The Nebraska Act, discussed above, was a major turning point in the evolution toward civil war, and it provided an opportunity for Abraham Lincoln to advance against his fellow politician from Illinois, Stephen A. Douglas.
As the remnants of the old Whig party sought to find a home, they were joined by disaffected Democrats upset by the implications of Kansas-Nebraska. The feature of the act that distressed them most highly was the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which many saw as a "gross violation of the sacred pledge." Anti-Nebraska Democrats, as they became known, along with "conscience" Whigs and former supporters of the Liberty and Free Soil Parties joined together in 1854 to form the Republican Party.
As a Whig, Abraham Lincoln migrated naturally to the Republican Party and soon became recognized as one of its leaders. Although he was unsuccessful in his attempts to gain a Senate seat in 1854 or the vice presidential nomination in 1856, he nevertheless made friends friends within the party and positioned himself to challenge Stephen Douglas in the senatorial election in Illinois in 1848. Because Kansas-Nebraska caused so much discontent among Americans concerned about the extension of slavery into the territories, it propelled Abraham Lincoln's career forward.
In 1858, in one of the most famous senatorial races ever, Lincoln debated the powerful Senator Stephen A. Douglas in seven lengthy meetings, only to lose the election. Since the debates were published in newspapers throughout the country, however, Lincoln became known far beyond the borders of Illinois and earned the nomination for president in 1860.
Lincoln's political philosophy can best be understood from his own life experiences and writings. As a young man he traveled down the Mississippi on a raft with a friend, and all along the way he observed the institution of slavery along the river banks where he rested on his trip to New Orleans. He soon came to see slavery as wrong, and fragments from his writings indicate that his opposition to slavery came early. Like most Americans of his time, however, Lincoln did not believe in full racial equality. As he said in his debates with Judge Douglas, he believed that every man had the right to work in freedom.
As a lawyer familiar with the Constitution, Lincoln fully understood the difficulties in trying to end slavery where it already existed, but he vigorously opposed its expansion beyond the existing slave states. He argued against the Kansas-Nebraska Act, he argued against the Supreme Court's decision in the Dred Scott case (see below), and he argued that the government had the full right to prevent the spread of slavery into the territories. In his famous speech at the Cooper Union in New York in 1860 he laid out his position and attitudes toward slavery in great detail, even as he revealed his deep understanding of the situation created when slavery was recognized in the Constitution.
Lincoln assumed office during the worst crisis in American history. He was, in some ways, unprepared for the job; for example, he knew little of military strategy or tactics, and he had no experience in foreign policy, save his brief involvement with the causes of the Mexican War while he was in Congress. Lincoln was a quick study, however, and he was humble enough to recognize his shortcomings and to work to overcome them. He weighed and took advice from any source he found credible. He was a brilliant politician who did not hesitate to surround himself with powerful men who sometimes opposed his policies. He also proved to be a brilliant leader and manager even as he modestly refrained from asserting his authority just for the sake of showing that he had it. He knew when to pick a fight and when to back down. Above all, he was willing to do whatever it might take to save the Union he loved so dearly, even though the cost was immense.
World History
