Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-359) and index.
The Declaration of Independence: an introduction -- The Declaration of Independence: on rights and duties -- The Northwest Ordinance -- Slavery and the Federal Convention of 1787 -- The common law and the organization of government -- Alexis de Tocqueville on democracy in America -- John C. Calhoun and slavery -- Southern Illinois's Abraham Lincoln -- The poetry of Abraham Lincoln -- The "House divided" speech -- The Lincoln-Douglas debates -- The first inaugural address -- The Fourth of July message to Congress -- The Emancipation Proclamation -- The Gettysburg Address -- The second inaugural address -- Abraham Lincoln's legacies