Lincoln at Peoria : the turning point : getting right with the Declaration of Independence
To understand Abraham Lincoln, one must understand the extraordinary antislavery speech he delivered at Peoria on October 16, 1854. This three-hour address marked the turning point in Lincoln's political pilgrimage, dramatically altering his political career and, as a result, American history. Here, historian Levis E. Lehrman examines the seminal speech and its historical context, arguing that the divide between the statecraft of Lincoln's presidential years and his early legislative years originates with the speech at Peoria. Lincoln had substantially withdrawn from politics between 1849 and 1854, developing his Springfield law practice. Then in May 1854 Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, repealing the prohibition on slavery in that section of the Louisiana Territory--a restriction agreed by North and South in the Missouri Compromise of 1820. In response to this, Lincoln launched his antislavery campaign, delivering speeches in Springfield and Peoria, which catapulted him into national politics.--From publisher description
History
xix, 412 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
9780811703611, 9780811738934, 0811703614, 0811738930
185021472
1. ON THE ROAD TO THE SPRINGFIELD SPEECH. Lincoln and Douglas: the early years
Helping Congressman Yates
Preparation to fight Kansas-Nebraska
Senator Douglas returns to Illinois
Speeches and debates
Campaigning for free-soil
2. SPRINGFIELD, PEORIA, AND BEYOND. On to Peoria
Peoria speech
The end of the 1854 debates
The end of the campaign
3. THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT: THE CONTEXT. Douglas's motives
Insertion of "inoperative and void"
The Chase appeal
The opposition
The Whigs
Pushing passage
Protesting passage
4. THE PEORIA SPEECH: THE IDEAS AND ARGUMENTS. The Founders and the Declaration of Independence
National expansion and compromise
The Compromise of 1850
Popular sovereignty and slavery
Race and prejudice
Nationhood and Union
Principle and policy
5. THE ROAD FROM PEORIA. Unintended consequences of Kansas-Nebraska
Election results and realignment in Illinois
The 1854-1855 Senate campaign
Realignment and the Republican Party
Bleeding Kansas
The 1856 Bloomington Convention
6. CHALLENGING "DRED SCOTT", THE SUPREME COURT, AND DOUGLAS
The Republican reaction
The 1858 senate campaign
The Lincoln-Douglas debates
The Presidential campaign
7. PEORIA CHARACTERIZES THE LINCOLN PRESIDENCY. Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
Preserving the Union
Slavery and equality
Union, morality, and reality
The South
Douglas and Lincoln
The Bible and the world
8. CODA
9. THE PEORIA SPEECH AND THE HISTORIANS' RECORD
Full text of speech at Peoria, Illinois
Milestones in the lives of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas