The Civil War Presidents: Abraham Lincoln (Part 2-A House Divided)
When Franklin Pierce became President in 1852, slavery was legal in the southern United States, but had been generally outlawed in the northern states, including Illinois. That state's Constitution, passed in 1818, made slavery illegal. Lincoln disapproved of slavery, and was opposed to the spread of slavery to new U.S. territories in the west. When the pro-slavery Kansas–Nebraska Act was passed in 1854, it repealed the slavery-restricting Missouri Compromise that Congress had passed in 1820. Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas had made popular sovereignty a part of the Act. This provision, which Lincoln opposed, provided that settlers had the right to determine by popular vote whether to allow slavery in new U.S. territory, rather than have the decision made by Congress.
On October 16, 1854, speaking in Peoria, Illinois, Lincoln publicly declared his opposition to slavery. He said the Kansas-Nebraska Act had a "covert real zeal for the spread of slavery. I cannot but hate it. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world." That year he ran as a Whig for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. At that time, senators were elected by the state legislature. He failed to garner enough support and asked his supporters in the legislature to vote for Lyman Trumbull, who ultimately won the seat. The Whigs were split by the Kansas–Nebraska Act.
The death of the Whig party led to the birth of the Republican Party. The new party was a coalition of former Whigs, Free Soil, Liberty, and Democratic Party members who opposed slavery. At the 1856 Republican National Convention, where the party nominated its first candidate for President (John C. Fremont), Lincoln placed second in the contest to become the party's candidate for vice president.
James Buchanan was elected President in the 1856 presidential election. In March 1857, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford in which Chief Justice Roger B. Taney concluded that African-Americans were not citizens, and obtained no rights from the Constitution. Lincoln was very critical of the decision. He called it the product of a conspiracy of Democrats to support the Slave Power. He said that "the authors of the Declaration of Independence never intended 'to say all were equal in color, size, intellect, moral developments, or social capacity', but they 'did consider all men created equal—equal in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness'."
In 1858, the Illinois Republican party convention nominated Lincoln as its candidate for the U.S. Senate. On June 16, 1858, at what was then the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Lincoln gave his acceptance speech, an address that would famously become known as his "House Divided Speech." The title of the speech comes from a passage in the New Testament, Mark 3:25, which reads "and if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand." Lincoln adopted this theme. He said:
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. 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. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new, North as well as South."
The speech rallied Republicans across the North. It set the stage for the campaign for the statewide election of the Illinois legislature, which would, in turn, select Lincoln or Douglas as its U.S. senator.
The Senate campaign featured seven Lincoln–Douglas debates, perhaps the most famous political debates in American history. In the debates, Lincoln warned that "the Slave Power" was threatening the values of republicanism. He accused Douglas of distorting the values of the Founding Fathers that all men are created equal. In response, Douglas argued that local settlers were free to choose whether to allow slavery or not, and accused Lincoln of having joined the abolitionists. The debates drew large crowds in the thousands. Lincoln stated Douglas' popular sovereignty theory was a threat to the nation's morality. He accused Douglas of being part of a conspiracy to extend slavery to free states. Douglas said that Lincoln was defying the authority of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Dred Scott decision.
Republican legislative candidates won more popular votes, but the Democrats won more seats, and the legislature re-elected Douglas to the Senate. Despite this, the debates gave Lincoln a national political reputation.
On February 27, 1860, New York party leaders invited Lincoln to give a speech at Cooper Union to a group of powerful Republicans. In the speech, Lincoln argued that the Founding Fathers had little use for popular sovereignty and had repeatedly sought to restrict slavery. Lincoln insisted the moral core beliefs of the Republican Party required its opposition to slavery. He rejected what he called "groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong". His powerful advocacy brought him into contention for the Republican presidential nomination. Journalist Noah Brooks wrote: "No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience." When another journalist asked Lincoln if he had presidential aspirations, he said "The taste is in my mouth a little."
On October 16, 1854, speaking in Peoria, Illinois, Lincoln publicly declared his opposition to slavery. He said the Kansas-Nebraska Act had a "covert real zeal for the spread of slavery. I cannot but hate it. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world." That year he ran as a Whig for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. At that time, senators were elected by the state legislature. He failed to garner enough support and asked his supporters in the legislature to vote for Lyman Trumbull, who ultimately won the seat. The Whigs were split by the Kansas–Nebraska Act.
The death of the Whig party led to the birth of the Republican Party. The new party was a coalition of former Whigs, Free Soil, Liberty, and Democratic Party members who opposed slavery. At the 1856 Republican National Convention, where the party nominated its first candidate for President (John C. Fremont), Lincoln placed second in the contest to become the party's candidate for vice president.
James Buchanan was elected President in the 1856 presidential election. In March 1857, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford in which Chief Justice Roger B. Taney concluded that African-Americans were not citizens, and obtained no rights from the Constitution. Lincoln was very critical of the decision. He called it the product of a conspiracy of Democrats to support the Slave Power. He said that "the authors of the Declaration of Independence never intended 'to say all were equal in color, size, intellect, moral developments, or social capacity', but they 'did consider all men created equal—equal in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness'."
In 1858, the Illinois Republican party convention nominated Lincoln as its candidate for the U.S. Senate. On June 16, 1858, at what was then the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Lincoln gave his acceptance speech, an address that would famously become known as his "House Divided Speech." The title of the speech comes from a passage in the New Testament, Mark 3:25, which reads "and if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand." Lincoln adopted this theme. He said:
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. 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. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new, North as well as South."
The speech rallied Republicans across the North. It set the stage for the campaign for the statewide election of the Illinois legislature, which would, in turn, select Lincoln or Douglas as its U.S. senator.
The Senate campaign featured seven Lincoln–Douglas debates, perhaps the most famous political debates in American history. In the debates, Lincoln warned that "the Slave Power" was threatening the values of republicanism. He accused Douglas of distorting the values of the Founding Fathers that all men are created equal. In response, Douglas argued that local settlers were free to choose whether to allow slavery or not, and accused Lincoln of having joined the abolitionists. The debates drew large crowds in the thousands. Lincoln stated Douglas' popular sovereignty theory was a threat to the nation's morality. He accused Douglas of being part of a conspiracy to extend slavery to free states. Douglas said that Lincoln was defying the authority of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Dred Scott decision.
Republican legislative candidates won more popular votes, but the Democrats won more seats, and the legislature re-elected Douglas to the Senate. Despite this, the debates gave Lincoln a national political reputation.
On February 27, 1860, New York party leaders invited Lincoln to give a speech at Cooper Union to a group of powerful Republicans. In the speech, Lincoln argued that the Founding Fathers had little use for popular sovereignty and had repeatedly sought to restrict slavery. Lincoln insisted the moral core beliefs of the Republican Party required its opposition to slavery. He rejected what he called "groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong". His powerful advocacy brought him into contention for the Republican presidential nomination. Journalist Noah Brooks wrote: "No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience." When another journalist asked Lincoln if he had presidential aspirations, he said "The taste is in my mouth a little."