Letter from Abraham Lincoln to Nathan Sargent, 1859

This 1859 letter to Nathan Sargent, a fellow member of the emerging Republican Party, lays out Abraham Lincoln's rapidly crystallizing views on the question of extending slavery to new states. Lincoln foresees a proposed moderation in the Republican platform--allowing the spread of slavery unhindered--as working against the Party's chances in the North in the upcoming 1860 presidential election.