《英语流行话题阅读:语境识词4500》78 The American Civil War

　　Unit 78
The American Civil War
The American Civil War, the greatest war in American history as well as the only war fought on American soil by Americans, in which 3 million fought and 600,000 died. It was fought in the United States from 1861 until 1865 between the northern states, popularly referred to as "the US," "the Union," "the North," or "the Yankees"; and the seceding¹ southern states, commonly referred to as "the Confederate States of America," "the CSA," "the Confederacy," "the South," or "the Rebels."
Before the Civil War, the United States was a nation divided into 4 distinct regions: the Northeast, with a growing industrial and commercial economy and an increasing density² of population; the Northwest, a rapidly expanding region of free farmers; the Upper South, with a settled plantation³ system and declining economic fortunes; and the Southwest, a booming frontier-like region with expanding cotton economy. The economic and social changes across the nation's geographical⁴ regions -- based on wage labor⁵ in the North and on slavery in the South -- underlay⁶ distinct visions of society that had emerged by the mid-nineteenth century in the North and in the South.
For many years, compromises had been made to balance the number of "free states" and "slave states" so that there would be a balance in the Senate. The rise of mass democracy in the industrializing North, and increasingly hostile sectional ideologies⁷ in the 1850s made it highly unlikely, if not impossible, to bring about the gentlemanly compromises of the past necessary to avoid crisis. The United States Republican Party was established in 1854. The new party opposed the expansion of slavery in the Western territories. Meanwhile, the profitability of cotton solidified⁸ the South's dependence⁹ on the plantation system and its foundation: slave labor. A small class of slave barons¹⁰, especially cotton planters, dominated the politics and society of the South.
Lincoln was a moderate in his opposition¹¹ to slavery. He pledged to do all he could to oppose the expansion of slavery into the territories; but he also said the federal government did not have the power to abolish slavery in the states in which it already existed, and that he would enforce Fugitive¹² Slave Laws. The southern states expected increasing hostility¹³ to their "peculiar¹⁴ institution"; not trusting Lincoln, and mindful that many other Republicans were intent on complete abolition¹⁵ of slavery. Seven states seceded¹⁶ shortly after the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. They were South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. These Deep South States, where slavery and cotton plantation agriculture were most dominant¹⁷, formed the Confederate States of America February 4, 1861, with Jefferson Davis as President of the rebel government. The Civil War began when Confederate General Pierre Beauregard opened fire upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina on April 12, 1861.
Why the Union won the Civil War has been the subject of extensive debate. Advantages widely believed to have contributed to the Union's success include: the North's strong, industrial economy, the North's strong compatible railroad links, the North's larger population and greater immigration, the North's moral cause (the Emancipation¹⁸ Proclamation) given to the war by Abraham Lincoln mid-way during the war, the recruitment of blacks into the Union Army after the Emancipation Proclamation was approved. Towards the end of the war, the Confederacy relented and began to allow Blacks to enter the Confederate Army, but this action was only a token effort.

1 seceding   

v.脱离，退出( secede的现在分词 )

参考例句：

2 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

3 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

4 geographical   

adj.地理的；地区(性)的

参考例句：

• The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
• These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 underlay   

v.位于或存在于（某物）之下( underlie的过去式 )；构成…的基础（或起因），引起n.衬垫物

参考例句：

• That would depend upon whether the germs of staunch comradeship underlay the temporary emotion. 这得看这番暂时的情感里，是否含有生死不渝友谊的萌芽。 来自辞典例句
• Sticking and stitching tongue overlay and tongue underlay Sticking 3㎜ reinforcement. 贴车舌上片与舌下片：贴3㎜补强带。 来自互联网

7 ideologies   

n.思想（体系）( ideology的名词复数 )；思想意识；意识形态；观念形态

参考例句：

• There is no fundamental diversity between the two ideologies. 这两种思想意识之间并没有根本的分歧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Radical ideologies require to contrast to their own goodness the wickedness of some other system. 凡是过激的意识形态，都需要有另外一个丑恶的制度作对比，才能衬托出自己的善良。 来自辞典例句

8 solidified   

（使）成为固体，（使）变硬，（使）变得坚固( solidify的过去式和过去分词 )； 使团结一致； 充实，巩固； 具体化

参考例句：

• Her attitudes solidified through privilege and habit. 由于特权和习惯使然，她的看法变得越来越难以改变。
• When threatened, he fires spheres of solidified air from his launcher! 当危险来临，他就会发射它的弹药！

9 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

10 barons   

男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨

参考例句：

• The barons of Normandy had refused to countenance the enterprise officially. 诺曼底的贵族们拒绝正式赞助这桩买卖。
• The barons took the oath which Stephen Langton prescribed. 男爵们照斯蒂芬？兰顿的指导宣了誓。

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

13 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

14 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

15 abolition   

n.废除，取消

参考例句：

• They declared for the abolition of slavery.他们声明赞成废除奴隶制度。
• The abolition of the monarchy was part of their price.废除君主制是他们的其中一部分条件。

16 seceded   

v.脱离，退出( secede的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The Republic of Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903. 巴拿马共和国于1903年脱离哥伦比亚。
• One of the states has seceded from the federation. 有一个州已从联邦中退出。 来自辞典例句

17 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

18 emancipation   

n.（从束缚、支配下）解放

参考例句：

• We must arouse them to fight for their own emancipation. 我们必须唤起他们为其自身的解放而斗争。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They rejoiced over their own emancipation. 他们为自己的解放感到欢欣鼓舞。 来自《简明英汉词典》