VOA慢速英语 American History Series: The Struggle Over Slavery in the Kansas Territory

　　VOICE TWO:

　　The Democratic Party met in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the first time a national political convention was held that far west.

　　Candidates needed two-thirds of the votes to win the nomination. After several days of voting, no candidate had received enough. So, in an effort to unite the party, Stephen Douglas offered to withdraw. James Buchanan got his votes and the nomination.

　　(MUSIC)

　　VOICE ONE:

　　The Republican Party was a new political party. Its members opposed slavery for either moral or economic reasons.

　　Many Republicans were Abolitionists. They wanted to ban slavery everywhere in the United States. The majority of Republicans, however, were not Abolitionists. They had no interest in ending slave labor in the South. They simply did not want slavery to spread to other areas.

　　The Republican Party held its presidential nominating convention in Philadelphia. For months, party members had spoken of just one man. He was John Fremont. Fremont had explored the American west. He had been a senator from California. He was young and exciting. Republicans thought he was the right man to lead their young and exciting party.

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