Nice idea. A reprise of Lincoln's Cooper Union speech from February 27, 1860 delivered in the same building on May 5th 2004.
Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer and actor Sam Waterson of NBC’s "Law and Order" fame embarked upon a modern social experiment of sorts: Could today’s voters, accustomed to ingesting political messages in 30-second morsels, sit still for a rereading of the "Right makes might" speech? Could they endure two hours of intricate discourse on an issue that’s been dead for generations?Lincoln's oration on this night set in train a journey to the office of President of the United States of America. The 16th President, the 'great emancipator', went on to move his potition from being anti-slavery (no extension of slavery) to issue the emancipation proclamation, he supported the 13th amendment (Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction) and ultimately called for the franchise to be extended to African-Americans."Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the government nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it."The ovation, on this night as it was in 1860, was thunderous and long.
Posted by Paul in Oratory Politics at June 28, 2004 05:25 PM
