Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) The Cooper Union Address given by Abraham Lincoln in the Great Hall of The Cooper Union in New York February 27, 1860
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #:
GLC04471.09
Author/Creator:
Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865)
Place Written:
New York, New York
Type:
Pamphlet
Date:
1960
Pagination:
32 p. ; 21.5 x 14 cm
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With an introduction written by Leroy H. Buckingham, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English, The Cooper Union. Published by The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, 1960. Buckingham's introduction discusses Lincoln's political background and the events and issues leading up to the speech. In the address, Lincoln discusses the most pressing issue of the day, slavery, and attacks the view put forth by Stephen Douglas and others that slavery was founded by the forefathers of the country. He examines the views of the 39 signers of the Constitution and notes that at least 21of them believed that Congress should control slavery in the U. S. territories, not allow it to expand. Lincoln proposes that the Republican stance of the time was not revolutionary, but similar to the views of the country's forefathers, and therefore should not alarm Southerners, who opposed the Republican agenda.
Before giving this speech, Lincoln was virtually unknown in New York though he had held debates against Douglas in 1858. This speech, sponsored by the Young Men's Republican Union in New York, is widely credited as the speech that got Lincoln the presidential nomination.
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