One of the most sacred rights of freemen is the right to petition for redress of grievances. 自由人最神圣的权利之一是在受到冤屈后申请获得赔偿的权力，

In the old colonial days the British Parliament had refused even to listen to petitions presented by the colonists. 在过去的殖民时代，英国议会甚至拒绝听取殖民地居民的任何申诉。

But the First Amendment to the Constitution forbade Congress to make any law to prevent citizens of the United States from petitioning. 宪法的第一个修正案禁止国会制定任何法律以阻止美国公民申诉。

John Quincy Adams, once President, was now a member of the House of Representatives. 曾经做过总统的约翰·昆西·亚当斯此时是众议院的议员，

In 1836 he presented petition after petition, praying Congress to forbid slavery in the District of Columbia. 1836年，他一次次提出申请，请求国会在哥伦比亚地区禁止奴隶制。

Southerners, like Calhoun, thought these petitions were insulting to Southern slaveholders. 像科恩这样的南方人认为这些申请是在侮辱南方的奴隶主。

Congress could not prevent the antislavery people petitioning. 国会不能阻止人们废除奴隶制的申请，

They could prevent the petitions being read when presented. 但可以在申请提出时阻止人们读这些申请，

This they did by passing "gag-resolutions." 国会通过"箝制言论的决议"来实现这一点。

Adams protested against these resolutions as an infringement on the rights of his constituents. 亚当斯抗议这些议案，认为它们侵犯了选民的权力。

But the resolutions were passed. 但这些议案被国会通过，

Petitions now came pouring into Congress. Adams even presented one from some negro slaves. 于是，这些申请马上又涌进国会，亚当斯甚至提出一份来自一些黑奴的申请。

328. Change in Northern Sentiment. 328．北方人观点的改变

All these happenings brought about a great change of sentiment in the North. 所有这些事件使得北方人的观点发生了巨大改变，

Many people, who cared little about negro slaves, cared a great deal about the freedom of the press and the right of petition. 许多很少关注黑人奴隶的人开始大量关注新闻及请愿权的自由，

Many of these did not sympathize with the abolitionists, but they wished that some limit might be set to the extension of slavery. 这些人当中许多人并不同情废奴主义者，但他们希望给奴隶制的扩张以某种限制。

At the same time the Southerners were uniting to resist all attempts to interfere with slavery. 与此同时，南方人正团结起来反对所有对奴隶制的干涉，

They were even determined to add new slave territory to the United States. 他们甚至决定在美国开辟新的奴隶区。