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Abraham Lincoln's Peoria speech was made in
Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...
on October 16, 1854. The speech, with its specific arguments against
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, was an important step in
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
's political ascension. The 1854
Kansas–Nebraska Act The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 () was a territorial organic act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It was drafted by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas, passed by the 33rd United States Congress, and signed into law by ...
, written to form the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, was designed by
Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...
, then the chairman of the Senate Committee on Territories. The Act included language that allowed settlers to decide whether they would or would not accept slavery in their region. Lincoln saw this as a repeal of the 1820
Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and ...
which had outlawed slavery above the 36°30' parallel.


History

Lincoln was compelled to argue his case against the Kansas-Nebraska Act in three public speeches during September and October 1854, all in direct response to Douglas.Mr. Lincoln and Freedom: The progress of Abraham Lincoln's opposition to slavery
/ref> The most comprehensive address was given by Lincoln in Peoria, Illinois, on October 16. The three-hour speech that evening on the lawn of the Peoria County Courthouse, transcribed after the fact by Lincoln himself, presented thorough moral, legal, economic, and historical (citing the Founding Fathers) arguments against slavery, and set the stage for Lincoln's political future. Horace White was a young journalist working as the city editor of the '' Chicago Evening Journal'' when he first saw Lincoln:Horace White, "Abraham Lincoln in 1854", Address before Illinois State Historical Society, January 1908, p. 10. White described the speakers: White described Lincoln's style of speaking in colorful terms: Lincoln's speech in many ways foreshadowed the political future that he would soon embark upon:Roy P. Basler, editor, ''The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln'', Volume II, p. 275 (October 16, 1854).


See also

*
Abraham Lincoln on slavery Abraham Lincoln's position on slavery in the United States is one of the most discussed aspects of his life. Lincoln often expressed moral opposition to slavery in public and private. "I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing ...


References


Further reading

* Wilson, Douglas L., "Lincoln's Rhetoric," ''Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association,'' 34 (Winter 2013), 1–17.


Primary sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln Peoria Speech 1854 in Illinois 1854 works Peoria, Illinois Presidents of the United States and slavery Peoria speech October 1854 events 1854 speeches