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Although never an abolitionist, Lincoln, a man who had been exposed
尽管不是废除奴隶者 林肯作为一个自小就曾接触
to slavery since childhood, was opposed to the Southern slave system.
奴隶制的人 他反对南方的奴隶制体系
Yet the Great Emancipator of the 1860s spent the 1850s
但是1860年代伟大的解放者林肯在整个1850年代
convinced that the political system made abolition impossible.
深信政治制度使得废除奴隶是不可能的
On the one hand, he always says, This is a moral question ultimately.
一方面 他一直都说 这最终是一个道德问题
He's like an abolitionist in that he says I am morally opposed to slavery, that's the bottom line here.
他和废奴主义者志同道合 当他说道 我在道德上反对奴隶制 这是底线
On the other hand, as a lawyer, as a politician, he says,
另一方面 作为一名律师 一位政治家 他说
There's not much we can do about slavery, it's in the Constitution.
我们对于奴隶制无能为力 它写在了宪法中
It's up to the Southern states to deal with it.
应当由南方诸州处理这个问题
He understands there is not much you can do about slavery within the political system.
他知道咋政治体制内对于奴隶制 你坐不了什么
In America's federal system,
在美国联邦体系内
it was the individual states and not the national government in Washington that had the power to determine the future of slavery.
是由每一个州而非位于华盛顿的国民政府 拥有决定奴隶制未来的权力
But in the party politics of the 1850s,opposing slavery, if only in principle,
但是在1850年代的政党政治中 反对奴隶制 即使是在原则上
was potentially enough to destroy Lincoln's political career.
也有可能毁灭林肯的政治前途
In 1858, Lincoln stood for Congress against his old opponent Stephen Douglas.
在1858年 林肯代表国会反对他的老对手斯蒂芬·道格拉斯
The campaign centred on a series of now famous debates.
这次竞选集中在一系列现已青史留名的争论上
In the city of Charleston, Douglas suggested that Lincoln's opposition to slavery meant that he was also in favour of racial equality.
在查尔斯顿城 弗吉尼亚州首府 道格拉斯暗示林肯反对 奴隶制就意味着他赞成种族平等
