CH. 10-3 LINCOLN’S PATH

TO THE WHITE HOUSEAMERICAN HISTORY

LINCOLN, POLITICS, AND SLAVERY

Lincoln had little formal education

His mother, Nancy, encouraged him to educate himself

“All that I am or ever hope to be I owe to her”—A. Lincoln

A FRONTIER UPBRINGING

Born 1809 in a one-room cabin near Louisville, KY

About 1,000 slaves lived in the area at the time

Historians are not sure when Lincoln started disliking slavery

“I am naturally antislavery”

Lincoln’s parents views on slavery cause them to move from KY to the IN territory in 1816

Lincoln helped his father build a cabin and clear land for a small farm

1828—Lincoln took a job on a boat moving produce down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers

His first direct contact with slavery—he watched a slave auction

LINCOLN’S EARLY POLITICS

Lincoln ran for a seat in the IL state legislature but lost. He would win 2 years later.

December 1834, age 25, Lincoln begins the first of 4 terms in the IL General Assembly

He studied Law at home and became a lawyer in 1836

Lincoln protested a resolution that banned abolitionist societies that passed overwhelmingly

Lincoln met Mary Todd, daughter of a law partner in 1840

Lincoln and Todd married in 1842.

Lincoln had retired from the legislature to devote more time to his law practice.

LINCOLN IN CONGRESS

1846—Lincoln successfully won a seat in Congress.

He took his seat in 1847 as the Mexican-American War was starting

He charged that President Polk started the war to spread slavery

1849—Lincoln proposed ending slavery in D.C. by paying slaveholders to free slaves—COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION

Many thought the proposal was too RADICAL and it received little support

Lincoln worked hard to help Whig Zachary Taylor become President in 1848

He expected a job in the Taylor Administration but did not receive one.

He resigned from Congress in 1849 and went home to practice law

LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS CLASH

The Kansas-Nebraska Act caused Lincoln to end his second retirement in 1854

Lincoln opposed Stephen Douglas’s position on popular sovereignty

Lincoln elected to the IL state legislature in 1854 but he resigned in February 1855 to seek one of Illinois’ two US Senate seats

A HOUSE DIVIDED

Lincoln helped organize the IL Republican Party in 1856

1856—IL Republicans try to get Lincoln on the Presidential ticket with John C. Fremont but are unsuccessful

1858—Lincoln challenges Stephen Douglas for a third term in the Senate

“A house divided against itself cannot stand…I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half free and half slave…It will become all one thing or all the other.”

Most radical statement on slavery to date

THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES

Late August to mid-October 1858

7 debates were held in towns throughout IL

THE FREEPORT DOCTRINE

Lincoln challenged Douglas to respond to the fact that he supported popular sovereignty when the Dred Scott case said it couldn’t be used

“Slavery cannot exist a day or an hour anywhere unless it is supported by the local police regulations.”--Douglas

LINCOLN’S SOCIAL VIEWS

Lincoln called slavery a moral, social, and political wrong

“I will say that I am not, nor have ever been, in favor of bringing about…political equality of white and black”—Lincoln

THE DEBATES’ SIGNIFICANCE

Illustrated the sharp difference between Lincoln and Douglas on slavery

Most historians judge that Lincoln won the debates even though Douglas retained his seat

THE ELECTION OF 1860

Lincoln’s moderate positions on topics had increased his standing among northerners

THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION

Democrats seriously divided

Southern Democrats wanted to block the nomination of Douglas and adopt a party PLATFORM (declaration of principle) that protected slavery

Northern Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas (IL)

Southern Democrats chose John C. Breckinridge (KY)

Southern moderates formed the Constitutional Union Party—John Bell (TN)

THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION

Republicans settle on Lincoln because William Seward’s views were too extreme

Party platform opposed the spread of slavery

THE 1860 CAMPAIGN

It was mainly a sectional contest

Lincoln won nearly every northern state

In the south Breckinridge and Bell split the vote

Lincoln elected with less than 40% of the popular vote because of the Democratic split

Of Lincoln’s nearly 2 million votes, only 26,000 came from slave states.

That spelled trouble for the Union

THE END