Lincoln speech

Lincoln's Speech

It began with a letter. Abraham Lincoln, representative from Illinois, came to Kalamazoo on August 27, 1856, on the invitation of Kalamazoo attorney Hezekiah G. Wells. Wells asked Lincoln to speak at a Republican Rally (“Fremont mass meeting”) in Bronson Park.

Lincoln was one of many speakers in the park that summer day. His 2,781 word speech (about 16.5 minutes long) was given in front of thousands of people and was recorded, by hand, by a newspaper reporter from Detroit. The transcript was discovered in 1930 and published in 1941.

Abraham Lincoln’s speech was intended to promote the Republican Presidential candidate in 1856, John C. Fremont. The speech, however, does not address Fremont’s qualifications. Instead, it focuses on the issue that gave rise to the Republican Party. That issue was the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.

As you read (or listen) to the speech, see if you can understand the issues that Lincoln raises.

To see the letter: 

https://5024.sydneyplus.com/argus/final/Portal/1.aspx?lang=en-US

To listen to the speech:

kalamazoomuseum.org/localhistory/lincoln/listen.html

To read the speech: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/lincoln2/1:391?rgn=div1;view=fulltext

To read more on this topic visit:

https://kalamazoomuseum.org/images/museon/2006-Summer_MuseON.pdf

Kalamazoo Direct to You - Highlights
  1. Checker Cab
  2. Smelting Pot
  3. Gibson Guitars
  4. Homer Stryker and his Revolutionary Bed
  5. Upjohn's Pills
  6. A. M. Todd
  7. People of the Three Fires
  8. The General Store
  9. New Settlers to Kalamazoo: The Importance of the General Store
  10. Something for Everyone at the General Store
  11. The Finer Things in Life: Saving for the General Store
  12. Hub of Information: The General Store
  13. 1848 General Store Ledger
  14. Farm Life 1860-1940
  15. Entertainment 1860-1920
  16. "Wash Day"
  17. Food Preparation 1870-1930
  18. Squirrel Tailed Pumper
  19. The Kalamazoo Mall
  20. Victor Gruen: The Man with a Plan
  21. Dreams We Shared
  22. The 1980 Kalamazoo Tornado
  23. Lincoln's Speech
  24. Mystery of the Mummy