THE MAKING OF A NATION 63 - Andrew Jackson, Part 7

THE MAKING OF A NATION #63 - Andrew Jackson, Part 7
By Frank Beardsley

Broadcast: Thursday, May 20, 2004

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VOICE ONE:

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.

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President Andrew Jackson
The national election of eighteen-thirty-two put Andrew Jackson in the White House for a second term as president. One of the major events of his second term was the fight against the Bank of the United States. Jackson believed that the bank had grown too powerful. He urged Congress not to re-new the bank's charter to do business. He also stopped putting federal money into the Bank of the United States. Instead, he put this money into state banks. The head of the Bank of the United States was Nicholas Biddle.

Biddle fought with all his power to keep the bank open. He created a financial panic and blamed it on President Jackson. Biddle did this by demanding immediate¹ repayment² of private loans. Businesses were in trouble without the bank's financial assistance. Workers lost their jobs. President Jackson was warned of mob action. But nothing happened. Most of the battle against the Bank of the United States was fought in Congress.

VOICE TWO:

 
Senator Henry Clay
Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky led the support for the bank. Clay was head of the opposition³ political party, the National Republicans. Clay argued his case on the floor of the Senate for three days. He strongly urged the Senate to re-new the bank's charter. He said:

"The country is in the middle of a revolution...not yet a bloody⁴ revolution. But things are happening that point to a total change of the pure republican character of our government. Power is being centered in the hands of one man." He meant President Jackson. Clay added:

"If Congress does not act, the government will fail. And we will all die as slaves."

Clay then asked the Senate to condemn⁵ Jackson for violating the constitution and the nation's laws. The Senate approved the resolution.

VOICE ONE:

Things went better for Jackson in the House of Representatives. James Polk defended Jackson's opposition to the bank. Polk said:

"The bank set itself up as a great, irresponsible, competing power of the government. If the bank wins this fight, no man afterwards can expect to be elected to high office in this country without first surrendering to the bank. The question is," Polk said, "if we shall have the republic without the bank or the bank without the republic."

VOICE TWO

As time passed, businessmen began to see that the Bnk of the United States was being much tighter in its money policy than was necessary. They began to feel that it was Biddle -- not Jackson -- who was responsible for the serious economic situation in the country. Biddle took no responsibility for the financial crisis. He said:

"The relief must come from Congress, and Congress alone. The bank feels no need to right the wrongs caused by these miserable⁶ people. This president thinks he is to have his way with the bank. He is mistaken."

VOICE ONE:

Biddle then made a serious mistake. e asked the governor of Pennsylvania to make a speech to the state legislature...a speech supporting the bank. At the same time, Biddle refused to lend the state of Pennsylvania three-hundred-thousand dollars. The governor was furious. Instead of making a speech supporting the bank, he made one that sharply criticized it. The upper house of the Pennsylvania legislature agreed with the governor. Although Nicholas Biddle threatened all sorts of action, the upper house passed a resolution that Congress should not give the bank a new charter.

VOICE TWO:

Two days later, the governor of New York proposed that the state sell four or five million dollars of stock for loans to help state banks. The New York legislature approved selling even more. This action would strengthen the state banks and help to break the power of the Bank of the United States. Nicholas Biddle began to see that the battle was lost. He started making more loans to business. The economic panic he had started slowly ended.

VOICE ONE:

Jackson's victory over the Bank of the United States was clear. Biddle started to lose the support of many members of Congress. In the House of Representatives, James Polk proposed four resolutions on the bank. One said the bank should not get a new charter. The second resolution said government money should not be deposited in the bank. The third said the government should continue to put its money in state banks. And the fourth proposed an investigation⁷ of the bank and the reasons for the economic panic in the country. All four of these anti-bank resolutions were approved.

VOICE TWO:

One of Biddle's assistants described the feelings of bank officials.

"This day," he said, "should be ripped from the history of our republic. The president of the United States has seized the public treasury⁸ in violation⁹ of the law of the land. And the representatives of the people have approved his action."

Jackson's words were shorter: "I have won a glorious triumph."

VOICE ONE:

The other major event of Andrew Jackson's second term as president was the situation in Texas. In an agreement with Spain in eighteen-nineteen, the United States had given up its claim to Texas. In exchange, Spain gave the United States all of Florida.

After Mexico won its independence from Spain in eighteen-twenty-one, the United States tried to buy Texas. Mexico did not want to sell. When Andrew Jackson became president he, too, tried to buy Texas. Mexico still refused to sell.

VOICE TWO:

Texas was a rich land. But it was empty. Mexico decided¹⁰ to permit Americans to build colonies in Texas. Stephen Austin formed the first colony in eighteen-twenty-two. Each farming family in his colony could have about eighty hectares of land.

Each family that wished to raise cattle could have about two-thousand hectares. The settlers in Texas were able to buy the land for almost nothing. But they had to promise to join the Roman Catholic Church. They also had to promise to obey the laws of Mexico. Most of the settlers came from the states of Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. Many owned slaves and brought the slaves with them to Texas. During the eighteen-twenties, Americans poured into Texas for the low-priced land.

VOICE ONE:

The leader of one American colony got into trouble with the Mexican government. He was ordered to leave, but refused. With the help of a few supporters, he seized the town of Nacogdoches. He declared Texas to be an independent republic. He called it Fredonia. This man expected the other American colonists¹¹ to join him against Mexico. He was wrong. Most of the colonists did not support him. In fact, some even joined the Mexican force that put down his rebellion. The man fled back across the border into the United States.

VOICE TWO:

The rebellion failed. But it made Mexican leaders see the danger of continuing to permit Americans to settle in Texas. The Mexican government sent an official to inspect conditions along the border with the United States. The official reported that as he traveled north through Texas, he saw less and less that was Mexican...and more and more that was American.

He said there were very few Mexicans in some towns. And these Mexicans, he said, were extremely poor. He said the American settlers were not becoming true Mexicans. They were not speaking Spanish. They were not becoming Roman Catholics. And they were not accepting Mexican traditions. The official said the situation in Texas could throw the whole Mexican nation into revolution. He urged Mexico to send troops to occupy Texas. That will be our story next week.

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VOICE ONE:

You have been listening to the Special English program, THE MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Sarah Long and Bob Doughty¹². Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. The Voice of America invites you to listen to THE MAKING OF A NATION again next week at this same time.

1 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

2 repayment   

n.偿还，偿还款；报酬

参考例句：

• I am entitled to a repayment for the damaged goods.我有权利索取货物损坏赔偿金。
• The tax authorities have been harrying her for repayment.税务局一直在催她补交税款。

3 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。

4 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

5 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

6 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

9 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。