America Past; D23; Lincoln and the Coming of War

[music] Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness, out of the wilderness, out of the wilderness. Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness down in Illinois. Down in Illinois. Down in Illinois Illinois.

"Old Abe Lincoln come out of the wilderness down in Illinois." When they said 'down in Illinois,' they meant New Salem. New Salem, Illinois. A few miles northwest of Springfield. This is where Lincoln spent the years of his young adulthood. Later he'll be a prosperous lawyer, an ambitious and adroit politician. Yet in the popular mind, he always remained Old Abe Lincoln who come out of the wilderness. To get here to New Salem, he'd come from Kentucky with his family, across Indiana. through Illinois with his sister and his step brothers and sisters. You sometimes wonder as they worked with him industrious but certainly illiterate people, if they ever thought he would rise above their station in life. I could just see right away he's different than the rest of the youngins, you know and, um, why he just wanted to learn all he could.

And a lots of times we'd all go to bed and he'd be sitting there reading by the fireplace. Sometimes it seems like it's a waste of time if there's work to be done. But he likes to read. But I reckon he's a lawyer now, you know, and I reckon if he hadn't to learned to read and write, he wouldn't be a lawyer. I tell you folks say he's a mighty fine lawyer. We just mighty proud of him. He's got a purpose. He's going he's going to be somebody some day, and this reading and writing for him is going to be some very important. But I tell you when there's work to be done, it was awful hard to get him not doing work sometimes because he always had a book in his hand. [Narrator]:New Salem was a rough frontier community. People here had to do things on their own. Nobody else is going to do it for them. They had to be farmers and they had to be craftsmen. Across the away for a while in Rutledge Tavern. He lived in a loft

in a log cabin. He worked in a store. He was postmaster. That's the first government job he held. Postmaster of New Salem. The store he worked in sold whiskey. Always popular on the frontier. Later when he was running for political office his opponent Steven Douglas accused him of being a bartender. Lincoln is supposed to have replied that the only difference between me and Mr. Douglas is if,while I was behind the bar, Mr Douglas was in front of it. Well it was while was here in New Salem that he began studying law, on his own. It's here that he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives and it's here that he decided that his goal in life was to enter the arena of politics. Lincoln came in from New Salem to practice law. He practiced it

here with his most famous law partner, William Herndon. This is in downtown Springfield. It looks a lot better than it did when Lincoln was here. He was messy. Just drove Herndon out of his mind. He'd let his kids come in here and knock over the spittoons and spill all that junk on the floor. Break the quill pens. His files were junky, labeled, "If you can't find it any place else look here". He was not regular in his eating habits and he would gnaw on oranges and throw the seeds on the floor. It's reported that, even saplings began growing up in the corners of this room where he'd had blown stuff down in the dirt. But he was a successful lawyer. Do not picture Lincoln as the poor humble frontier man who practiced law for nothing. He made money and a great deal of money practicing law. Had over 200 cases in the Supreme Court of Illinois. Rode the circuit, that is went from small town to small town. Over an area here of about twelve hundred square

miles in central Illinois. And he collected his fees. He was fair. He was honest. But he was not a poor man at the time he runs for president. He had the logical mind and the ability to make a difficult topic simple that made him extremely successful. Combined with humor, that appealed to juries on the frontier. [music ends] While living here he served four terms in the Illinois State Legislature across the street. And one term in the United States Congress. We're gonna get back to Lincoln a little bit later, But right now I want to look at some events that took place between 1850 and 1861. Remember our target date for beginning the civil war is 1861. Now what are some events, during that time, that lead up to the war? You cannot say that any of these caused the Civil War. But each of them seem to make it a little more inevitable; that a break was going to come.

One was the writing the book, in 1852, the book "Uncle Tom's Cabin". Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote it. "Uncle Tom's Cabin",or, Life Among the Lowly. One of the most influential books ever written. It told the story of the suffering of the slaves in the south. It was a tear-jerker. [background crooning] If you read it, you cried. You felt for the slaves. You wanted to do something about it. Every northerner thought he knew how the slaves lived. Why did he know? Because he had read "Uncle Tom's Cabin". The South said it was unfair, that she exaggerated, that those things happen, but they didn't all happen to one person. That doesn't make any difference. But the truth is it's what people think is true is what counts. They believed it. Lincoln later, when he met Harriet Beecher Stowe, made the statement,"So you're the

little woman that wrote the book that caused this great war." Exaggeration, but it shows he understood the importance of that book and stirring up a feeling against slavery. Three hundred thousand copies published in the first year. Okay? Another event, the passing of the law, The Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Kansas-Nebraska Act created two new territories in the west. The territories of Kansas and Nebraska, logically enough. It was the brainchild of Steven Douglas. Douglas, senator from Illinois. Dynamic little chap, Lincoln called him a steam engine in britches, created these two new territories. And got through the idea that the people living in them should decide whether those territories would be slave or free.

Now if you're a member of the Missouri Compromise, it said that area should be free. Now he's saying the people living there may vote on it. The Kansas-Nebraska Act is important because it brought up the question of the expansion of slavery and not way out in California somewhere, but right next door. And it took an area that was supposed to be free and made it possible for it to become slave. Well we're going to vote on the question of whether they're going to be slave or free. So both sides began rushing people out there to vote. And this leads to a series of events that's called "bleeding Kansas". "Bleeding Kansas" refers to fighting in Kansas over the slavery issue. They recruited people openly to go vote. A dollar a day and all you can drink; come in here and vote. There was a good turnout in the election.

There were 2000 people living there, and 6000 voted. That's a good turnout. And you don't need to be too swift to realize that something was wrong or that wouldn't have happened. So the group that won the election, and the slavery people won, they set themselves up. They set up a government of Kansas in Shawnee Mission. The people who were against slavery, they set up one in Lawrence. And then the fighting took place. They went into Lawrence and burned it, killed some people. Invited people to leave. Leave for the East or leave for eternity, that was your choice. One character out there, became particularly well known, was John Brown. [background shooting] John Brown believed that God had chosen him to abolish slavery.

And he and his sons simply went around killing people who favored slavery. There was rioting, there was fighting, and by far the most prominent person there was always this man, John Brown. Incidentally, the violence wasn't limited strictly to Kansas. There was violence on the floors of Congress. Charles Sumner, the senator from Massachusetts, and he was outspoken and obnoxious, got up and made a speech in which he said some very derogatory things about a southern senator. The next day Sumner's sitting at his desk in the Senate, and this Southerner's nephew came up took a cane and just beat him to a pulp, Right there in the Senate. Everybody was astounded. Nobody could do anything they had been just expected to happen. Southerners didn't apologize. They sent this man, whose name was Preston Brooks, more canes told him to use it on more Yankees. And Sumner was out of commission for three to four years, before

he was back in circulation. During the same period, you get the creation of a new political party. The Republican party was organized in 1856, or ran their first candidate in 1856. Basically on a platform of abolishing slavery. They wanted free land in the West and free men. Their candidate's name was Fremont, by the way. He lost. But you now have a political party that is opposing slavery. All its' support comes from what section of the country? From the north, a northern anti-slavery political party. Now a famous court case comes along. The Dred Scott case. Dred Scott was a slave, who had been taken by his master in the free territory.

He then claimed that because of that, he was free. The case went to the Supreme Court. The court ruled that he was not free. In fact, they ruled that he shouldn't even be bringing this lawsuit at all. Why? Because slaves aren't citizens. They're property. This was a terrible blow to the abolitionists, the people against slavery. If these people aren't even citizens, if they have no rights at all, if they're just property, what can we do? There didn't seem to be any legal means left for freeing the slaves after the Dred Scott decision. It was a test case. They simply put it up to see if that would lead to his being free. Now, enter Lincoln again. The year is 1858. Lincoln is running for senator

from Illinois. He's running against his old opponent Stephen A. Douglas. They ran against each other several times. They both courted the same woman. Lincoln lost that in some people's minds, he ended up marrying her. The issue in this election is the expansion of slavery. Not whether we will abolish slavery where it already exists. Now in his heart almost certainly Lincoln favored that, but you have to remember that Lincoln was a practical politician, as well as an idealist. And he didn't see the possibility of abolishing slavery in the South, but stopping the spread. So, that becomes the big issue in this election. They decided to conduct a series of debates in which they discuss this issue, the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

There's still a speech meet named after that. They traveled around from town to town in Illinois debating this. And what a contrast. Douglas 5' 4", good voice, handsome. Arriving in town on his private railroad train and private railroad car. Had his wife, who's quite charming, with him. Then came Lincoln. Homely old Abe Lincoln. That homely thing is just, just. One man said Lincoln was homely to the point of fascination. That they just like to stare at him. He just couldn't believe it. Lincoln himself one time said that if he ever found a man uglier than he was, he would shoot him and put him out of his misery. Six foot five, his hair looked like he had combed it with his fingers. His bow tie was just as

apt to be up and down as sideways. His clothes looked like he had slept in them. Sometimes he rode a little horse that some said was so small that it looked like he really was just walking astraddle of it. Lincoln had a way with words and he was a humorous, entertaining speaker with logical arguments, but he had a poor voice. Apparently a high thin voice. They say he talked with his hands behind him while he rocked from side to side. Probably get you a D from any speech teacher in the country. And they traveled around debating. Douglas won the election. So what's the significance of it. Lincoln loses, why the big deal? Because it made Lincoln nationally known. He'd been known in Illinois. He was popular in Illinois. After the Lincoln-Douglas debates,

you find him traveling to New York to speak. He becomes the national spokesman against slavery, or at least against the spread of it. [new male voice]:"The real issue in this controversy, the one pressing upon every mind, is the sentiment on the part of one class that looks upon the institution of slavery as a wrong. And of another class that does not look upon it as a wrong." [new male voice]:"Mr. Lincoln admits that under the Constitution on all domestic questions, except slavery, we ought not to interfere with the people of each state. What right have we to interfere with slavery any more than we have to interfere with any other question?" [narrator returns] So you have Lincoln's rise to prominence in the Republican Party, the anti-slavery party. The Dred Scott court case. The violence in Kansas and in the Senate, and the book "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

All of which tended to divide people in the north from those in the south. Now, add to this, in 1859, an armed raid. [background shooting] That raid took place at Harper's Ferry, Virginia on the night of October the 16th, 1859. It was led by none other than John Browne. The same one who had been involved in Bleeding Kansas a few years earlier. But what was he doing here? Well, here at Harper's Ferry there was a United States arsenal. It manufactured guns. So he was going to seize that arsenal, which he did, and get those guns. What was he going to do with them? There's some question about that. But apparently he intended to arm the slaves. Or hope the slaves would leave the plantations, come here, arm themselves, and start a slave insurrection. At least that's what Southerners always believed. That he was going to stir up the one thing they feared the most; that was a massive slave revolt against them. He came into the town, sealed off the town, cut the

telegraph wires. Took control of the railroad bridges. People did slip out. The first reports reached other towns that there were 300 people here under old John Brown trying to start a slave rebellion. Actually, in addition to Brown, there were only 20 people. United States Marines were sent out from Baltimore and John Brown will be captured. In this house, this was the engine house of the United States arsenal, and Brown and his followers holed up in here. The Marines will batter in the door under Colonel J.E.B. Stuart, get in there, and capture them. Two of Brown sons died in the process. He'll be charged with insurrection, taken a few miles from here and tried at Charles Town and hanged. Now, what's the importance of all this? Well, to the southerners, it convinced them that the North would go to any end to end slavery. They knew the North was after the issue of slavery. Now they're saying, "See you won't stop at anything, you're trying to stir the slaves up into rebellion". So the South hates the North even more after the raid at Harper's Ferry. So northerners, they suddenly have a hero, a martyr. What had people thought of John Brown? He was a kook,

he was crazy, he had a history of insanity, he was a killer from Kansas. Not after they hanged him. Suddenly, he is a martyr who gave his life for the freedom of the slaves. And all through the war, what is one of the most popular northern marching songs sung to the tune of the Battle Hymn the Republic? [background music] John Brown's Body. "John Brown's body lies molding in the grave while we go marching on". In 1860 the Republicans turned to Lincoln as a candidate for president. He was nominated on the third ballot and he won. Only got 40 percent of the vote, but he got enough of the electoral vote to win. [background shouting] The South had always said that if Lincoln won, they would secede from the union. Secede, remember, means to pull out of the union. They did not trust

him. Even though he said that he wouldn't interfere with slavery in the south. They didn't believe him. They believed that he wanted to make the country all free. Hadn't he, right across the street here, made a speech called A House Divided speech? In which he said this country will become all one thing or all the other? That a house divided against itself cannot stand? Didn't that mean that he wanted to be all free? I don't know. The Southerners were convinced it did. During his campaign, they ran cartoons of him as the long legged ape from Illinois. And when he gets elected, in November of 1860, they do what they threatened to do. They pulled out the union. The newspapers of Charleston blazed the headline "Union Dissolved". [music begins] Lincoln has now completed his rise to power.

From humble origins, you didn't get any more humble then the log cabins in which Lincoln grew up, to the White House. Yet his life always had that touch of sadness to it. His mother died when he was nine. According to Herndon, the great love of his life, Ann Rutledge, died before he could marry her. She's buried not far from New Salem. Can't absolutely believe that, because Herndon kind of made up stories. Lincoln became a legend, you see, even in his own lifetime. Stories circulated, Lincoln said this, any humorous frontier story was said that Lincoln had made the remark or attached to him. But he did have a sad life, whether Ann Rutledge lived or not. His son Eddie died when he was two, his son Willie when he was 11. His wife Mary Todd suffered from mental illness, eventually ended up spending some time in a mental institution.

This odd combination of sad, melancholy, of a sad melancholy type person. And yet, humorous. Sometimes he was criticized for his jokes, some of which were quite crude, incidentally. But humor was the great thing that released the tension in his life. His opponent said that even during the Civil War that he made jokes. Was that because he took the war lightly? Lincoln was a great humanitarian. He had a real empathy for people, it's absurd. It was his great release. But humorous one day and melancholy the next. And to give his wife Mary Todd credit, that probably became distressing. How did he come out of this rough frontier able to write and speak the way he did? It's amazing. Perfect English. The one example preserved at Oxford University of perfect English from America is a letter by Lincoln. It's pure simple, Right to the point. How much plainer could you state why we were fighting the

Civil War then Lincoln did, standing out there on the fields at Gettysburg, dedicating that cemetery. When he said, "We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom. And the government of the people by the people and for the people shall not perish." That's why they were fighting. Simple, to the point. A personality that was willing to surround itself with other strong men. Many of his advisors' were convinced they knew more than he did. William Seward, the Secretary of State, thought that Lincoln would be a figurehead, and that he would run the government. That's laughable. Lincoln had more power than any president in history until Franklin Roosevelt. He could use power. He could make decisions like that. [snaps fingers] Edwin Stanton, his Secretary of War, called Lincoln the original gorilla, called him an imbecile. Somebody told Lincoln that, and he said, "Well,

if Mr. Stanton said that, he's probably right, he usually is". Lincoln's heart was always here in Springfield. Here over at 8th and Jackson stands the only house he ever owned. Here is a railroad depot from which he bid farewell to the friends of a lifetime, to become the 16th president. And here is where he wanted to return. He wanted to come home. He wanted to come back and practice law, in these offices. On April the 14th, 1865 he again, remarked to his wife Mary, that he wanted to go home to Springfield. That night he went to Ford's Theater to see the play "Our American Cousin". [gunshot] The next morning at 7:22, Secretary of War Stanton

said, "Now he belongs to the angels". Only then did Lincoln come home to Springfield.