评论
打印
Today's Republican Party opposes big government.
今天的共和党是反对大政府的。
It's culturally conservative.
从文化层面来看是相对保守的。
Its demographic support is strongest among white voters, and it usually dominates elections in the South.
该党派在白人中的支持率最高，竞选主场大多都在南方。
The party's 2016 presidential nominee has been heavily criticized for inciting racial tensions.
2016年，该党总统候选人受到了外界的严厉指责，理由是他煽动种族矛盾。
But things weren't always this way.
问题是，共和党并非一直都是这样。
Over the past 160 years or so,
在过去160年上下的时间里，
the party has undergone a remarkable transformation from the party of Abraham Lincoln to the party of Donald Trump.
该党从亚伯拉罕·林肯领导下的共和党一步步走到了唐纳德·特朗普领导下的共和党，堪称是发生了沧海桑田般的转变。
To understand how the GOP got this way,
要想弄明白共和党是如何变成今天这个鬼样子的，
you have to go back to when it first came into existence — in 1854, just 7 years before the Civil War.
我们还得从它当初成立的时候，从距离内战爆发仅7年之遥的1854年开始说起。
There are two parties at this point, the Whigs and the Democrats.
当时的美国有两个政党：辉格党和民主党。
America is quickly expanding westward
那时候美国正在积极向西扩张，
and there's an intense debate over whether or not new states should permit slavery.
新州是否应该允许奴隶制存在这一问题在当时引发了激烈的讨论。
The Democratic Party, with strong support in the South, has become increasingly pro-slavery.
在南方呼声极高的民主党越来越倾向于支持奴隶制存在。
But the Whigs are divided on the issue.
但辉格党内部在这个问题上没有达成一致。
Their northern supporters are really afraid that the growing number of slave states would have too much political influence,
辉格党北方的支持者很是担心奴隶制州越来越多，他们的政治话语权就会越来越大，
which they feared could hurt free white workers economically.
就会损害自由的白人工人的经济利益。
So in 1854, the country is debating whether or not the territories of Kansas and Nebraska should allow slavery.
在这样的背景下，1854年，美国就堪萨斯州和内布拉斯加州两个新州是否允许奴隶制存在展开了一次大讨论。
The Whigs can't agree and the party ends up collapsing.
辉格党一直无法达成一致，最后直接分裂了。
The former whigs in the north form a new party that will fight against letting slavery expand any further;
北方的辉格党成员组建了一个新的党派，反对奴隶制进一步扩张；
they call it the Republican Party.
他们称这个党派为“共和党”。
By 1860, the Republican Party become increasingly powerful in the North,
到了1860年，共和党在北方势力越来越大，
enough so that a little known Republican named Abraham Lincoln wins the presidency.
大到一个名不见经传的共和党人亚伯拉罕·林肯最后竟然赢得了总统大选。
Even though Lincoln promises he won't interfere with slavery in the states that already have it,
尽管林肯承诺不会干涉现有奴隶制州的奴隶政策，
he and his party are still too anti-slavery for the South to tolerate.
他和他的政党反对奴隶制的态度还是超出了南方的容忍范围。
So 11 Southern states secede from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America.
于是，11个南方州相继脱离联邦组建了“美利坚邦联州”。
The Northern states decide to fight to keep the Union together, and the Civil War ensues.
北方各州决定捍卫联邦的统一，南北战争一触即发。
The result is a Northern victory and the abolition of slavery nationwide.
这场战争的结局是北方获胜，并在全国范围内废除了奴隶制。
After the war, Republicans begin fighting to ensure that recently freed slaves in the South have their rights.
战争结束不久，共和党人又忙不停地开始为南方刚刚获得自由的奴隶争取权利。
A year after Lincoln's assassination, the party passes the Civil Rights Act in 1866.
接着，共和党在林肯遇刺一年后的1866年通过了《民权法案》。
They fight to make sure that blackmen have same right to vote, with new laws and constitutional amendments.
他们通过了一部又一部的法律和宪法修正案，为的就是确保黑人拥有同样的投票权。
But something had happened during the civil war that began changing the young Republican Party.
然而，内战期间发生的一些事改变了这个年轻的党派。
Government spending during the war made many northern businessmen really rich.
不少北方商人都靠战争期间的政府开支赚了不少钱。
Gradually, these wealthy financiers and industrialists start taking more and more of a leadership role in the Republican Party.
渐渐地，这些富有的金融家和实业家开始在共和党中扮演越来越重要的领导角色
They want to hold on to power,
他们想继续把权，
and they don't think that fighting for black rights in a mostly white country is the best way to do that.
在他们看来，在一个白人居多的国家为黑人争取权利并不是把权的最佳办法。
Meanwhile, the South is resisting these new racial reforms, often violently.
与此同时，南方也开始了抵制新的种族改革，往往采用的还是非常激烈的方式。
And most white Republican voters and leaders now feel that they've done enough for Black citizens in the South,
这时，大多数白人共和党选民和白人共和党领导人都开始觉得，他们对南方的黑人已经够意思了，
and it's time to emphasize other issues.
是时候把其他问题摆到台面上来了。
So in the 1870s, the party basically gives up on reforming the South,
到了19世纪70年代，共和党就基本已经放弃改革南方了，
deciding instead to leave it to its own devices,
他们决定让南方自力更生，
the region becomes politically dominated by white Democrats.
南方便开始逐渐步入了白人民主党的统治。
Fast-forward to the new century.
快进到新世纪。
By the 1920s, the Republican Party has become, essentially, the party of big business.
到了20世纪20年代，共和党基本上已经是大企业说了算了。
This works out quite well for them as the economy is booming,
经济景气的时候这种模式倒也顺利，
but not so well when the economy crashes in 1929 and the Great Depression begins.
但1929年经济崩溃和大萧条爆发以后，共和党的日子就不那么好过了。
