来自《耶鲁大学开放课程：美国内战与重建1845-1877 第16集第16集》

Over and over and over again we debate:

我们将翻来覆去地辩论一些问题比如
did it really free anybody?

它真的解放了谁吗
Why did it only free the slaves in the states in rebellion?

为何它只解放了反抗州的奴隶
Why was Lincoln so bloody legalistic in this document?

为何林肯如此死板地履行这项文件
Was Richard Hofstadter right

难道理查德·霍夫施塔特是对的
when he said it had all the eloquence of a

他说这个宣言不折不扣地就是
bill of lading

一张提货单
(which means a grocery list)?

(也就是一张购物单)
Why was it written like it was a legal brief in court,

为何这个宣言写得像一份法庭简报
here and there laced with some remarkable phrases?

却又时不时地点缀着一些壮语豪言
Why was he so careful not to free

为何林肯如此小心翼翼地不去解放
the slaves in the Border States that hadn't left the union?

那些没有脱离联盟的边境州之中的奴隶呢