Speaker 1: I welcome to Spotlight. I'm Alice Irazari and.
Speaker 2: I'm Andrew Davis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting.
Speaker 2: It is easier for people to understand no matter where
Speaker 2: in the world they live.
Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty one, hundreds of Southern soldiers surrounded Fort Sumter.
Speaker 1: This large walled building was in South Carolina in the
Speaker 1: United States. Inside the fort, Northern soldiers stood on the walls.
Speaker 1: These soldiers were from the same country, but now they
Speaker 1: were pointing their cannons at each other. Suddenly, Southern soldiers
Speaker 1: began to fire their guns. The fort shook with explosions.
Speaker 1: The air filled with the smell of smoke. The first
Speaker 1: battle of the American Civil War had begun.
Speaker 2: The American Civil War was a conflict between the Northern
Speaker 2: and Southern states of the United States. Different parts of
Speaker 2: the country fought in open war against each other. This
Speaker 2: happened over one hundred and sixty years ago, but the
Speaker 2: war shaped American culture in ways that are still important today.
Speaker 1: Today's Spotlight is on the American Civil War.
Speaker 2: There were many issues that caused the American Civil War,
Speaker 2: but the biggest was the issue of slavery. The United
Speaker 2: States was founded during a time when slavery was common,
Speaker 2: each state decided whether it would be legal to own
Speaker 2: enslaved persons inside their own borders. These enslaved people were
Speaker 2: taken from Africa. Slave owners forced them to work on
Speaker 2: farms or as servants. The founding documents of the United
Speaker 2: States declare that each person is equal, but slave owners
Speaker 2: did not consider enslaved persons fully human.
Speaker 1: For a long time, people owned slaves in most states,
Speaker 1: but soon many people in the United States began to
Speaker 1: believe slavery was wrong. These people called themselves abolitionists. The
Speaker 1: abolitionists hoped to one day make slavery illegal.
Speaker 2: By the eighteen thirties, the abolitionists had partially succeeded. Slavery
Speaker 2: was illegal in most northern states, but the South had
Speaker 2: always used more enslaved persons than the North. The South's
Speaker 2: economy depended on growing crops like tobacco and cotton. Enslaved
Speaker 2: persons did most of the work to grow these crops.
Speaker 2: Landowners in the South became rich because of the enslaved persons.
Speaker 2: Many were not willing to change. Some even believed it
Speaker 2: was their right to own other human beings.
Speaker 1: The country was split between states that owned enslaved persons
Speaker 1: and states that did not. There was no violent conflict
Speaker 1: between them, but the United States was growing. The country
Speaker 1: expanded into new areas, and each side was afraid the
Speaker 1: other would grow too powerful. The North tried to limit
Speaker 1: new slave states, the South tried to expand slavery.
Speaker 2: Then in eighteen sixty a man named Abraham Lincoln was
Speaker 2: elected president. Lincoln was from Illinois, a state in the North.
Speaker 2: Lincoln hated slavery. In his speeches, he often talked about
Speaker 2: how he believed it was evil.
Speaker 1: But Lincoln also did not believe he could end slavery
Speaker 1: right away. Instead, he wanted to stop its spread. In
Speaker 1: eighteen fifty nine, he spoke in the city of Chicago
Speaker 1: on the subject.
Speaker 3: I do not wish to be misunderstood on the subject
Speaker 3: of slavery in this country. I suppose it may exist
Speaker 3: for a long time. Maybe the best way for it
Speaker 3: to come to an end peacefully is for it to
Speaker 3: exist for a while. But I say that the spread
Speaker 3: and strengthening of it is a very different idea. There
Speaker 3: we should in every way resist it as a wrong.
Speaker 3: We should treat it as a wrong, with the idea
Speaker 3: that it must and will come to an end.
Speaker 2: Slavery may not have ended with Lincoln's election, but many
Speaker 2: southern states were afraid of Lincoln. They saw him as dangerous.
Speaker 2: After his election, many states decided they wanted to leave
Speaker 2: the country. These eleven states tried to form a different country. Together.
Speaker 2: They called themselves the Confederate States of America. They elected
Speaker 2: their own president, named Jefferson Davis.
Speaker 1: Lincoln did not recognize the Confederacy as a country, and
Speaker 1: soon small battles began to break out. The two sides
Speaker 1: began building their forces.
Speaker 2: Then came the Battle of Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter was
Speaker 2: on land that the Confederacy claimed, but soldiers from the
Speaker 2: North still occupied it. By attacking the fort, the South
Speaker 2: believed they were taking what was theirs, but the North
Speaker 2: saw it as an attack on their country. Soon the
Speaker 2: North declared war.
Speaker 1: The two sides fought against each other for four years.
Speaker 1: The fighting was extremely bloody. Almost three percent of the
Speaker 1: country died in the fighting. Both sides used new technology
Speaker 1: like fast firing guns. Soldiers died by the hundreds. Many
Speaker 1: who survived were injured in ways that could not be healed.
Speaker 2: The North won the war, and in eighteen sixty four,
Speaker 2: the United States officially made slavery illegal. The government gave
Speaker 2: formally enslaved persons the right to vote and own land,
Speaker 2: but the Northern victory came at a great cost. Many
Speaker 2: Southern cities were destroyed and half a million Americans died
Speaker 2: because of the fighting, and in eighteen sixty five President
Speaker 2: Lincoln was killed. He was going to make many new
Speaker 2: laws about slavery. He was trying to bring a new
Speaker 2: kind of equality.
Speaker 1: But with Lincoln's death, many of these plans fell through.
Speaker 1: In Southern states, former slaves were supposed to be able
Speaker 1: to vote and own land, but the local governments often
Speaker 1: prevented them from doing so. Racist groups like the Ku
Speaker 1: Klux Klan would attack those who tried to vote, and
Speaker 1: many lived in conditions that were not much better than slavery.
Speaker 2: Southern states also created laws called Jim Crow laws. These
Speaker 2: laws separated white and black people. They could not use
Speaker 2: the same restaurants. They could not even drink from the
Speaker 2: same public water fountains. It was not until nineteen sixty
Speaker 2: five that these ways of separating people were made illegal.
Speaker 1: Today, the United States continues to struggle with racial issues,
Speaker 1: but the Civil War is an important part of its history.
Speaker 1: It changed how people in the United States saw themselves,
Speaker 1: and it paved the way toward equality.
Speaker 2: Brooks Simpson is an American historian. He wrote about the
Speaker 2: impact of the Civil War on the country's culture.
Speaker 4: In some ways, America's Civil War has yet to end.
Speaker 4: Its major figures live on in story as well as history.
Speaker 4: Americans debate the war's meaning with passion. They shape and
Speaker 4: reshape their understanding of the conflict to match their own beliefs.
Speaker 4: The war shaped national identity, but the exact meaning of
Speaker 4: that identity is not always clear. Still, the Civil War
Speaker 4: is the central event of American history. It gave the nation,
Speaker 4: at a painful cost, a new birth of freedom.
Speaker 1: The Civil War is a very large part of American
Speaker 1: culture even now. Is there a conflict where you are
Speaker 1: from that is similar? Tell us about it.
Speaker 2: You can leave a comment on our website at www
Speaker 2: dot Spotlight English dot com. You can also find us
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Speaker 2: device through our free official Spotlight English app.
Speaker 1: The writer of this program was Dan Christman. The producer
Speaker 1: was Michyo Osaki. The voices you heard were from the
Speaker 1: United States and the United king All quotes were adapted
Speaker 1: for this program and voiced by Spotlight. No AI or
Speaker 1: artificial intelligence was used in this program. Spotlight programs are written, voiced,
Speaker 1: and produced by real people for real people, no matter
Speaker 1: where in the world they live. This program is called
Speaker 1: the American Civil War.
Speaker 2: We hope you can join us again for the next
Speaker 2: Spotlight program. Goodbye,