This course, and my what ground we have covered thus far. We have more to cover because we are coming up to the 1850s now. We are talking about the crises of the 1850s that really begin with the compromise of 1850 that moved into the kansasnebraska act of 1854, and we are going to see still more earthquakes occurring. But as we do this, we have a character that we have to meet who is going to play a central role in this entire course, and that is Abraham Lincoln. We touched very briefly in our last session by way of introduction of lincoln, and just to go through some of the details once again, Abraham Lincoln is born in 1809, born the 12th of february. His parents are thomas and nancy hanks lincoln, and lincoln himself is born in hodginville, kentucky in a log cabin quite literally. In 1818, his parents uproot from kentucky and move northwards across the ohio river into southern indiana. That is where lincoln grows up. Alas, that is also where lincolns mother dies. Lincolns father goes back to kentucky, remarries, and lincoln now has a stepmother, Sarah Bush Johnston. And what is almost an inversion of the old hansel and gretel story of the wicked stepmother, is actually something of the reverse for Abraham Lincoln, because Sarah Bush Johnston really becomes his mother fully as much as a mother could be. She and her stepson abraham, they were copacetic, something that cannot be said about lincolns relationship with his father, thomas. Where the relationship being a good deal more tense. Lincoln would once described his father his as the man who could bunglingly sign his own name. That is not a compliment. They are two different qualities. So different that when Thomas Lincoln once again picks up the family and moves westward across the wabash river to illinois, at that point young abraham, having turned 21, decides he is going to strike out on his own. And the moment he strikes out the home that he strikes out upon has very little in common with Thomas Lincoln. He was content being a farmer, a jacksonian if there ever was. The young Abraham Lincoln has other dreams. He has no use whatsoever for the agrarian life. He goes into some shortlived business in new salem, not that it succeeds, not that it prospers, but he keeps trying out until finally he gets himself elected to the Illinois State legislature in 1834, and he will serve four terms in the legislature. He is a whig, and one almost wants to say that he is a whigs whig, because his entire attitude, in contrast with his father, with andrew jackson, what Abraham Lincoln embraces is the entire whig ethos of self transformation. Henry clay will be for lincoln what lincoln called his beauideal of a statesman, and he is much more suspicious in what he has to say about andrew jackson. It is not entirely a matter of applause. So the words we looked at last time where lincoln is talking about how the panelisty in the world labors for a while, saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land for himself, then labors and then at length hires a new beginner to help him, this is his free labor. That is it. That is the whiggish system of self transformation, selfimprovement, free labor. The just and generous system that opens the way to all, gives hope to all and improvement of condition to all. If one continued in condition of higher labor, not a fault of the system, but because of a dependent nature which prefers it or in providence folly or similar misfortune, there is and this is lincoln affirming not only principles of free labor and whiggish self transformation, but this is also the way lincoln draws his contrast with slavery. There is no permanent class of hired laborers amongst us, or at least there is not in illinois. Remember James Henry Hammond defending slavery on the grounds that every society requires a mud sill class to perform all of the mud sill duties, and washington said hammond was a genius of the south that it had a specific group of people that would perform the mud sill duties and nothing but for the entirety of their lives, which were black slaves. By contrast, lincoln says there is no permanent class of hired laborers amongst us. There is no mud sill class. 25 years ago, i was a hired laborer. I was one of those mud sill, but the hired labor of yesterday you labors on his own account and will hire for labor tomorrow. Advancement, improvement in condition is the order of things in a society of equals. Of course improvement and advancement in condition are exactly the things that slaves could not aspire to and which James Henry Hammond would be very disturbed to find a mud sill class aspiring to. People are surprised when they see this image. This is the first photograph of Abraham Lincoln. It does not quite look like the guy we meet on the five dollar bill. It is a gregariotype taken in 1846, and lincoln does not look like somebody fresh off his fathers farm. By 1846, he wasnt. He goes off to the legislature in 1834. He also carries within the desire for advancement and the way to advancement for lincoln is to study law. And so he becomes a lawyer, a printing sing himself more or less as a junior partner to a prominent kentucky lawyer in spring floral, illinois named John Todd Stewart who he had met during the militia. Service he rendered that was where stewart and lincoln met in 1832. Lincoln marks was a junior partner for John Todd Stewart. But eventually, what he wants to do its to be on his own. And he achieves that in 1844, taking along with him as a junior partner to a prominent kentucky lawyer in springfield, illinois named john taught stewart who he had met during Demolition Services rendered during the black hawk war of 1832. And he achieves that in 1844, taking along with him as a junior partner of his own William HenryHarrison Herndon who will over the years to come become something of the boswell to lincolns johnson. Lincoln spends a great deal of his professional time in the lawyer, practicing on the eighth judicial circuit, which is mostly central illinois. At its apex, it is 14 counties in central illinois, including the capital springfield where lincoln lives. His law practice is overwhelmingly civil law. Only about 5 of lincolns cases over the years touched on criminal matters. He is mostly a civil lawyer. Practicing civil law. He does will and estates, he does trust that trespass and assumption, and he does collections. In fact, he does a lot of collections. Abraham lincoln was a repo man. But in fact, his caseload is really not the caseload of a specialist. He is providing Legal Services for all colors, so it is a very broadly base practice and it is one that keeps him very busy. In his busiest year, 1853, lincoln has over 300 cases for which he is responsible. That is a lot. He is not only a civil lawyer, he is a trial lawyer. He is not one of these lawyers who sits in an office and reads papers in the unbox and out box. He is a trial lawyer. He specialized in working in front of juries, convincing juries, and on the old eight judicial circuit, that was a challenge and for two reasons. In those days, juries had a whole lot more in the way of discretion for how long was decided. Then they do for instance today. Today, judges, legislatures, statutes, lay out pretty much with the law is and juries simply measure with the particular case measures up to. That in lincolns days, juries had a lot of discretions about bucking directions given by judges, interpreting statutes are playing statutes. So that was a challenge for lincoln and appearing before these juries. He not only had to make a case that he also had to make a theory behind the case for the benefit in the jury he was talking to. The other thing about these trees is, these are not carefully selected, carefully screen juries. And these county courthouse is through central illinois, a jury could, as often as not, be selected from wherever the spectators were standing in the back of the courtroom. That meant that lincoln had to learn how to communicate at the clearest and most basic level. And he had to do it swiftly, convincingly, or he would soon be out of business. But, on the other hand, daunting and that might be, as a trial or, this is extremely good training for someone who will later on, politically speaking, have to be someone who specializes in convincing people of big arguments. A lot of what makes lincoln such a great speaker, such a great writer, with such a tremendous capacity to convince people, very logical, a lot of that grows out of his experience as a trial lawyer on the eighth judicial circuit. And by all measurements, he is successful as a trial lawyer. He enjoys the work of a trial lawyer, and he benefits from it quite readily, so that by the 18 fifties, he has accumulated a fairly healthy nest egg. He has a house of his own and springfield, illinois. He is sometimes taking in fees as high as 5000 dollars for a particular case, and in those days, 5000 dollars is a lot of money. A middle class income, in the 18 fifties, would be perhaps, walt witman estimated, 1000 dollars or more a year. Lincoln can fall in 5004 one case. So lincoln is doing very well as a lawyer. He is also doing well, not just economically, but he is doing well socially. In 1842, he marries mary todd. If you notice, John Todd Stewart and Mary Todd Lincoln yes, they are related. They are cousins. That is how mary todd comes to springs field, coming home from her lexington kentucky, visiting springfield. That is where she meets lincoln. Now, it has to be said in all candor, that meeting lincoln was not always the easiest thing to do, because all right, lets be frank, the man is homely. He is, i am sorry. It really is true. Homely enough with the big ears, the big nose, the high hello cheekbones, and although the collar and the tie his neck reminded you have a giraffe. He was six feet for, most of the height in his inches. He would be the same dimension as any of. Us but standing up, watching him standup was like watching a jackknife unfold. He was awkward, and he spoke with a peculiar accent, very high pitched 20, border state kind of accident. And he really did not sound elegant. Elegant, however was a word he probably leaves most about mary todd. Most of her todd relatives did not understand what it was she saw in lincoln. They tried to talk her out of it actually. But she did see some things in lincoln that others did not. And so they were married in 1842. This is a big social step up for Abraham Lincoln, because by marrying mary todd, he has effectively married into the first families of the illinois whigs party. He has moved up dramatically in economic terms and in social terms, but it does not mean that he is always the happiest and most content of people. On the contrary, there is a streak of melancholy, of depression in lincoln, that he called the high pole. Which could sometimes just cover him in gloom. To meet lincoln is to meet a complex and complicated person. Kelly and. inaudible no, because in truth, her father was wealthier than he was. Her father was a very prominent merchant in kentucky. They are actually much more well off than lincoln. Lincoln, of course is coming up, but again, people would wonder, what does she see in this man lincoln . Not enough of it to be a really compelling argument. It is not a gold digger argument. She sees qualities in him that others at first dont. Most of the time, when people met lincoln, what they thought they were meeting as one illinois acquaintance described it, when you met lincoln for the first time, it was like meeting a rough, intelligent farmer. And that, of course, could easily make you underestimate him. He made jokes about his own looks. And why shouldnt he . If he didnt, someone else would so he would beat them to the punch. A photographer once said to lincoln, as photographers will, just look natural. Lincolns reply was, that is what im trying to avoid. On another occasion he told a joke about a man riding through the forest on the path and coming from the other direction on the path, a woman on a horse who stops and stares at him, it is a very root thing to do. He says madame, when you staring out . She says, oh, you are about the ugliest man i have ever met. To which he says, i cannot help that. But she replies, will you could stay home. Now, he made jokes about his own looks, which also intended to induce people to think that here was a simple man. But one of his legal associates, leonard sweat, he was the most perceptive comment ever made about. Lincoln sweat said that anyone who ever took lincoln for a simple minded man which soon wake up with this back in a ditch. He used peoples underestimation of him to his own advantage. But even success, economically and socially is not the most important thing for lincoln. What he wants is success politically. Political success is going to meet election to congress. And that is wet in 1846, he sets out to do, to get himself elected to congress from the seventh Congressional District in mid state illinois. And he is duly elected. He is not at this moment, what you would think of as being an apostle of opposition to slavery. Years later, he would say, i am naturally anti slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I cannot remember when i did not so think and feel. And yet simply being opposed to slavery did not turn him into an abolitionist. It did not turn him into a William Lloyd garrison. In 1837 while he was still sitting in the state legislator, he joins with another week representative to offer resolution, putting down slavery as bad practice, that policy, and justice. But he does not do more than that. When he goes to washington as a member of congress, he backs a bill to abolish the slave trade and the district of columbia, which is before the compromise of 1850. But the bill goes nowhere and lincoln does not press on it. So he is opposed to slavery. He is anti slavery, but he is just not what you might call an activist on the subject. That is until 1854. The reason he is not an activist on the subject is because before 1854, he is convinced that slavery is a dying system which is on its way out. Lincoln believes, first of all, that the founders constructed the United States constitution to be an anti slavery document. Not that the constitution abolished slavery but that the constitution created a system and represented it intentions of founders who believed they had put slavery on the road to extinction. It would happen gradually, painlessly, but it would happen. It would be inevitable. The second thing is that lincoln believes that by confining slavery to the southern states, slavery will turn out to be a system which uses up its own oxygen. That that kind of agriculture that slavery represents like tobacco did in the 18th century, where out the soil and economy and become an economical at the moment that happens then slavery will come to an event. But it will do it on its own. No one needs to behave like harrison abolitionist. Nobody needs to push hard on the slave states and alienate and anger them. Its simply a process, we are just going to let this process unfold. So he is anti slavery, but he doesnt feel any need to take active measures. Because he believes, it is inevitable, it is going to die out on its own. It is a system doomed by its own logic. Via its going to fade away. That is no longer a tenable notion after the kansas nebraska act. The act, by opening up the vast stretches or of the Louisiana Purchase the possibility of legalized slavery, suddenly that was like a blinding flash of light. Suddenly slavery was no longer confined to the southern states, no longer going to fix the aid on its own. To the contrary its going to open up the possibility that it was going to spread and mutate like an irresistible virus. That it was going to swallow up the whole of the american west, both the Louisiana Purchase and the mexican session and once it had finished swallowing that up its going to turn its attention back to the free states of the north and legally slavery there. That was why the kansas nebraska act with such a shock. That is why we get so many chase and the appeal of the independent democrats, that is why we get Charles Sumner and the crime against kansas. We get bleeding kansas. Lincoln testifies to this. The nebraska bill astounded us. We were thunderstruck and stunned, we reeled and fell into utter confusion. But we rose. Each fighting, grasping whatever he could at his first reach, a pitchfork, a chopping acts, a butchers cleaver. Not literally. But rhetoricaly and politically yes. Just as the Anthony Burns rendition had put a mess into the position of saying one night we went to bed old, compromised twigs and woke up stark raving mad abolitionists, the nebraska bill had something of the same effect on link going. Suddenly he wakes up. Slavery is not going away on it. Zone it is not going to go peacefully. To the contrary, it is going to turn and stronger the rest of us. That means we have to do something about it. And we have to do something about slavery and it is this which transforms lincoln. Into the public opponent and critic of slavery and slavery extension. He goes public for the first time in october 1854, in a lengthy speech that he gives an puree illinois. Which in some respects it is the greatest speech ever gaves. There are other speeches of lincolns which are more eloquent, the gettysburg address of course, but in terms of offering a comprehensive view of the most important questions of the day, nothing, nothing meets the puree speech. On october 16th 1854, in it lincoln addresses a fundamental political issue which is the repeal of the missouri compromise. Which is another way of saying that kansas the brass kayaked, because they did in fact repeal the missouri compromise. A repeal of the missouri compromise is wrong and its direct effect is letting slavery into kansas and nebraska. But the problem here is more. It is not just a technicality saw the kansas nebraska bill allowing slavery to be legalized of people want it in the western territories. After all, Stephen Douglas rationale for attaching the popular sovereignty doctrine