Abraham Lincoln Peoria speech
Abraham Lincoln's Peoria speech was made in
The 1854
Lincoln was compelled to argue his case against the Kansas-Nebraska Act in three public speeches during September and October 1854, all in direct response to Douglas. [ [http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/inside.asp?ID=10&subjectID=2 Mr. Lincoln and Freedom: The progress of Abraham Lincoln's opposition to slavery ] ] The most comprehensive address was given by Lincoln in Peoria, Illinois, on October 16. [ [http://www.lincolnatpeoria.com/ Abraham Lincoln at Peoria: The Turning Point ] ] The three hour speech, [ [http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/inside.asp?ID=11&subjectID=2 Mr. Lincoln and Freedom: The progress of Abraham Lincoln's opposition to slavery ] ] transcribed after the fact by Lincoln himself, presented thorough moral, legal and economic arguments against slavery, and set the stage for Lincoln’s political future. [ [http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/inside.asp?ID=1&subjectID=1 Mr. Lincoln and Freedom: The progress of Abraham Lincoln's opposition to slavery ] ]
Horace White [ [http://www.mrlincolnandfriends.org/inside.asp?pageID=114&subjectID=4 Mr. Lincoln and Friends: Abraham Lincoln's friendships from Springfield, Illinois - Washington DC ] ] was a young journalist working as the city editor of the "Chicago Evening Journal" when he first saw Mr. Lincoln: “It was a warmish day in early October, and Mr. Lincoln was in his shirt sleeves when he stepped on the platform. I observed that, although awkward, he was not in the least embarrassed. He began in a slow and hesitating manner, but without any mistakes of language, dates, or facts. It was evident that he had mastered his subject, that he knew what he was going to say, and that he knew he was right.”Horace White, “Abraham Lincoln in 1854”, Address before Illinois State Historical Society, January 1908, p. 10.] White described the speakers: “At the appointed time Douglas and Lincoln entered the hall, the former taking a seat on the front row of benches and the latter advancing to the platform. The two men presented a wide contrast in personal appearance, Lincoln being 6 feet 3 inches high, lean, angular, raw boned, with a complexion of leather, unkempt, and with clothes that seemed to have dropped on him and might drop off; Douglas, almost a dwarf, only 5 feet 4 inches high, but rotund, portly, smooth faced, with ruddy complexion and a lion-like mane, and dressed in clothes of faultless fit. [us Rockwell Wilson, editor, Horace White, “Lincoln Among His Friends”, "New York Evening Post", February 12, 1909, p. 170.] White described Lincoln’s style of speaking in colorful terms: “Progressing with his theme, his words began to come faster and his face to light up with the rays of genius and his body to move in unison with his thoughts. His gestures were made with his body and head rather than with his arms. His speaking went to the heart because it came from the heart. I have heard celebrated orators who could start thunders of applause without changing any man’s opinion. Mr. Lincoln’s eloquence was of the higher type, which produced conviction in others because of the conviction of the speaker himself. His listeners felt that he believed every word he said, and that, like Lincoln's speech in many ways foreshadowed the political future that he would soon embark upon: "Little by little, but steadily as man's march to the grave, we have been giving up the old for the new faith. Nearly eighty years ago we began by declaring that all men are created equal; but now from that beginning we have run down to the other declaration, that for some men to enslave others is a 'sacred right of self-government.' These principles cannot stand together. They are as opposite as God and ee also * References