LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Feb Americana Grand Format Auction #659  / 

25811

Lincoln Printed Speech on Dred Scott Decision

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Historical Memorabilia Start Price:150.00 USD Estimated At:600.00 - 800.00 USD
Lincoln Printed Speech on Dred Scott Decision
<B>Abraham Lincoln Printed Speech "In Reply To Judge Douglas" dated June 26, 1857</B></I> A printed copy of "Speech of the Hon. Abram sic Lincoln, in Reply to Judge Douglas. Delivered in Representatives' Hall, Springfield, Illinois, June 26th 1857", 7pp. 8vo., unbound folded sheet, uncut with wide margins. This is a scarce and early imprint of a speech given by Lincoln responding to a speech given by Stephen Douglas two weeks earlier and addresses mainly the Dred Scott decision. In part:"...That decision declares two propositions -- first, that a negro cannot sue in the U.S. Courts; and secondly that Congress cannot prohibit slavery in the Territories. It was made by a divided court -- dividing differently on the different points...I have said, in substance , that the Dred Scott decision was, in part, based on assumed historical facts which were not really true...Judge Taney, in delivering the opinion of the majority of the Court, insists at great length that negroes were no part of the people who made, or for whom was made, the Declaration of Independence, or the Constitution of the United States. On the Contrary, Judge Curtis, in his dissenting opinion shows that in five of the thirteen States...free negroes were voters, and, in proportion to their numbers, had the same part in making the Constitution the white people had..." This is an important speech, and Lincoln would use many of the same arguments in his famous House Divided speech made a year later before a thousand Republican delegates in Springfield who would choose him to run against Stephen Douglas for the U.S. Senate. This imprint is in good to very good condition with minor separations at the folds, a few small tears at margins, negligible foxing, but with such wide margins that the text remains unaffected. Very bright paper, and dark print.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Small Flat (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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