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Chicago, May 18, 1860. A backwoods congressman comes out of nowhere to grab the new Republican Party's nomination for President. Abe Lincoln's only claim to fame-- he's lost two elections to the Senate.
1860年5月18日，芝加哥，一位来自边区偏僻之地的不知名的议员赢得了共和党的新总统提名。林肯此前唯一的出名之处就是他曾两次竞选参议员落败。
Personally, Lincoln hates slavery, but he is desperate to hold the country together.
林肯个人反感奴隶制，但他也想竭力维护国家统一。
What I admire about Abraham Lincoln is that he had his beliefs and he stuck to his beliefs at a time when it was't popular to do so, especially when it was black, white and very cut-and -dry, he stuck to his beliefs.
亚伯拉罕·林肯最令我敬重的一点，是他的信仰以及对信仰的执着追求，在这种观念还不算流行的时候，特别是在黑人白人这样老生常谈的问题上他仍然坚守阵地。
November 6, 1860. Election Day. The stakes couldn't be higher. Abraham Lincoln will be elected president of a country hurtling towards war. The South rebels, convinced he'll abolish slavery.
1860年11月6日，选举日，一个冒着极大风险的选举结果，亚伯拉罕·林肯将被选为这个战事一触即发的国家的总统。南方的反叛州确信他将废除奴隶制，
They threaten to leave the Union. The battle lines are drawn. The North is behind him. For the South, Lincoln is the enemy.
他们威胁要脱离联邦，战线随即划定。北方声明对他的支持，在南方眼里林肯是敌人。
An editorial in an Atlanta paper "Let the consequences be what they may. Whether the Potomac is crimsoned in human gore and Pennsylvania Avenue is paved ten fathoms with mangled bodies ,
一家亚特兰大报纸的社论写道，不管后果如何要么血染波托马克河，要么让血肉模糊的尸体在宾夕法尼亚大道上堆到十英寻高。
the South will never submit to such humiliation and degradation as the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln."
南方断不会屈服于亚伯拉罕·林肯就任总统这样的奇耻大辱。
The South knew that Lincoln was gonna win, and it was just a matter of time,
南方知道林肯会赢得选举，脱离联邦只是时间问题。
tick, tick, tick, before secession occurred. The South wants no part of a Union with Lincoln in the White House. But as he prepares to take office, the President-elect is still determined to avoid a civil war.
南方不愿成为林肯所主持的联邦的一部分，但在他宣布就任前夕当选总统仍然决意要避免一场内战。
Lincoln was not happy about slavery. He did not see that as congruent to "All men are created equal."
林肯对奴隶制很反感，他认为这有悖"人人生而平等"的信条，
And he had given a speech, before he ever became president, on why that was so important to him. And I think that was coming to a head, and when he got elected, that was the final straw for the South.
他在就任总统前发表了一个演讲阐明为何奴隶制问题如此重要，我认为废奴之争已经到了紧要关头他的当选触及了南方所能容忍的底线。
December 20, 1860.South Carolina secedes from the Union. The ten other slave states soon follow. Lincoln's victory makes war inevitable. He's prepared to fight to preserve the Union -- and won't have to wait long.
1860年12月20日，南卡罗来纳州脱离联邦，其他十个蓄奴州旋即效仿。林肯的当选使战争在所难免，他做好了为保全联邦而战的准备，这一刻即将来临。
In February 1861, a few weeks before his inauguration, the Confederate States of America are born.
1861年2月，就在他就职前数周，美利坚联盟国成立。
Lincoln's princi pal objective was to save the Union and then we'll deal with slavery, but before too long, he had to both save the Union and deal with slavery.
林肯的首要目标是保全联邦，然后才是废除奴隶制，但马上 他不得不同时解决这两个问题。
Abraham Lincoln receives his first death threats before ever taking office. He'll save every one, keeping a file in his desk labeled: "Assassination."
亚伯拉罕·林肯尚未就职便收到首份死亡威胁，接下来收到的每个死亡威胁他都保存下来，全部放在案头一个标为"刺杀"的文件夹里。
On the journey to Washington, he'll wear a disguise, just to be safe. He'll do anything to avoid war, except allow slavery to expand.
在去华盛顿的路上，他将乔装打扮，安全第一。他会为避免战争而作出一切努力，但允许奴隶制扩张除外。
It is Lincoln who explains the case for freedom and says, "I'm not gonna attack slavery where it is, but I'm not gonna let it expand."
林肯阐述了他使用的自由一词的含义，我不会干涉现有的奴隶制度，但不会任由其扩张。
At his inauguration, Abraham Lincoln reluctantly pledges that states with slaves will be allowed to keep them, but it's too little, too late. A virtual state of war already exists.
在就职典礼上，亚伯拉罕·林肯勉强承诺允许蓄奴州继续保持奴隶制，但退步太小且为时已晚。敌对格局已明摆在眼前，
The South mobilizes an army of 800,000 men against a Union army of 2 and half Million. Five weeks after Abraham Lincoln takes office, the first shots are fired in the War Between the States.
南方动员了八十万士兵来对抗北方的两百万联邦大军。亚伯拉罕·林肯就职五周后，南北之战的第一枪打响。
It will spark a brutal and bloody civil war, the deadliest in American history. In the next four years, more lives will be lost than in all America's other wars put together.
它开启了一场残暴而血腥的内战，美国历史上伤亡最为惨重的战争。接下来的四年里死亡的人数将超过美国所有其它战争死亡人数的总和。
