VOA慢速英语 新总统皮尔斯亲切但软弱

　　Public pressure to end slavery grew strong. Abolitionists wanted to free all slaves immediately. Even if that could be done, there was the question of what to do with the freed slaves. Their rights as citizens were limited. Some states closed their borders to negroes. Other states permitted negroes, but said they could not vote.

　　In many places, it seemed impossible that negroes and whites could live together peacefully, in freedom. The best answer, many people thought, was to free the slaves and help them return to Africa.

　　VOICE TWO:

　　It was not a new idea. Forty years earlier, a group of leading Americans had formed an organization for that purpose. They called it the American Colonization Society.

　　In eighteen twenty, the Society began helping send negroes to Africa. The negroes formed a government of their own. In eighteen forty-seven, they declared themselves independent. They called their new country the Republic of Liberia. The new country had a constitution like that of the United States.

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