Abraham Lincoln : a character sketch . wasthe Speaker, and among the Whigs were John QuincyAdams, Horace Mann, Colla-mer, Stephens and Toombs;and among the Democratswere Wilmot and Cobb, Mc-Dowell and Andrew Johnson,while Webster and Calhoun,and Benton and Clayton wTeremembers of the Senate. Lincoln at once took an act-ive part in the discussionsthat related to the MexicanWar, that scheme of theSouthern statesmen to acquiremore territory for the ex-pansion of slavery. He held, as did the Whigs, that thewar was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally begun,and in his famous Spot Resolutions, he ca
Abraham Lincoln : a character sketch . wasthe Speaker, and among the Whigs were John QuincyAdams, Horace Mann, Colla-mer, Stephens and Toombs;and among the Democratswere Wilmot and Cobb, Mc-Dowell and Andrew Johnson,while Webster and Calhoun,and Benton and Clayton wTeremembers of the Senate. Lincoln at once took an act-ive part in the discussionsthat related to the MexicanWar, that scheme of theSouthern statesmen to acquiremore territory for the ex-pansion of slavery. He held, as did the Whigs, that thewar was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally begun,and in his famous Spot Resolutions, he called uponthe president to put his finger on the spot on Americansoil on which the Mexicans were aggressors, as thepresident had alleged. Mr. Lincoln did, however, votewith his party to give supplies to the troops and thanksto the generals who conducted the war, while censuringthe president for his part in bringing it on. Mr. Lin-coln had a weary time explaining to his constituentswhat they considered his inconsistency in attacking the. -^v Andrew 1808. Died 1875. 40 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. president for bringing on the war and then voting sup-plies for its conduct. Before his return from the eastand after the session of Congress, he made several cam-paign speeches in New England, enlarged his acquaint-ance and became more familiar with the elements thatshould enter into future politics. His second session passed without any striking inci-dent save one that indicated his attitude to the slaveryquestion. On the Wilmot Proviso, which favored thepurchase of Mexican territory and prohibiting of slaverythereon, he voted, as often as it was up, in the affirma-tive, and he himself proposed a resolution for the gradu-al compensated emancipation of slaves in the District ofColumbia. Thus ended his congressional career inwhich, in the national arena, he had gained a uniqueoutlook on public affairs, and where he won some repu-tation as a consistent Whig, loyal to his party, and op-po
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