Chapter 5 “Turbulent Fifties” Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of RivalsP141

The issue of slavery could no longer be put aside. It would dominate the debates in Congress.

Thomas Hart Benton, Slavery is like an all present Issue like the plague of frogs.“We read in the Holy Writ, that a certain people were cursed by the plague of frogs, and that the plague was everywhere! You could not look upon the table but there were frogs, you could not sit down at the banquet but there were frogs, you could not go to the bridal couch and lift the sheets but there were frogs!” (Slavery was similar) “We can see nothing, touch nothing, have no measures proposed, without having this pestilence thrust before us. Here it is, this black question, forever on the table, on the nuptial couch, everywhere!”

John Randolph Pro-slavery“We must concern ourselves with what is, and slavery exists,… slavery, is to us a question of life and death…” DKG“Peculiar Institution had permeated every aspect of Southern society- Economically, politically, and socially.”

“For a minority in the North, slavery represented a profoundly disturbing moral issue.”“For many more Northerners, the expansion of slavery into the territories threatened the triumph of the free labor movement.”1850 was Collision Course between antagonistic forces… 142

The country was dividing along sectional lines…Political Parties Whigs splitDemocrats SplitFree Soil Democrats

Stress, strain, then rupture of union. “A house divided against itself can-not stand”

1850 31st CongressCompromise of 1850

Henry Clay (dies 1853, of Tuberculosis)Compromise of 1850See quote

P144Frances Seward, wife of William Seward, Senator NY, reacted to the Henry Clay’s appeal for Compromise

She rejected Clay’s compromise because she was an Abolitionist.The Compromise of 1850 asked the North to give a bit.

Calhoun then spoke.Spoke about balance of power in the senate

P145Then Webster Spoke“I speak today for the preservation of the Union”

Emerson criticized him for giving into slavery.

Frances Seward again witnessed and disagreed with Webster about compromise…

145-46William Seward, NY responded as an abolitionist Whig.Opposed to compromiseBig point was Fugitive Slave LawPro-Wilmot provisoHigher Law DoctrineBecame a national figure of Anti-slavery

Senator Salmon Chase OH) and Senator Charles Sumner (MA)Both Abolitionists146Chase made his speech but no real impactChase and Sumner were early strong AbolitionistsStory of Senator Foote of MississippiPulled a gun on Senator from MissouriThey spoke about their rivalry for Seward

148Chase began an envious rivalry with SewardThurlow Weed, political organizer and Whig, then RepublicanSeward’s ally was President Zackary Taylor, who died prematurelyMillard Fillmore replaced him

Stephan Douglas, Senator from Democrat (IL) Helped pass the Compromise of 1850 by pieces

149Disunion was delayed…Douglas was considered a hero.Georgia Editor said,“The elements of that contest are yet all alive and they are destined yet to outlive the Government. There is a feud between the North and the South which may be smothered, but never overcome.”

149 New Section on Lincoln Reacting to the Compromise 1850“Devotion to the Union rightfully inclined men to yield somewhat, in points where nothing could have so inclined them.” He also rejected Higher Law in favor of Constitutional remedies.Riding the circuit…150Description of Lincoln as a lawyer and good reputation151Lincoln’s story of Ethan Allen in EnglandHe had practical wisdom through the humorous stories

152Story of Lincoln that he really didn’t have a happy home life.He preferred to be away on the circuit.153-55New topic William Seward and the SenateFrances his wife and her illnessesSeward and his letters to his wife

156 SkipSenator Salmon ChaseAntislavery movementDaughter Kate at boarding school157 SkipChase letters to daughterAbout school etcHe was a cold hearted disciplinarian dad 158 SkipKate commenting on meeting and knowing Webster, Calhoun and ClaySenator Charles Sumner was her favorite159 SkipEdward Bates Whig party, will compete for the Republican party nomination for president…He was a moderate and didn’t like the division on either side of slavery.He was from the West, and didn’t want slavery spread

160Lincoln and Thomas Mann commentary about Great Men are needed in every ageThe Founding Fathers, were a “forest of giant oaks… who faced the task… to build “a political edifice of liberty and equal rights… Their destinies were inseparably linked” with the experiment of providing the world a “practical demonstration of the capability of a people to govern themselves. If they succeeded, they were to be immortalized;

160Big, 1854 transition of a topic to the Kansas Nebraska ActFormation of the Republican PartyFugitive Slave ActMissouri CompromiseKansas Nebraska ActDiscussion of enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act in Boston and NY161Emerson, said,“I had never in my life up to this time suffered from the Slave Institution. Slavery in Virginia or Carolina was like Slavery in Africa or the Feejees, for me. There was an old fugitive law, but it had become, or was fast becoming a dead letter, and by the genius and laws of Massachusetts, inoperative. The new Bill made it operative, required me to hunt slaves, and it found citizens in Massachusetts willing to act as judges and captors. Moreover, it discloses the secret of the new times, that slavery was no longer mendicant, but becoming aggressive and dangerous.”

Uncle Tom’s CabinHarriet Beecher StoweFredrick Douglas said,“a flash, that lighted a million camp fires in front of the embattled hosts of slavery,’ awakening such a powerful compassion for the slave and indignatio against slavery that many previously un concerned Americans were transformed into advocates for the antislavery cause.”

Kansas Nebraska Act provoked movement on both sidesGovernor Thomas Bragg, NC“”But whether they, who had helped create and enlarge the nation with their “blood and treasure” would be entitled to share in the territories held in common by the entire country. “The day may come, when our Northern brethren will discover that the Southern States intend to be equals in the Union, or independent out of it!”

Salmon Chase lead the anti Kansas-Nebraska Act cause162“The Appeal” to Democrats in Congress and the People of the United States”“We arraign this bill as a gross violation of a sacred pledge” charging that the rapacious pro-slavery conspiracy was determined to subvert the old Missouri compact…”It called on the people to protest, by any means available… come to the rescue of the country from the domination of slavery… for the causes of human freedom is the cause of God.”

Debate over Popular Sovereignty with Chase and Douglas163Seward, interjected to Douglas, “Douglas, no man will ever be President of the United States who spells negro with two g’s.”

The bill was passed.Northern Reaction“Be assured, be assured, gentlemen, you are sowing the wind and you will reap the whirlwind… No man can stand in the North in that day of reckoning who plants himself on the ground of sustaining the repeal of the Missouri Compromise… here is the opening of a great drama that… inaugurates the era of geographical division of political parties. It draws the line between North and South. It pits face to face the two opposing forces of slavery and freedom.” New York Tribune

Protests spread through the North

163-64Lincoln’s Reaction to the Kansas Nebraska Act “I tell you Dickey, this nation cannot exist half slave and half free.”“The fight to stem the spread of slavery would become the great purpose Lincoln had been seeking.”He decided to study and become an expertLincoln addressed the State Fair, the day after Senator Douglas (“The Little Giant).

165Description of Lincoln’s Oratory style166More Lincoln and his style, connecting the history of the United States Figurative language “Communicating an enormously complicated issue with wit, simplicity, and a massive power of moral persuasion.” Reference to the ConstitutionReference to Douglas’ argument that the Kansas-Nebraska act was a non-issue… because of climate of the region.Lincoln called that a “lullaby.” 167Lincoln invoked the Declaration of IndependencePopular Sovereignty used to perpetuate slavery was a perversion of its meaningHe argued that Slavery was extremely difficult issue and he connected to SouthernersHe said, “I surely will not blame them for not doing what I should not know how to do myself…”He sought to comprehend their position through empathy.”168He appealed to the humanity and morality of Southerners, he said, “In all these cases it is you sense of justice, and human sympathy, continually telling you, that the Slave is a man who cannot be considered “mere merchandise.”

Chapter 6 “The Gathering Storm” Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of RivalsP170-210170

Lincoln in State Assembly then ran for US Senate171 Discussion of Illinois politics regarding the election of US Senator by the assembly of the state172Lincoln lost and gave support to the other candidate, author points out Lincoln made friends in defeat vs enemies. He was MagnanimousMary Todd Lincoln was not so magnanimous, reference her former friend, Mrs. Trumbull

173Summer 1855Court CaseMcCormick Reaper law suitHarding/Watson = lawyers for Manning vs McCormick174Case was moved to Cincinnati Harding hired Edwin Stanton (he will later be Lincoln’s Secretary of War) They didn’t need Lincoln anymore, but didn’t tell himLincoln went to CincinnatiStanton quote: “Why did you bring up that damned long armed Ape here… he does not know any thing and can do you no good.”They were mean to Lincoln175Lincoln was rejected but he was in awe of Stanton’s power as an attorney176Stanton BackgroundSteubenville Ohio, 3 yrs reading, father died, leaving family poor.Bookstore apprentice, some school…Studied law“Intuitive mind, a prodigious capacity for work, and a forceful courtroom manner.”He fell in love and then Marriage, wife was an intellectual, he was very happy, children, and 177Excellent quotation of love:“I love you now with a fervor and truth of affection which speech cannot express.” Daughter Lucy died of scarlet fever… wife died 3 years later of Bilious fever at age 29Stanton was “Brokenhearted and verged on insanity”178Younger Brother fever and suicideMore tragedy for Stanton he loses control He was depressed, “he now moved about in silence and gloom…”“He became increasingly aggressive in court, intimidating witnesses… exhibiting rude and irascible behavior…”

179Remarried later 1856

Lincoln AgainOpens a new section discussing Lincoln and Douglas’ early relationship when they were both young and ambitious lawyers.

Lincoln acknowledged Douglas’ ambition and success compared to his own weak success.Story of Mary Todd, who was also courted by Douglas, and comments of how she loved, admired, and supported Lincoln.

180Rise of the Republican partyDisintegration of the 2nd party systemNorthern anti-Slavery Dems, and Whigs join Know-Nothings and abolitionists Know Nothing Party – anti-immigrant partyLincoln commentary on the Know-Nothings181Establishment of Republican partySeward didn’t join right awayChase did join and ran for Governor182Seward won Senate with help of Thurlow Weed, Political organizer of NY

183Lincoln joins the Republican party 1856Bleeding Kansas begins 1856Seward, the “slave states that the North would engage in competition for the virgin soil of Kansas, and God give the victory to the side which is stronger in numbers as it is in right.”Bleeding Kansas

184-185Brooks Sumner Affair 1856Reaction in South, Abolitionists deserve beating to change their ways “If thrashing is the only remedy by which the foul conduct of the Abolitionists can be controlled… it will be very well to give Seward a double dose at least every other day….” 185

1861856 Lincoln was the leader of the Republican party of Illinois

Discussion of the 1856 Republican nomination processChase and Seward wanted the nomination, June 1856, convention held in PhiladelphiaFrancis BlairLeader in the GOP was Francis Blair, political advocate from MD (DEM party, and newly Anti-slavery) he was very well connected. But owned slaves.ChaseSeward And abolitionist newspaper publishersThey discussed John C Fremont, as the nominee for the GOP 1856

187Lincoln was considered for Vice President at the Convention

188Election 1856Know Nothings = The American Party- Millard Filmore, current presidentGOP- FreemontDems James Buchanan

GOP won 11 statesDems won the South and 4 Northern states, PA IL ID NJ

188Dredd Scott v. Sanford Started in Missouri 1845Slave brought to a free stateSued for freedom and arrived to Supreme Court 1856Montgomery Blair represented Scott(Blair’s father Frances was a connected/founding member of the GOP)

Roger Taney Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ruled in the case189March 1857 Buchanan InaugurationIssue of Expansion of Slavery still on everyone’s mindDredd Scott decision, 7-2“The court ruled that blacks “are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word citizens in the Constitution.” Therefore, Scott had no standing in Federal Court… Taney went further. Neither the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution had been intended to apply to blacks, he said. Blacks were “so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.” He went on to say that Congress had exceeded its authority when it forbade slavery in the territories by such legislation as the Missouri Compromise, for slaves were private property protected by the Constitution. In other words, the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional…”

190Southerners Celebrated Dredd Scott decisionNortherners condemned Dredd Scott decisionFredrick Douglas, “Judge Taney can do many things but he cannot… change the essential nature of things- making evil good, and good evil.”

Frances Seward, “It has aroused many to the encroachments of the slave power”

Lincoln’s ReactionHe attacked the logic of the decision, “The Chief Justice, Lincoln said, “insists at great length that negroes were no part of the people who made, or for whom ws made, the Declaration of Independence, or the Constitution. Yet in at least five states, black voters acted on the ratification of the Constitution and were among the “We the People” by whom the Constitution was ordained and established. The founders, he acknowledged, did not declare all men equal in color, size, intellect, moral developments, or social capacity.” But they did declare all men “equal in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of

happiness”… they meant simply to declare the right, so the enforcement of it might follow as fast as circumstance should permit.”

191Seward commentary on Dred ScottGov. Corrupt conspiracy, Pres Buchanan and Supreme CourtCrazy accusation.

The “Irrepressible conflict” Speech to GOP in Rochester NY“United states was divided by two “incompatible” political and economic systems which had developed divergent cultures, values and assumptions. The free labor system had uneasily coexisted with slave labor,” he observed, until recent advances in transportation, communication, and commerce increasingly brought the two into closer contact.” A catastrophic collision was inevitable. “Shall I tell you what this collision means?”… They who think that it (Slavery) is accidental, unnecessary, the work of interested fanatical agitators, and therefore ephemeral; (they) mistake the case altogether…. It is an irrepressible conflict between opposing and enduring forces, and it means that the United States must and will sooner or later become either entirely a slaveholding nation or entirely a free labor nation.”

192Frances Seward reacts to speech,She commented that the radicalism was appropriate…***

Reaction to “Irrepressible Conflict” speechRadicalized pressSeward abolitionist wants immediate No worse insult and crime than to be called an abolitionist“repulsive abolitionist” He was pro-urbanized and industrialized future of AmericaSoutherners hated him as abolitionist

Seward claimed he was a constitutionalist! “slavery in states where it already existed was beyond the reach of national power.”Gov couldn’t touch it.His image was ruined no matter what.He later regretted the enflaming rhetoric.193Contrast to his good natured manner

A statesman never reacted angrilyExtravagant dinner partiesSeward was a superb master of ceremonies, putting all at ease with his amiable deposition. Though an inveterate storyteller himself, he would draw the company into lively conversations ranging from literature and science to theater and history.He tried to maintain the “bonds of good fellowship”

194Seward was working for the nomination to President in 1860

Trip to Canada with the BlairsBlairs supported Edward Bates in 1860Discussion of Chase Discussion of Kate Chase qualities that helped her fatherLanguage and politics and strong characterAnd Attractive

195Governor of Ohio, Chase threw tons of partiesKate was the first lady of Ohio“Kate’s dynamic grace and intellect made her the most interesting woman in any gathering, as well as a critical force behind her father’s drive for the presidency.”

Tryst with a wealthy young man

196Chase looking in 1857 toward 1860 election, he wanted to be president

Back to LincolnLincoln looking to run for Senate from Illinois against Douglas

Topic of Bleeding KansasLecompton = pro slavery government in KansasPresident Buchanan supported the entrance of Kansas as a slave state

Democrat Stephen Douglas was against Lecompton Constitution because it did not reflect the view of the people of Kansas, he said it was not real popular sovereignty

197Lincoln believed that Douglas was only temporarily against expansion of slavery in Kansas.He believed that Douglas would return to the pro-slavery Democrat stance.

198Lincoln running for SenateJune 1858, Lincoln won the nomination for Senate race against Stephen Douglas.“A house divided against itself cannot stand” biblical reference (Gospel of Mark and Mathew)“I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half salve and half free. I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.”

Lincoln was a moderateHe said the Kansas Nebraska Act went against the ideas of the founders to limit slaveryHe wanted to stop the spread, “To arrest the further spread of slavery and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it was back where the framers intended it, in course of ultimate extinction.”

199 Lincoln Suggests that the spread of slavery to the free states was the end game of the Pro-slavery forces.“anther supreme Court decision declaring that the constitutional protection of private property prevented the states as well as territories form excluding slavery…”

Again Lincoln was suggesting the slave powers of the government, Presidents Pierce/Buchanan and Supreme Court Roger Tany and Stephen Douglas, together were creating a new power of slavery when it should be on its way to extinction.

200 Beginning of Lincoln Douglas debates

Lincoln said, even if no clear conspiracy, the INTENT of slave powers to Nationalize slavery was clear.The Senate Election of 1858 propelled Lincoln to the National stage!7 debatesIt was a popular event when the Debates came to town

201 More Lincoln Douglas DebatesDouglas had the $$ and entourage, Lincoln was poor and modest.Rules of the Debate3 hoursFirst 1 hour by openerThen one and one half hour responseThen one-half hour rebuttalGreat contrasts between Lincoln and DouglasCheering crowds etc

202 Detail of Lincoln Douglas DebatesDouglas started with description criticizing Lincoln…Grocery to legislature = accused Lincoln of selling booze as immoralDouglas criticized Lincoln“He distinguished himself by his opposition to the Mexican war, taking the side of the common enemy against his own country; and when he returned home he found that the indignation of the people followed him everywhere, and he was again submerged or obliged to retire into private life… He came up again in 1854, just in time to make this Abolition or Black Republican platform, in company with Giddings, Lovejoy, Chase and Fred Douglass for the Republican party to stand upon.”

Lincoln responded, “All the anxious politicians of his party have been looking upon him as certainly, at no distant day, to be President of the United States. They have seen in his round, jolly fruitful face, postoffices, landoffices,

marshalships, and cabinet appointments, chargeships and foreign missions, bursting and sprouting out in wonderful exuberance ready to be laid hold of by their greedy hands.

“Nobody has ever expected me to be President. In my poor, lean, lank face, nobody has ever seen that any cabbages were sprouting out. These are disadvantages all, taken together, that the Republicans labor under. We have to fight this battle upon principle and upon principle, alone.”

203 LincolnLincoln focused on the meaning of the Declaration of Independence. For him that was the key.“Lincoln repeatedly said in many forums, slavery was a violation of the Declaration’s “majestic interpretation of economy of the universe”… Allowed by the founders because it was already among us, but placed by them in the course of ultimate extinction…”“Although unfulfilled in the present, the Declaration’s promise of equality was “a beacon to guide them… their children and their children’s children…”

Douglas referenced and argued for popular sovereignty as the most important value of democracy

Lincoln responded, “The doctrine of self-government is right- absolutely and eternally right, but, it has no just application to slavery. When the white man governs himself that is self-government; but when he governs himself, and also governs another man, that is more than self-government – that is despotism. If the negro is a man, why then my ancient faith teaches me that ‘all men are created equal; and there can be no moral right in connection with one man’s making a slave of another.”

Last word for Lincoln:“The difference between the Republican and the Democratic parties on the leading issue of this contest is that, the former consider slavery a moral, social and political wrong, while the latter do not consider it either a moral or social or political wrong;…”

204Douglas strategy was to “cast Lincoln as a radical”, to make him appear as an abolitionist.

Concept of Racial Equality= Douglas wanted to show that Lincoln supported racial equalityAccording to author, “Almost every white man was against it, even most abolitionists…”Douglas accused Lincoln of wanting social and political equality for blacks.Illinois had “Longstanding set of Black Laws prevented blacks from voting, holding political office, giving testimony against whites, and sitting in juries.” Douglas portrayed Lincoln as, “Negro-loving agitator bent on debasing white society.”He said, “If you desire negro citizenship, if you desire them to vote on an equality with yourselves, and to make them eligible to office, to serve on juries, and to adjudge your rights, then support Mr. Lincoln…”

Douglas said, “the signers of the Declaration of Independence had no reference to negroes at all when they declared all men to be created equal. They did not mean negro, nor the savage Indians, nor the Fejee Islanders nor any other barbarous race. They were speaking of white men…”

Lincoln responded

I have “no purpose to introduce political and social equality between white and black races… he was not in favor “of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry… a physical difference between the two… probably forever forbid their living together upon the footing of perfect equality. Notwithstanding all this, there is no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence… I agree with Judge Douglas he is not my equal in many respects—certainly not in color, perhaps not in moral and intellectual endowment. But in the right to eat the bread, without leave of anybody else, which his own hands earns, he is my equal and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living man.”

205Illinois Law“Criminal offense to bring into the boundaries of Illinois “a person having one-fourth negro blood, whether free or slave.”Chase was much more egalitarian and helped remove Black Laws from Ohio.Seward too spoke against “Black Laws” and was in favor of Black suffrage in NYBoth did not advocate full equality for blacks

Author, “white supremacy as deeply embedded in the entire country.”206DE Tocqueville, said, “If he presents himself to vote, he runs risk to his life. Oppressed, he can complain, but he finds only whites among his judges… His son is excluded from the school where the descendants of Europeans come to be instructed. In theaters he cannot buy for the price of gold the right to be placed at the side of one who is his master; in hospitals he lies apart. The black is permitted to beseech the same God as whites, but no to pray to him at the same altar. He has his own priests and churches. One does not close the doors of Heaven to him; yet inequality hardly stops at the boundary fo the other world…”

Even when emancipation should come, Americans would “have still to destroy three prejudices much more intangible and more tenacious than it: the prejudice of the master, the prejudice of race, and finally the prejudice of the white.”

207Lincoln Discussion of EqualityWhen the founders said equality, “they did not mean to assert the obvious untruth, that all were then actually enjoying equality… they meant to set up a standard maxim for free society, which should be familiar to all, and revered by all; constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deepening its influence, and augmenting the happiness and value of life to all people of all colors everywhere.”

He was looking to progress of the future.

Comment by Fredrick DouglasLincoln was, “the first great man that I talked with in the United States freely, who in no single instance reminded me of the difference between himself and myself, of the difference of color.”

208The seventh and last Debate

209Lincoln as a political organizer by county

Chase came to Illinois to campaign for Lincoln

The vote: Lincoln LostVoters voted for party members in the state legislature, not for senators… Demcrats won the control of the state legislature, and Douglas won the Senate sear.210Lincoln was again magnanimous in defeat. He was looking on the bright side and that the future is bright.

Chapter 7 “Countdown to the Nomination2111859 Lincoln remained optimisticHe had made a name for himself, he was now famousHe acted the politician concealing his desire to be nominated for president.Lincoln was urged by Illinois Dems to create a good biography to help him attempt the nomination

212The strategy, Lincoln was not a front runner, but he could be the number two choice for many people.He was a Dark Horse

Topic of Seward/Chase/Bates trying to gain the nomination, and they made mistakes

Seward- went on a trip overseas to prevent a mistake in his rhetoric… Thurlow Weed was his advisorFanny Seward (14 years old)

213Seward, Feb 1860 he returned and planned a senate speech3 hour speechThe speech was a message to all that Seward was a moderate- that the Republican party only wanted to limit expansion of slavery… it reassured the South that no one would interfere in their property, and was pro-union, and against black equality.He alienated some Republicans.But was seen as the front runner for the Republican nomination

Big Players and political operatives Thurlow Weed and Horace GreeleyGreely was a publisher of NY Tribune, very influential and who always wanted political office, he was pals with Weed and Seward until they betrayed his political ambition.

216Greely rejects Seward and supported BatesThe Convention was really what mattered

217Simon Cameron Pennsylvania boss“An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, stays bought.”

Big Boss’ of the Republican partyWeed NYGreely NYCameron PA

218-219Chase believed he had the best chance of winning nominationConnected to BaileyBaily supported SewardChase underestimated Seward and Seward underestimated everyone, they were both not very strategic in their political plans. They both work for the nomination but don’t do all that is necessary.

220There were many contenders for the nominationBen Wade of OHMore of Chase being over confident about the nomination

221 Edward Bates was running for the nomination, former Know Nothing, supported by the BlairsBates from Missouri, also did not do much to gather supportBates was not a big “Negro Issue” person, he would have liked to leave it alone.He was more a traditional Whig…He alienated the hard corps republicans

222Lincoln analyzed his state, the South of Illinois liked Bates the North of Illinois liked SwardAnd thus there were many divisions

Bates had alienated a number of German immigrants in East Missouri and was walking a fine line between know nothings and the abolitionists in the GOPBates clarified his position and the border states rejected him as purely a “Black Republican”

224Lincoln’s Chances of the NominationUsed hard work, skill, and luckHe knew he was in a weak position compared to the the 3 leaders Bates, Seward, and Chase

Lincoln’s stance:Do not spread slavery (anti-Kansas Nebraska Act)Do not mess with slavery where it existed, there was not power yet to do so.If it could not spread it would eventually be extinguished

Lincoln became famous with the Lincoln Douglas Debates, they were reprinted and he received a lot of speaking requests. Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana and KansasLincoln was becoming popularMeanwhile Seward the front runner was out of the country.Lincoln was not formally a candidate but worked for the popularity of the Republican PartyCriticizing Douglas

225Douglas increased Lincoln’s appeal, because Douglas mentioned Lincoln regularly.

Lincoln visited Cincinnati, “He was greeted with thunder of cannon, strains of martial music, and the joyous plaudits of thousands of citizens thronging the streets.”

He was greatly valued in Ohio“The next day his speech was described“in the Cincinnati Gazette as and effort remarkable for it’s clear statement, powerful argument and massive common sense, and possessed of such dignity and power as to have impressed some of our ablest lawyers with the conclusion that it was superior to any political effort they ha ever seen.”

Lincoln wanted to reduce the divisions in the party like Know Nothing anti-immigrant feelings and the Anti-fugitive slave act feelings, submerge those divisive ideas and build the non-expansion and pro-constitution ideas…

226Lincoln’s strategy of finding common ground and reducing conflict in the party was popular.Conservatives Whigs pro-business and all others in between the Radical abolitionistsHe wanted an umbrella party.Building bridges

John Brown’s Raid October 16, 185913 white men, 5 blacks, Harpers FerryBrown said, “I am waiting the hour of my public murder with great composure of mind & cheerfulness, feeling strongest assurance that in no other possible way could I be used to so much advance the cause of God; & of humanity”The NorthHe became a martyr hero for the antislavery cause, church bells, prayer meetings in the North when he was executed.

In the South, “The immediate impact of the raid “which sent shiver of fear to the inmost fiber of every Whiteman, woman, and child in the south was unmistakable. 227The Southern Press called for Southern SolidarityRichmond Enquirer (talks about secession)“Harpers Ferry coupled with the expression of Northern sentiments in support … have shaken and disrupted all regard for the Union; and there are but few men who do not look to a certain not distant day when dissolution must ensue.”

South experienced heightened fear of slave insurrectionThey were angry and would not tolerate any pro-brown or abolitionist rhetoric.

Southern politicians blamed the Republican Party and Seward and “irrepressible conflict” ideas“A $50,000 reward for the head of William H. Seward”

Democrats in the North also targeted Seward for condemnation.

228Republicans condemned, Weed, Seward, Bates condemned John Brown’s violent acts.Guilty of Treason… “seeking to plunge a peaceful community into the horrors of a servile insurrection… They justly deserve universal condemnation.”

Chase was much more sympathetic… Brown died to end slavery. But he had to hide his supportLincoln and BrownLincoln was in Leavenworth, KS “The attempt to identify the Republican pary with the John Brown business was an electioneering dodge.” He said, “Brown displayed great courage and rare unselfishness”Nonetheless, that cannot excuse violence, bloodshed, and treason. It could avail him nothing that he might think himself right.”

Lincoln went to the Republican National Committee meeting held in NYC in December 1859229Discussion of where to hold the Convention tro choose president.Chicago was chosenLincoln was not known to be a candidate yet… implication is he would have an advantage in Chicago… IllinoisLincoln was so serious about the nomination he supported a short biography be published.

230Photograph Feb 1860 before the Cooper Union Speech

230-33Cooper Union Speech1500 People came to hear Lincoln speak“He had bought a new black suit for the occasion, but it was badly wrinkled from the trip. An observer noticed one of the legs of his trousers was up about two inches above his shoe; his hair was disheveled and stuck out like a rooster’s feathers; his coat was altogether too large for him in the back, his arms much longer than his sleeves.” Yet once he began to speak, people were captivated by his earnest and powerful delivery.”

He tried to explain how the Union existed with slavery. He said the founders tolerated slavery.“Lincoln examined the beliefs and actions of the founders, concluding that they had marked slavery “as and evil not to be extended but to be tolerated and protected only because of and so far as its actual presence among us makes that toleration and protection a necessity.”

He tried to speak directly to the people of the SouthHe wanted to send them a message, “The Republicans desired only a return to the “old policy of the fathers… so the peace of the old times could once more be established.”

To his fellow Republicans, “let us do notihng through passion and ill temper. Even though the southern people will not so much as listen to us, let us calmly consider their demands, and yield to them if, in our deliberate view of out duty, we possibly can…”

He was passionate… “Never to allow slavery to spread into the National Territories, and to overrun us here in these free states.”

“Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it.”

Lincoln was now one of the contenders for PresidencySeward, Chase, or Lincoln were in the lead.

The Press was wonderfully supportive of Lincoln.He was called on to tour New England

233Lincoln met Gideon Welles, Hartford Times journalist, publisher, former attorney, Democrat, old supporter of Andrew Jackson, became a Republican due to slavery issue in the Southern Democrats. Welles was also an conservative in government spending and finance. He was an early supporter of Chase. But hated the rhetoric of Seward, as well as his Higher Law and Irrepressible Conflict speeches.

Snake and bed metaphor see page 233

Lincoln had the ability to “speak as if the people were listening to their own thinking out loud.”

234Gideon Welles about Lincoln,“He is in every way large, brain included, but his countenance shows intellect, generosity, great good nature, and keen discrimination…. He is an effective speaker, because he is earnest, strong, honest, simple in style, and clear as crystal in his logic.”

1860 Hesler photo Lincoln for President