A. Lincoln_ A Biography Part 10

ON MAY 28, 1856, Lincoln traveled by train from Danville to Decatur on his way to Bloomington. Upon learning there was no train north until the following morning, he strolled about town with other delegates to the upcoming anti-Nebraska convention. While sitting on the trunk of a fallen tree, Lincoln reminisced about coming to Decatur twenty-five years earlier as a young man from Indiana. He pointed to the exact place on the public square where he had stopped the wagon and team of oxen he was driving. Lincoln confessed he was worried about what might transpire in Bloomington. He feared the radicals in the northern counties would be well represented in Bloomington, but voiced his concern that there might not be many representatives from the conservative southern Illinois counties.

Arriving in Bloomington the next day, Lincoln made his way to Judge Davis's mansion where he was invited to stay. Later he stopped in a small jewelry store where he bought his first pair of spectacles for thirty-seven and a half cents. He told his walking companion, lawyer Henry C. Whitney, that "he had got to be forty-seven years old, and 'kinder' needed them."

In the evening, a crowd gathered in front of the Pike House hotel and called for speeches. Lincoln stepped forward, claimed he wasn't prepared to speak that evening, but then proceeded to do so. He talked about the "outrages" in Kansas and said, "A man couldn't think, dream, or breathe of a free state there, but what he was kicked, cuffed, shot down and hung."

On the morning of May 29, 1856, everyone was eager for the arrival of the Chicago dailies. Isaac N. Arnold, a former Democrat and now Free Soil politician from Chicago, stood on the main stairway and read from two stories that the delegates had been following. Eight days earlier a huge Kansas posse, including Missouri "border ruffians," had swept into Lawrence, Kansas, with the intent of striking terror among the rising free-state population. Finding that the free-state leaders had fled, they proceeded to throw two printing presses into the streets and turned five cannon on the Free State Hotel, finally setting the building on fire. Although no one was killed, homes and businesses were pillaged, and the story of the "Sack of Lawrence" ignited antislavery men across the North.

Arnold then read aloud about events in Was.h.i.+ngton. Senator Charles Sumner of Ma.s.sachusetts had delivered an eloquent but bitterly antagonistic "Crime against Kansas" speech on May 19 and 20, 1856, including fierce personal criticisms of Senator James Mason of Virginia and Senator Andrew P. Butler of South Carolina. On May 22, as the Senate was adjourning, Sumner was attacked by young South Carolina representative Preston S. Brooks, a nephew of Butler, and beaten into b.l.o.o.d.y unconsciousness with a walking cane.

With everyone talking about Kansas and Sumner, the convention was called to order. About 270 delegates, mostly from northern and central Illinois, joined together in Major's Hall, located on the third floor over Humphrey's Cheap Store. The call that had gone out was for a "State Convention of the Anti-Nebraska Party of Illinois." There were at least two stumbling blocks for using the name "Republican." First, the name had become a.s.sociated with the abolitionists, and many delegates detested the abolitionists as much as they did Douglas. Second, Douglas had been using the characterization "Black Republicans" as a way to play the race card.

The artist pictures the caning of Senator Charles Sumner on May 22, 1856. Above the scene were words from Henry Ward Beecher: "The symbol of the North is the pen; the symbol of the South is the bludgeon."

Orville Browning, conservative lawyer from Quincy, led the effort to put together a platform. In its final form, it did not embrace the demands of the abolitionists, but rather reiterated the older logic that Congress had the right to keep slavery out of the territories. It condemned the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and called for the immediate admission of Kansas as a free state. With a nod to the Germans-a potential new force for the Republicans-it remained silent on temperance. As for the vexing issue of nativism, it included the statement that the new party would "proscribe no one, by legislation or otherwise, on account of religious opinions, or in consequence of place of birth." Emerging out of Bloomington was an Illinois Republican Party, moderate in its beliefs and tone, ready to take its place within what had become a national Republican Party.

When the official business of the convention was completed, shouts rang out, "Lincoln! Lincoln! Lincoln!" Lincoln stepped forward, to "deafening applause," to make the final speech of the convention. He spoke for nearly an hour and a half. The speech was so powerful that the newspaper reporters in the hall, spellbound, put down their pencils after the opening minutes and failed to record what Lincoln said. It was reportedly one of the most compelling speeches of his life. Some said that he spoke extemporaneously, but by now Lincoln never approached even the possibility of such a speech without careful preparation.

The Alton Weekly Courier Alton Weekly Courier was the only newspaper that carried a summary of the speech, and it was exceedingly brief. Lincoln spoke of the "pressing reasons" for the Republican Party to step forward at this time. As to the prospect of threats of disunion coming from the South, Lincoln replied, "The Union must be preserved in the purity of its principles as well as the integrity of its territorial parts." was the only newspaper that carried a summary of the speech, and it was exceedingly brief. Lincoln spoke of the "pressing reasons" for the Republican Party to step forward at this time. As to the prospect of threats of disunion coming from the South, Lincoln replied, "The Union must be preserved in the purity of its principles as well as the integrity of its territorial parts."

Because no stenographic reporter recorded the address, it has acquired the t.i.tle of Lincoln's "Lost Speech." It's surprising that Lincoln, even though he spoke without notes, did not later write the speech out, at least in summary form, for publication by local newspapers. Yet, his pa.s.sion and eloquence were not lost on his audience. Herndon wrote ten years later, "I have heard or read all of Mr. Lincoln's great speeches, and I give it as my opinion that the Bloomington speech was the grand effort of his life. ... He had the fervor of a new convert; the smothered flame broke out; enthusiasm unusual to him blazed up, his eyes were aglow with an inspiration, he felt justice."

IT WILL FOREVER BE DEBATED whether Lincoln's political career was essentially continuous or whether there was a new beginning in 1854. The friends who knew him best-even with their great respect for what he had already accomplished-would say there was something new in the anti-Nebraska Lincoln. In 1854, with the speech he delivered at Springfield and again at Peoria, he laid the foundation of ideas he would build upon in the next six years. Like anything new, Lincoln's ideas went through a refining process. He began with opposition to the extension of slavery in the West in the political disguise of "popular sovereignty." But he had long ago learned that simple opposition to expansion could never carry the day. Where he began to distinguish himself from his peers was his ability to offer affirmation-of the old Declaration of Independence and of a new vision for America. whether Lincoln's political career was essentially continuous or whether there was a new beginning in 1854. The friends who knew him best-even with their great respect for what he had already accomplished-would say there was something new in the anti-Nebraska Lincoln. In 1854, with the speech he delivered at Springfield and again at Peoria, he laid the foundation of ideas he would build upon in the next six years. Like anything new, Lincoln's ideas went through a refining process. He began with opposition to the extension of slavery in the West in the political disguise of "popular sovereignty." But he had long ago learned that simple opposition to expansion could never carry the day. Where he began to distinguish himself from his peers was his ability to offer affirmation-of the old Declaration of Independence and of a new vision for America.

Beneath the public figure dwelt a private man forging a deeper moral character as he clarified his personal and political ident.i.ty. As Lincoln's political star began to rise, his friends and colleagues often tried to define and sometimes even restrict who he was becoming. But the dynamism of the developing Lincoln could not be confined. Emphasizing his "ancient faith" in the Declaration of Independence, he was not to be bound even to the American Revolution and the founding generation. Though he grieved for the Whig Party, its pa.s.sing opened up new prospects for political achievement and service that he had not known before. With the birth of the Republican Party, Lincoln left Bloomington with no political office but with something much more important-a political vision for the promise of America that would lead him into the future.

While Lincoln was in Chicago working on a lawsuit some attorney friends asked him for a photograph. He replied, "I don't know why you boys want such a homely face." Alexander Hesler tried to brush Lincoln's hair away from his forehead. This "tousled hair" photograph made Lincoln smile and pleased his friends.

CHAPTER 12.

A House Divided 185658 I BELIEVE THIS GOVERNMENT CANNOT ENDURE, PERMANENTLY HALF SLAVE SLAVE AND HALF AND HALF FREE FREE.

I DO NOT EXPECT THE UNION TO BE DISSOLVED-I DISSOLVED-I DO NOT EXPECT THE HOUSE TO DO NOT EXPECT THE HOUSE TO FALL FALL-BUT I DO DO EXPECT IT WILL CEASE TO BE DIVIDED. EXPECT IT WILL CEASE TO BE DIVIDED.

ABRAHAM LINCOLNSpeech at the Republican convention, Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858 -N JUNE 1856, ON THE EVE OF THE FIRST NATIONAL REPUBLICANconvention in Philadelphia, Abraham Lincoln was far away in Urbana, Illinois. He had arrived on Tuesday, June 17, to attend a special session of the Champaign County Court. He checked into a room at the American House hotel where he was joined by his close friends Judge David Davis and lawyer Henry C. Whitney.

The proprietor, John Dunaway, called his guests to meals by beating vigorously on a gong situated directly under the room where the three jurists slept. On Thursday morning, after their sleep was disturbed for a second morning, Davis and Whitney, by a majority vote, elected Lincoln to deal with the noisy annoyance. The next day, after the morning session of court, Lincoln went back to the hotel, took the gong down, and "secreted" it between two layers of a dining room table. When the proprietor attempted to call his boarders to the noon meal, he looked high and low but could not find the missing gong. When Whitney and Davis reached their room, there sat Lincoln, "looking amused, sheepish, and guilty, as if he had done something ridiculous as well as reprehensible." The prank deserved a great laugh, and no one laughed harder than Lincoln.

The following day, June 20, 1856, the Chicago papers, arriving about the time of the noon court break, announced that Lincoln had received 110 votes for vice president at the Republican national convention, the second highest of any candidate. Davis and Whitney were "jubilant" at the news. Davis, recalling the prank of the day before, playfully admonished Lincoln: "Great business for a man who aspires to be Vice President of the United States." To their surprise, the news "made slight impression on Lincoln." Finally, he responded, "I reckon it's not me. There's another Lincoln down in Ma.s.sachusetts. I've an idea he's the one."

The Republicans in Philadelphia offered a validation that Lincoln had become a national Republican leader. Yet, the forty-seven-year-old Lincoln, for a long time reluctant to join the Republican Party, had not held an elected office for seven years and was only one and a half years removed from his defeat for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. Given the whirlwind of events since he reemerged into politics two years before, who could dare predict what the next two years might bring for A. Lincoln, the man with the self-deprecating sense of humor.

THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION convened on June 17 at the Musical Fund Hall in Philadelphia. The party nominated John C. Fremont as its first presidential candidate. A forty-three-year-old military man and explorer, Fremont had become a hero after his expeditions through the American West. Born in the South, he had served briefly as one of the first two senators from California. He was strongly opposed to slavery. As a celebrity with great name recognition, Fremont won on the first ballot, with 530 votes to 37 for Judge John McLean of Pennsylvania, whom Lincoln had favored. convened on June 17 at the Musical Fund Hall in Philadelphia. The party nominated John C. Fremont as its first presidential candidate. A forty-three-year-old military man and explorer, Fremont had become a hero after his expeditions through the American West. Born in the South, he had served briefly as one of the first two senators from California. He was strongly opposed to slavery. As a celebrity with great name recognition, Fremont won on the first ballot, with 530 votes to 37 for Judge John McLean of Pennsylvania, whom Lincoln had favored.

Delegates nominated fifteen names for vice president. Illinois delegate William B. Archer persuaded John Allison, a congressman from Pennsylvania, to nominate Lincoln. Archer, who had known Lincoln for thirty years, made a seconding speech on behalf of Illinois, calling Lincoln "as pure a patriot as ever lived."

Lincoln garnered 110 votes on the first ballot, trailing only William L. Dayton, a former senator from New Jersey, who polled 221 votes. Most impressive was that Lincoln received votes from eleven states, stretching from Maine to California. Dayton was elected on the second ballot. Two days later, Archer wrote to Lincoln, "had we moved earlier," he might have stood a stronger chance at the nomination.

Lincoln learned that a number of people outside of Illinois had stood up to commend his nomination. Lincoln wrote to one of them, John Van d.y.k.e of New Brunswick, New Jersey, who had served with Lincoln in the Thirtieth Congress. He told Van d.y.k.e, "When you meet Judge Dayton present my respects, and tell him I think him a far better man than I for the position he is in."

LINCOLN THREW HIMSELF into the 1856 presidential campaign. Unlike 1852, when he had done little campaigning for the Whig presidential nominee, General Winfield Scott, Lincoln spoke everywhere on Fremont's behalf. On June 23, 1856, in Urbana, he praised "the gallant Fremont," and promised he would "devote considerable of his time to the work" of seeking his election. into the 1856 presidential campaign. Unlike 1852, when he had done little campaigning for the Whig presidential nominee, General Winfield Scott, Lincoln spoke everywhere on Fremont's behalf. On June 23, 1856, in Urbana, he praised "the gallant Fremont," and promised he would "devote considerable of his time to the work" of seeking his election.

Lincoln stumped for the first Republican presidential ticket, John C. Fremont and William Dayton, in 1856.

The Democratic Party, deeply split over the issue of slavery, "bleeding Kansas," and the ongoing debate over the role of the states versus the federal government, nominated James Buchanan of Pennsylvania over Stephen Douglas as their presidential candidate. Buchanan's political advantage was his absence. He had been out of the country the past four years serving as amba.s.sador to England, and thus he was the only candidate not tarnished by the bruising battles over the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Douglas, who had worked hard to become his party's star, was now seen by some as too controversial to be elected. Buchanan won the nomination on the seventeenth ballot. The party platform supported "popular sovereignty" as the means of settling the issue of slavery in the territories.

The presidential election of 1856 became a story of contrasts. Buchanan was born into a well-to-do family in Pennsylvania. He had never married. A tall, handsome man, he wore stiff, high stocks about his jowls that accentuated both his height and his formal personality. He had served five terms in the House of Representatives and ten years in the Senate. He also had served as minister to Russia under President Jackson and secretary of state under President Polk, and came to the campaign fresh from his service as minister to the Court of St. James's in England under President Pierce. Never had a candidate brought more political experience to a presidential campaign.

Fremont was born in Georgia, an illegitimate child of a father who came to the United States as a penniless French-Canadian refugee. He married Jessie Benton, the beautiful daughter of Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri. Benton, a champion of Western expansion, helped Fremont get a.s.signments in the 1840s to explore the entire American West. Fremont capitalized on five successful expeditions, traveling across the Rocky Mountains to California, to position himself as a young hero of a new party. Ironically, it was Buchanan, as secretary of state, who convinced the Senate to publish Fremont's Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in 1842, which had enhanced Fremont's fame. Seldom had a candidate brought less political experience to a campaign. in 1842, which had enhanced Fremont's fame. Seldom had a candidate brought less political experience to a campaign.

The Republicans set out to campaign on the theme "Free Soil, Free Speech, and Fremont." Stories of "bleeding Kansas" were kept alive by on-the-scene reports in Horace Greeley's New York Tribune. New York Tribune. Democrats countered that Fremont was a "black abolitionist," the front man for a party of radicals. Democrats countered that Fremont was a "black abolitionist," the front man for a party of radicals.

In this frenzied environment, Lincoln spoke out on the campaign trail in support of Fremont, but the scope of his speeches was broader than support for the candidate, whom he did not know. Long sections of his speeches consisted of historical and philosophical a.n.a.lysis and made almost no reference to Fremont.

In the summer of 1856, Lincoln privately wrestled with a number of ideas. He wrote a long note to himself-undated, but probably from July-in which he sought to define the issues at stake in the campaign. He began, as he almost always did in his private notes, with a problem. "It is constantly objected to Fremont & Dayton, [Fremont's vice-presidential candidate] that they are supported by a sectional sectional party, who, by their party, who, by their sectionalism, sectionalism, endanger the National Union." The Democrats continually charged that the Republicans, because of their strong anti-slavery beliefs, represented only the North and parts of the West, and thus could never be a national party. Lincoln believed that the issue of sectionalism, "more than all others," was causing persons "really opposed to slavery extension, to hesitate." This was the "reason, I now propose to examine it, a little more carefully than I have heretofore done, or seen it done by others." endanger the National Union." The Democrats continually charged that the Republicans, because of their strong anti-slavery beliefs, represented only the North and parts of the West, and thus could never be a national party. Lincoln believed that the issue of sectionalism, "more than all others," was causing persons "really opposed to slavery extension, to hesitate." This was the "reason, I now propose to examine it, a little more carefully than I have heretofore done, or seen it done by others."

In his private reflection, Lincoln engaged in a systematic examination of all the issues involved in sectionalism. He began by exploring the ways Democrats tried to make the Republican question-"Shall slavery be allowed to extend into U.S. territories, now legally free?"-into a sectional issue. In his answer, Lincoln engaged in a long backward gaze at previous candidates for president, noting which ones were from free and slave states. He pointed out that in 1844, the Democratic Party had nominated a Southern candidate, James Polk of Tennessee, but since 1848, as the debate over the extension of slavery escalated, the Democrats nominated only Northern candidates, "each vieing to outbid the other for the Southern vote."

Questions punctuate every paragraph in Lincoln's note. Toward the end, he asked, "Then, which side shall yield?" His answer: Do they really think the right right ought to yield to the ought to yield to the wrong? wrong? Are they afraid to stand by the Are they afraid to stand by the right? right? Do they fear that the const.i.tution is too weak to sustain them in the right? Do they really think that by right surrendering to wrong, the hopes of our const.i.tutions, our Union, and our liberties, can possibly be bettered? Do they fear that the const.i.tution is too weak to sustain them in the right? Do they really think that by right surrendering to wrong, the hopes of our const.i.tutions, our Union, and our liberties, can possibly be bettered?

This note demonstrates a major reason Lincoln was becoming such a persuasive public speaker. He was willing to engage in the hard task of examining an opponent's arguments fully and fairly.

WHILE IN CHICAGO to try cases before the federal court, Lincoln accepted an invitation to address a Sat.u.r.day evening open-air meeting in Dearborn Park on July 19, 1856. Referring to the Democrats' nomination of Buchanan, Lincoln said it "showed how the South does not put up her own men for the Presidency, but holds up the prize that the ambition of Northern men may make bids for it." The to try cases before the federal court, Lincoln accepted an invitation to address a Sat.u.r.day evening open-air meeting in Dearborn Park on July 19, 1856. Referring to the Democrats' nomination of Buchanan, Lincoln said it "showed how the South does not put up her own men for the Presidency, but holds up the prize that the ambition of Northern men may make bids for it." The Chicago Democratic Press Chicago Democratic Press reported that Lincoln "demonstrated in the strongest manner, that the only issue before us, is freedom or slavery." reported that Lincoln "demonstrated in the strongest manner, that the only issue before us, is freedom or slavery."

In Galena on July 23, 1856, Lincoln spoke of the challenge of Mil-lard Fillmore, candidate of the Know-Nothings, who in 1856 officially adopted the name the "American Party." Fillmore, elected as the Whig vice president in 1848, had succeeded to the presidency in 1850 upon the death of Zachary Taylor. As president, Fillmore's signing of the Fugitive Slave Act in September 1850 quickly alienated many Whigs. When the Whig Party collapsed in the early 1850s, Fillmore refused to join the new Republicans. The Know-Nothing American Party nominated Fillmore at their convention in February.

Fillmore's appeal came from his nativist platform commitment: "Americans must rule America." He accused both the Democrats and the Republicans of being "Disunionists." Lincoln was deeply concerned that Fillmore's American Party could deny the Republicans an election victory by playing the role of the spoiler, as he had seen the Liberty Party do before. In the conclusion of his Galena speech, Lincoln exclaimed, "All this talk about the dissolution of the Union is humbug-nothing but folly. We We won't dissolve the Union, and won't dissolve the Union, and you you S SHANT.

During the 1856 campaign, Lincoln received invitations to speak in Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa-recognition of his growing national stature within the Republican Party. The only out-of-state invitation he accepted was to a huge Republican state "concourse" in Kalamazoo, Michigan. On August 27, Lincoln followed the logic of his July private note by declaring that the crux of the campaign was "to learn what people differ about." He stated, "The question of slavery, at the present day, should be not only the greatest question, but very nearly the sole question." He presented the arguments of his opponents, repeating the questionable charge of the Richmond Enquirer Richmond Enquirer "that their slaves are far better off than Northern freemen." He also responded to the complaint that Fremont and his supporters were abolitionists and that the Republicans were disunionists. Lincoln's rhetorical strategy was to ask his audience the questions that he wanted to answer. After praising the United States as "the wonder and admiration of the whole world," he responded to the question, "What is it that has given us so much prosperity?" by responding, "That every man can make himself." "that their slaves are far better off than Northern freemen." He also responded to the complaint that Fremont and his supporters were abolitionists and that the Republicans were disunionists. Lincoln's rhetorical strategy was to ask his audience the questions that he wanted to answer. After praising the United States as "the wonder and admiration of the whole world," he responded to the question, "What is it that has given us so much prosperity?" by responding, "That every man can make himself."

LINCOLN RETURNED HOME ON October 28, 1856, after four months of vigorous campaigning. By his own count he had spoken more than fifty times during the presidential campaign. Although his speeches appeared to reporters and audiences to be extemporaneous, little did they realize how much prior effort, including writing his private notes, went into them. The October 28, 1856, after four months of vigorous campaigning. By his own count he had spoken more than fifty times during the presidential campaign. Although his speeches appeared to reporters and audiences to be extemporaneous, little did they realize how much prior effort, including writing his private notes, went into them. The Amboy Times Amboy Times captured the distinctiveness of Lincoln's maturing political speaking, observing, "His language is pure and respectful, he attacks no man's character or motives, but fights with arguments." captured the distinctiveness of Lincoln's maturing political speaking, observing, "His language is pure and respectful, he attacks no man's character or motives, but fights with arguments."

Lincoln came home to a house divided. Mary did not support Fremont. She wrote her younger half sister Emilie Todd Helm in Lexington, contrasting her political views with those of her husband. Knowing Emilie's strong Southern viewpoint, Mary first defended her husband. " Altho' Mr L is, or was a Fremont Fremont man, you must not include him with so many of those, who belong to man, you must not include him with so many of those, who belong to that that party, an party, an Abolitionist." Abolitionist." She further explained, "All he desires is, that slavery, shall not be extended, let it remain where it is." Mary then explained her own political position. "My weak woman's heart was too Southern in feeling, to sympathize with any but Fillmore." She further explained, "All he desires is, that slavery, shall not be extended, let it remain where it is." Mary then explained her own political position. "My weak woman's heart was too Southern in feeling, to sympathize with any but Fillmore."

On Tuesday, November 4, 1856, a cold and muddy election day in Springfield, Lincoln was the 226th voter at polling place number two. Across the nation there was intense interest and an immense turnout. People stood in queues for more than two hours in New York City to vote. Nearly 83 percent of the nation's eligible voters went to the polls, up nearly 7 percent from the election of 1852.

Lincoln had to wait for several days before the results became known in Illinois. In the end, Fremont lost, but William Bissell won for governor by a majority of five thousand, the first statewide victory for the new Republican Party. As Lincoln had feared, the Fillmore vote hurt Fremont, but the American Party vote ran below expectations.

Although Buchanan triumphed in the electoral college with 174 votes to 114 for Fremont and 8 for Fillmore, he did not win a majority of the popular vote. He received 1,832,955 votes (45.3 percent) compared to 1,340,537 (33.1 percent) for Fremont, and 871,955 (21.6 percent) for Fillmore. Buchanan won five Northern states-New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, and California-and every Southern state except Maryland, which went for Fillmore. Fremont won Maine, New Hamps.h.i.+re, and Michigan, which had been Democratic mainstays. But he received only 1,196 votes in the South.

President-elect Buchanan, greeting supporters at Wheatland, his estate on the outskirts of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, offered his interpretation of his victory. "The storm of abolition against the South has been gathering for almost a quarter of a century," he said, a reference to the growth of antislavery sentiment in the North. More recently, "Republicanism was sweeping across the North like a tornado." Then he offered a prediction for the future, one that would prove entirely wrong. "The night is departing, and the roseate and propitious morn now breaking upon us promises a long day of peace and prosperity for our country."

Upon reflection, Republicans called the 1856 presidential election a "victorious defeat." Privately, many Republican leaders complained that Fremont had proved to be long on bravado and short on both political experience and wisdom. There were, however, many encouraging signs for the future. Fremont had defeated Buchanan by more than 80,000 votes in New York. Buchanan's margin of victory in Indiana was less than 2,000 votes, and less than 1,000 votes in Pennsylvania. If the Fremont and Fillmore votes were combined, Fremont would have won both Illinois and New Jersey. If Fremont had won Pennsylvania, and either Indiana or Illinois, the Republicans would have been victorious. In less than twelve months, the Republican Party had become the strongest party in the North. The Republican candidate in 1860 would stand a real chance of winning the presidential election.

LINCOLN HAD PLAYED A VITAL ROLE in the 1856 election. With his help, Republicans had won the complete state ticket in Illinois. Although without office, he had nevertheless become the leading Republican in Illinois by the end of 1856. One month after the election, Lincoln was introduced to the "deafening cheers" of three hundred people at a Republican banquet at the Tremont House in Chicago. Recalling that throughout the campaign the Republicans had been "a.s.sailed as the enemies of the Union," Lincoln declared that the new party was, above all, "the friend of the Union." Responding to the recent final annual message of outgoing president Franklin Pierce, in which he had trumpeted the "triumph of good principles and good men," Lincoln declared that Buchanan did not triumph in the recent election, but that "all of us who did not vote for Mr. Buchanan, taken together, are a majority of four hundred thousand." He noted that during the campaign, the in the 1856 election. With his help, Republicans had won the complete state ticket in Illinois. Although without office, he had nevertheless become the leading Republican in Illinois by the end of 1856. One month after the election, Lincoln was introduced to the "deafening cheers" of three hundred people at a Republican banquet at the Tremont House in Chicago. Recalling that throughout the campaign the Republicans had been "a.s.sailed as the enemies of the Union," Lincoln declared that the new party was, above all, "the friend of the Union." Responding to the recent final annual message of outgoing president Franklin Pierce, in which he had trumpeted the "triumph of good principles and good men," Lincoln declared that Buchanan did not triumph in the recent election, but that "all of us who did not vote for Mr. Buchanan, taken together, are a majority of four hundred thousand." He noted that during the campaign, the Richmond Enquirer, Richmond Enquirer, "an avowed advocate of slavery," had invented the phrase "State equality." In his closing charge to these Republican stalwarts, Lincoln declared, "Let us reinaugurate the good old 'central ideas' of the Republic." What did these ideas mean in the present crisis? "We shall again be able not to declare, that 'all States as States, are equal,' nor yet that 'all citizens as citizens are equal,' but to renew the broader, better declaration, including both these but much more, that 'all "an avowed advocate of slavery," had invented the phrase "State equality." In his closing charge to these Republican stalwarts, Lincoln declared, "Let us reinaugurate the good old 'central ideas' of the Republic." What did these ideas mean in the present crisis? "We shall again be able not to declare, that 'all States as States, are equal,' nor yet that 'all citizens as citizens are equal,' but to renew the broader, better declaration, including both these but much more, that 'all men men are created equal.' " Lincoln asked his audience, "Can we not come together" around this basic belief? are created equal.' " Lincoln asked his audience, "Can we not come together" around this basic belief?

Even in the midst of his growing public esteem, Lincoln struggled privately with insecurity when he compared his political career to that of his longtime rival, Stephen Douglas, the senior senator from Illinois. In December 1856, Lincoln spelled out his struggle on a sc.r.a.p of paper. "Twenty-two years ago Judge Douglas and I first became acquainted." Lincoln, for his eyes only, admitted, "Even then, we were both ambitious; I perhaps, quite as much so as he." What about today? "With me, me, the race of ambition has been a failure-a flat failure; with the race of ambition has been a failure-a flat failure; with him him it has been one of splendid success." He quickly added, "I affect no contempt for the high eminence he has reached." Having confessed his envy, though, Lincoln offered a soulful affirmation about his hope that others could share in his own search for eminence, "so reached, that the oppressed of my species, might have shared with me in the elevation." Lincoln, knowing of Douglas's disdain for African-Americans, declared that whatever ascent he may yet experience might be accompanied by the rise of the "oppressed"-those who had been the subject of every one of his addresses since 1854. He concluded, "I would rather stand on that eminence, than wear the richest crown that ever pressed a monarch's brow." it has been one of splendid success." He quickly added, "I affect no contempt for the high eminence he has reached." Having confessed his envy, though, Lincoln offered a soulful affirmation about his hope that others could share in his own search for eminence, "so reached, that the oppressed of my species, might have shared with me in the elevation." Lincoln, knowing of Douglas's disdain for African-Americans, declared that whatever ascent he may yet experience might be accompanied by the rise of the "oppressed"-those who had been the subject of every one of his addresses since 1854. He concluded, "I would rather stand on that eminence, than wear the richest crown that ever pressed a monarch's brow."

THE STORY IS TOLD of Lincoln returning to Springfield after three months away on the circuit. When he encountered his neighbor, James Gourley, Lincoln asked in jest, "Do you know where Lincoln lives?" After a moment, Lincoln, with a wry smile, pointed to his house and exclaimed, "He used to live here!" Lincoln's feigned disorientation was a sharp comment on what Mary Lincoln had wrought. of Lincoln returning to Springfield after three months away on the circuit. When he encountered his neighbor, James Gourley, Lincoln asked in jest, "Do you know where Lincoln lives?" After a moment, Lincoln, with a wry smile, pointed to his house and exclaimed, "He used to live here!" Lincoln's feigned disorientation was a sharp comment on what Mary Lincoln had wrought.

Thirteen years after the purchase of their home at Eighth and Jackson, Mary began the effort to raise their modest cottage into a full two-story house. Having grown increasingly independent through her husband's long absences, Mary had become the manager of the Lincoln household. She wanted more s.p.a.ce for a family of three rambunctious boys, Robert, Tad, and Willie, plus a live-in maid. Her husband was now making about three thousand dollars a year from his law practice. She believed the Lincolns deserved a home more in keeping with her husband's position as a prominent lawyer and politician, and where she could entertain more. In September 1854, she sold eighty acres of farmland in Sangamon County her father had given her for $1,200, further enhancing her independence.

Contractors Daniel Hannon and Thomas A. Ragsdale began constructing a new east wing of the house. Mary's cousin's wife said in a letter that the Lincolns had "commenced raising" the back part of their house. "I think they will have room enough before they are done, particularly as Mary seldom uses what she has." The new construction meant that Mary and Abraham would have separate but connecting bedrooms. This arrangement was common in middle-cla.s.s families and not a commentary on their marriage or s.e.xual relations. Visitors reported that Lincoln often entertained business guests in his bedroom.

As the project approached completion, Mary bought wallpaper and new furniture from John Williams and Company. She s.h.i.+fted some of her ma.s.sive Empire pieces upstairs and placed the new, early Victorian pieces in the downstairs formal front parlor and the family sitting room. The final cost of the expansion was $1,300. Lincoln returned to find a fine-looking home newly adorned with light brown paint and dark green shutters. The renovations were in the Greek Revival tradition of the times, which Lincoln approved, with its a.s.sociations with cla.s.sical tradition and democracy.

Mary Lincoln was very ambitious for her husband's political career. Her many dinners and receptions in their newly renovated house provided s.p.a.ce for him to network with political friends visiting the Illinois state capital. In the winter of 1857, conversations at these gatherings often turned to politics and the U.S. Supreme Court.

ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, in his travels in America in the 1830s, had examined the place of the Supreme Court in comparison to the high courts of England and other nations in Europe. He concluded, "A more immense judicial power has never been const.i.tuted in any people." Yet in the growing political crisis of the 1850s, the Court had been largely silent. It was the only one of the three branches of government not deeply involved in the conflict over the extension of slavery into the federal territories. But the Court was about to exercise its power. Beginning in December 1856, news spread that the Supreme Court would consider a case that had been making its way through the lower courts for more than ten years.

Chief Justice Roger Taney delivered the majority opinion in the Dred Scott case in 1857.

In 1830, Dr. John Emerson, an army surgeon working at the Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, bought a slave named Dred Scott. Scott accompanied Emerson to Fort Armstrong at Rock Island, Illinois, in 1833, and then to Fort Snelling, in the northern part of the Louisiana Territory, near present-day St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1836. Scott returned with Emerson to Missouri in 1838. When Emerson died in 1843, Scott sought to buy his freedom from Emerson's widow. When she refused, he pet.i.tioned the Missouri Circuit Court at St. Louis on April 6, 1846, seeking his freedom, arguing that he had lived for three years in a free state.

Scott lost his first trial on a technicality but won a second trial in 1850 when the Missouri court ruled that once a slave left Missouri he should be considered free. Mrs. Emerson proved to be as determined as Scott, appealing the court's decision.

Scott's final hope was an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Montgomery Blair, a former resident of St. Louis, agreed to represent Scott without fee. Blair, at age forty-one, whose father, Francis Preston Blair, Sr., had been a member of Andrew Jackson's "kitchen cabinet," had established his own reputation as a lawyer in Was.h.i.+ngton. The Supreme Court announced it would hear the case during its term in December 1856.

Chief Justice Roger B. Taney presided at the December hearing. Taney, born into a wealthy slaveholding family in southern Maryland in 1777, had served as both attorney general and secretary of the treasury in the Jackson administration, before being appointed the fifth chief justice of the United States in 1836. Standing before Taney and eight a.s.sociate justices, Blair contended that Emerson had emanc.i.p.ated Scott when he took him both to the free state of Illinois and to the Louisiana Territory, where slavery was prohibited. He also presented examples from five states that had treated African-Americans as citizens, as had Missouri in earlier years.

Montgomery Blair represented Scott, contending that he became emanc.i.p.ated when his owner brought him into free territory.

Politicians and the press buzzed with rumors of what the Court would or would not do. Congressman Alexander Stephens of Georgia wrote to a friend, "The decision will be a marked epoch in our history." The New York Courier New York Courier wrote, prophetically, "The Court, in trying this case, is itself on trial." wrote, prophetically, "The Court, in trying this case, is itself on trial."

Reading reports of the trial, Lincoln wrote a private note on the Dred Scott case, probably in January 1857. He began with a question: "What would be the effect of this, if it should ever be the creed of a dominant party in the nation?" He pondered the "full scope" and the "narrow scope" of the result if the Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott was still a slave. Lincoln did not argue his own position, but was preparing himself if the position of Douglas and his followers in the Democratic Party prevailed. He wrote that whatever the Court's decision on this const.i.tutional question, it must be obeyed.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on February 11, 1857. Senator Henry Geyer of Missouri argued that "blacks are not citizens" even if taken into free territories. Reverdy Johnson, the former attorney general of the United States, presented an impa.s.sioned defense of slavery, contending, "Slavery promises to exist through all time, so far as human vision can discover."

Interest in the case heightened when President Buchanan referred to it in his inaugural address on March 4, 1857. Buchanan, coming into office convinced the problems in the country were the fault of the Northern abolitionists, was determined to reach out to the Southern pro-slavery members of his own party. He believed the long-awaited decision in the Dred Scott case could be a major step in that direction. In his address he stated that "it is understood" that the case will "be speedily and finally settled." How did he come to this understanding? He had spoken with Chief Justice Taney in late February and learned the basic outline of the verdict. Trying to head off opposition, Buchanan declared, "To their decision, in common with all good citizens, I shall cheerfully submit."

Only two days after Buchanan's inauguration, at eleven o'clock on March 6, 1857, Taney and the eight black-robed justices entered the Supreme Court on the ground floor of the Capitol. Customarily, when the Supreme Court announced its opinions, it did so in splendid isolation, but on this Friday morning newspaper reporters and spectators filled the chamber. Taney, only eleven days before his eightieth birthday, began reading in a low, at times almost muted, voice from a ma.n.u.script held in his unsteady hands. For the next two hours he read the Court's 72 decision.

The Court ruled, first, that Scott was not a citizen and therefore not ent.i.tled to sue in federal court. Rehearsing the long arc of history, Taney declared that blacks had "been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to a.s.sociate with the white race, either in social or political relations." Second, the Court ruled that the U.S. Congress's presumption of authority to exclude slavery from the federal territories was unconst.i.tutional. To make this move, the chief justice engaged in a judicial juggling act with fact and interpretation. He had to admit that the first Congress did enact the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 forbidding slavery in those territories it covered, but that subsequent Congresses had no right to forbid slavery in future territories acquired by the United States. Third, reiterating the decisions of the lower courts, Taney found that Dred Scott was and would always be a slave according to Missouri law.

Taney may have hoped to bring peace to the beginning of Buch anan's administration, but instead the decision unleashed a storm of protest. Republicans charged partisans.h.i.+p. William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and other leading abolitionists went further and called for immediate disunion. Their focus was on the fact that five of the nine justices came from the South. Taney and the other justices, who heretofore had toiled in near obscurity, were negatively profiled in Northern newspapers. In the South, the decision was hailed as a victory.

The fugitive slave law, pa.s.sed in 1850, became a source of continuing controversy. This print shows a group of four black men-possibly freedmen-ambushed by a posse of six armed whites in a cornfield.

LINCOLN MADE NO IMMEDIATE public comment after the Court's decision. Instead, he worked tirelessly in private to understand every facet of the opinion, just as he had done after the Kansas-Nebraska Act was announced. Understanding that the Dred Scott decision was an attack upon the principles of the new Republican Party, he bided his time, preparing to speak at the right moment. public comment after the Court's decision. Instead, he worked tirelessly in private to understand every facet of the opinion, just as he had done after the Kansas-Nebraska Act was announced. Understanding that the Dred Scott decision was an attack upon the principles of the new Republican Party, he bided his time, preparing to speak at the right moment.

Stephen Douglas also remained silent about the decision throughout the spring. On June 7, 1857, at the invitation of the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Douglas broke his silence. Lincoln was in the audience.

Douglas declared that the "main proposition" of the Dred Scott decision was that "a negro descended from slave parents ... is not and can not be a citizen of the United States." He attacked those who would say that the Declaration of Independence pledged equality for African-Americans. "No one can vindicate the character, motive, and conduct of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, except upon the hypothesis that they referred to the white race alone, and not to the African, when they declared men to have been created free and equal." Douglas insisted that the signers were referring solely to white British subjects.

Douglas's speech attracted national attention. James Gordon Bennett's Democratic New York Herald New York Herald offered an enthusiastic endors.e.m.e.nt for more than the speech. "The curtain of 1860 is partially lifted, and we have a peep behind the scenes." The offered an enthusiastic endors.e.m.e.nt for more than the speech. "The curtain of 1860 is partially lifted, and we have a peep behind the scenes." The Herald Herald believed, "As a democratic Presidential aspirant, Mr. Douglas is now without a rival in the great Northwest." believed, "As a democratic Presidential aspirant, Mr. Douglas is now without a rival in the great Northwest."

Lincoln, roused by Douglas's address, decided to answer him directly. For two weeks in June, he studied in the Illinois Supreme Court's law library on the first floor of the state capitol. He read the written opinions of the justices, drawing especially on the dissent of a.s.sociate Justice Benjamin Curtis, and perused commentaries on the decision in a variety of newspapers.

On the evening of June 26, 1857, Lincoln offered his response in the statehouse. It was not the kind of answer many expected. Walking in with law books under his arms, Lincoln's speech was not that of a Republican firebrand, but rather a thoughtful, calm address.

He began by a.s.suring his audience that he did not agree with those who advocated resisting the Court's ruling. Instead, he said he believed as much as Douglas-"perhaps more"-in obedience to the rulings of the judiciary, especially when they involved matters of the Const.i.tution. He quickly added, "But we think the Dred Scott decision is erroneous. We know the court that made it, has often over-ruled its own decisions, and we shall do what we can to have it to over-rule this."

Lincoln, relying on his legal sleuthing, instructed his audience on the true way a Supreme Court decision could be accepted by everyone. The decision would need to be unanimous, without "partisan bias," based in precedent, and making use of agreed-upon "historical facts." Lincoln then proceeded to demonstrate how this decision did not inspire public confidence because it failed on every one of these points.

In Lincoln's earlier speeches, he a.s.sailed the immorality of slavery but seldom spoke of the condition of slaves. This time, in the midst of historical argument contrasting the days of the founders with the present day, Lincoln's language became emotional when he described the bondage of African-Americans. "All the powers of earth seem rapidly combining against him. Mammon is after him; ambition follows, and philosophy follows, and the Theology of the day is fast joining the cry." What has been the result? "They have him in his prison house; they have searched his person, and left no prying instrument with him. One after another they have closed the heavy iron doors upon him, and now they have him, as it were, bolted in with a lock of a hundred keys." Lincoln, in his evocative word portrait, declared it was "grossly incorrect" to say, as Douglas and many in the South claimed, that African-American slaves were better off today than at the birth of the nation in 1776.

One by one, Lincoln took up Douglas's points, often quoting him at length. A main target was Douglas's charge that those who opposed the Dred Scott decision supported racial equality. Lincoln, in the strategy of a debater, first conceded there was "a natural disgust in the minds of nearly all white people, to the idea of an indiscriminate amalgamation of the white and black races." He repeated Douglas's infamous charge that when Republicans evoked the Declaration of Independence, they "do so only because they want to vote, and eat, and sleep, and marry with negroes!"

Now, having conceded, Lincoln objected. "Now I protest against that counterfeit logic which concludes that, because I do not want a black woman for a slave slave I must necessarily want her for a I must necessarily want her for a wife. wife. I need not have her for either, I can just leave her alone." Both then and now, people quoting Lincoln often stop here. But Lincoln continued with his main point, words that many have failed to cite. "In some respects she certainly is not my equal; but in her natural right to eat the bread she earns with her own hands without asking leave of any one else, she is my equal, and the equal of all others." Lincoln, in step with his audience, was unwilling to call an African-American his social equal. But the power of his logic was not what he denied but what he affirmed. I need not have her for either, I can just leave her alone." Both then and now, people quoting Lincoln often stop here. But Lincoln continued with his main point, words that many have failed to cite. "In some respects she certainly is not my equal; but in her natural right to eat the bread she earns with her own hands without asking leave of any one else, she is my equal, and the equal of all others." Lincoln, in step with his audience, was unwilling to call an African-American his social equal. But the power of his logic was not what he denied but what he affirmed.

Having taken on Douglas, Lincoln quickly turned to Chief Justice Taney, for both, in Lincoln's eyes, were guilty of using and abusing the Declaration of Independence. The chief justice had stated that Jefferson's self-evident truths that "all men are created equal" would "seem to embrace the whole human family," but argued that the language did not mean what it said. It was "too clear for dispute that the enslaved African race were not intended to be included."

Lincoln, momentarily backed into a corner by the argument that if the framers of the Declaration of Independence intended to include African-Americans within the phrase, "all men are created equal," why did they not, "at once," actually place them on an equality with the whites? Lincoln offered a striking but subtle answer: "I think the authors of that notable instrument intended to include all all men, but they did not intend to declare all men equal men, but they did not intend to declare all men equal in all respects. in all respects. They did not mean to say all were equal in all respects. They did not mean to say all were equal in color, size, intellect, moral developments, or social capacity." Lincoln said the founders did define, "with tolerable distinctiveness, in what respect they did consider all men created equal-equal in 'certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' This they said, and this meant." They did not mean to say all were equal in all respects. They did not mean to say all were equal in color, size, intellect, moral developments, or social capacity." Lincoln said the founders did define, "with tolerable distinctiveness, in what respect they did consider all men created equal-equal in 'certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' This they said, and this meant."

Lincoln built into his affirmation a creative tension between intent and action. He admitted that at the time of the Declaration of Independence, all men were not "then" enjoying such equality, or even that the framers had the power to "confer" such equality. Lincoln believed the framers were thinking in the future tense so that the "enforcement" "enforcement" of this right "might follow as fast as circ.u.mstances should permit." Speaking in his own future tense, Lincoln looked forward to imagine how the equality of all persons might be transformed from intent to reality. He fervently hoped that the "maxim" that "all men are created equal" should be "constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deepening its influence, and augmenting a happiness and value of life to all people of all colors everywhere." of this right "might follow as fast as circ.u.mstances should permit." Speaking in his own future tense, Lincoln looked forward to imagine how the equality of all persons might be transformed from intent to reality. He fervently hoped that the "maxim" that "all men are created equal" should be "constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deepening its influence, and augmenting a happiness and value of life to all people of all colors everywhere."

Although Lincoln delivered a forceful reply to Douglas, it failed to satisfy all Republicans. For some, his words seemed like a scholarly lecture that lacked the white heat of indignation. One responded that it was "too much on the old conservative order." Not a few wondered if the genial Lincoln was a match for the firebrand Douglas.

LINCOLN'S RESPONSE to the Dred Scott decision was his only political speech in 1857. Lincoln spent the bulk of the political off-year busy in his law practice. His cases ranged from repaying a personal friends.h.i.+p from his New Salem days to the corporate contest between river and rail. to the Dred Scott decision was his only political speech in 1857. Lincoln spent the bulk of the political off-year busy in his law practice. His cases ranged from repaying a personal friends.h.i.+p from his New Salem days to the corporate contest between river and rail.

By the middle of the 1850s, picturesque and romantic travel on the Mississippi, which would soon inspire Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn Huckleberry Finn and and Life on the Mississippi, Life on the Mississippi, was in its final chapters, although not many suspected so at the time. Railroads had snaked across the land and now forded rivers by bridge. In 1854, the Rock Island Bridge Company announced plans to build the first bridge to span the Mississippi River. The proposed bridge, between Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa, sparked public protests stoked by river interests, such as ferry operators. In a case brought in July 1855, a.s.sociate Justice John McLean of the U.S. Supreme Court sustained the company's rights to build the bridge. Constructed with more than 620,000 pounds of cast and wrought iron, the bridge finally opened on April 21, 1856, when a single locomotive, the was in its final chapters, although not many suspected so at the time. Railroads had snaked across the land and now forded rivers by bridge. In 1854, the Rock Island Bridge Company announced plans to build the first bridge to span the Mississippi River. The proposed bridge, between Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa, sparked public protests stoked by river interests, such as ferry operators. In a case brought in July 1855, a.s.sociate Justice John McLean of the U.S. Supreme Court sustained the company's rights to build the bridge. Constructed with more than 620,000 pounds of cast and wrought iron, the bridge finally opened on April 21, 1856, when a single locomotive, the Des Moines, Des Moines, crossed to the cheers of people and the sound of church bells on both banks of the river. crossed to the cheers of people and the sound of church bells on both banks of the river.

Just two weeks later, on May 6, 1856, the steamer Effie Afton, Effie Afton, a fast and sleek side-wheeler with a deck 230 feet long and side wheels 30 feet in diameter, sailed up the Mississippi from its home port in Cincinnati. In the evening, as the pilot maneuvered his way through the snags and reefs of the mighty river swollen by spring rains, he came for the first time to the new bridge. The boat slowed as it attempted to navigate into the draw of the bridge. Suddenly, one of its side wheels struck one of the piers, and the huge boat bounced over against the pier on the other side. The impact jarred a small coal stove on board, and within minutes the boat was burning. Pa.s.sengers and crew managed to escape, but the a fast and sleek side-wheeler with a deck 230 feet long and side wheels 30 feet in diameter, sailed up the Mississippi from its home port in Cincinnati. In the evening, as the pilot maneuvered his way through the snags and reefs of the mighty river swollen by spring rains, he came for the first time to the new bridge. The boat slowed as it attempted to navigate into the draw of the bridge. Suddenly, one of its side wheels struck one of the piers, and the huge boat bounced over against the pier on the other side. The impact jarred a small coal stove on board, and within minutes the boat was burning. Pa.s.sengers and crew managed to escape, but the Effie Afton Effie Afton sank with all its cargo. The wooden trusses of the bridge caught fire, and a section fell into the river. By the next day, the entire bridge had collapsed into the Mississippi. sank with all its cargo. The wooden trusses of the bridge caught fire, and a section fell into the river. By the next day, the entire bridge had collapsed into the Mississippi.

The destruction of the boat and bridge stirred up deep feelings on the river and in towns along the Mississippi. For the next few weeks, steamboat captains blew their whistles in that part of the Mississippi to mark the obliteration. The St. Louis Republican St. Louis Republican denounced the bridge as "an intolerable nuisance," and editorialized, "We have rarely seen such ill.u.s.tration of supercilious insolence, as have been presented by advocates of the bridge." The denounced the bridge as "an intolerable nuisance," and editorialized, "We have rarely seen such ill.u.s.tration of supercilious insolence, as have been presented by advocates of the bridge." The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, taking the exact opposite opinion, responded that the facts of the case "do not warrant the incessant clamor" of those who insisted that river bridges should be torn down. "We trust that the outcries of the St. Louis and river press may be silenced." taking the exact opposite opinion, responded that the facts of the case "do not warrant the incessant clamor" of those who insisted that river bridges should be torn down. "We trust that the outcries of the St. Louis and river press may be silenced."

John S. Hurd, owner of the Effie Afton, Effie Afton, sued to recover the value of the boat and cargo, $65,000 in total, from the Rock Island Railway, the bridge's parent company. The ostensible parties in the suit were sued to recover the value of the boat and cargo, $65,000 in total, from the Rock Island Railway, the bridge's parent company. The ostensible parties in the suit were Hurd v. Rock Island Bridge Co., Hurd v. Rock Island Bridge Co., but the real opponents embraced much larger ent.i.ties: Chicago, the railroads, and east-west traffic versus St. Louis, the riverboats, and north-south travel. but the real opponents embraced much larger ent.i.ties: Chicago, the railroads, and east-west traffic versus St. Louis, the riverboats, and north-south travel.

Norman B. Judd, general counsel for the Rock Island Railway, wanted the best lawyer possible to join him in defending the railroad. One of the five anti-Nebraska Democrats who had opposed Lincoln's bid for the Senate in 1855, Judd had become a Republican and now served as chairman of the Republican state committee. He turned to Lincoln to lead the defense in this high-profile case that attracted national attention.

In preparation for the trial, Lincoln, with his omnivorous craving for information, traveled to the scene of the disaster. He interviewed Benjamin Brayton, Sr., the engineer who designed the bridge, about bridge construction. He sat down at the head of the new bridge with Ben Brayton, Jr., and with his long legs hanging over the edge, questioned the fifteen-year-old boy about the currents of the river. He hired several men to pilot the steamer Keokuk Keokuk through the draw of the bridge to check the boat's responses to the winds and the currents in relation to the piers. He conducted experiments by placing different kinds of objects in the water and observing them drifting toward the draw. Lincoln, at the height of his legal practice, understood well that complicated court cases are often won or lost well before the judge brings down his gavel to begin the formal court proceedings. through the draw of the bridge to check the boat's responses to the winds and the currents in relation to the piers. He conducted experiments by placing different kinds of objects in the water and observing them drifting toward the draw. Lincoln, at the height of his legal practice, understood well that complicated court cases are often won or lost well before the judge brings down his gavel to begin the formal court proceedings.

The case began in Chicago sixteen months later on September 8, 1857, with Supreme Court justice McLean presiding. The structure of the federal court system called for each Supreme Court justice to serve as the presiding judge of one of the nine circuit courts. The Chicago Democratic Press Chicago Democratic Press devoted extra s.p.a.ce to the trial because the case involved "a fundamental national struggle" between "the great natural channel of trade of the Mississippi Valley" and the railroads, "the great artificial lines of travel and communication." The lawyers for the plaintiff called fifty men who made their living on rivers, including captains and pilots; each argued that the bridge was an obstacle to river traffic. Judd and Lincoln called six engineer