Existing comment:
Bronze cast of Abraham Lincoln's life mask
1886
made by Augustus Saint-Gaudens after Leonard Volk's 1860 original
As the United States expanded westward, Americans debated and fought over the issue of allowing slavery in the new lands. Abraham Lincoln rose to national prominence after delivering a speech at the Cooper Union in February 1860 arguing against the extension of slavery. Following his election that year, seven southern states, fearing that he was anti-slavery, seceded from the Union. |