Abraham Lincoln's 1860 Cooper Union Address

In Mr. Lincoln's famous address, which many credit with earning him the presidency, Mr. Lincoln argued against the spread of slavery to the Western states. The speech is the subject of a new book by Harold Holzer, Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President, published by Simon and Schuster. Prior to Waterston's speech, Mr. Holzer described the culture that produced the speech, Lincoln's presidential campaign, and the speech's impact. Mr. Holzer introduced Sam Waterston's presentation. Actor Sam Waterston delivered Abraham Lincoln's Cooper Union Address in the Great Hall of Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, where it was originally delivered on February 27, 1860.

This reenactment was made on May 05, 2004.

Please consider purchasing the full DVD at

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/18...

• Category

  Education

[KayBeeEee1983]

Does anyone know if Waterston is emphasizing parts the same way that Lincoln did?

[venompangx]

He is trying to be faithful to the manner in which the speech was originally delivered. They where trying to see if still has the capacity to move a modern audience and boy it sure does.

[Hendo56]

Phenomenal job by a fantastic actor.

[AugustusCaesar14ad]

Every student of the Civil War, rhetoric, and political science should listen to this speech. Lincoln was razor sharp here. If he wasn't dead i would vote for him now.

[Jody Marsh]

It is said Lincoln never moved during a speech,but let us allow Waterston that.I have to say I did not want it to end and if you listen to the speech with modern ears, and think about our current situation,one could argue that we need a Lincoln now. I am truly inspired by this exercise and would have loved to have been in the room. Even the audience,ignorant of the experiment ,began to participate because they could not help themselves. That in and of itself proves how powerful this man was

[Michael Hill]

Why, why, the damn water bottle? That is so wrong. There is no attempt to portray Mr. Lincoln's stance. Read the book. It is very fine.

[VictorLepanto]

Lincoln the North West Ordinance is fabulous. It is a much neglected but beautiful document. It shows the mind of our Founders more perfectly & comprehansively then does either the Constitution of the U.S. or the Dec. of Independence.

As it shows the mind of the Founders re: slavery, it also shows their minds re: church & state. In the NWO the founders provide for the establishment of public schools in the N.W. Terr. They said it was for inculcating religion.

[VictorLepanto]

I believe Lincoln wrote into his original notes pauses for what he anticipated would be big applause lines. News reports of the event also also included accounts of strong reactions to the speech. It was a MAJOR hit in its day. Only the brevity & perfection of the Gettysburg Address has eclipsed it.

I remember when I 1st discovered this magnum opus of Lincoln. He really does vindicate the Founders on slavery & laid down a sound conservative ground for opposing slavery.

[blue2dada]

It is true that we do not know exactly how Lincoln spoke while giving his speech. Nonetheless in the printed transcript, which Lincoln edited, there are some indications as to emphasis. So the last few words are printed bold. If you like you could borrow or buy a copy of the Library of America edition of Lincoln's letters and speeches from 1859 to his death, which has the complete text of the speech.

[KayBeeEee1983]

I think it's interesting that you love Lincoln and your username is AugustusCaesar.