On this date in 1838, Abraham Lincoln, a 28-year old Illinois legislator, accepted an invitation from the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois to give a speech on the rule of law and the importance of all Americans being civically engaged. The context of the times were perilous. When Lincoln rose to give his speech, violence was breaking out over a troubling, divisive issue - the peculair institution of slavery. It was a cancer tearing the nation apart. Lincoln worried about the rule of law and the possibility that Americans might elect an autocrat, more interested in power and achieving their ambitions, rather than governing according to the principles of democracy. Lincoln argued that “the capability of a people to govern themselves” was the fundamental proposition of the American Revolution, and that that ideal was now at stake in a country where its people were turning to violence, rather than ballots, as solutions to their problems.
The following documentary, "Fortifying Our Democracy," explores the alarming events that motivated Lincoln to deliver his speech, the timeless argument for investing in civic education, and the dangers of taking our political institutions for granted. It was made possible by the Lincoln Presidential Foundation.