states of the south. He said these forces were too strong to be stopped by courts or policemen. Lincoln said troops were needed. He requested that the states send him seventy-five-thousand soldiers. He said these men would be used to get control of forts and other federal property seized from the Union.VOICE ONE:Lincoln knew he had the support of his own party. He also wanted northern Democrats to give him full support. So, Sunday evening, a Republican congressman visited the top Democrat of the north, Senator Stephen Douglas.The congressman urged Douglas to go to the White House and tell Lincoln that he would do all he could to help put down the rebellion in the south. At first, Douglas refused. He said Lincoln had removed Democrats -- friends of his -- from government jobs and had given the jobs to Republicans. Douglas said he didn't like this. Anyway, he said, Lincoln probably did not want his advice.The congressman, George Ashmun, urged Douglas to forget party politics. He said Lincoln and the country needed the Senator's help. Douglas finally agreed to talk with Lincoln. He and Ashmun went immediately to the White House.VOICE TWO:Lincoln welcomed his old political opponent. He explained his plans and read to Douglas the declaration he would announce the next day.Douglas said he agreed with every word of it except, he said, seventy-five-thousand soldiers would not be enough. Remembering his problems with southern extremists, he urged Lincoln to ask for two-hundred-thousand men. He told the president, "You do not know the dishonest purposes of those men as well as I do."Lincoln and Douglas talked for two hours. Then the Senator gave a statement for the newspapers. He said he still opposed the administration on political questions. But, he said, he completely supported Lincoln's efforts to protect the Union.Douglas was to live for only a few more months. He spent this time working for the Union. He traveled through the states of the northwest, making many speeches. Douglas urged Democrats everywhere to support the Republican government. He told them, "There can be no neutrals in this war -- only patriots or traitors."VOICE ONE:Throughout the north, thousands of men rushed to answer Lincoln's call for troops. Within two days, a military group from Boston left for Washington. Other groups formed quickly in northern cities and began training for war.Lincoln received a different answer, however, from the border states between north and south.Virginia's governor said he would not send troops to help the north get control of the south. North Carolina's governor said the request violated the Constitution. He would have no part of it. Tennessee said it would not send one man to help force southern states back into the Union. But it said it would send fifty-thousand troops to defend southern rights.Lincoln got the same answer from the governors of Kentucky, Arkansas, and Missouri. For several days, it seemed that all these states would secede and join the southern confederacy.VOICE TWO:Lincoln worried most about Virginia, the powerful state just across the Potomac River from Washington. A secession convention already was meeting at the state capital. On April seventeenth, the convention voted to take Virginia out of the Union.Virginia's vote to secede forced an American army officer to make a most difficult decision. The officer was Colonel Robert E. Lee, a citizen of Virginia.The army's top commander, General Winfield Scott, had called Lee to Washington. Scott believed Lee was the best officer in the army. Lincoln agreed. He asked Lee to take General Scott's job, to become the army chief.Lee was offered the job on the same day that Virginia left the Union. He felt strong ties to his state. But he also loved the Union.His decision 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 Stuart Spencer and Jack Moyles. THE MAKING OF A NATION can be heard Thursdays.。
THE MAKING OF A NATION - Abraham Lincoln, Part 7 (Naval Battles)
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 #055 - John Quincy Adams
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 - Ronald Reagan, part 2
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 #059 - Andrew Jackson, Part 3
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 #217 - Richard Nixon, Part 1
THE MAKING OF A NATION - October 31, 2002: Richard Nixon, Part 1By Jeri WatsonVOICE 1:This is Rich Kleinfeldt.VOICE 2:And this is Stan Busby with THE MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.(Theme)Today, we begin the story of America's thirty-seventh president, Richard Nixon.VOICE 1:Richard Nixon was sworn-in as president in January, nineteen-sixty-nine. It wasa difficult time in the United States. American forces, allied with the army ofSouth Vietnam, were continuing to fight against the communist forces of NorthVietnam. Thousands of soldiers and civilians were dying. Yet the Americans andSouth Vietnamese were making little progress. Critics of the war said they were making no progress at all. VOICE 2:At home, there were demonstrations against the war. There were demonstrations against racial injustice. Friends and families were in dispute as they took opposing positions on these issues. Fighting the war also meant there was less government money to spend on social problems. Former President Lyndon Johnson had proposed new legislation to help poor people and minorities. In some cases, Congress approved less money than he had requested. In other cases, lawmakers did not approve any money at all.VOICE 1:Richard Nixon seemed well prepared to deal with the difficulties of being president. He was known for his ability to fight, to lose, and to keep trying. Nixon was born in California. His family was poor. When he was about ten years old, he harvested vegetables to help earn money for his family. He earned the money he needed to go to college. Then he decided to study law. He was among the top students in his class. During World War Two, he served in the United States Navy in the Pacific battle area. When he came home, he campaigned for and won a seat in the Congress.VOICE 2:As a member of the House of Representatives, Nixon became known throughout the nation for his part in theAlger Hiss case. Alger Hiss was a former official in the state department. He had been accused of helping provide secret information to the Soviet Union. He denied the accusation. Nixon demanded a congressional investigation of the case. Other members of the House thought it should be dropped. Nixon succeeded and led theinvestigation. Later, Hiss was tried and found guilty of lying to a grand jury. He was sentenced to prison. VOICE 1:Some Americans disliked Richard Nixon for the way he treated people during the investigation. They felt that some of his attacks were unjust. Fear of communism was very strong at that time. They thought he was using thesituation to improve his political future. The future did, in fact, bring him success.Detail from a 1968 painting by Norman Rockwell.(Image - National Portrait Gallery)In nineteen-fifty, he ran for the Senate. He competed against Helen Gahagan Douglas. He accused her of not recognizing the threat of Communism in America. Nixon won the election. In nineteen-fifty-two, the Republican Party chose him as its candidate for vice president. Dwight Eisenhower was the candidate for president.Eisenhower and Nixon won a huge victory over the candidates of the Democratic Party. They won again in nineteen-fifty-six.VOICE 2:During his eight years as vice president, Nixon visited sixty countries. He faced violent protesters during a visit to south American in nineteen-fifty-eight. He was praised for acting bravely under dangerous conditions. A year later, he visited the Soviet Union. He and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev had a famous debate about world peace. Nixon became very angry. At one point, he said to Khrushchev, "You do not know everything."VOICE 1:In nineteen-sixty, Nixon accepted the Republican Party's nomination for president. He had many years of political experience and had gained recognition as vice president. Many people thought he would win the national election easily. But he lost to the young John Kennedy. It was the closest presidential election in American history since eighteen-eighty-four. After losing to Kennedy, Nixon moved back to California. He worked as a lawyer. In nineteen-sixty-two, he ran for governor, and lost.((Music Bridge))VOICE 2:It seemed that Nixon's political life was over. He moved again, this time to New York City. He worked as a lawyer. But he made it clear that he would like to return to public life some day. Many Republicans began to see Richard Nixon as the statesman they wanted in the White House. By then, president Johnson had decided not to run for re-election. His Democratic Party was divided. The Republicans believed they had a good chance to win the election of nineteen-sixty-eight.VOICE 1:Nixon campaigned hard against the Democratic candidate, Hubert Humphrey. Humphrey was vice president under president Johnson. Throughout the campaign, he had to defend the policies of the Johnson administration. The policies on Vietnam had become very unpopular. Some Americans felt the war should be expanded. Many others demanded an immediate withdrawal.VOICE 2:Both Humphrey and Nixon promised to work for peace in Vietnam. On election day, voters chose Nixon. He won by a small number of popular votes. But he won many more electoral votes than Humphrey. On the day after his victory, he spoke to a gathering of supporters.NIXON: "I saw many signs in this campaign. Some of them were not friendly. Some were very friendly. But the one that touched me the most was ... a teenager held up the sign: 'bring us together'. And that will be the great objective of this administration, at the outset, to bring the American people together. "VOICE 1:Once in office, President Nixon proposed legislation to deal with problems at home. He called his proposals the "New Federalism". One proposal was for revenue sharing. Under this plan, the federal government would share tax money with state and local governments. For three years, Congress blocked its passage. In nineteen-seventy-two, the revenue sharing plan was finally approved. Lawmakers also approved legislation for some of President Nixon's other ideas. One changed the way American men were called into military service.VOICE 2:The new law said young men would now be called to serve by chance, with a lottery. This was a big change.Many people had criticized the earlier system. They said it had taken too many poor men and too many men from minority groups. These were the men who were fighting, and dying, in Vietnam. Congress also approved a change to the Constitution. The amendment would permit younger people to vote. It decreased the voting age from twenty-one years to eighteen years. Supporters of the amendment said that if citizens were old enough to fight and die in the nation's wars, they were old enough to vote in the nation's elections, too. The amendment became law when three-fourths of the states approved it in nineteen-seventy-one.VOICE 1:One of President Nixon's most important proposals was to build a system to defend against enemy missiles. He said the system was needed to protect American missile bases. The issue caused much debate. Critics said it would add to the arms race with the Soviet Union. Congress approved the plan in August nineteen-sixty-nine.VOICE 2:Nixon's first appointments to the nation's highest court also caused much debate. He named two conservative judges from the southern United States to serve on the Supreme Court. Congress rejected the nomination of the first one, Clement Haynsworth. Lawmakers said his court decisions had been unfair to black Americans. Congress also rejected the nomination of the second one, G. Harold Carswell. Lawmakers said he was not prepared for the job.VOICE 1:President Nixon faced these disappointments, and others. Yet he still had moments of great celebration during his first term. One came on July twentieth, nineteen-sixty-nine. On that day, he and millions of people around the world watched as two American astronauts became the first humans to land on the moon. We will continue the story of Richard Nixon next week.(Theme)VOICE 2:This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by jeri watson. This is Stan Busby.VOICE 1:And this is Rich Kleinfeldt. Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.Email this article to a friendPrinter Friendly Version。
THE MAKING OF A NATION
THE MAKING OF A NATION #1 – IntroductionWritten by Paul Thompson(THEME)VOICE ONE:This is Mary Tillotson.VOICE TWO:And this is Steve Ember with the MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States. Today, we begin the series of more than two-hundred programs about American history.(THEME)VOICE ONE:Each week at this time we will tell a story from the history of the United States of America. THE MAKING OF A NATION is really a series of lessons. These lessons include ancient history, modern history, exploration, revolution, politics, civil war, industrial expansion and modern technology.Our first program in the series tells about the first people who came to the Western Hemisphere. The story will continue to show what happened as time passed. What is news today will become history tomorrow. And that history becomes a new and important part of THE MAKING OF A NATION.VOICE TWO:THE MAKING OF A NATION answers questions about American history. How was the United States formed? Why was it necessary for loyal citizens to rebel against one nation and form a new nation with different laws? What was missing in their older form of government that would cause them to begin a rebellion?We explain how a group of farmers, businessmen and lawyers could write a document called the Constitution of the United States. And we explain why that document is still extremely important today. The answers to those questions and the writing of the Constitution resulted in the creation ofthe United States of America. The Constitution of the United States has been used by more than one government as a guide to creating a modern democracy.VOICE ONE:In other programs, we explain why it was necessary for those who formed the United States to include laws that guarantee freedom of speech and freedom of religion. We tell why they thought it was important to guarantee every citizen the right to write, print and publish material on any subject. And we explain why they felt there was a need to include a law that guaranteed a person the right to a fair and public trial if that person was charged with a crime.VOICE TWO:The American Revolution was fought for several reasons. One of the most important was the idea that citizens of a country should have a voice in its decisions. The men who led the revolt against Britain wanted to be able to vote. They agreed that a citizen should have a voice in the government that ruled his country. British citizens in the American colonies paid taxes but had no representative in the British Parliament. This lack of representation caused a growing anger in the American colonies.When the men who led the revolt against Britain formed a new government they made sure that all free men who owned land and paid taxes were permitted to vote. More importantly they decided that any free citizen could be a candidate for public office.Our series of programs explains this idea. These programs describe the elections of each American president. We tell why some candidates were successful and why others failed.We also tell about mistakes that were made when the United States was created. The greatest mistake was slavery. We tell about slavery and the pain and suffering it caused for all those involved. We tell of the great Civil War that was fought to keep the United States united and to end slavery.We also tell how election laws were changed to permit any citizen over the age of eighteen to vote in local and national elections.VOICE ONE:Many of our programs tell about the ideas and issues that had a great effect on the United States. But most importantly, we tell about the people who worked with these ideas and issues to make the United States a successful nation.We tell about George Washington. He began life as a farmer. He became a military commander and the first president of the United States. He became a soldier because his country needed him. He became president because the citizens of the new country wanted him as their leader. When his time as president was over, George Washington gave up power and once again became a farmer and a private citizen.Graphic ImageWe tell about Thomas Jefferson. He wrote the beautiful words of the Declaration of Independence. That document told the world that the people in this new country would no longer answer to a European ruler.VOICE TWO:Some of the men who formed the United States into a nation during the seventeen-hundreds were well educated and wealthy. Abraham Lincoln was not. He was proof that in a nation of equal laws, a poor man could rise to become the president of the United States.Abraham Lincoln became president during the eighteen-sixties when several southern states decided they no longer wanted to be part of the United States. We tell how President Lincoln dealt with the terrible Civil War that almost split the country apart.VOICE ONE:One of our programs deals with a speech that President Lincoln gave in the little town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. A great battle had been fought there. President Lincoln had been asked to come to Gettysburg to say a few words at the dedication of a military burial place.What he said that day became one of the most famous speeches in the English language. President Lincoln's speech honored the young men who had died on that bloody battlefield. He also told the world why the terrible war was being fought and why it was so important.Listen to the first sentence of his famous speech. In only a few words, President Lincoln explained the idea that was, and is still, so important to each citizen of the United States.VOICE THREE:"Four Score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."You can hear all of President Lincoln's famous words in our program about his speech at Gettysburg. We tell how he wrote the speech. And we tell about the sadness he felt because he believed his few words had been a failure. The story of the famous Gettysburg Address is only one of several programs that tell the story of Abraham Lincoln.VOICE TWO:THE MAKING OF A NATION includes programs about many different subjects. We tell about culture. We tell about social changes. For example, we tell about a time called the Roaring Twenties. They were the years from nineteen-twenty to nineteen-twenty nine.It was a time when young men and women began to change some of the traditions of their parents and grandparents. The Roaring Twenties were years of revolution in social values among some Americans.Movies were new and exciting. Music was changing. And newspapers were printing as many as five editions a day to present the latest news. By the end of the Roaring Twenties, radios could be found in most American homes. And a young pilot named Charles Lindbergh flew a small plane from the United States to an airport near Paris, France. He became a world hero for flying alone across the Atlantic Ocean.VOICE ONE:The Roaring Twenties ended with a crash. That crash was the beginning of the worst economic crisis in American history. The economic crisis was called the Great Depression. The MAKING OF A NATION explains what caused this depression. We tell how millions of Americans were without work. We tell the sad story of people who lost their jobs, their homes and their hope for the future. We tell how this great economic failure affected Americans and the rest of the world.VOICE TWO:We also tell about the administration of President Franklin Roosevelt. He was elected to office with a promise that he would bring the United States out of the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt served longer than any other president in American history.We tell about the elections and administrations of the presidents elected since that time. We tell about World War One, World War Two and other wars. And we tell about the social, cultural and historic events that were important to the growth of the United States as a nation.(THEME)VOICE ONE:This VOA Special English program THE MAKING OF A NATION was written and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Mary Tillotson.VOICE TWO:And this is Steve Ember.The first of more than two-hundred programs in this series begins next week at this time. We tell about the first humans to come to the Western Hemisphere. Join us for this special story on THE MAKING OF A NATION.。
建国史话-THE_MAKING_OF_A_NATION_203【声音字幕同步PPT】
joined with conservative Republicans in voting.
Together, these lawmakers defeated
some of Truman's most important proposals. This included a bill for health care insurance
majority from Mister Truman's Democratic Party. The president might have expected such a Congress to support his policies.
It did not, however, always support him. Time after time,
power throughout his presidency. On June twenty-fifth, nineteen-fifty, forces
from North Korea invaded South Korea.
Two days later, the united nations security council
and technology. Months later, Congress approved twenty-
five thousand-million dollars
for the first part of this program. In nineteen-fifty-one,
President Truman asked Congress to establish a new foreign aid program. The aid was for some countries in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, East Asia and South Asia, and Latin America.
建国史话-THE_MAKING_OF_A_NATION_211【声音字幕同步PPT】
trained by America's Central Intelligence Agency, invaded Cuba.
Their goal was to overthrow Cuba's communist leader, Fidel Castro.
approval when
he visited French leader general Charles de Gaulle.
The French were very interested in the new American president.
They were even more interested in his beautiful wife.
Texas.
He hoped to help settle a local dispute in his Democratic Party.
The dispute might have affected chances for his re-election in nineteen-sixty-four. He arrived in the city of Dallas in the late morning of November twenty-second. Dallas was known to be a center of opposition to Kennedy. Yet many people waited to see him.
President Kennedy said the situation was causing a moral crisis in America.
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THE MAKING OF A NATION #2 - March 6, 2003: First PeoplesBy Paul Thompson(THEME)VOICE ONE:This is Sarah Long.VOICE TWO:And this is Rich Kleinfeldt with the MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.(THEME)Today, we present the first in our series of history programs. We tell about the first peoples to arrive in what would become North America.(MUSIC: MANDAREE SINGERS)VOICE ONE:Scientists and history experts say the first people to ever come to the western hemisphere arrived between fifteen-thousand and thirty-five-thousand years ago. They may have come in several different groups. No one is really sure who they were or where they lived before.Experts say the best possible answer about where they came from is northern Asia.Most experts believe they crossed to the western hemisphere from the part of Russianow called Siberia. The first people came to the new world in a time of fierce cold.Much of the northern part of the world was covered in ice. Because of this, theoceans were hundreds of meters lower than they are now. Scientists believe thismade it possible to walk across the area that is now the Bering Sea. For a moment,let us follow a family group as it begins to cross the area that is now the Bering Sea.The time is more than twenty-thousand years ago. (MUSIC)VOICE TWO:The hunter watched the small group of animals. It had been several days since he had last killed an animal for food. The hunter's family had not much left to eat. It was the responsibility of the men to provide the food. Today they must get meat or their families would not survive. The fierce cold added to the sharp hunger that the hunter felt. He was dressed from head to foot in heavy animal skins to protect against the cold.VOICE ONE:The hunter was several kilometers from the animals. The animals had moved slowly during the night toward the rising sun. They had been moving in this direction for several days. They were also looking for food. The hunter knew there was not much for them to eat in this area. He knew the animals would keep moving.The hunter's people had always followed animals for food. But they had never followed them this far toward the rising sun. The hunter looked behind him. He could see the women and children far behind. He picked up hisweapon and moved forward. Bering Strait(Photo - NASA)VOICE TWO:Later, the men killed two animals. It was enough to feed all their people for perhaps two days. That night as they cooked the meat, the hunter thought about turning back to the land behind them. The hunter knew that area well. But the hunting had been poor for a long time.This was the first group of animals they had been able to follow any length of time. It was not a large group of animals but there were enough to follow. He decided that in the morning they could continue toward the rising sun. They would stay with this herd of animals. He knew his family had little choice. Follow them and live. Or go back and perhaps die from of a lack of food.(MUSIC)VOICE ONE:This is just a story. But it could be true. Scientists believe such hunters followed animals east across what is now the Bering Sea. It is only about eighty kilometers from Siberia to what is now the American state of Alaska. Eighty kilometers would not be a long trip for ancient people following animal herds.Scientists have done new genetic tests on large populations of people. They show that about ninety-five percent of all native peoples in the western hemisphere came from the same family group. The scientists say this family may have crossed into the west about twenty-thousand years ago. This family group would have grown and divided during the next several thousand years. Over time, they would have spread out and explored most of the land that is North, Central and South America.VOICE TWO:Many of those early peoples stayed in the far northern parts of the American continents. They were already used to living in the extreme cold. They knew how to survive.Today members of a tribe called the Yuit still live near the Bering Sea in Alaska. Other tribes live in the Arctic areas of northern Canada. These include several different tribes of the Inuit. Many of these people of the far North still hunt wild animals for much of their food.VOICE ONE:The early settlers in North America were not able to immediately travel south. Huge amounts of ice stopped them. Experts believe the early settlers lived in the far north for about two-thousand years before they began to move south.One expert says it could have taken only five-hundred years for the early Indians to settle all of the western hemisphere from southern Canada to the end of South America.VOICE TWO:Scientists say it is more likely that the movement took several thousand years. But in time these people spread out over the western hemisphere. They became thousands of different tribes with many languages...from the Inuit in the far north, to the Yahgan people near the end of South America.One group was the Maya of Mexico. They learned to read and write their language and build huge stone buildings that can still be seen today. The Inca of Peru also built stone buildings that are extremely beautiful. Some Indians still live much the same as they always have. An example is the Bora tribe that lives deep in the Amazon area of South America.Other native peoples settled across the land that would later become the United States.(BRIDGE MUSIC)VOICE ONE:The earliest evidence of the existence of ancient Indians in North America was found in Nineteen-Twenty-Six. A worker found the bones of an animal sticking out of the ground. The bones were much larger than normal.Experts were called. The experts learned that the bones were from an animal that is no longer found in North America. The experts also found the stone points of weapons that were used to kill this animal. Since then experts have found many similar areas with animal bones and weapon points. The experts believe most of these finds are between ten-thousand and eleven-thousand-five-hundred years old.VOICE TWO:The experts agree that these stone weapon points are very similar to weapons that have been found in the far northern parts of Siberia. They say this helps prove the idea that the first settlers in North America came from North Eastern Asia.Near the small town of Clovis in the western state of New Mexico, experts found a new kind of stone weapon point. They named it the Clovis point. These points have been made very sharp by cutting away some of the stone from the sides. Experts say this kind of stone point is only found in America. The earliest ones were made about eleven-thousand-five hundred years ago. Experts say at the time, this kind of stone point was the most modern weapon of its time. They were a great improvement over the older kind of stone point.VOICE ONE:Many of the larger animals that were hunted by the early Indians began to die off with the end of the ice age. The Indians were forced to hunt smaller animals. In a period of several thousand years, the first peoples moved and settled across the land that would become the United States.Some settled in the forest land of the east, like the Iroquois. Some lived in the southern desert like the Apache. Some settled in the open country of middle America like the Lakota. And others settled in the American northwest like the Nez Perce.These tribes and several hundred others had lived in the western part of the world many thousands of years before the first Europeans arrived. Christopher Columbus landed on the island of San Salvador in Fourteen-Ninety-Two. People in Europe did not know at that time that this land existed.VOICE TWO:When Columbus landed, several million people lived in the area between the far north of North America to the end of land in South America. These included large groups and small. Most had their own culture, language and religion. Many were extremely fierce. Some were very peaceful. Some were hunters. Others were farmers. Some built huge cities of stone. Others lived in simple homes made from animal skins or wood from trees. Their ways of living would change forever when European explorers found their land. The story of these explorers -- next week.(THEME)VOICE ONE:This MAKING OF A NATION program was written and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Sarah Long.VOICE TWO:And this is Rich Kleinfeldt. Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.Email this article to a friendPrinter Friendly Version。