Document based Essay Lincoln
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In the middle of the 19th century, the United States was expanding westward very quickly. Because of this westward expansion and the acquisition of new states and territories, controversy arose between pro-slavery and anti-slavery activists. The basic problem was whether slavery should or should not be expanded into the newly acquired territories and states. This was the United States that Abraham Lincoln was faced to deal with.
Many people today view Abraham Lincoln as a man whose soul purpose was to rid the United States of slavery at any cost. That he was a man who believed in equality for all mankind, and that together, everyone could live in peace. Some people see Lincoln as an extreme abolitionist, but these documents seem to show him in a different light.
The earliest look at Lincoln that these documents give us is from October 16, 1854. On this date, Lincoln gave a speech in Peoria, Illinois in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. It is from this speech that we begin to get some ideas on Lincoln's thoughts about slavery...