Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech that Made Abraham Lincoln President"Lincoln at Cooper Union" explores Lincoln's most influential and widely reported pre-presidential address -- an extraordinary appeal by the western politician to the eastern elite that propelled him toward the Republican nomination for president. Delivered in New York in February 1860, the Cooper Union speech dispelled doubts about Lincoln's suitability for the presidency, and reassured conservatives of his moderation while reaffirming his opposition to slavery to Republican progressives. Award-winning Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer places Lincoln and his speech in the context of the times -- an era of racism, politicized journalism, and public oratory as entertainment -- and shows how the candidate framed the speech as an opportunity to continue his famous "debates" with his archrival Democrat Stephen A. Douglas on the question of slavery. The Cooper Union speech, which was carefully researched by Lincoln and refers often to the Founders and authors of the Constitution, is an antislavery lecture, capped by a ringing warning to would-be secessionists in the South. It reaches its climax with the assurance that "right makes might." Long held, inaccurately, to be an appeal to the conservatives, Holzer presents Lincoln's speech as a masterly combination of scholarship, a brief for equality and democracy, and a rallying cry to the country and the Republican party. Holzer describes the enormous risk Lincoln took by appearing in New York, where he exposed himself to the country's most critical audience and took on Republican senator William Henry Seward of New York, the front-runner, in his own backyard. Then he recounts the brilliant and innovative public relations campaign, as Lincolntook the speech "on the road" in his successful quest for the presidency. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 54
... South will not " listen " to his words , what follows is an elaborate attempt to ingratiate himself with his Northern audiences by rallying them around rational , unifying sentiments that the South should entertain if only they were ...
... South be satisfied if the Territories were open to slav- ery ? " We know they will not . " Will the South be satisfied if Republicans pledge to " have nothing to do with invasions or insurrections ? We know it will not . " Note Lincoln ...
... South will then decide the great question whether they will submit to the domination of Black Republican rule — the funda- mental principle of their organization being an open , undisguised , and declared war upon our social ...
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Chapter One Abe Lincoln Must Come | 7 |
Chapter Two So Much Labor as This | 28 |
Copyright | |
9 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech that Made Abraham Lincoln President Harold Holzer Limited preview - 2004 |
Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President Harold Holzer Limited preview - 2006 |