Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Abraham Lincoln fights slavery

From the "This Day in History" page-a-day calendar:

On this day in 1854, an obscure lawyer and Congressional hopeful from the state of Illinois named Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech regarding the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which Congress had passed more than four months earlier.  In his speech, the future president denounced the act and outlined his views on slavery.  Under the terms of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, two new territories - Kansas and Nebraska - would be allowed into the Union, and each territory's citizens would be given the power to determine whether slavery would be allowed within the territory's borders.  It was believed that the act would set a precedent for determining the legality of slavery in other new territories.  Controversy over the act influenced political races across the country that fall.  Abolitionists, like Lincoln, hoped to convince lawmakers in the new territories to reject slavery.

Next month, a new movie is coming out.  As most of you know, I'm a bit of a history geek.  I'll be first in line to see it.  In fact, there's talk of an official Brave Astronaut outing to see it as a group.


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