What techniques did Lincoln use in his response to John Mason Peck?
The Mexican War heightened the tensions surrounding the issue of slavery. A letter from Anson G. Henry to Abraham Lincoln in December 1847 reflects the growing split within the Whig party over whether slavery should be allowed in the territories that would be ceded to the United States at the end of the Mexican War. In an effort to strike a compromise, Lincoln proposed a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. Search on 1849 bill for a draft of the proposal as well as Howard’s notes of his interview with Lincoln, in which Lincoln discussed the bill.
