The pivotal speech that changed the course of Lincoln's career and America's history. Complete examination of the speech, including the full text delivered in 1854 in Peoria, Illinois.

Excerpt from Abraham Lincoln in Peoria, Illinois It was the starting point of the race which won for Abraham Lincoln the Presidency of the United States - brought on the War of the Rebellion - led to the death of a half million men and twice that number disabled by dis ease and wounds. Made free men and women of four million slaves, and desolated almost every home in the land. Four years of human sacrifice and suffering. At every fireside heart strings were swept by the fingers of Death. From a population of thirty-four million, a million and one-half were taken. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This historic speech by Abraham Lincoln is widely considered to be one of the most important addresses in American political history. In it, Lincoln denounces the spread of slavery in the United States and calls for a return to the principles of the Declaration of Independence. This edition includes seven contemporary newspaper accounts of the speech. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.