Saturday, July 10, 1858.Chicago, IL. | In the evening, Lincoln delivers a speech from the Tremont House to an audience that is, "in
point of numbers, about three-fourths as large as that of the previous evening, when Douglas
held forth; and in point of enthusiasm, about four times as great." Lincoln responds to charges
made by Stephen A. Douglas, his opponent in the U. S. Senate race, regarding Lincoln's stance on
several issues, including slavery. Lincoln declares, "I have always hated slavery, I think as
much as any Abolitionist...I have always hated it, but I have always been quiet about it until
this new era of the introduction of the Nebraska Bill began. I always believed that everybody
was against it, and that it was in course of ultimate extinction...and that such was the belief
of the framers of the constitution itself." Lincoln refers to the recent Fourth of July
celebration, and he asks the audience, "I should like to know if taking this old Declaration of
Independence, which declares that all men are equal upon principle and making exceptions to it
where will it stop. If one man says it does not mean a negro, why not another say it does not
mean some other man?" Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 12 July 1858,
1:2-6; Speech at Chicago, Illinois, 10 July 1858, CW,
2:484-502. |