Lincoln steps upon the national stage... The Cooper Union speech...
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February 28, 1860
NEW YORK SEMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE, Feb. 28, 1860
* Historic Abraham Lincoln address
* Cooper Institute Union speech
* Launched into national prominence
The front page has over five columns devoted to coverage of this famous speech which is headed: "NATIONAL POLITICS" "A Speech Delivered at the Cooper Institute Last Evening, by Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois".
At this point Lincoln had not declared himself a presidential candidate, and this was his first opportunity to establish his platform before an eastern audience, to strike a blow against slavery and for his own political future. The significance of this speech is such that a book recently written was titled " Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President", by Harold Holzer.
This issue not only gives the complete, lengthy text of this significant speech but has prefacing comments & also reports on the events following Lincoln completing his speech, which notes: "...Mr. Lincoln's speech excited frequent & irrepressible applause. His occasional repetition of his text never failed to provoke a burst of cheers & audible smiles..." with more.
An extremely significant newspaper reporting this signal event in the life of Abraham Lincoln, cementing his ties to the Oval Office and the fate of the country during the tumultuous Civil War.
Complete in 8 pages, some very light toning, generally in very nice condition.
Of special note: this is the semi-weekly edition or this paper, although the daily edition had the identical content with the same date. But the Lincoln speech was on page 6 of the daily edition.
Background: Delivered on February 27, 1860, Abraham Lincoln’s Cooper Union speech was a watershed moment in American history that effectively launched him into national prominence and secured his path to the presidency. At a time when he was viewed by the Eastern political establishment as an unpolished, backwoods lawyer from Illinois, Lincoln used this platform to deliver a masterfully researched, 7,000-word constitutional argument proving that the Founding Fathers explicitly intended for the federal government to regulate slavery in national territories. By systematically dismantling the legal arguments of Southern secessionists and Northern Democrats alike, and concluding with the stirring moral charge that "right makes might," Lincoln captivated the audience of New York influencers. The immediate, widespread publication of the full transcript by powerful anti-slavery newspapers like Horace Greeley’s New York Tribune transformed a localized political address into a national manifesto. This media blitz successfully rebranded Lincoln as a moderate, intellectually formidable leader capable of uniting the fractious Republican Party, ultimately tipping the scales in his favor at the 1860 Republican National Convention just months later and reshaping the destiny of a nation on the brink of civil war.
* Historic Abraham Lincoln address
* Cooper Institute Union speech
* Launched into national prominence
The front page has over five columns devoted to coverage of this famous speech which is headed: "NATIONAL POLITICS" "A Speech Delivered at the Cooper Institute Last Evening, by Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois".
At this point Lincoln had not declared himself a presidential candidate, and this was his first opportunity to establish his platform before an eastern audience, to strike a blow against slavery and for his own political future. The significance of this speech is such that a book recently written was titled " Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President", by Harold Holzer.
This issue not only gives the complete, lengthy text of this significant speech but has prefacing comments & also reports on the events following Lincoln completing his speech, which notes: "...Mr. Lincoln's speech excited frequent & irrepressible applause. His occasional repetition of his text never failed to provoke a burst of cheers & audible smiles..." with more.
An extremely significant newspaper reporting this signal event in the life of Abraham Lincoln, cementing his ties to the Oval Office and the fate of the country during the tumultuous Civil War.
Complete in 8 pages, some very light toning, generally in very nice condition.
Of special note: this is the semi-weekly edition or this paper, although the daily edition had the identical content with the same date. But the Lincoln speech was on page 6 of the daily edition.
Background: Delivered on February 27, 1860, Abraham Lincoln’s Cooper Union speech was a watershed moment in American history that effectively launched him into national prominence and secured his path to the presidency. At a time when he was viewed by the Eastern political establishment as an unpolished, backwoods lawyer from Illinois, Lincoln used this platform to deliver a masterfully researched, 7,000-word constitutional argument proving that the Founding Fathers explicitly intended for the federal government to regulate slavery in national territories. By systematically dismantling the legal arguments of Southern secessionists and Northern Democrats alike, and concluding with the stirring moral charge that "right makes might," Lincoln captivated the audience of New York influencers. The immediate, widespread publication of the full transcript by powerful anti-slavery newspapers like Horace Greeley’s New York Tribune transformed a localized political address into a national manifesto. This media blitz successfully rebranded Lincoln as a moderate, intellectually formidable leader capable of uniting the fractious Republican Party, ultimately tipping the scales in his favor at the 1860 Republican National Convention just months later and reshaping the destiny of a nation on the brink of civil war.
Category: Pre-Civil War
