Last night, Daniel Day Lewis took home an Oscar for his
portrayal of Abraham Lincoln and became the first actor to win
three lead Oscars. This week also marks an important milestone
in the life of the real Abraham Lincoln, without which there
likely would have been no president, and perhaps no movie or
third Oscar for Lewis. On February 27, 1860, Abraham Lincoln
delivered a speech that played a pivotal role in his gaining the
1860 Republican Presidential nomination. In the well-researched
Cooper Union Address, President Lincoln argued that of the 39
signers of the Constitution, 21 had voted at least once, some
more than once, for the restriction of slavery in National
Territories, thus “showing that, in their understanding, no line
dividing local from federal authority, nor anything else,
properly forbade the federal government to control as to slavery
in federal territory.” The address was a stunningly effective
argument demonstrating that the founding fathers intended
Congress to regulate slavery and it pro