disappointed but he worked very, very hard to build up his law practice. >> lincoln was a great spinner of tales for juries. one time they said this reminds me of the little boy on the farm who comes running in his father and says pap, pap, sister is in the barn and she's got her pants down and her friend, joe, got his pants down and he's squatting to do the other thing. the father says you got the facts straight but you come to a wrong conclusion. he turns the the jurors and says, sometimes the facts does not give you the right conc conclusion. oh, no, he's a hybrid. if you want to understand him, you have to understand both sides. ♪ >> 1854, spain, france and britain abolished slavery. it is very much alive in the united states. and may, president franklin signs the kansas, nebraska, act given american the opportunity to expand 500 square miles of new territory. >> the kansas/nebraska act repealed the compromise which says there could be no slavery. settlers can decide for themselves whether slavery can be north of the line. >> it was not talking about the modern state of kansas/nebraska. it was all the way up to the border. the north goes ballistic. >> lincoln says you can't have a democratic process to determine an undemocratic institution can exist. lincoln recognizes that democracy can fail when the idea of society are not founded in human quality. >> the democrats doubled down, they are now the party of slavery. kansas/nebraska act propels lincoln of a one term congressman considers himself a failure back into politics. ♪ >> in the wake of the kansas/nebraska act, lincoln's whig party began to unravel over the issue of slavery. >> the whigs and democrats were not liberals and conservatives precisely as we divide parties today. the whigs were pretty progressive about slavery. the democrats were liberal in terms of voting opportunities and suspicion about immigration but not liberal when it came to protecting southern slavery because the south was the democratic base. but, the whigs are unable to commit to a perspective on the question of the expansion of slavery and so -- >> by the 1850, the whigs essentially collapsed. >> out of this collapse, a tnew antislave party is born. the republicans. >> lincoln begins to speak out on behalf of this republican party. >> the first example of it is the speech he delivers in 1854. >> this was the moment for his big comeback. >> it was a large speech. >> i wish to make and keep the extinguish between the institution and the extension of it so broad and so clear that no honest man can misunderstand me and no dishonest ones can successfully represents me. >> he puts forward a strong condemnation of slavery. he says it is a cancer eating away the life of the nation. >> let's turn slavery from its claims of moral back. its arguments of necessity, let's return it to the position our father gave it and there let it rest in peace. [ applause ] >> there could be no moral right in slavery but at the same time he really believes if we stop allowing slavery to expand, he feels that's enough. very rarely in his life and his career did lincoln actually talk about the concrete and justices of enslavement, the idea that enslaved people were being exploited was not something that was important to him. it must have been profoundly frustrated to have someone say there could be no more right than slavery but you can keep it to where you have. this guy gets it but does not quite get it. >> he's an absolute sensation. republican papers go wild praise him as the great of the day. democratic papers are fearful of this rising man. in washington, massachusetts senator charles sumter gave a speech where he castigate of the slavery view. the nephew is named preston brooke. one day he walks in with a cane and beats charles sumter on the head. sumter is on the floor of the united states. how did the south reacts? >> brooks was flooded of gifts of new things. >> 1830 to 1860, there are over 70 70 acts of violence between members of congress north and south. these are duos and stabbing and folks in the south are lashing out. more states come in that are free, the legislatures will be free, the congressmen and senators, ultimately they fear even 50 year in the future, they'll go to eradicate slavery and their investment and world is all bound around the idea of human and slavery. the new samsung galaxy s21 this looks different. it is. show me. just hit record! see that? 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he knew how to get the crowd on his side. >> he turns the conversation back towards policies. douglas had said we can resolve this problem of conflicts over slavery and the territories by saying when southerners move in, they can decide. they called this poverty sovereignty. >> let the voters decide. to lincoln it was immoral. lincoln backed him into a constructed corner. >> he says to douglas, if a southern community decided to ban slavery by vote, would you accept that? and douglas says yes, i am going to standby popular sovereignty. southern democrats would never support douglas for president after that. >> though it was just an illinois senate race, douglas' celebrity and lincoln's sharp rhetoric gone national. >> their debates fired up the nation. the policies that divided the nation. newspaper spres spread the beas. they were riling up converts to their causes and strictly openly partisan the way some people believe broadcast and cable television is today. after the second debate, according to the republicans' newspapers, when the debate was over. abraham lincoln was carried off on triumph on the shoulders of his supporters. according to the democratic newspapers, when the debate was over, exhausted abraham lincoln had to be carried off by his supporters. with the media fuelling, regional triablism -- each febreze car vent clip gives you up to 30 days of fresh air. so, you can have open window freshness... even with all the windows up. enjoy fresh, any time, with febreze. visible is wireless that doesn't play games. no surprise fees, legit unlimited data for as little as $25 a month. and the best part, it's powered by verizon. but it gets crazier. bring a friend every month and get every month for $5. which is why i brought them. two $5-a-months right here. hey. hey. plus the players of my squad. hey. what's up? 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[typing sound] i had this hundred thousand dollar student debt. two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars in debt. ah, sofi literally changed my life. it was the easiest application process. sofi made it so there's no tradeoff between my dreams and paying student loans. student loans don't have to take over for the rest of your life. thank you for allowing me to get my money right. as the country prepares for the election, wellilliam siwat the runner. >> they're opposed to sewer, they don't like his method. >> his friends invite a series of republicans to come and give speeches in new york. they want to hear from a variety of speakers who may be alternative to sewer. the man who engaged steven douglas brilliantly was invited. >> it is a screen test for a presidential nomination. >> on the very day of the speech, lincoln walks all the way up broadway to matthew brady's photo gallery, the most famous gallery in the united states to make a photo graphic record of this important visit to new york city. it is so important to realize that photography is a new phenomenon in american culture. >> you have this visual culture that really makes politics real. >> lincoln knows how to present himself and that's part of what lincoln genius was as a politician. >> that's a remarkable shot. the most important photograph of lincoln ever taken. >> the union is in trouble. this was going to be the most important election that the country ever seen. who do you want to lead you through that? here is this elegant figure in a tuxedo looking at us right in the eye. his left hand is on a book, it brings home that theme of education of learning. but look at that right hand, the sleeve comes out from underneath the coat, this was strength, this was someone who walks on the frontier, lincoln was equal parts velvet and iron. the left hand was vel rvet and e right hand was iron. >> that was not accidental stuff. that was lincoln composing himself as a public figure. >> hours later, lincoln makes his way to the cooper union great hall. its got 2,000 seats for an audience that's drescribed as te pick and flower of new york. >> it was organization of east coast republicans. >> they charge 25 cents. lincoln was the last in the this series. he knows this is a do or die experience of his lifetime. the editor of the new york evening post introduces him as the warrior of the west. he's brought to the stage. the first part was meant to mock steven douglas. a lot of laughters and shouts hit him again and he abruptly switches and gets more serious. he says now if people in the south were listening, we do not mean to threaten your property. all we want to do is control the spread of an institution that you know is wrong. he goes through every single argument that's been thrown against the republicans and logically dec-constructs with. >> he ends with. >> let us have faith that rights make might. in that faith there to do our duty as we understand it. >> it was a magical performance. >> at the end people are saying this is his greatest speech we heard in new york ever. >> the audience left on their feet and people threw hat in the air. by the time he gets on the trolley, his feet hurts so much that he's limping. did he go back to the hotel? he red prad proof before it wasd in type and edited. he wanted this to be perfect. lincoln cares about getting it into the press. that's where campaigns were won and lost. >> before long, copies of the brady's photo springs up in illustrated weekliy's alongside story of lincoln's rise. >> lincoln is coming of age in the world of mass journalism. he's a master of communications. >> he was illustrating a speech, delivering it and promoting it all in the same 24 hours. the post cooper union momentum built spontaneously. >> lincoln begins touring new gl england performing various performances in cooper union. in connecticut, road ihode islad new hampshire. >> his oldest son, robert is in boarding school. robert thinks this is really embarrassing. i have to sit with my blue-blooded friend and hear my western father gives a speech. one of the boy says too bad bob had such an ugly father. robert is thinking in his chair in shame. according to the press, lincoln stands up and the dazzling begins. and when it is over, the boys all come and slap bob in the back and said wow, your father is something else. may of 1860, the republican national convention is held in chicago. se senator h. sewer new york remains in the front. >> lincoln was a dark horse candidate. >> the battling begins. on the first ballot sewer was out in the front. no surprise there. lincoln is second. they go to a second blatt. lincoln begins to catch up. crowds is getting excited for lincoln. a third blallot, comes along lincoln is drawn even with seward. the entire hall erupts. lincoln emerged as the republican nominee. the cincinnati newspaper says that the entire tribe of comanche and acres of hotel gauz could have been lost in the hall. you would not have heard them at all with the moves that went up for lincoln. >> where was lincoln when all these ballots being cast? >> he was sitting in the office of the republicans' newspaper in his favorite chair, waiting for the telegram. he accepts the handshakes of all his friends, he says, thank you, there is a little woman that's interested in this than you all. he makes his way home to tell mary that his der dreams are co through. he made himself the leader of the republican party. to redefine everything a truck can be. ♪ and while we've made good on that promise by winning back to back to back motor trend truck of the year awards, the work is never done. ♪ at capella university, we know smart comes in many forms. -good boy! -so we made flexpath the kind of smart that keeps up with you. with flexpath, you can earn your master's degree in 14 months for $14,000. that's the kind of smart i like. capella university -- don't just learn. learn smarter. ♪ hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play ♪ ♪ hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid ♪ ♪ and all that glitters is gold ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's. with any handcrafted burger. stop struggling to clean tough messes with sprays. try clean freak! it has three times the cleaning power to dissolve kitchen grease on contact. it works great on bathtubs. and even stainless steel. try clean freak from mr. clean. in 1860, abraham lincoln, a self-educated one-term republican wins the nomination. >> for a long time once you get the nomination, you go back home, you are not going around shaking hands and kissing babies. that's the 20th century invention, thsit is up to the py bosses how to best present the candidates. >> lincoln is sitting at home saying nothing. >> in a little parlor in springfield, mary lincoln, was finally able to come into her own. even her husband can't campaign, that can't stop her. the press is invited into their home. she entertains and demands there would be a lot of beers on hand. she was comfortable speaking about her husband. she took to that role quite well. >> mary and lincoln will your ho they flourish when they work swords the same goals. >> the republican party does not want lincoln's antislavery review to be the major focus of the campaign. lincoln was a lawyer and politician. lirng lincoln receives mails from voters and those wishing him well. a young girl from new york makes a particularly interesting suggestion. >> i have got four brothers and part of them will vote for you anyway. if you let your whiskers grow, i will try to let the rest of them vote for you. >> you will look a great deal better for your faces there. all the ladies like their wal whiskers. my father is going to vote for you. if i was a man, i would vote for you, too. >> lincoln writes back to her. >> as to the whiskers, having never won any. do you not think people would call it silly if i were to begin it now. >> at some point he spmust have reflected on that. he decides to grow a beard. the democrats scramble to organize their campaigns. >> steven douglas isemattis is overwhelming favorite to be the democratic nominee. ultimately, the democrats from the south walk out of their convention. they nominate the vice president of the united states. the northern democrats r reassembled and nominate steven douglas. >> you have a middle group who calls on both their houses create what's called the constitution union party and nominates john bell of tennessee. it becomes obvious just from doing the numbers that lincoln is going to win this election. on november 6, 1860, a record of 81% of voters turn out of the most significant presidential election of america's presidential history. >> lincoln spends most of the day in the springfield telegraph office. every time the keys clatter, he knows that returns are coming in from another city. it is tense. but, in the middle of all this. lincoln gets up and had ice cream with mary and he goes back to the telegraph office. by about midnight, he understands that he'll win the presidency. >> as suspected, he'll win at not so much because he'll win a clear majority but because the others will fall so far behind him in their division. >> when lincoln got the news that he would be the next president of the united states, he went rushing home. and he said we are elected, mary. >> this is their triumph. but, lincoln win in the most sectional votes in the history of presidency. that's a recipe for disaster. >> lincoln only wins 39% of the popular vote. >> he realizes that the political triumph has occurred but the burdens of what's awaiting him is apparent. >> it is the worst situation anybody ever hahnded as president. literally, tag, you are it. >> as soon as he's elected. >> they recognize the threat of lincoln being president. the threat of this new party united in opposition of the expansion of slavery come to power is enough to have the south say this is what we have been warned against, we'll suck seeld. >> lincoln's next move will determine whether the american experience survived? will he be remembered the greatest president of the united states or the last? previously on "lincoln divided we stand." it is tremendous controversial. >> the kansas/nebraska act, propels lincoln back into politics. he does not want to see slavery expand. >> he begins to speak out th