On Nov. 19, 1863, then-President Abraham Lincoln delivered a powerful 272-word speech, later known as the Gettysburg Address, ...

In 1854, Sen. Stephen Douglas forced the Kansas-Nebraska Act through Congress. The bill, which repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, also opened up a good portion of the Midwest to the possible ...

This interview was originally broadcast on October 11, 2010. In 1854, Sen. Stephen Douglas forced the Kansas-Nebraska Act through Congress. The bill, which repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, ...

Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address is counted as one of his most memorable speeches. Containing just 700 words, it is inscribed in stone in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, along with the ...

What happened in Bloomington 169 years ago, on Thursday May 29, 1856, ignited Abraham Lincoln’s march to the presidency, and eventually led to the Civil War-era 13th, 14th and 15 amendments, which ...

Editor’s note: The following lightly edited excerpt is from Chicago writer Edward Robert McClelland’s new book, “Chorus of the Union: How Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas Set Aside Their Rivalry to ...

In the years before the Civil War, slaveholders were the greatest threat to free speech in the United States. White Southerners used state laws, a congressional gag rule, suppression of the mail, and ...

On June 16, 1858, more than 160 years ago, a little-known politician delivered a speech at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield after he accepted his party's nomination for U.S. senator. Abraham ...

Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., annually holds the Lincoln Oratory Festival. Students from Sela Public Charter School performed "House Divided" on stage earlier this year. Ford's Theatre, a lovely ...