They can be read no more forever. a few weeks before, by a mob, of a negro. America was founded on a right of revolution, a right to resist a tyrannical government and replace it with a better one (Declaration of Independence). In history, we hope, they will be read of, and recounted, so long as the bible shall be read;but even granting that they will, their influencecannot bewhat it heretofore has been. Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is one of the most quoted speeches in American history. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. Then, by comparing the published text of Lincoln's lecture with lectures delivered by two other Springfield lawyers at the same venue in 1838 and 1839, the essay argues for a revised understanding of Lincoln's Lyceum Address as it relates to his political development, his psychological state, and his compositional practices. Francis O. J. Smith to Secretary of State Dan Special Message to the House of Representatives, Special Message to Congress on Mexican Relations. own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a To prevent this, Lincoln concluded that there was a need to cultivate a "political religion" that emphasizes "reverence for the laws" and puts reliance on "reasoncold, calculating, unimpassioned reason. Lincoln was 28 years old at the time he gave this speech and had recently moved from a struggling pioneer village to Springfield, Illinois. As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and Laws, let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor;let every man remember that to violate the law, is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the character of his own, and his childrens liberty. directed exclusively against the British nation. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? Speech on Assuming Office of the President. Quotes about DISCERNMENT. As to him alone, it was as well the way it was, as it could otherwise have been. That our government should have been maintained in its original form from its establishment until now, is not much to be wondered at. approach of danger? spelling books, and in Almanacs;--let it be preached from the Context: Lincoln's response to congressional passage of the highly divisive 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act allowing territories to exercise popular sovereignty regarding the question of whether or not to allow slavery marked the first time Lincoln made the moral evils of slavery and its threat to the republic a personal central political theme. bands of hundreds and thousands, and burn churches, ravage and The question then, is, can that It would be tedious, as well as useless, to recount the horrors neither are they confined to the slave-holding, or the non-slave- Elijah P. Lovejoy, The Liberator, December 8, 1837, The day that this article appeared, Lincoln gave a speech to the Young Mens Lyceum in Springfield. Similar too, is the correct reasoning, in regard to the burning of the negro at St. Louis. institutions, conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and TeachingAmericanHistory.org is a project of the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, 401 College Avenue, Ashland, Ohio 44805 PHONE (419) 289-5411 TOLL FREE (877) 289-5411 EMAIL [emailprotected], The Congress Sends Twelve Amendments to the States. By this influence, the jealousy, envy, and avarice, incident to our nature, and so common to a state of peace, prosperity, and conscious strength, were, for the time, in a great measure smothered and rendered inactive; while the deep rooted principles ofhate, and the powerful motive ofrevenge, instead of being turned against each other, were directed exclusively against the British nation. Never! It lies in the blend of clearheaded logic and powerful intuition.". Create Date May 22, 2022. One of Abraham Lincoln's first major speeches, the Lyceum Address, was a warning to America that rings truer yet today. Distinction will be his paramount object, and although he would Turn, then, to that horror-striking scene at St. Louis. think you these places would satisfy an Alexander, a Caesar, or a Napoleon? in adding story to story, upon the monuments of fame, But the example in either case, was fearful. a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. friendship effectual. Abraham Lincoln, born on February 12, 1809, was struck down in his 56th year, after saving the American constitutional Union and earning his place as the most beloved and greatest of America's Presidents. Here then, is a probable case, highly dangerous, and such a one as could not have well existed heretofore. American People, find our account running, under date of the In his address to the Springfield Lyceum (a lyceum was an organization dedicated to public education), Lincoln, who was twenty-eight at the time, examined the civic unrest in America. They constitute a their faces against violations of law in every shape, alike with with each other, attached to the government and laws, and generally It was presented to the United States Congress on Tuesday, December 6, 1864. We, when mounting the stage of existence, found ourselves the legal inheritors of these fundamental blessings. Note: A text that is not on this list may be chosen with the consent of the Director of the Graduate Program in Politics. Theirs was the task (and nobly they performed it) to possess themselves, and through themselves, us, of this goodly land; and to uprear upon its hills and its valleys, a political edifice of liberty and equal rights; tis ours only, to transmit these, the former, unprofaned by the foot of an invader; the latter, undecayed by the lapse of time, and untorn by usurpationto the latest generation that fate shall permit the world to know. Permissions and Citations Documents in Detail: "Against American Imperialism", https://archive.org/details/lifeworks02lincuoft/page/274, Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Women, The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions Address before the Young Mens Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, Check out our collection of primary source readers. Ocean, and crush us at a blow? It thirsts and burns for distinction; and, if possible, it will have it, whether at the expense of emancipating slaves, or enslaving freemen. and Laws, let every American pledge his life, his property, and Many great and good men, sufficiently qualified for any task they should undertake, may ever be found whose ambition would aspire to nothing beyond a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or a presidential chair; but such belong not to the family of the lion or the tribe of the eagle. strangers; till, dead men were seen literally dangling from the that has been erected by others? But new reapers will arise, and they, too, will seek a field. This page is not available in other languages. itself be extremely dangerous. The War With Mexico: Speech in the United States H What Are the Colored People Doing for Themselves? Then, all that sought celebrity and fame, and distinction, expected to find them in the success of that experiment. But you are, perhaps, ready to ask, "What has this to do with the that grievances may not arise, for the redress of which, no legal Lincoln Douglas Debates Classroom, Named "Best of the Web" in Nov. 2013 by NEH EDSITEMENT, That our government should have been maintained in its original form from its establishment until now, is not much to be wondered at. erected to the memory of others. the guilty, fall victims to the ravages of mob law; and thus Abstractly considered, the hanging of the gamblers When I so pressingly urge a strict observance of all the laws, was, that of those scenes, in the form of a husband, a father, a in general, all imperatively require us faithfully to perform. be, many causes, dangerous in their tendency, which have not at St. Louis, are, perhaps, the most dangerous in example and the operation.--Similar too, is the correct reasoning, in regard provisions have been made.--I mean to say no such thing. February 22, 1842. commanded all the culture and talent of the place. the thing is right within itself, and therefore deserves the editors, and hang and burn obnoxious persons at pleasure, and . Alike, they spring up among the pleasure hunting Even then, theycannot beso universally known, nor so vividly felt, as they were by the generation just gone to rest. The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions Add Song of the Spinners from the Lowell Offering. throw printing-presses into rivers, shoot editors, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, The Constitution is Our 'Political Religion: Remembering Lincoln's Words, "Lincoln: A Fast Forward Through Vidal's Historical Saga", Full text at Abraham Lincoln Online (ALO) website, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abraham_Lincoln%27s_Lyceum_address&oldid=1148981463, This page was last edited on 9 April 2023, at 12:25. Lincoln's Address to the Young Men's Lyceum 4 dignity and happiness of mankind," until he is nally induced to give up thinking at all. I do not mean to say, that the scenes of the revolution are now Through that period, it was felt by all, to be an undecided experiment; now, it is understood to be a successful one. The theatre can't be missed with its grandeur faade featuring six ornate Corinthian columns. He addressed it as a threat to the perpetuation of free government and explained the various ways it challenged the survival of such government. 0:00 / 21:42 Introduction Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum LearnOutLoud 71.5K subscribers Subscribe 15K views 7 years ago Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, January. How, then, shall we perform it? But all this even, is not the full extent Is it unreasonable then to expect, that some man possessed of the loftiest genius, coupled with ambition sufficient to push it to its utmost stretch, will at some time, spring up among us? then to sink, and be no more. ourselves be its author and finisher. Lincoln was not quite twenty-nine when he spoke to this local civic organization. else, they must fade upon the memory of the world, and grow more or provide more or better support for it than the text itself. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide. Thus went on this process of hanging, from gamblers in the acquirement or establishment of them--they are a legacy Guide to Spielberg's Lincoln familiar, to attract any thing more, than an idle remark. And thus, from speaking, but a small evil; and much of its danger consists, in Cecile Nham. Most certainly it cannot. While ever a state of feeling, such as this, shall universally, or even, very generally prevail throughout the nation, vain will be every effort, and fruitless every attempt, to subvert our national freedom. Democratic Party Platform 1860 (Breckinridge Facti (Southern) Democratic Party Platform Committee. The subject of Lincolns speech was how and whether the extraordinary political institutions of the United States could be sustained in the face of challenges of a different sort to the next generation of Americans. Download. And when such a one does, it will require the people to be united with each other, attached to the government and laws, and generally intelligent, to successfully frustrate his designs. Its direct consequences are, comparatively Research Guide, Editor: Matthew Pinsker At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? [6] Lincoln also referenced the death of Elijah Parish Lovejoy, a newspaper editor and abolitionist, who was murdered three months earlier by a pro-slavery mob in nearby Alton, Illinois. And, when they do, they will as naturally seek the gratification of their ruling passion, as others have so done before them. holding States. imagine they have nothing to lose. James M. McPherson (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2001), 35-36, View our top-rated projects to serve under any chief. It cannot come from abroad. Itscornsto tread in the footsteps ofanypredecessor, however illustrious. I hope I am over wary; but if I am not, there is, even now, And, in short, let it become the political religion Understanding Lincoln: The Lyceum Address of 1838 (GLI), Lincoln's writings are in the public domain; this introduction copyright © 2018 Abraham Lincoln Online. Take, for example, what is perhaps the best-known sentence Abraham Lincoln ever wrote, the opening of the Gettysburg Address: In summary, Lincoln's Lyceum Address of 1838 is an important document to study not only to understand Lincoln the man, but to also understand human nature and Americans in general. known, nor so vividly felt, as they were by the generation just As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Towering genius disdains a beaten path. Forcing Slavery Down the Throat of a Free-Soiler, Free & Slave-holding States and Territories. Broadside Advertisement for Runaway Slave. Letter from Abraham Lincoln to Jesse W. Fell (1859 National Disfranchisement of Colored People, William Lloyd Garrison to Thomas Shipley. William Herndon, who would become Lincoln's law partner in 1844, describes :Re-creating a history of the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, in the late 1830s, this essay situates Lincoln's 1838 Lyceum Address within the immediate context of its delivery. period, which now are decayed, and crumbled away. In any case that arises, as for instance, the promulgation of abolitionism, one of two positions is necessarily true; that is, the thing is right within itself, and therefore deserves the protection of all law and all good citizens; or, it is wrong, and therefore proper to be prohibited by legal enactments; and in neither case, is the interposition of mob law, either necessary, justifiable, or excusable. Letter from Abraham Lincoln to Mrs. Orville Browni Letter from Abraham Lincoln to John Johnston (1851 Letter from Abraham Lincoln to John D. Johnston (1 Letter from Abraham Lincoln to Owen Lovejoy (1855), The Lincoln-Douglas Debates 3rd Debate Part I, The Lincoln-Douglas Debates 3rd Debate Part II, The Lincoln-Douglas Debates 4th Debate Part I, The Lincoln-Douglas Debates 4th Debate Part II, The Lincoln-Douglas Debates 6th Debate Part I, The Lincoln-Douglas Debates 6th Debate Part II, The Lincoln-Douglas Debates 7th Debate Part I. By what means shall we fortify against it? observed. Lyceum (founded about 1835) with the older Sangamon County Lyceum (founded in 1833). national freedom. Reason, cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason, must furnish all the materials for our future support and defence. Abraham Lincoln, Lyceum Address, Temperance Address, Speech on the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Dred Scott Speech, First and Second Inaugural Addresses, Address to Congress on July 4, 1861, Gettysburg Address. By such things the feelings of the best citizens will become more or less alienated from it, and thus it will be left without friends, or with too few, and those few too weak to make their friendship effectual. The question then is, can that gratification be found in supporting and maintaining an edifice that has been erected by others? revered and sung, and toasted through all time. They were a forest of giant oaks; but the all-resistless hurricane has swept over them, and left only, here and there, a lonely trunk, despoiled of its verdure, shorn of its foliage; unshading and unshaded, to murmur in a few more gentle breezes, and to combat with its mutilated limbs, a few more ruder storms, then to sink, and be no more. We toiled not in the acquirement or establishment of themthey are a legacy bequeathed us, by aoncehardy, brave, and patriotic, butnowlamented and departed race of ancestors. And, in short, let it become thepolitical religionof the nation; and let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues, and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars. Towering genius distains to a state of peace, prosperity, and conscious strength, were, It denies that it is glory enough Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois Standing before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, he delivered a lecture on the topic of the perpetuation of our political institutions. But new reapers will arise, and they, too, will If they succeeded, Most certainly it cannot. We find ourselves in the peaceful possession, of the fairest portion of the earth, as regards extent of territory, fertility of soil, and salubrity of climate. to negroes, from negroes to white citizens, and from these to In his 1838 Lyceum Address in Springfield, Illinois, a 28-year-old Abraham Lincoln spoke on "the perpetuation of our political institutions." The speech was eerily prescient, coming 23 years as it did before then-President Lincoln presided over a nation tragically brought into Then, all that sought celebrity and fame, and distinction, expected to find them in the success of that experiment. but, till then, let them, if not too intolerable, be borne with. he lived. (By Matthew Pinsker), That our government should have been maintained.. burning suns of the latter;--they are not the creature of climate-- How to Use, Emancipation Digital Classroom operations; and pray for nothing so much, as its total annihilation. There are now, and will hereafter be, many causes, dangerous in their tendency, which have not existed heretofore; and which are not too insignificant to merit attention. South Carolinas Declaration of the Causes of Sece Distribution of the Slave Population by State, Jefferson Davis's Inaugural Address (1861). Lyceum Theatre - NY. distinction; and, if possible, it will have it, whether at the Record of the Organization and Proceedings of The Massachusetts Lawmakers Investigate Working Condit State (Colonial) Legislatures>Massachusetts State Legislature. A single victim was only sacrificed there. the success of that experiment. Lincoln's Gettysburg Addresses let me not be understood as saying there are no bad laws, nor men of sufficient talent and ambition will not be wanting to The Destiny of America, Speech at the Dedication o An Address. justice to ourselves, duty to posterity, and love for our species the force of circumstances, the basest principles of our nature, Lincoln "Lyceum Address" and "Speech on Dred Scott" Harry Jaffa, "Historical Background to the Lincoln-Douglas Debates" Frederick Douglass, "What, to a Slave, Is the Fourth of July?" . were annually swept, from the stage of existence, by the plague Passion has helped us; but can do so no more. It is to deny, what the history of the world tells us is true, to suppose that men of ambition and talents will not continue to spring up amongst us. At the same time, Americans recognize that without respect for the law, no society can prosper or even survive. for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping Viewed in the context of his oratorical career, the Lyceum Address foreshadows a notable feature of Lincoln's rhetoric: He carefully places his own ideas, arguments, and sentiments into a public arena where they exist in competitive interaction with other ideas, arguments, and sentiments. Lyceum Address ABRAHAM LINCOLN One of Lincoln's earliest published speeches, the Lyceum Address was delivered when Lincoln was just 28 years old and newly arrived in Springfield, Illinois. I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. If such arise, let proper it is understood to be a successful one.--Then, all that sought or ever will be entirely forgotten; but that like every thing Thus went on this process of hanging, from gamblers to negroes, from negroes to white citizens, and from these to strangers; till, dead men were seen literally dangling from the boughs of trees upon every road side; and in numbers almost sufficient, to rival the native Spanish moss of the country, as a drapery of the forest. His story is very short; and is, scenes of the revolution had upon the passions of the people as In "Lincoln Lyceum Address", Abraham Lincoln is addressing the issue of the mob that has been happening in the US. Their ambition aspired to display before an admiring world, a practical demonstration of the truth of a proposition, which had hitherto been considered, at best no better, than problematical; namely,the capability of a people to govern themselves. I answer, it has much to do with it. to the burning of the negro at St. Louis. while the deep-rooted principles of hate, and the powerful motive In the fall of 1837, an abolitionist newspaper editor named Elijah Lovejoy was murdered by a pro-slavery mob while trying to defend himself and his printing presses near Alton, Illinois. law, in a very short time afterwards. It sees no distinction in adding story to story upon the monuments of fame erected to the memory of others. It scorns to tread in the footsteps of But I seek a field. In his address to the Springfield Lyceum (a lyceum was an organization dedicated to public education), Lincoln, who was already an established politician at age twenty-eight with a growing reputation as a successful litigator, examined the civic unrest in America. gone.--They were a forest of giant oaks; but the all-resistless Accounts of outrages Privacy Policy, The Springfield Lyceums and Lincoln's 1838 Speech, Understanding Lincoln: The Lyceum Address of 1838. The speech was "On the Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions," a subject he'd return to again and again throughout his political career. down, and disregarded. Through that period, it was felt by all, to be an undecided experiment; now, it is understood to be a successful one. as willingly, perhaps more so, acquire it by doing good as harm; . If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. of McIntosh, was seized in the street, dragged to the suburbs of That they invited Lincoln shows his rising status, and he clearly viewed the speech given on January 27, 1838 as an opportunity to advocate for one of his core principles: the rule of law. But those histories are gone. a beaten path. Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution Abraham Lincoln's "Address before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois," Jan. 27, 1838 Email interview with Christian McWhirter, Lincoln historian, Abraham Lincoln Presidential .

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