LINCOLN***


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American History in Literature

NOTED SPEECHES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN


[Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN]


American History in Literature

NOTED SPEECHES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Including the Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Edited with Biographical Sketches by

LILIAN MARIE BRIGGS

Assistant in the New York Public Library

With Portraits







New York
Moffat, Yard and Company
1911

Copyright, 1911, by
Moffat, Yard and Company
New York

The Quinn & Boden Co. Press
Rahway, N. J.




CONTENTS


                                         PAGE
  BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH--LINCOLN             ix

  COOPER INSTITUTE SPEECH                   1

  LINCOLN’S FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS        35

  LINCOLN’S GETTYSBURG SPEECH              51

  LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS       53

  PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION             57

  BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH--DOUGLAS             61

  LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE:

      _Opening Speech_                     63

      _Lincoln’s Reply_                    82




ILLUSTRATIONS


  ABRAHAM LINCOLN              _Frontispiece_

  STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS           Facing page 62




FOREWORD


This series, American History in Literature, will include only the
best-known American speeches,--those which commemorate the most
important events in the history of our country.

The biographical sketches have been included for the convenience of
the student and reader, and for the schoolboys and girls, who are
constantly seeking concise accounts of the lives of our great Americans.

This present volume, the first of the series, gives to the student and
reader Abraham Lincoln’s most noted speeches in compact form, making a
chronological anthology.

            L. M. B.




ABRAHAM LINCOLN

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH


In a little log-cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky, on the 12th of
February, 1809, was born a future President of the United States,
Abraham Lincoln.

When Abraham was seven years old, his father, Thomas Lincoln, moved
with his family to Indiana. It was a cold, dreary winter for them in
the rude shed which Abraham, knowing well how to handle an ax, had
helped his father to build. The following autumn found them in a better
cabin, but brought to Abraham the loss of his mother, Nancy Hanks
Lincoln, leaving his sister Sarah, eleven years old, to care for the
household. But the next year the little home was much changed; for a
stepmother had come, a woman of energy and thrift, who provided the
children with comforts before unknown to them. She became very fond of
Abraham and encouraged his inclination for reading and study. One year
would probably cover all the schooling he ever had, but he set to work
with a will to educate himself, sometimes walking miles to borrow a
book.

In the spring of 1830 Thomas Lincoln sold his farm in Indiana and moved
to Illinois. Abraham, though wishing to do something for himself,
remained with his father about a year longer, to see him comfortably
settled in his new home. Then, in April, he went on his second
expedition to New Orleans in a flatboat. On his return his employer
placed him in charge of a store at New Salem.

When he was twenty-three years old, he enlisted in what was called the
Black Hawk War, and was chosen captain of his company. When the war
was at an end and he returned home, he was told that the people wished
to send him to the legislature. He agreed to be a candidate, but was
not elected. All this time he did not give up the idea of becoming a
lawyer, and soon after the next election, at which he received a large
majority, he commenced the study of law.

In 1837 he left New Salem and removed to Springfield, which was ever
after his home. He was elected to the Illinois legislature four times
in succession and again in 1846, and the following year he was chosen
to be a Representative in Congress. At the close of his two years in
Congress, Mr. Lincoln returned to Springfield and applied himself to
the practice of law. But very soon he was again taking an active part
in the politics of his State. It was at the State convention held in
Bloomington in 1856, at which time the Republican party of Illinois was
finally organized, that Mr. Lincoln made the wonderful address which
has become famous as his “lost speech.”

Eighteen fifty-eight was the year of the noted Lincoln-Douglas Debate
that brought Mr. Lincoln conspicuously before the whole country. Two
years later, when visiting New York, he was invited by a party of
Republicans to deliver a speech at Cooper Union. This speech helped to
increase his popularity. This same year, 1860, Mr. Lincoln was elected
to be President of the United States, and on the 4th of March, 1861,
delivered his First Inaugural Address in the presence of thousands of
people. The Emancipation Proclamation, which gave the slaves their
freedom, was issued to take effect on the 1st of January, 1863; and in
this act Mr. Lincoln made his name great. It was in this same year that
he delivered the famous Gettysburg Address.

Mr. Lincoln was elected to the Presidency for the second term,
but lived only a few weeks afterward. He was shot in a theater in
Washington on Friday evening, the 14th of April, 1865.




    “He grew according to the need,
    and as the problem grew,
    so did his comprehension of it.”

            RALPH WALDO EMERSON.




COOPER INSTITUTE SPEECH

DELIVERED AT COOPER INSTITUTE, NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 27, 1860


MR. PRESIDENT AND FELLOW-CITIZENS OF NEW YORK:--The facts with which
I shall deal this evening are mainly old and familiar; nor is there
anything new in the general use I shall make of them. If there shall be
any novelty, it will be in the mode of presenting the facts, and the
inferences and observations following that presentation. In his speech
last autumn at Columbus, Ohio, as reported in the New York _Times_,
Senator Douglas said: “Our fathers, when they framed the government
under which we live, understood this question just as well, and even
better, than we do now.”

I fully indorse this, and I adopt it as a text for this discourse. I so
adopt it because it furnishes a precise and an agreed starting-point
for a discussion between Republicans and that wing of the Democracy
headed by Senator Douglas. It simply leaves the inquiry: What was the
understanding those fathers had of the question mentioned?

What is the frame of government under which we live? The answer must
be, “The Constitution of the United States.” That Constitution consists
of the original, framed in 1787, and under which the present government
first went into operation, and twelve subsequently framed amendments,
the first ten of which were framed in 1789.

Who were our fathers that framed the Constitution? I suppose the
“thirty-nine” who signed the original instrument may be fairly called
our fathers who framed that part of the present government. It is
almost exactly true to say they framed it, and it is altogether true
to say they fairly represented the opinion and sentiment of the whole
nation at that time. Their names, being familiar to nearly all, and
accessible to quite all, need not now be repeated.

I take these “thirty-nine,” for the present, as being “our fathers who
framed the government under which we live.” What is the question which,
according to the text, those fathers understood “just as well, and even
better, than we do now”?

It is this: Does the proper division of local from Federal authority,
or anything in the Constitution, forbid our Federal Government to
control as to slavery in our Federal Territories?

Upon this, Senator Douglas holds the affirmative, and Republicans
the negative. This affirmation and denial form an issue; and this
issue--this question--is precisely what the text declares our
fathers understood “better than we.” Let us now inquire whether the
“thirty-nine,” or any of them, ever acted upon this question; and
if they did, how they acted upon it--how they expressed that better
understanding. In 1784, three years before the Constitution, the
United States then owning the Northwestern Territory and no other,
the Congress of the Confederation had before them the question of
prohibiting slavery in that Territory; and four of the “thirty-nine”
who afterward framed the Constitution were in that Congress, and voted
on that question. Of these, Roger Sherman, Thomas Mifflin, and Hugh
Williamson voted for the prohibition, 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 other of the four, James McHenry,
voted against the prohibition, showing that for some cause he thought
it improper to vote for it.

In 1787, still before the Constitution, but while the convention was
in session framing it, and while the Northwestern Territory still was
the only Territory owned by the United States, the same question of
prohibiting slavery in the Territory again came before the Congress
of the Confederation; and two more of the “thirty-nine” who afterward
signed the Constitution were in that Congress, and voted on the
question. They were William Blount and William Few; and they both voted
for the prohibition--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. This time the prohibition became a law, being part of what
is now well known as the ordinance of ’87.

The question of Federal control of slavery in the Territories seems not
to have been directly before the convention which framed the original
Constitution; and hence it is not recorded that the “thirty-nine” or
any of them, while engaged on that instrument, expressed any opinion on
that precise question.

In 1789, by the first Congress which sat under the Constitution, an act
was passed to enforce the ordinance of ’87, including the prohibition
of slavery in the Northwestern Territory. The bill for this act was
reported by one of the “thirty-nine”--Thomas Fitzsimmons, then a member
of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. It went through
all its stages without a word of opposition, and finally passed both
branches without ayes and nays, which is equivalent to a unanimous
passage. In this Congress there were sixteen of the thirty-nine
fathers who framed the original Constitution. They were John Langdon,
Nicholas Gilman, William S. Johnson, Roger Sherman, Robert Morris,
Thomas Fitzsimmons, William Few, Abraham Baldwin, Rufus King, William
Paterson, George Clymer, Richard Bassett, George Read, Pierce Butler,
Daniel Carroll, and James Madison.

This shows that, in their understanding, no line dividing local from
Federal authority, nor anything in the Constitution, properly forbade
Congress to prohibit slavery in the Federal territory; else both
their fidelity to correct principle, and their oath to support the
Constitution, would have constrained them to oppose the prohibition.

Again, George Washington, another of the “thirty-nine,” was then
President of the United States, and as such approved and signed the
bill, thus completing its validity as a law, and thus showing that, in
his understanding, no line dividing local from Federal authority, nor
anything in the Constitution, forbade the Federal Government to control
as to slavery in Federal territory.

No great while after the adoption of the original Constitution, North
Carolina ceded to the Federal Government the country now constituting
the State of Tennessee; and a few years later Georgia ceded that
which now constitutes the States of Mississippi and Alabama. In both
deeds of cession it was made a condition by the ceding States that the
Federal Government should not prohibit slavery in the ceded country.
Besides this, slavery was then actually in the ceded country. Under
these circumstances, Congress, on taking charge of these countries, did
not absolutely prohibit slavery within them. But they did interfere
with it--take control of it--even there, to a certain extent. In
1798 Congress organized the Territory of Mississippi. In the act of
organization they prohibited the bringing of slaves into the Territory
from any place without the United States, by fine, and giving freedom
to slaves so brought. This act passed both branches of Congress without
yeas and nays. In that Congress were three of the “thirty-nine” who
framed the original Constitution. They were John Langdon, George Read,
and Abraham Baldwin. They all probably voted for it. Certainly they
would have placed their opposition to it upon record if, in their
understanding, any line dividing local from Federal authority, or
anything in the Constitution, properly forbade the Federal Government
to control as to slavery in Federal territory.

In 1803 the Federal Government purchased the Louisiana country. Our
former territorial acquisitions came from certain of our own States;
but this Louisiana country was acquired from a foreign nation. In
1804 Congress gave a territorial organization to that part of it which
now constitutes the State of Louisiana. New Orleans, lying within
that part, was an old and comparatively large city. There were other
considerable towns and settlements, and slavery was extensively and
thoroughly intermingled with the people. Congress did not, in the
Territorial Act, prohibit slavery; but they did interfere with it--take
control of it--in a more marked and extensive way than they did in the
case of Mississippi. The substance of the provision therein made in
relation to slaves was:

1st. That no slave should be imported into the Territory from foreign
parts.

2d. That no slave should be carried into it who had been imported into
the United States since the first day of May, 1798.

3d. That no slave should be carried into it, except by the owner, and
for his own use as a settler; the penalty in all the cases being a fine
upon the violator of the law, and freedom to the slave.

This act also was passed without ayes or nays. In the Congress which
passed it there were two of the “thirty-nine.” They were Abraham
Baldwin and Jonathan Dayton. As stated in the case of Mississippi,
it is probable they both voted for it. They would not have allowed
it to pass without recording their opposition to it if, in their
understanding, it violated either the line properly dividing local from
Federal authority, or any provision of the Constitution.

In 1819-20 came and passed the Missouri question. Many votes were
taken, by yeas and nays, in both branches of Congress, upon the various
phases of the general question. Two of the “thirty-nine”--Rufus King
and Charles Pinckney--were members of that Congress. Mr. King steadily
voted for slavery prohibition and against all compromises, while Mr.
Pinckney as steadily voted against slavery prohibition and against
all compromises. By this, Mr. King showed that, in his understanding,
no line dividing local from Federal authority, nor anything in the
Constitution, was violated by Congress prohibiting slavery in Federal
territory; while Mr. Pinckney, by his votes, showed that, in his
understanding, there was some sufficient reason for opposing such
prohibition in that case.

The cases I have mentioned are the only acts of the “thirty-nine,”
or of any of them, upon the direct issue, which I have been able to
discover.

To enumerate the persons who thus acted as being four in 1784, two
in 1787, seventeen in 1789, three in 1798, two in 1804, and two in
1819-20, there would be thirty of them. But this would be counting John
Langdon, Roger Sherman, William Few, Rufus King, and George Read each
twice, and Abraham Baldwin three times. The true number of those of the
“thirty-nine” whom I have shown to have acted upon the question which,
by the text, they understood better than we, is twenty-three, leaving
sixteen not shown to have acted upon it in any way.

Here, then, we have twenty-three out of our thirty-nine fathers “who
framed the government under which we live,” who have, upon their
official responsibility and their corporal oaths, acted upon the very
question which the text affirms they “understood just as well, and
even better, than we do now”; and twenty-one of them--a clear majority
of the whole “thirty-nine”--so acting upon it as to make them guilty
of gross political impropriety and willful perjury if, in their
understanding, any proper division between local and Federal authority,
or anything in the Constitution they had made themselves, and sworn to
support, forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the
Federal Territories. Thus the twenty-one acted; and, as actions speak
louder than words, so actions under such responsibility speak still
louder.

Two of the twenty-three voted against congressional prohibition of
slavery in the Federal Territories, in the instances in which they
acted upon the question. But for what reasons they so voted is not
known. They may have done so because they thought a proper division of
local from Federal authority, or some provision or principle of the
Constitution, stood in the way; or they may, without any such question,
have voted against the prohibition on what appeared to them to be
sufficient grounds of expediency. No one who has sworn to support the
Constitution can conscientiously vote for what he understands to be an
