The Fiery Trial by Eric Foner Read Free Book Online Page A

ideas and, not least, reading the manuscript and making numerous valuable suggestions.
    The book is dedicated to my uncle, Henry Foner, the last survivor of four remarkable brothers, including my late father, Jack D. Foner, who devoted their lives to advancing social justice in this country.

Chronology of Lincoln, Slavery, and Emancipation
    1787
U.S. Constitution does not mention the word “slavery” but includes protections for the institution including the fugitive slave and three-fifths clauses.
1808
January: Congress prohibits the importation of slaves into the United States.
1809
February 12: Lincoln is born in Hardin County, Kentucky.
1816
December: Lincoln family moves to southwestern Indiana.
 
American Colonization Society is founded.
1820
Missouri Compromise prohibits slavery in Louisiana Purchase territory north of latitude 36º30'.
1828, 1831
Lincoln takes part in two flatboat trips to New Orleans.
1830
March: Lincoln family moves to Macon County, Illinois.
1831
July: Lincoln settles in New Salem, Illinois.
1833–38
Great Britain abolishes slavery throughout its empire.
1833
December: American Anti-Slavery Society is founded.
1834
Lincoln is elected to first of four terms in Illinois House of Representatives.
1837
January: Votes against proslavery legislature resolutions.
 
March: With Dan Stone, issues “protest” explaining their votes.
 
April: Moves to Springfield, Illinois.
 
October: Illinois Anti-Slavery Society is formed.
 
November 7: Abolitionist editor Elijah P. Lovejoy is killed by a mob in Alton, Illinois.
1838
January 27: Lincoln gives his speech “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions” at the Young Men’s Lyceum, Springfield.
1841
July: Successfully argues case of Bailey v. Cromwell and McNaughton before Illinois Supreme Court, winning freedom for Nance Legins-Cox.
 
September: Encounters twelve chained slaves during a boat trip on the Ohio River.
1842
February 22: Gives a speech before a temperance society in Springfield.
 
November 4: Marries Mary Todd.
1846
August 3: Wins election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
1847
October: Unsuccessfully represents Robert Matson, who seeks to retain ownership of slaves he has brought from Kentucky to Illinois.
 
December: Introduces a resolution in the House of Representatives asking President James K. Polk to identify the “spot” of American soil where Mexico allegedly launched war against the United States.
1848
Campaigns in New England for Whig presidential candidate Zachary Taylor.
1849
January 10: Reads to the House of Representatives a bill for gradual abolition of slavery in Washington, D.C., but does not introduce it.
1852
July 6: Gives a eulogy on Henry Clay.
1853
Illinois enacts a law barring African-Americans from entering the state.
1854
January: Stephen A. Douglas introduces the Nebraska bill which, when passed in May as the Kansas-Nebraska Act, repeals the Missouri Compromises and applies the principle of “popular sovereignty” to these territories.
 
October 16: Lincoln gives a speech against the Kansas-Nebraska Act in Peoria.
1855
February: Fails in his bid for election to the U.S. Senate.
1856
May 29: Takes part in the Bloomington, Illinois, convention of the Republican party; delivers his “lost speech.”
 
September–October: Campaigns for John C. Frémont, Republican candidate for president.
1857
March 6: Supreme Court issues its Dred Scott decision, stating that blacks cannot be citizens of the United States and that Congress lacks authority to bar slavery from any territory.
 
June 26: Lincoln gives a speech in Springfield criticizing the Dred Scott decision.
1858
Serves on the Board of Managers of the Illinois Colonization Society.
 
June 16: Gives his House Divided speech at the Republican state convention in Springfield.
 
August–October: Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas debate.
 
November: Democrats retain control of the Illinois legislature, ensuring defeat of Lincoln’s candidacy for