Forum Host- Joined
- Oct 10, 2012
- Location
- Mt. Jackson, Va
On this day, June 16, 1858, Abraham Lincoln accepted the Republican party nomination for the Illinois Senate. In what is now the Old State Capitol, Lincoln delivered to his colleagues in the Hall of Representatives his famous House Divided Speech.
" 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other."
This speech marked not only the beginning of a battle for the senate seat against his political rival, Stephen A. Douglas, but it thrust Lincoln into the national spotlight for the first time in his life. While Lincoln was not victorious in his bid for the Senate, he was not unsuccessful. The highly publicized Lincoln-Douglas debates were the first debates between US Senate candidates in our country's history. The attention drawn to these debates and this campaign greatly benefited Lincoln, because although he lost to Douglas, the new buzz surrounding him would help propel him into a position of leadership in the newly formed Republican party, eventually helping him become our 16th president of the United States. [photo of Lincoln, 1858: Library of Congress]
Posted today on Facebook by the Lincoln Home National Historic Site
" 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other."
This speech marked not only the beginning of a battle for the senate seat against his political rival, Stephen A. Douglas, but it thrust Lincoln into the national spotlight for the first time in his life. While Lincoln was not victorious in his bid for the Senate, he was not unsuccessful. The highly publicized Lincoln-Douglas debates were the first debates between US Senate candidates in our country's history. The attention drawn to these debates and this campaign greatly benefited Lincoln, because although he lost to Douglas, the new buzz surrounding him would help propel him into a position of leadership in the newly formed Republican party, eventually helping him become our 16th president of the United States. [photo of Lincoln, 1858: Library of Congress]
Posted today on Facebook by the Lincoln Home National Historic Site
Bringing the