Episode 30: Lincoln’s Case Against Slavery’s Expansion | New Haven, CT - 1860

Creating America · Oct 8, 2026 · 55m · transcript

In March 1860, Abraham Lincoln came to New Haven, Connecticut, as a presidential candidate still fighting for national recognition. Just two months later, the Republican Party would gather in Chicago and nominate him for president.

In this episode we read Lincoln’s campaign speech he delivered at Union Hall in New Haven, CT. Lincoln's theme was one that was common to him during that campaign, while also being pointed at the Connecticut voter in a few particulars.

With the nation divided over slavery, the Missouri Compromise, Kansas, the Dred Scott decision, and John Brown’s raid at Harpers…