Lincoln's Tragic Pragmatism: Lincoln, Douglas, and Moral Conflict

From Broadway Tabernacle to the Gettysburg Battlefield: Did Edwin Forrest Influence Abraham Lincoln?

“…46 The excess in his lyceum speech displays what Douglas L. Wilson has characterized as an "earlier and rougher version" of the man who became president. 47 Another historian, Harry V. Jaffa, called Lincoln at this stage of his career a "hack politician," 48 while David Herbert Donald in his masterful biography wrote that the young politician "resorted to "demagogy" in a subsequent speech in the legislature, where he displayed "fierce partisanship." 49 Yet as Michael Lind points out, Lincoln has been "posthumously deprived not only of his political tradition, but of most of his career in politics."…”

“…In this perspective, we see a configuration of three related ideas, all from the Declaration-equality, freedom, and self-government." 102 Those were precisely the ideas that Forrest had addressed in 1838, the template his oration offered. He spoke of equality (We rejoice in "an abstract proposition .…”

“…For instance, Douglas L. Wilson asserts that Lincoln made notes while preparing for the Gettysburg Address, not because any notes have ever been found but because "we know enough about Lincoln's way of working to be reasonably sure he was making notes on the subject as ideas occurred to him." 105 Here, we "know enough about Lincoln's way of working" to be sure he was reading Democratic newspapers when they were publishing Forrest's speech.…”

“…That included working to hone his writing-especially the skill of rewriting. 107 More than a self-made man, this "quintessential Whig would become known as the self-taught man." 108 His own words and those of others were raw material to be wrestled into shape.…”