Lincoln at Cooper Union : the speech that made Abraham Lincoln president / Harold Holzer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Holzer, Harold.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Oratory.

Lincoln, Abraham.

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.

Oratory.

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Views on slavery.

Speeches, addresses, etc., American.

United States--Politics and government--1857-1861.

United States.

Politics and government.

Speeches, addresses, etc., American--New York (State)--New York.

Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Political career before 1861.

New York (State)--New York.

Physical Description:

338 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Simon & Schuster, [2004]

Summary:

Lincoln at Cooper Union explores Lincoln's most influential and widely reported pre-presidential address -- an extraordinary appeal by the western politician to the eastern elite that propelled him toward the Republican nomination for president. Delivered in New York in February 1860, the Cooper Union speech dispelled doubts about Lincoln's suitability for the presidency, and reassured conservatives of his moderation while reaffirming his opposition to slavery to Republican progressives. Award-winning Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer places Lincoln and his speech in the context of the times -- an era of racism, politicized journalism, and public oratory as entertainment -- and shows how the candidate framed the speech as an opportunity to continue his famous "debates" with his archrival Democrat Stephen A. Douglas on the question of slavery.

The Cooper Union speech, which was carefully researched by Lincoln and refers often to the Founders and authors of the Constitution, is an antislavery lecture, capped by a ringing warning to would-be secessionists in the South. It reaches its climax with the assurance that "right makes might." Long held, inaccurately, to be an appeal to the conservatives, Holzer presents Lincoln's speech as a masterly combination of scholarship, a brief for equality and democracy, and a rallying cry to the country and the Republican party. Holzer describes the enormous risk Lincoln took by appearing in New York, where he exposed himself to the country's most critical audience and took on Republican senator William Henry Seward of New York, the front-runner, in his own backyard. Then he recounts the brilliant and innovative public relations campaign, as Lincoln took the speech "on the road" in his successful quest for the presidency.

Contents:

Chapter 1 "Abe Lincoln Must Come" 7

Chapter 2 "So Much Labor as This" 28

Chapter 3 "Some Confusion in the Arrangements" 55

Chapter 4 "Much the Best Portrait" 81

Chapter 5 "Nothing Impressive About Him" 105

Chapter 6 "The Strength of Absolute Simplicity" 119

Chapter 7 "Such an Impression" 149

Chapter 8 "Unable to Escape This Toil" 175

Chapter 9 "Preserve It for Your Children" 206

Appendix Abraham Lincoln's Cooper Union Address 249.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-322) and index.

ISBN:

0743224663

OCLC:

53398097