VOA慢速英语 美国历史系列:奴隶制危机短期内缓解

　　American History Series: Slavery Crisis Eases, but Not for Very Long

　　美国历史系列:奴隶制危机短期内缓解

　　Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English.

　　Throughout most of the eighteen fifties, war was a continual threat between the North and the South over the issue of slavery. Then, in the autumn of eighteen fifty-nine, the crisis seemed to calm.

　　Anti-slavery extremists governed only a few states of the North. And pro-slavery extremists held power in only a few states of the deep South. There had been elections in most of the northern and southern states. Voters had rejected candidates with extremist ideas and elected moderates instead.

　　The public saw the elections as a sign of hope that reasonable people might find a way to settle the bitter dispute over slavery.

　　But these hopes fell apart on October seventeenth, eighteen fifty-nine. That day brought the news that a group of Abolitionists had attacked the town of Harpers Ferry. The town was then part of Virginia; today it is part of West Virginia.

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