Lincoln the Lawyer

Stephanie Gish
Thornwood High School, South Holland

Abraham Lincoln had many jobs, such as husband, father, lawyer, and president of the United States. As a young boy in Indiana, Lincoln became acquainted with the law when he read his first law book, Revised Statutes of Indiana. Later he memorized law books such as Blackstone's Commentaries, Chitty's Pleadings, and Story's Equity. Lincoln also rehearsed cases out loud and analyzed legal points from various angles. Although Lincoln never studied with an attorney, but taught himself, once he read all the books law school required, he decided to take his bar exam. He passed his bar exam and received his law license on September 9, 1836. He had exceptional qualities that enabled him to become one of the most-sought-after lawyers in central Illinois. Those qualities were shown in many of his cases, and some of his cases determined his later deeds and thoughts.

Although Lincoln lived and practiced in Illinois, a free state, some of his cases dealt with slavery. Lincoln believed that slavery was a continual torment, but he defended both the slave owners and slaves. One of Lincoln's cases was Bailey v. Cromwell, which was heard in 1841 in the Illinois Supreme Court. Lincoln defended an indentured black girl, Nance, in Tazewell County, where she was sold by one white man to another. Lincoln persuaded the court and the jury that it was illegal to sell human beings in Illinois. He did this by showing the court the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which stated that slavery was banned from the Northwest Territories. The court eventually agreed with Lincoln, and this case established the principle that in Illinois every person was free regardless of color and that it is illegal to sell a free person.

Another case of Lincoln's was the Matson slave case of 1847, where he defended Robert Matson, a slave owner who was trying to retrieve his runaway slaves. Matson had brought the slaves from his Kentucky plantation to work on land he owned in Illinois. The slaves ran away during the move because they believed that they were free because the Northwest Ordinance forbade slavery in Illinois. In this case Lincoln invoked the right of transit, which allowed slave holders to take their slaves temporarily into free territory. Lincoln also stressed that Matson did not intend to have the slaves remain permanently in Illinois. Even with these arguments, judges in Coles County ruled against Lincoln and the slaves were set free.

Surely, cases such as these helped to influence his thoughts and decisions toward slavery. Lincoln said that "slavery has the power of making me miserable," and he believed that the Kansas-Nebraska Act was wrong because it was conceived in violence, was maintained in violence, and was executed in violence. He also believed it was wrong because it allowed slavery in Nebraska and Kansas and repealed the Missouri Compromise, an earlier law that had imposed limitations on the expansion of slavery in future states.

Later, as president, Lincoln struggled to find a solution for slavery. His first idea was recolonization where the slaves would be freed from their owners and then be free in the African country of Liberia. Lincoln believed that this would elevate the status of blacks by proving they were capable of making progress in civilization and social problems. After thinking it through Lincoln realized colonization would be impossible to accomplish. Lincoln also had an idea for a free black program that he hoped would be a successful device for race control. This program would be a refugee program where people would hire blacks to work on farms or plantations or be enrolled in the army, and they would have wages set by the government. Lincoln had a program set up, but he saw that this solution would not work. Lincoln's ultimate solution was emancipation.

Lincoln was an exceptional man who studied hard to become a great lawyer. His skills made Lincoln popular, and he defended both slaves and slave owners. His part in representing slaves and slave owners could not help but influence his later decisions to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.—[From Elwell Crissey, Lincoln's Lost Speech; David Donald, Lincoln; Emanuel Hertz, Lincoln Talks; Philip Kunhardt, Lincoln; Reinhard Luthin, The Real Abraham Lincoln; Stephen Oates, With Malice toward None; Ida Tarbell, The Early Life of Abraham Lincoln; Benjamin Thomas, Abraham Lincoln.]

24 ILLINOIS HISTORY / FEBRUARY 1998