In 1855, the armed struggle over slavery begins

Two weeks before Lincoln wrote this letter, 约翰·布朗扯断了他那辆单马马车的缰绳，离开俄亥俄州前往西部. 他秘密地从北方各地的废奴主义者那里筹集了资金和武器——尤其是火炮大刀, loaded his wagon, and headed for Kansas to conduct his "peculiar business." Slave state supporters, many from Missouri, poured into the Kansas territory to crush the free soil movement and, if need be, kill men like Brown. These "border ruffians," as they would become known, 不会容忍任何人拥有奴隶的权利受到限制——南方团结起来支持他们. More and more, 北方人厌倦了南方无休止的要求和奴隶主的欺凌策略. In response, 像纽约的亨利·沃德·比彻这样的牧师会把装在标有“圣经”的盒子里的夏普步枪送给堪萨斯的自由州选民,马萨诸塞州的伊莱·塞耶(Eli Thayer)等商人组织了自由土地移民，以改变新领土上的权力平衡. Brown, on the other hand, 他带着几个儿子去了西部不惜一切代价废除了奴隶制. In 1855, the country was at war.

The Kansas-Nebraska Bill

林肯在巨大的政治动荡中起草了这封重要的信. Congress and the nation fought bitterly over Stephen A. 道格拉斯于1854年1月4日向参议院提出的堪萨斯-内布拉斯加法案. Douglas, Lincoln's prime Illinois rival, 他希望利用堪萨斯的辩论进入白宫，并主张南北双方都不应该解决领土上的奴隶制问题. Rather, 定居者自己应该通过人民主权来决定西部是否有奴隶. The bill, as its opponents asserted, 废除了1820年密苏里妥协案，该妥协案禁止在路易斯安那购买案获得的土地上实行奴隶制. 南方认为，除非奴隶制能够扩展到新领土，否则奴隶制将会消亡, 北方人开始相信，如果奴隶制扩大，这个国家就会灭亡. The quarrel became political dynamite.

Shifting political alliances

堪萨斯-内布拉斯加州的危机打破了辉格-民主党的联盟, like a supernova, shot red-hot fragments pinwheeling into the political void. Particles of the blast, Whigs like Lincoln, Free Soilers, disaffected Democrats, 一群形形色色的反奴隶制政治家逐渐在奴隶制问题上团结起来，并改变了政治格局. 这样一个多元化的群体不可避免地会怀有相互矛盾的反奴隶制信念, but most opposed any expansion of slavery as a lethal threat to the Union, to republicanism, and to the white race. Lincoln, slow to abandon the cherished legacy of Henry Clay, 最终离开了垂死挣扎的辉格党，加入了即将标榜自己为“共和党”的联合政府."

Some Republicans like Charles Sumner, the abolitionist senator from Massachusetts, supported equal rights for African Americans. Most disdained slavery but, like Lincoln, remained closely attuned to the racial priorities of their constituents. 他们试图限制奴隶制的蔓延和非洲裔美国人的自由, as Lincoln proposed, remove all blacks from North America. In Illinois, 该州宪法禁止黑人移民，并禁止非裔美国人在所有涉及白人的法律案件中作证. 内战期间，州议会甚至否决了《利记APP官网手机版》. As this private letter testifies, 林肯个人憎恶奴隶制，不希望种族或民族偏见支配国家的政治原则. 但在公开场合，林肯从未远离美国白人的种族偏见. "I will say then," Lincoln proclaimed in 1858, "that I am not, 也从未赞成以任何方式实现白人和黑人种族的社会和政治平等 . . . nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people." So long as both races inhabited the land, Lincoln concluded, "there must be the position of superior and inferior, 我和其他任何人一样，都赞成把优越的地位分配给白人."

Agreeing to disagree

In this letter, 林肯向斯比德透露了他对这些政治问题的个人信念, the son of wealthy Kentucky slaveowners. 他提醒他的朋友，他们在1841年进行了一次河流之旅，看到了“十几个奴隶”, shackled together with irons." That sight, according to Lincoln, "was a continued torment to me.他认为，奴隶制“不断地让我感到痛苦”."他很清楚他的朋友对这个问题的看法与他的不同, Lincoln challenges Speed, writing "Although in a private letter, or conversation, you will express your preference that Kansas shall be free, 你不会投票给公开说同样话的人 ... The slave-breeders and slave-traders ... 难道你们完全是你们的主人，就像你们是你们黑人的主人一样吗." Despite their obvious differences of opinion on the matter of slavery, Lincoln signs himself "Your friend forever A. Lincoln."

在南北战争之前，林肯很少把他对奴隶制的个人想法写在纸上. 作为一个老练的政治家，他小心翼翼地不让自己的内心感受受到公众的审视. 在这种情况下，他之所以如此开放，是因为他与肯塔基州的移植伙伴之间有着特殊的利记手机官网, 深信这封信永远不会出现在报纸上. Joshua F. 斯毕德在1837年遇见林肯，当时林肯在斯毕德与人共同拥有的一家商店前停了下来, Illinois, to inquire about the cost of bedding. 两人很快就成了好朋友，在店里同睡一张双人床，一睡就是四年. 斯皮德和林肯花了许多年的时间共同努力建立斯普林菲尔德的辉格党, confided in one another over various women and marriage plans, 并形成了一种亲密的同性关系，这种关系只有在弗洛伊德和现代性别定义出现之前的时代才有可能. For Lincoln and Speed, friendship and fraternal love trumped politics, 因为即使在奴隶制这样的基本问题上，两人也可能存在分歧，但即使在南北战争期间，他们仍然是值得信赖的朋友.