Lincoln, Race and American Freedom Free Event July 26 at ALPLM

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 presidential campaign was more than one man’s run for higher office. It was also an attempt to block a political scheme threatening to spread slavery to new corners of America, as historian Lucas Morel will explain July 26 at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

Lincoln’s opponents included John Breckenridge, who supported slavery, and Stephen Douglas, the Illinois senator who wanted to let each new state vote on slavery. Morel says Lincoln saw Douglas as the greater threat to freedom because his policies would allow slavery to spread unchecked unless voters were given a viable alternative.

Morel, the John K. Boardman Jr. professor of politics at Washington and Lee University, will share his conclusions at a free presentation Wednesday, July 26, at 6:30 p.m. Central time. It will be presented live in the ALPLM’s Union Theater and also online. Both versions are free but require advance registration.

Register to attend in person at www.PresidentLincoln.Illinois.gov/Events.

Or register to attend online by creating a free account at https://www.gilderlehrman.org/reframinglincolnremoteregistration.

This hybrid lecture is presented in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History as part of the week-long “Reframing Lincoln” seminar at the presidential library. Although the content is designed for teachers, the seminar’s online discussions are open to anyone.

Morel argues Douglas’s “popular sovereignty” policy was morally indifferent towards black enslavement and would not have required white northerners to approve of slavery but simply to go along with its expansion. That would have set the legal groundwork to prevent northern states from continuing to prohibit slavery.

Morel, author of “Lincoln and the American Founding,” says Lincoln was attempting to reverse a trend not only towards the spread of slavery but also the entrenchment of white supremacy.

The mission of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is to inspire civic engagement through the diverse lens of Illinois history and sharing with the world the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. We pursue this mission through a combination of rigorous scholarship and high-tech showmanship built on the bedrock of the ALPLM’s unparalleled collection of historical materials – some 13 million items from all eras of Illinois history.

For more information, visit www.PresidentLincoln.Illinois.gov or follow the ALPLM on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.