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  • Abraham Lincoln

  • A Life 1855-1858: Building a New Party, a House Divided and the Lincoln Douglas Debates
  • By: Michael Burlingame
  • Narrated by: Sean Pratt
  • Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
  • 3.0 out of 5 stars (1 rating)
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Abraham Lincoln

By: Michael Burlingame
Narrated by: Sean Pratt
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Summary

Building a New Party, a House Divided and the Lincoln Douglas Debates (1855-1858) 

"Unite With Us and Help Us to Triumph" - Building the Illinois Republican Party (1855-1857) 

Lincoln struggles to form a new party to take the place of the defunct Whig party. He has strong doubts that a peaceful end to slavery is possible. Joining with anti-slavery, anti-nativist forces, Lincoln launches the Republican Party of Illinois and the first Republican convention takes place. When the Dred Scott case is decided, Lincoln publicly denounces the court decision. His finest debates with Stephen A. Douglass take place and Lincoln calls into question the hypocrisy of the Southern disgust of race mixing, as the population of Southern mulattos "dwarfed" that of the north.

"A House Divided" Lincoln vs. Douglass (1857-1858)
Stephen Douglass vies for Republican support and begins to deny his affiliations with Democrats, stating that he had planned to curtail the spread of slavery geographically by building a railroad. Yet as late as 1858, Douglass wrote often of his belief, which had historical precedent, that Blacks were not self-governing citizens and could not be granted passports 

"A David Greater than the Democratic Goliath" -the Lincoln-Douglas Debates 1858
Despite Douglass being more popular than Lincoln, he lost many supporters due to strong and growing anti-slavery sentiments, a dwindling support from the Whig party, and a general dissatisfaction with the Democrat party. Douglass arrived well dressed for the debates with horse-drawn carriages and bands, whereas Lincoln would arrive quietly by train, and in very shabby clothing.

©2009 Michael Burligame (P)2009 Gildan Media Corp

Critic reviews

"Lincoln scholars have waited anxiously for this book for decades. Its triumphant publication proves it was well worth the wait. Few scholars have written with greater insight about the psychology of Lincoln. No one in recent history has uncovered more fresh sources than Michael Burlingame. This profound and masterful portrait will be read and studied for years to come." (Doris Kearns Goodwin)
"The most meticulously researched Lincoln biography ever written. Burlingame's Lincoln comes alive as the author unfolds vast amounts of new research while breathing new life into familiar stories. It is the essential title for the bicentennial." (Publishers Weekly)

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