On this episode of Our American Stories, The Fugitive Slave Act, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Bleeding Kansas, the Dred Scott decision, and John Brown’s raid pushed the United States ever closer to civil war. As the nation fractured over slavery, a little-known Illinois lawyer emerged with the words, principles, and political skill to meet the crisis.

In Episode 27 of our ongoing Story of Us—Story of America series, Hillsdale College professor Dr. Bill McClay, author of Land of Hope, shares the story of how Abraham Lincoln rose from a Kentucky log cabin and a single term in Congress to challenge Stephen A. Douglas, lead the newly formed Republican Party, and win the presidency in the election of 1860.

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