Abraham Lincoln – The Anti-Slavery Republican
Abraham Lincoln joined the brand-new Republican Party in 1856 and ran for the United States Senate. The Republican platform was simple: (1) Build the United States on cities and commerce, rather than plantations and agriculture; and (2) Oppose the spread of slavery to the new American territories.
In June of 1856, Lincoln delivered his now-famous “house divided” speech in front of the Old State Capitol Building in Springfield, Illinois. In that speech, Lincoln quoted from the Bible to illustrate that the United States “cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free.” He was referring to the Gospels, where Jesus said: “Every Kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.” (Matthew 12:25)
Lincoln then squared off against Stephen Douglas, a leading Democrat in Congress, in a series of famous debates. Douglas argued that the voters of each territory, rather than the federal government, had the right to decide whether their territory should be slave or free. Lincoln argued against all slavery, calling it a violation of the most basic tenets of the Declaration of Independence.
Although Abraham Lincoln lost the Senate election, his well-reasoned position against slavery put him on the national map. Just four years later, the Republican Party chose Lincoln as their candidate for President of the United States. As destiny would have it, he won.
The election of an antislavery northerner as President of the United States drove many southerners over the brink. By the time Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated in March of 1861, seven southern states had already seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. Soon, four more states joined the Confederacy, and Lincoln vowed to preserve the Union, even if it meant war.
Abraham Lincoln – The Anti-Slavery Republican
Randall acts as the lead writer for ColdWater’s Drive Thru History® TV series and Drive Thru History® “Adventures” curriculum.
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