Chapter 488: Defending Freedom = Supporting the Republican Party

The year 1856 was an important turning point in Lincoln's life.

This year, Lincoln decided to devote himself wholeheartedly to politics and try to save the country that was about to fall apart.

In 1855, Lincoln entered Congress as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives and successfully entered the highest stage of American politics.

And this time, Lincoln entered the American political arena as one of the founders of the Republican Party, and his political status has been qualitatively improved compared to before.

Perhaps he himself did not expect that he, a poor boy from a lower-class background, would become one of the most important figures in the history of the Republican Party.

This new young political party would dominate the development of the United States in the second half of the 19th century and create the rise of this powerful country. A hundred years later, the Republican Party is still one of the two major ruling parties in the United States.

Being a member of the House of Representatives is already a level beyond the reach of ordinary people, but Lincoln achieved this in just a few years.

Completed the gorgeous transformation from a political amateur in the countryside to entering the Congress with the gentlemen in formal clothes.

Lincoln did not stop his climb up. He knew very well that if he wanted to influence American politics, being a mere state representative was not enough.

Now, he is working hard to become a senator of Yinzhou and governor of Yinzhou.

"Everyone, may I ask why we are gathered here?"

Lincoln's slender fingers pointed to the theme of today's speech: the United States - a great and free country.

"free!"

The sacred word freedom resounds in the open squares of Springfield for a long time.

People at this time still remember the lawyer's speech in front of the Crystal Palace in New York when the Kansas crisis broke out last year.

Unlike those politicians who only talk the talk and are only interested in showing off, after Lincoln finished his speech, he actually donated all his assets to support the people of Kansas in defending freedom and preventing Kansas from becoming a bank. Nuzhou.

The fact that Kansas did not become a slave state was a great victory for northerners.

As for Lincoln, after donating all his property, he almost divorced his wife, who weighed more than 200 pounds, due to property issues.

The well-dressed gentlemen treated the topic as a joke before and after tea, deriding Lincoln as a fool and one-minded.

When it comes to donating money, a high-profile donation of hundreds or thousands of dollars is enough, just like buying a headline in a newspaper to advertise yourself.

Donate all? Only fools donate everything.

And Lincoln was such a fool.

But the majority of ordinary citizens find it not funny at all. Instead, they felt that Mr. Lincoln was not a fool, but a man worthy of respect.

In his early years in Yinzhou, Lincoln often litigated lawsuits for the poor in Yinzhou for free, and accumulated a good reputation in Yinzhou.

Therefore, Lincoln returned to Yinzhou and announced his entry into politics. When he participated in the election for Yinzhou state representative, Lincoln became the representative of Yinzhou with an absolute advantage.

Lincoln received almost as many votes as the other members of the House of Representatives combined, which is very rare in American history.

Therefore, there was a joke at the time. Lincoln's political opponents did not believe that such a result was true.

Lincoln ran for the Illinois State Legislature twice in 1832 and 1836, when he ran for the Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party has recently been repeatedly suspected of election fraud. Lincoln's political opponents used their own experience to accuse Lincoln of election fraud and demanded a re-election.

However, after investigation later, it was found that there was indeed fraud in this election, but the election fraud was caused by a Democratic candidate who secretly stuffed more than 30 electoral votes for Lincoln into his own ballot box.

This incident also became a joke for a while. After these two incidents, Lincoln's already tall image became even taller in the minds of the people of Yinzhou.

The people of Yinzhou will vote for Lincoln even if they close their eyes and cover their ears.

The gentlemen who came here to listen to Lincoln's speech came with a political speculation mentality. To be precise, they came to evaluate whether Lincoln was worthy of political investment.

And those ordinary people who spent a week or two or even a month's salary at their own expense to come to Springfield really came to hear Lincoln's speech.

After all, the most valuable thing in a poor person is his simple patriotism.

In this era when information is underdeveloped and the cultural quality of the poor is generally low, they are the group of people who are most easily induced.

Rather than saying that they came to listen to Lincoln's speech, it is better to say that they saw hope in Lincoln and placed their hopes on this eloquent lawyer who came from a bitter background.

"Yes, more than 80 years ago, our ancestors united under the banner of freedom, wrested precious freedom from the British, and established the greatest country in human history!"

Lincoln spoke passionately and passionately.

“My dear freedom-loving compatriots, I stand here today just to share an important topic with you: the greatness of a free country.

Why is America great? The ancestors who came to the New World on the Mayflower will tell you that it is freedom.

The soldiers who died in the War of Independence will also tell you that it is freedom, because the word freedom has long been engraved on their tombstones and in the hearts of every American who yearns for freedom.

Because of freedom, our country has become the only paradise God has given to the world.

Because of freedom, our country can continuously attract immigrants who yearn for freedom from all over the world every year, who are not afraid of hardships and dangers, and are not afraid of life and death, and come to this great free country across the ocean. "

High-speed industrialization will strengthen the power of the bourgeoisie, and the bourgeoisie will do its best to instill a view in the people to divert class contradictions, that is, the wealth of capitalists is the wealth of the entire nation. Therefore, modern countries that have experienced rapid industrialization, especially late-developing countries, often have something called national pride.

America is no exception.

After the restoration of the Second French Empire, America became the only remaining republican country in the world, with an ideology and political system that is very different from those of European countries.

Under the influence of concepts such as Manifest Destiny, the American people are also willing to believe that their country is God's chosen country, and their country's ideology and political system have unique advantages.

And since This value is the foundation of the United States and written into the Constitution.

In the eyes of the public, it is naturally sacred, and they will not allow anyone to tarnish this word.

Like the poorest patriots in the East End of London, even the poorest patriots in the United States, when they think of their freedom, they will stand up straight since ancient times.

No matter how powerful Britain is, all the British are still the subjects of Queen Victoria. We Americans are different. No matter how poor we are, we are not the subjects of anyone, but free people with freedom.

Seeing that the audience in the audience couldn't help but stand up straight, Lincoln continued to strike while the iron was hot.

"Now someone is openly trampling on the freedom that our ancestors exchanged for with blood and life. Can we accept it?"

"No!"

"Yes! No!" Lincoln waved his powerful fist in the air.

"Freedom is the value that enables our country to exist, and we should fight for freedom.

I believe that everyone should enjoy freedom. This is a basic right given to us by God.

But now, our freedom is threatened. The evil slavery is endangering our freedom and dignity and eroding our country.

The southern slave owners used their whips not to whip the black slaves, but the sacred freedom in our constitution! They are whipping freedom with whips unscrupulously.

I would like to ask my fellow countrymen who yearn for freedom, what should we do? "

"Destroy the damn slavery! Free the slaves!"

"As a Republican, I firmly believe that slavery is immoral and unjust, and it is a stain on the image of the American nation! It is also a blasphemy against human dignity!

I would like to call on everyone to join us and support the Republican Party! Destroy the evil slavery. We must defend freedom with our voices and actions, so that the light of freedom can shine on every inch of American land! "

When Lincoln said this, the audience burst into warm applause.

At this moment, in their hearts, defending freedom is equal to abolishing slavery, and abolishing slavery is equal to supporting the Republican Party. Supporting the Republican Party is naturally for the sake of defending freedom.

They can't help but feel proud. It turns out that voting for the Republican Party and supporting Mr. Lincoln is to defend freedom with action!

The speech has achieved the desired effect, but Lincoln still did not stop speaking. He criticized the Democratic Party:

"I want to criticize those Democrats who support slavery. They gave up their freedom to protect slavery. They betrayed the core values ​​of our country and pursued short-term interests by blaspheming freedom.

This is unforgivable. We must unite and defeat their conspiracy. Gentlemen! We must unite and fight for freedom"

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Lincoln instilled freedom in the ignorant audience in Springfield, and Liang Yao also led troops in Portland to defend the freedom of Chinese immigrants to settle.

Stevens, the governor of the Northern Oregon Territory, was fighting Indians near Puget Sound, which is the Seattle area in later generations.

So when Stevens withdrew from the war and brought his group of beggar-like soldiers to the north shore of Portland, it was already May 1856.

Under the protection of the Oregon militia, Chinese immigrants had already laid the foundation in a large area of ​​the North Shore, and even the houses were already formed.

Seeing this, Stevens was so angry that his nose was crooked.

Stevens had been dealing with Chinese immigrants for quite a while, and he knew that as long as the houses were not built, it would be relatively easy to drive them away.

Once the houses were built, these Chinese who regarded the houses as their lives might not be driven away with guns.

Stevens ran to Liang Yao angrily and asked Liang Yao sternly: "Sir? What do you mean?!"

"What do you mean? I was just about to ask you!"

Liang Yao threw a Lee Enfield P53 rifle in front of Stevens. The inscription of the Birmingham Arsenal on the gun was still clearly visible.

"Do you recognize this gun?"

"British rifles, what's so strange about it." Stevens glanced at the rifle on the ground and said indifferently.

"A traitor like you can join the Democratic Party, no wonder the Democratic Party is getting worse day by day. "Liang Yao sneered.

"What do you mean, who do you say is a US traitor?" Stevens was furious.

"I said you are a US traitor, you are not a US traitor, where did these guns come from?" Liang Yao asked harshly.

"I bought them from the British!" Stevens said with certainty.

"Buy?" Liang Yao sneered.

"Let's not talk about whether the British will sell it to you because it is a weapon in service of the British. Even if they do, the purchase price of the British Army from the Birmingham Arsenal is 3 pounds 9 shillings and 8 pence. Can you afford this kind of gun?"

Stevens was speechless for a moment. He could not afford such an expensive gun. In fact, these guns were given to him by Elliot.

He allowed the British to build a port base in Bellingham, 30 kilometers away, to provide a berth for British ships.

In return, the British gave him 1,500 so-called most advanced rifles.

The captives confessed all the dirty things Stevens did to Liang Yao.