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 the kansas/nebraska act repealed the compromise which says there could be no slavery.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 mos