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Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), considered by many historians to be the greatest American president, is
best known for freeing the slaves and for leading the United States successfully through its greatest
crisis, the Civil War. However, Lincoln’s appeal to each succeeding generation goes beyond these two monumental
accomplishments. To many he symbolizes "the American story." Born in a log cabin in Kentucky,
Lincoln worked his way up from poverty and ignorance to become a successful lawyer and politician. He
possessed a strong moral character, which was apparent no matter how difficult the times. Lincoln had
less than a year of formal education and was primarily self-taught. In 1830, his family moved to Illinois,
and the following year he became estranged from his father and moved to New Salem. He volunteered to fight
in the Black Hawk War (1832) and was elected captain of his company. Following an unsuccessful run for
the Illinois Legislature, he was elected the next year and served four terms. He became a lawyer in 1836
and moved to Springfield, Illinois. From 1847–1849, he served as a member of the United States House of
Representatives. A member of the Whig Party, Lincoln opposed the Mexican War and supported the Wilmot
Proviso, which prohibited slavery from any area incorporated into the United States as a result of the
Mexican War.
He returned voluntarily to his law practice, but the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act quickly revived
his interest in politics. He believed that its provisions, which opened up areas previously closed to
slavery by popular sovereignty or local preference, were clearly immoral. His views regarding slavery
were complex. He considered it constitutional in the original states that had it when the Constitution
was signed, but believed that it would naturally tend toward extinction if not allowed to spread to other
territories. Lincoln decided to run for senator against the incumbent, Stephen Douglas, who sponsored
the Kansas-Nebraska Act. In 1858, in a series of seven debates between the two senatorial candidates,
Lincoln revealed his views on slavery and black equality. While his views were more progressive than those
of most Americans, they were sufficiently mainstream to thrust this relative unknown into the national
spotlight. Although he lost the Illinois Senate race, Lincoln won the Republican Party’s presidential
nomination in 1860. His election prompted the South’s secession from the Union and the beginning of the
bloodiest war in America’s history. As commander-in-chief, Lincoln often took strong measures that were
contrary to the advice of his military commanders and were, at times, at odds with the Constitution. Although
the Constitution protected slavery in peacetime, Lincoln interpreted it to permit him to abolish slavery
during war as a military necessity. His preliminary Emancipation Proclamation of 1862 employed a military
justification, as did all of his racial measures. By the presidential election of 1864, Lincoln’s Republican
Party stood on the side of the Constitution’s Thirteenth Amendment in abolishing slavery. Lincoln’s victory
in the election over a much more conciliatory Democratic opponent determined the future of the race issue
in the United States.
Lincoln had joined the Republican Party in large part because he considered it the only moral and political
force capable of stopping slavery. The party was created in 1854 in response to conflicts over slavery,
economic development, westward expansion, and immigration policy. Its platform was decidedly anti-slavery
and pro-northern business. Since Lincoln’s election in 1860, the United States has alternated between
periods of Republican and Democratic rule in a stable two-party system that is an established feature
of American politics. Lincoln’s letter to Henry Pierce, included here, declining a speaking engagement,
tells much about the condition of the American political scene on the verge of the Civil War and about
the conflicting platforms of the Democratic and Republican parties at that time. As can be seen from this
letter, party principles are not stagnant and are subject to change and interruption based on economic
and social realities. What changes does Lincoln describe as having taken place in the Democratic ideology
since Jefferson? Is his conclusion historically valid? According to Lincoln, how does the Republican Party
differ from the Democratic? What is the actual purpose of Lincoln’s letter?
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