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Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 National politics: Speech of Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, delivered at the Cooper Institute, Monday, Feb 27, 1860.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04471.01 Author/Creator: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Place Written: New York, New York Type: Pamphlet Date: 1860 Pagination: 15 p. : Height: 22.5 cm, Width: 14.5 cm Order a Copy

Published by the New York Tribune as Tribune Tracts No. 4. Lincoln addresses the most pressing issue of the day, slavery, and attacks the view put forth by Stephen Douglas and others that slavery was founded by the forefathers of the country. He examines the views of the 39 signers of the Constitution and notes that at least 21of them believed that Congress should control slavery in the U. S. territories, not allow it to expand. Lincoln proposes that the Republican stance of the time was not revolutionary, but similar to the views of the country's forefathers, and therefore should not alarm Southerners, who were opposed to the Republican agenda. The U. S. Senate speech of Democratic Senator Doolittle of Wisconsin, given on 24 February 1860, is printed beginning on p. 11. Also published is an account of "Medary's Veto," beginning on p. 15. Samuel Medary, as governor of the Kansas Territory, vetoed a bill abolishing and prohibiting slavery in the territory on 20 February 1860.

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
Douglas, Stephen Arnold, 1813-1861
Doolittle, James Rood, 1815-1897
Medary, Samuel, 1804-1861

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