Lincoln on Democracy

Contents

Contents PREFACE TO THE FORDHAM UNIVERSITY PRESS EDITION By Mario M. Cuomo and Harold Holzer PREFACE By Mario M Cuomo xxiii xxvii INTRODUCTION xxxiii By Harold Holzer A NOTE ON THE LINCOLN TEXTS, AND THE INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS xlv "NOT MUCH OF ME" xlix Lincoln's ''Autobiography,'' Age 50, December 20, 1859 ~ 1«<- "THE PEOPLE'S BUSINESS" Lincoln and the American Dream 1832-1852 INTRODUCTION 3 By Gabor S. Boritt "No WEALTHY ... RELATIONS TO RECOMMEND ME" 9 From a Message to the People ofSangamo County, March 9, 1832 "I SHALL BE GOVERNED BY THEIR WILL" 11 Announcement in the Sangamo Journal, June 13, 1836 "THE PEOPLE KNOW THEIR RIGHTS" 12 From a Speech to the Illinois Legislature, January 11, 1837 x CONTENTS "INJUSTICE AND BAD POLICY" 13 Protest in the Illinois Legislature on Slavery, March 3, 1837 "THE POLITICAL RELIGION OF THE NATION" 15 Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, January 27, 1838 "THE WEALTHY CAN NOT JUSTLY COMPLAIN" 24 Letter to William S. Wait, March 2, 1839 "MANY FREE COUNTRIES HAVE LOST THEIR LIBERTY" 25 From a Speech on the Subtreasury, Springfield, Illinois, December 26, 1839 " 'GOD TEMPERS THE WIND' " 26 From a Letter to Mary Speed, September 27, 1841 "THE SORROW QUENCHING DRAUGHTS OF PERFECT LIBERTY" 28 From an Address Before Springfield's Washington Temperance Society, February 22, 1842 "By THE FRUIT THE TREE Is TO BE KNOWN" 30 Letter to Williamson Durley, October 3, 1845 "USELESS LABOUR Is ... THE SAME AS IDLENESS" 32 Fragments on Labor and the Tariff Issue, December 1847? "THE RIGHT TO RISE UP" 34 From a Speech in the U.S. House of Representatives on the Mexican War, January 12, 1848 "No ONE MAN SHOULD HOLD THE POWER" 36 Letter to William H. Herndon, February 15, 1848 "THERE ARE FEW THINGS WHOLLY EVIL, OR WHOLLY GOOD" 38 From a Speech in the U.S. House of Representatives on Internal Improvements, June 20, 1848 "LEAVING THE PEOPLE'S BUSINESS IN THEIR HANDS" From a Speech in the U.S. House of Representatives on the Presidential Question, July 27, 1848 "Go TO WORK, 'TOOTH AND NAILS'" Letter to His Stepbrother, December 24, 1848 "VALUABLE TO HIS ADOPTED COUNTRY" Resolution and Letter on Napoleon Koscialowski, February 20, 1850 40 41 43 Contents xi "RESOLVE TO BE HONEST" 44 Notes for a Law Lecture, July 1, 1850? "THE PRESIDENCY ... Is No BED OF ROSES" 46 From a Eulogy of Zachary Taylor, Chicago, Illinois, July 25, 1850 "PRINCIPLES HELD DEAR" 49 Resolutions Supporting Hungarian Freedom, Springfield, Illinois, January 9, 1852 "A DEEP DEVOTION TO THE CAUSE OF HUMAN LIBERTY" 51 From a Eulogy ofHenry Clay, Springfield, Illinois, July 6, 1852 ..mII* "ALL WE HAVE EVER HELD SACRED" Lincoln and Slavery 1854-1857 INTRODUCTION By William E. Gienapp "WE PROPOSED TO GIVE ALL A CHANCE" Fragments on Slavery, July 1, 1854? "'To Do FOR THE PEOPLE WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE'" Fragments on Government, July 1, 1854? "OUR REPUBLICAN ROBE Is SOILED" From a Speech on the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Peoria, Illinois, October 16, 1854 "No PEACEFUL EXTINCTION OF SLAVERY IN PROSPECT" Letter to George Robertson, August 15, 1855 "I AM NOT A KNOW-NOTHING" Letter to Joshua F. Speed, August 24, 1855 "THIS GREAT PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY" From a Speech at Kalamazoo, Michigan, August 27, 1856 "FREE SOCIETY Is NOT ... A FAILURE" From a Speech at Chicago, Illinois, December 10, 1856 "A STANDARD MAXIM FOR FREE SOCIETY" From a Speech on the Dred Scott Decision, Springfield, Illinois, June 26, 1857 55 62 63 65 78 80 84 86 88 xii CONTENTS "NOT BLOODY BULLETS, BUT PEACEFUL BALLOTS" From a Draft ofa Speech, December 1857? *7 III * "ANOTHER EXPLOSION WILL COME" Lincoln and the House Divided 1858 INTRODUCTION By Charles B. Strozier "GOVERNMENT CANNOT ENDURE ... HALF SLA VE AND 92 97 HALF FREE" 105 The House Divided Speech, Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858 "THE ELECTRIC CORD IN THAT DECLARATION" 114 From a Speech in Reply to Senator Stephen A. Douglas, Chicago, Illinois, July 10, 1858 "FIGHT THIS BATTLE UPON PRINCIPLE" 118 From a Speech in Reply to Douglas, Springfield, Illinois, July 17, 1858 "THIS EXPRESSES My IDEA OF DEMOCRACY" 121 Definition ofDemocracy, August 1, 1858? "RETURN TO THE FOUNTAIN" 121 From a Speech at Lewistown, Illinois, August 17, 1858 "I CLAIM No ... EXEMPTION FROM PERSONAL AMBITION" 123 Fragments for a Speech, August 21, 1858? "THE MORAL LIGHTS AROUND US" 125 Extracts from the Lincoln-Douglas Debates: From Lincoln's Reply, First Debate, Ottawa, Illinois, August 21, 1858 "OUR RELIANCE Is IN THE LOVE OF LIBERTY" 127 From a Speech at Edwardsville, Illinois, September 11, 1858 "NEVER HAVE HAD A BLACK WOMAN FOR EITHER A SLAVE OR A WIFE" 128 Extracts from the Lincoln-Douglas Debates: From Lincoln's Speech, Fourth Debate, Charleston, Illinois, September 18, 1858 "GIVE TO HIM THAT Is NEEDY" 130 Fragment on Slavery, October 1, 1858? Contents xiii " 'HE TREMBLED FOR HIS COUNTRY' " 132 Extracts from the Lincoln-Douglas Debates: From Lincoln's Reply, Fifth Debate, Galesburg, Illinois, October 7, 1858 "THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE" 134 Extracts from the Lincoln-Douglas Debates: From Lincoln's Reply, Seventh and Final Debate, Alton, Illinois, October 15, 1858 "THE FIGHT MUST Go ON" 136 Letter to Henry Asbury, November 19, 1858 INTRODUCTION ~ IV «<- "RIGHT MAKES MIGHT" Lincoln and the Race for President 1859-1860 By Richard Nelson Current "SOLE HOPE OF THE FUTURE" From a Lecture on Discoveries and Inventions, Jacksonville, Decatur, and Springfield, February 11, 1859 "HE WHO WOULD BE No SLAVE, MUST CONSENT TO HA VE No SLAVE" Letter to Boston Republicans, April 6, 1859 "AIM AT THE ELEVATION OF MEN" Letter to Theodore Canisius, May 17, 1859 "THE MORAL LIGHTS AROUND US" From a Speech at Columbus, Ohio, September 16, 1859 "EQUALITY . .. BEATS INEQUALITY" Fragment on Free Labor, September 17, 1859? "FREE LABOR ... GIVES HOPE TO ALL" From an Address Before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 30, 1859 "LET Us STAND BY OUR DUTY" From an Address at Cooper Union, New York City, February 27, 1860 "THE LABORER CAN STRIKE IF HE W ANTS To" From a Speech at Hartford, Connecticut, March 5, 1860 141 148 154 156 157 159 160 164 175 xiv CONTENTS "ALLOW THE HUMBLEST MAN AN EQUAL CHANCE" From a Speech at New Haven, Connecticut, March 6, 1860 "I ACCEPT THE NOMINATION" Letter to George Ashmun, May 23, 1860 "WORK, WORK, WORK Is THE MAIN THING" Letter to John M Brockman, September 25, 1860 "I REJOICE WITH You IN THE SUCCESS" Remarks at Springfield, Illinois, November 20, 1860 "THE TUG HAS TO COME" Letter to Senator Lyman Trumbull, December 10, 1860 INTRODUCTION By James M McPherson -mv«<- "HOUR OF TRIAL" Lincoln and Union 1861 176 177 178 179 180 183 "THE PRINCIPLE THAT CLEARS THE PATH FOR ALL" 188 Fragment on the Constitution and the Union, January 1861? "IF WE SURRENDER, IT Is THE END OF US" 189 Letter to James T. Hale, January 11, 1861 "WITH A TASK BEFORE ME" 190 Farewell Address at Springfield, Illinois, February 11, 1861 "LIBERTY, FOR YOURSELVES, AND NOT FOR ME" 191 Reply to Governor Oliver P. Morton, Indianapolis, Indiana, February JJ, 1861 "THERE Is BUT LITTLE HARM I CAN Do" 192 From a Speech at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, February 12, 1861 "GIVE THE GREATEST GOOD TO THE GREATEST NUMBER" 193 From a Speech to Germans at Cincinnati, Ohio, February 12, 1861 "THE MAJORITY SHALL RULE" 194 From a Speech at Steubenville, Ohio, February 14, 1861 Contents "THE SHIP CAN BE SAVED, WITH THE CARGO" Reply to Mayor Fernando Wood, City Hal/, New York, February 20, 1861 "IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ORIGINAL IDEA" Address to the State Senate, Trenton, New Jersey, February 21, 1861 "I WOULD RATHER BE ASSASSINATED" Speech in Independence Hal/, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1861 "PLAIN As A TURNPIKE ROAD" Informal Remarks to Delegates to the Peace Conference, Willard's Hotel, Washington, February 23, 1861 "THE MOMENTOUS ISSUE OF CIVIL WAR" "First Inaugural Address, Washington, March 4, 1861 "I HOPE WE HAVE A GOVERNMENT AND A PRESIDENT" Reply to a Pennsylvania Delegation, the White House, March 5, 1861 xv 195 196 198 199 201 210 "THE PERPETUITY OF POPULAR GOVERNMENT" 211 Proclamation Calling Out the Militia, and Convening a Special Session of Congress, April 15, 1861 "WE CAN NOT PERMANENTLY PREVENT THEIR ACTION" 213 Letter to General Winfield Scott, April 25, 1861 "SUSPEND THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS" 214 Letter to General Winfield Scott, April 27, 1861 "THE CENTRAL IDEA PERVADING THIS STRUGGLE" 215 Informal Comments on Popular Government, the White House, May 7, 1861 "A POLISH GENTLEMAN" .. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED" 216 Letter to Secretary of War Simon Cameron, May 20, 1861 "THIS Is . . . A PEOPLE'S CONTEST" 217 From a Message to Congress in Special Session, July 4, 1861 "ALLOW No MAN TO BE SHOT" 226 Letter to General John C. Fremont, September 2, 1861 xvi CONTENTS "I CANNOT ASSUME THIS RECKLESS POSITION" 227 Letter to Orville H Browning, September 22, 1861 "WANTING TO WORK Is So RARE" 229 Letter to George D. Ramsay, October 17, 1861 "THE CAPACITY OF MAN FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT" 230 Reply to Edward, Count Piper, the White House, November 8, 1861 "THE STRUGGLE OF TODAY ... FOR AVAST FUTURE ALSO" 231 From the Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1861 INTRODUCTION By Mark E. Neely, Jr. *VI«<- "FOREVER FREE" Lincoln and Liberty 1862-1863 "THE PRINCIPLE OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS OF MEN" Greetings to the Minister from Peru, the White House, March 4, 1862 "GRADUAL ... EMANCIPATION, Is BETTER FOR ALL" Message to Congress, March 6, 1862 "GOVERNMENT WAS SAVED FROM OVERTHROW" From a Message to the Senate and House of Representatives, May 26, 1862 "OUR COMMON COUNTRY Is IN GREAT PERIL" From an Appeal to Border State Representatives on Compensated Emancipation, the White House, July 12, 1862 237 243 244 246 247 "A FIT AND NECESSARY MILITARY MEASURE" 249 First Draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, July 22, 1862 "YOUR RACE ARE SUFFERING" 251 From an Address on Colonization to a Committee of Black Leaders, the White House, August 14, 1862 "My PARAMOUNT OBJECT IN THIS STRUGGLE" 253 Reply to Horace Greeley's ''Prayer of Twenty Millions," August 22, 1862 Contents xvii "GOD WILLS THIS CONTEST" 254 Meditation on the Divine Will, September 2, 1862? "THE TIME HAS COME Now" 255 Remarks at Cabinet Meeting, the White House, September 22, 1862 "THENCEFORWARD, AND FOREVER FREE" 257 Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, September 22, 1862 "To SUPPRESS THE INSURRECTION" 260 Proclamation Suspending the Writ ofHabeas Corpus, September 24, 1862 "BREATH ALONE KILLS No REBELS" 262 Letter to Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, September 28, 1862 "A FIERY TRIAL" 263 Reply to a Quaker Prayer, October 26, 1862 "WE CANNOT ESCAPE HISTORY" 264 From the Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862 "THE PROMISE MUST Now BE KEPT" 269 Informal Remarks to Witnesses at the Signing of the Final Emancipation Proclamation, the White House, January 1, 1863 "SINCERELY BELIEVED TO BE ... AN ACT OF JUSTICE" Final Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863 270 "AN INSTANCE OF SUBLIME CHRISTIAN HEROISM" 273 Reply to the Workingmen of Manchester, England, January 19, 1863 "I WILL RISK THE DICTATORSHIP" 275 Letter to General Joseph Hooker, January 26, 1863 "RESIST ... SUCH RECOGNITION" 276 Resolution Condemning Pro-Slavery Nations, April 15, 1863 "PUBLIC SAFETY DOES REQUIRE THE SUSPENSION" 277 From a Letter to Albany, New York, Democrats, June 12, 1863 "THE DECISION Is TO BE MADE" 282 From a Response to Resolutions from Ohio Democrats, June 29, 1863 xviii CONTENTS "How LONG AGO Is IT?-EIGHTY ODD YEARS" 283 Response to a Victory Serenade, the White House, July 7, 1863 "My 'PUBLIC-OPINION BATHS'" 284 Remarks to a Visiting Journalist, the White House, July 25, 1863 "THOSE WHO SHALL HAVE TASTED ACTUAL FREEDOM ... CAN NEVER BE SLAVES" From a Letter to Stephen A. Hurlbut, July 31, 1863 "BETTER PREPARED FOR THE NEW" From a Letter to Nathaniel P. Banks, August 5, 1863 "You SAY You WILL NOT FIGHT TO FREE NEGROES" Letter to James C. Conkling, August 26, 1863 "THE BOUNDLESS FIELD OF ABSOLUTISM?" Draft Letter to Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, September 2, 1863 "HAS THE MANHOOD OF OUR RACE RUN OUT?" From an Opinion on the Draft, September 14, 1863? "I Do NOT INTEND TO BE A TYRANT" Informal Comments to and About Radical Republicans, September 30 and October 28, 1863 ~VII~ "FOR Us THE LIVING" Lincoln and Democracy 1863-1865 285 286 288 292 293 296 INTRODUCTION 301 By Hans L. Trefousse "NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM" 307 The Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863 "You WILL NOT FIND THAT TO BE AN OBSTACLE" 308 Informal Remarks to a Lieutenant, the White House, 1863? "THE NEW RECKONING" 309 From the Annual Message to Congress, December 8, 1863 "I HAVE NEVER INTERFERED ... IN ANY CHURCH" 311 From a Letter to Oliver D. Filley, December 22, 1863 Contents xix "COMMON LOOKING PEOPLE ARE THE BEST IN THE WORLD" 312 Informal Comments to His Secretary, the White House, December 23, 1863 "UNIVERSAL AMNESTY ... WITH UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE" 313 From a Letter to General James S. Wadsworth, January 1864? "KEEP THE JEWEL OF LIBERTY" 314 Letter to Michael Hahn, March 13, 1864 "LET NOT HIM WHO Is HOUSELESS PULL DOWN THE HOUSE OF ANOTHER" 315 From a Reply to the New York Workingmen's Democratic Republican Association, the White House, March 21, 1864 "NEVER KNEW A MAN WHO WISHED TO BE ... A SLAVE" 316 Fragment on Slavery, March 22, 1864 "IF SLAVERY Is NOT WRONG, NOTHING Is WRONG" 316 Letter to Albert G. Hodges, April 4, 1864 "THE LIMB MUST BE SACRIFICED" 319 Informal Remarks on U.S.-British Relations to George Thompson and Others, the White House, April 7, 1864 "A GOOD DEFINITION OF THE WORD LIBERTY" 320 From an Address at "Sanitary Fair, " Baltimore, Maryland, April 18, 1864 "SO THAT THEY CAN HAVE THE BENEFIT" 321 Letter to Senator Charles Sumner, May 19, 1864 "MAY I HAVE TO ANSWER FOR ROBBING No MAN" 323 Response to a Delegation of Baptists, May 30, 1864 "A FITTING, AND NECESSARY CONCLUSION" 324 Reply to the Committee Notifying President Lincoln of His Renomination, the White House, June 9, 1864 "THE PEOPLE'S BUSINESS" 325 Informal Remarks on the Election, the White House, August 1864 "I SHOULD DESERVE TO BE DAMNED" 325 Conversation with Wisconsin Politicians, the Soldiers' Home, Outside Washington, August 1864 "KINDLY PAYING ATTENTION" 327 !Jetter to John McMahon, August 6, 1864 xx CONTENTS "ANY ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN MAY LOOK TO COME HERE" 328 Speech to the 166th Ohio Regiment, the White House, August 22, 1864 "My DUTY TO CO-OPERATE" 329 Memorandum on His Chances for Reelection, August 23, 1864 "THE PURPOSES OF THE ALMIGHTY ARE PERFECT" 330 Letter to Eliza P. Gurney, September 4, 1864 "STRUGGLING TO MAINTAIN GOVERNMENT, NOT TO OVERTHROW IT" 331 From a Response to a Serenade, the White House, October 19, 1864 "DISCHARGE HIM AT ONCE" 332 Letter to the Governor ofKentucky, November 10, 1864 "THE ELECTION WAS A NECESSITY" 333 Response to a Serenade, the White House, November 10, 1864 "NOT THE SORT OF RELIGION UPON WHICH PEOPLE CAN GET TO HEAVEN" 335 Story Written for a Newspaper, December 6, 1864 "THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE" 336 From the Annual Message to Congress, December 6, 1864 "NEITHER SLAVERY NOR INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE ... SHALL EXIST" 338 Resolution Submitting to the States the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, February 1, 1865 "A KING'S CURE FOR ALL THE EVILS" 339 Response to a Serenade, the White House, February 1, 1865 "WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE" 340 Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865 "I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT ALL MEN SHOULD BE FREE" 343 Speech to the 140th Indiana Regiment, Washington, March 17, 1865 "A RIGHTEOUS AND SPEEDY PEACE" 344 His Last Public Address, the White House, April 11, 1865 "A UNION OF HEARTS AND HANDS" 349 From His Last Letter, to James H. Van Alen, April 14, 1865 Contents AFTERWORD: The Abraham Lincoln Association by Frank J. Williams LINCOLN, THE NATION, AND THE WORLD: A Chronology, 1809-1865 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS BIOGRAPHIES OF THE EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS INDEX xxi 351 355 391 395 401 ...