The Chain of Happiness

The Kansas-Nebraska Act threw American politics into chaos in 1854. The two-party duopoly that existed for the previous 20 years was swept away in the space of a few months. As Abraham Lincoln fought for the anti-Nebraska coalition in Illinois, he found himself with an unexpected political opportunity -- followed by the most difficult decision of his career to that point. 

Nursing his own ambitions and trying to hold onto his power in the U.S. Senate, Stephen Douglas agreed to introduce legislation repealing the Missouri Compromise and opening the upper Midwest to slavery. The brazen assault by pro-slavery forces upended the nation's party system and brought Abraham Lincoln to the forefront of the forces opposing Douglas and defending the Declaration of Independence. 

Abraham Lincoln would never had become president had he not locked horns with Stephen Douglas, whose rapid rise through Illinois politics quickly made him a national icon. Douglas' life had some parallels to Lincoln's, and in many ways, his attraction to money and flexible policy better embodied the America of the early 1850s than the old parties did. 

Abraham Lincoln's racial attitudes were complicated. He was willing to defend fugitive slaves and appears to have lived in what was (for its time) an integrated neighborhood. But he also defended a slaveholder in court, and advocated for schemes to persuade African-Americans to leave the land of their birth. 

Abraham Lincoln's law practice was dominated by debt cases and the messy but commonplace disputes that make up a legal practice then and now. He plied his trade throughout central Illinois and was a popular companion for other attorneys in his field. But was he a good lawyer?

Mary Lincoln's domestic life often involved working as a single parent and managing tight finances while her husband was out making a living. Both parents were devoted to their children, and faced devastation when their son Eddie became sick in late 1849. Less than a year later, Abraham Lincoln made a fateful choice when he received word that his father Thomas was ill. 

As he returned for the final congressional session of his term, Abraham Lincoln tried to lay the groundwork for the future of his party -- by proposing the abolition of slavery within the District of Columbia, and in using the patronage powers of the newly elected Whig president. But opposing forces, and Lincoln's underestimation of them, led to disappointment. 

The Whigs were desperate for victory in 1848, and Abraham Lincoln joined a group promoting the candidacy of General Zachary Taylor. Lincoln showed that he could be an effective speaker -- but he could not have foreseen that his efforts would help destroy the party that he had devoted his life to. 

The U.S. invasion of Mexico in 1846 sparked a humanitarian catastrophe that had profound consequences for both countries. Abraham Lincoln joined a Whig fight against the war. 

As Abraham Lincoln moved to secure the Whig nomination for Congress in 1846, he had to confront the ambitions of an old friend for the seat, and the growing power of the abolitionists within his district.