{"id":1110,"date":"2013-06-29T13:12:10","date_gmt":"2013-06-29T13:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/?p=1110"},"modified":"2016-08-18T19:21:57","modified_gmt":"2016-08-18T19:21:57","slug":"campaign-circular-march-4-1843","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/campaign-circular-march-4-1843\/","title":{"rendered":"Campaign Circular (March 4, 1843)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Contributing editors for this page include Adam Sonstroem<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Ranking<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-size: 36px;\">#133<\/span> on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Annotated Transcript<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu\/node\/40514\" target=\"_blank\">&#8221;\u00a0\u2026That &#8216;union is strength&#8217; is a truth that has been known, illustrated and declared, in various ways and forms in all ages of the world. That great fabulist and philosopher, Aesop, illustrated it by his fable of the bundle of sticks; and he whose wisdom surpasses that of all philosophers, has declared that &#8216;a house divided against itself cannot stand.&#8217; It is to induce our friends to act upon this important, and universally acknowledged truth, that we urge the adoption of the Convention System.&#8221;\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>On This Date<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu\/panel\/this_date\/1843-03-04\" target=\"_blank\">HD Daily Report, March 4, 1843<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thelincolnlog.org\/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&amp;day=1843-03-04\" target=\"_blank\">The Lincoln Log, March 4, 1843<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Close Reading Videos<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/177341893\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/177341893\">Lincoln Close Reading Campaign Circular<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/user55051154\">Adam Sonstroem<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\">Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Custom Map<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=39.806558,-89.636593&amp;spn=0.093893,0.165653&amp;iwloc=0004e072bb1f7bbfc60c1\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3234\" src=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Screen-shot-2014-01-26-at-11.40.05-AM.png\" alt=\"Screen shot 2014-01-26 at 11.40.05 AM\" width=\"484\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Screen-shot-2014-01-26-at-11.40.05-AM.png 691w, https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Screen-shot-2014-01-26-at-11.40.05-AM-300x273.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 484px) 100vw, 484px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=39.806558,-89.636593&amp;spn=0.093893,0.165653&amp;iwloc=0004e072bb1f7bbfc60c1\" target=\"_blank\">View in Larger Map<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>How Historians Interpret<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;An 1843 campaign circular rallying Illinois Whigs to party unity shows Lincoln&#8217;s concern to educate the public in a manner consistent with both reason and revelation: &#8216;That &#8216;union is strength&#8217; is a truth that has been known, illustrated and declared, in various ways and forms in all ages of the world. That great fabulist and philosopher, Aesop, illustrated it by his fable of the bundle of sticks; and he [that is, Jesus] whose wisdom surpasses that of all philosophers, has declared that &#8216;a house divided against itself cannot stand.&#8221; \u00a0By quoting Aesop alongside the Bible, Lincoln shows how an &#8216;important, and universally acknowledged truth,&#8217; whether its source be mortal or divine, is difficult to resist in the political realm. He therefore models the kind of moderation or temperance in speech he hopes to inspire within the temperance movement in precisely those parts of the address in which he shares his true opinion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;Lucas E. Morel, <a href=\"http:\/\/quod.lib.umich.edu\/j\/jala\/2629860.0020.103\/--lincoln-among-the-reformers-tempering-the-temperance?rgn=main;view=fulltext;q1=campaign+circular\">&#8220;Lincoln Among the Reformers: Tempering the Temperance Movement,&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0<em>Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association\u00a0<\/em>20 (1999)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLincoln seems to have been, in decisive respects, a child of the Enlightenment, dedicated to the hope, if not the expectation, of continuous and unlimited progress. In this way, too\u2014independent of the effects upon him of a soul searing war\u2014he seems to have been open to Modern influences that are distantly grounded in Christian doctrines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;George Anastaplo,\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=cRIwD2xjfdgC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=a+constitutional+biography&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj_uvGz_5jNAhVRgSYKHXXsC3QQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\">Abraham Lincoln: A Constitutional\u00a0Biography<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>(New York: Rowman &amp; Littlefield, 2001) 348.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Lincoln\u2019s intense hostility toward Whig deserters was reflected in the circular\u2019s denunciation of John Reynolds, William L. D. Ewing, and Richard M. Young, all of whom had been helped by the Whigs and who then became \u201cperseveringly vindictive in their assaults upon all our men and measures.\u201d Whigs must adopt the convention system, Lincoln argued, for \u201cwhile our opponents use it, it is madness in us not to defend ourselves with it.\u201d Without nominating conventions, there could be none of the party unity so essential for victory. \u201cIf two friends aspire to the same office it is certain that both cannot succeed. Would it not, then, be much less painful to have the question decided by mutual friends some time before, than to snarl and quarrel until the day of the election and then both be beaten by the common enemy?\u201d To illustrate the point, Lincoln employed a Scriptural aphorism that he would famously reuse in 1858: \u201che whose wisdom surpasses that of all philosophers has declared that \u2018a house divided against itself cannot stand.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.knox.edu\/documents\/pdfs\/LincolnStudies\/Burlingame,%20Vol%201,%20Chap%207.pdf\">Michael Burlingame,\u00a0<em>Abraham Lincoln: A Life<\/em>\u00a0(2 volumes, originally published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008) Unedited Manuscript By Chapter, Lincoln Studies Center, Volume 1, Chapter 7 (PDF),\u00a0\u00a0639-640<\/a><\/p>\n<p>NOTE TO READERS<\/p>\n<p>This page is under construction and will be developed further by students in the new \u201cUnderstanding Lincoln\u201d online course sponsored by the House Divided Project at Dickinson College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. To find out more about the course and to see some of our videotaped class sessions, including virtual field trips to Ford&#8217;s Theatre and Gettysburg, please visit our Livestream page at <a href=\"http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/gilderlehrman\/lincoln\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/gilderlehrman\/lincoln<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Searchable Text<\/span><\/h3>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">March 4, 1843<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">FELLOW-CITIZENS: By a resolution of a meeting of such of the Whigs of the State, as are now at Springfield, we, the undersigned, were appointed to prepare an address to you. \u00a0The performance of that task we now undertake.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Several resolutions were adopted by the meeting; and the chief object of this address is, to show briefly, the reasons for their adoption.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The first of those resolutions declares a tariff of duties upon foreign importations, producing sufficient revenue for the support of the General Government, and so adjusted as to protect American industry, to be indispensably necessary to the prosperity of the American People; and the second declares Direct Taxation for a National Revenue to be improper. Those two resolutions are kindred in their nature, and therefore proper and convenient to be considered together. \u2026<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">&#8230;The sixth resolution recommends the adoption of the convention system for the nomination of candidates.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">This we believe to be of the very first importance. Whether the system is right in itself, we do not stop to enquire; contenting ourselves with trying to show, that while our opponents use it, it is madness in us not to defend ourselves with it. Experience has shown that we cannot successfully defend ourselves without it. For examples, look at the election last year. Our candidate for Governor, with the approbation of a large portion of the party, took the field without a nomination, and in open opposition to the system. Wherever in the counties the whigs had held Conventions and nominated candidates for the Legislature, the aspirants, who were not nominated, were induced to rebel against the nominations, and to become candidates, as is said, \u201con their own hook.\u201d \u00a0And go where you would into a large whig county, you were sure to find the whigs, not contending shoulder to shoulder against the common enemy, but divided into factions, and fighting furiously with one another. The election came, [and] what was the result? The Governor beaten, the whig vote being decreased many thousands since 1840, although the democratic vote had not increased any\u2026.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u2026That \u201cunion is strength\u201d is a truth that has been known, illustrated and declared, in various ways and forms in all ages of the world. That great fabulist and philosopher, Aesop, illustrated it by his fable of the bundle of sticks; and he whose wisdom surpasses that of all philosophers, has declared that \u201ca house divided against itself cannot stand.\u201d It is to induce our friends to act upon this important, and universally acknowledged truth, that we urge the adoption of the Convention System. Reflection will prove, that there is no other way of practically applying it. In its application, we know there will be incidents temporarily painful; but, after all, we believe those incidents will be fewer and less intense, with, than without, the system. If two friends aspire to the same office, it is certain both cannot succeed. Would it not, then, be much less painful to have the question decided by mutual friends some time before, than to snarl and quarrel till the day of election, and then both be beaten by the common enemy?<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u2026Before closing, permit us to add a few reflections on [the present condition and future prospects of] the whig party. In almost all the States we have fallen into the minority, and despondency seems to prevail universally among us. Is there just cause for this? In 1840 we carried the nation by more than a hundred and forty thousand majority. Our opponents charged that we did it by fraudulent voting; but whatever\u00a0<em>they<\/em>\u00a0may have\u00a0<em>believed<\/em>,\u00a0<em>we knew<\/em>\u00a0the charge to be untrue. Where now is that mighty host? Have they gone over to the enemy? Let the results of the late elections answer. Every State which has fallen off from the whig cause since 1840 has done so, not by giving\u00a0<em>more<\/em>\u00a0democratic votes than they did then, but by giving\u00a0<em>fewer<\/em>\u00a0Whig. Bouck, \u00a0who was elected democratic Governor of New York last fall by more than 15,000 majority, had not then as many votes as he had in 1840, when he was beaten by seven or eight thousand. And so has it been in all the other States which have fallen away from our cause. From this, it is evident, that tens of thousands, in the late elections, have not voted at all. Who and what are they? is an important question, as respects the future. They\u00a0<em>can<\/em>come forward and give us the victory again. That all, or nearly all of them, are whigs, is most apparent. Our opponents, stung to madness by the defeat of 1840, have ever since rallied with more than their usual unanimity. It has not been they that have been staid from the polls. These facts show what the result must be, once the people again rally in their entire strength.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contributing editors for this page include Adam Sonstroem Ranking #133 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents Annotated Transcript &#8221;\u00a0\u2026That &#8216;union is strength&#8217; is a truth that has been known, illustrated and declared, in various ways and forms in all ages of the world. That great fabulist and philosopher, Aesop, illustrated it by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10855],"tags":[10866,6088,11669,11635,11658,10861],"class_list":["post-1110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-railsplitter","tag-antebellum","tag-letter","tag-needs-close-reading","tag-partisanship","tag-pragmatism","tag-public"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1110"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4578,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110\/revisions\/4578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}