How Abraham Lincoln Invented American Democracy

Aug. 9, 2024
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What is democracy? In this episode of “The Civic Discourse Project” lecture series, Steven B. Smith answers that question dating back to Lincoln.

Smith argues that the defining moment of American democracy can be traced to the afternoon of November 19, 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a “new birth of freedom” during the Gettysburg Address, when his words for the first time connected the fight against slavery with the fight for democracy, both domestically and internationally.

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