Lincoln's Transition
Essential Question: How did Lincoln change his pragmatic approach to politics in the 1850s?
Lincoln returned to politics in 1854 after the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed. The bill repealed the ban on slavery above 36 30' in the Missouri Compromise. The bill angered many northerners and served as a catalyst that broke apart the Whigs and led to the rise of the Republican Party. Lincoln, like many northern Whigs, was opposed to the expansion of slavery, and felt that the Constitution prohibited the federal government from interfering with it in the states. His hope was to contain it and let it die out on its own. Slavery was splitting the Whig party and causing it to lose its influence. He began to move towards the Republicans in the mid-1850s. Here are two letters that he wrote before he fully joined the Republican Party. The first is a close reading of a letter that Lincoln wrote to Owen Lovejoy, an Illinois abolitionist. The text of the letter is here. The second is a letter he wrote a few weeks later to his friend Joshua Speed. Lincoln was later a candidate for the Senate, losing to Stephen A. Douglas, but was elected President in 1860.
Questions to consider:
1. Research the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Why was there so much resistance in the north to this bill?
2. Why would the Southerners support this bill?
3. What were some other considerations for Stephen Douglas when he was proposing this bill?
4. Think back to the definition of pragmatism from Lincoln's Whig years. How does it apply differently when Lincoln said "stand with those who stand right"?
5. Why would Lincoln be afraid to be seen as an abolitionist rather than an anti-slavery candidate? What was the difference in the two terms?
6. What were Lincoln's thoughts on the Know-Nothings?
7. Think back to Lincoln's first campaign statement. What were the factors necessary for Lincoln to grow and develop to the point that he was elected President in 1860?
Essential Question: How did Lincoln change his pragmatic approach to politics in the 1850s?
Lincoln returned to politics in 1854 after the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed. The bill repealed the ban on slavery above 36 30' in the Missouri Compromise. The bill angered many northerners and served as a catalyst that broke apart the Whigs and led to the rise of the Republican Party. Lincoln, like many northern Whigs, was opposed to the expansion of slavery, and felt that the Constitution prohibited the federal government from interfering with it in the states. His hope was to contain it and let it die out on its own. Slavery was splitting the Whig party and causing it to lose its influence. He began to move towards the Republicans in the mid-1850s. Here are two letters that he wrote before he fully joined the Republican Party. The first is a close reading of a letter that Lincoln wrote to Owen Lovejoy, an Illinois abolitionist. The text of the letter is here. The second is a letter he wrote a few weeks later to his friend Joshua Speed. Lincoln was later a candidate for the Senate, losing to Stephen A. Douglas, but was elected President in 1860.
Questions to consider:
1. Research the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Why was there so much resistance in the north to this bill?
2. Why would the Southerners support this bill?
3. What were some other considerations for Stephen Douglas when he was proposing this bill?
4. Think back to the definition of pragmatism from Lincoln's Whig years. How does it apply differently when Lincoln said "stand with those who stand right"?
5. Why would Lincoln be afraid to be seen as an abolitionist rather than an anti-slavery candidate? What was the difference in the two terms?
6. What were Lincoln's thoughts on the Know-Nothings?
7. Think back to Lincoln's first campaign statement. What were the factors necessary for Lincoln to grow and develop to the point that he was elected President in 1860?