...have not the courage to defend that faith, it won't matter whether we are saved or not. —Elmer Davis I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the Declaration of Independence, I have often asked myself what great principle kept this confederacy so...

...those who knew Lincoln well, this might not have been a surprise, for he had said two years before: "I never had a feeling politically that did not spring...sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence." ' The historical retreat to the Declaration of Independence left Lincoln with a major paradox. He claims...

...Declaration's basic ideal that all men are created equal. "I have never had a feeling politically," he said, "that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence." His strongest charge against the expansion of slavery was that it showed how far the nation had fallen...

...Capitol. On the way to Washington, Lincoln spoke in Independence Hall in Philadelphia on February 22. "I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the Declaration of Independence," said the gaunt Kentuckian, ". . . that all should have an equal chance....

...from the statements which originated, and were given to the world from this hall in which we stand. I have never had a feeling politically that did not...sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. ... I have often inquired of myself, what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy...

...of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In an impromptu speech, he emphatically stated: "I have never had a feeling politically that did not...sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence." He particularly praised the sentiments that gave Americans and the world liberty and guaranteed Americans...

...after his correspondence with Stephens, at Philadelphia's Independence Hall, Lincoln declared that "I have never had a feeling politically that did not...sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence." What he hated about the enslavement of blacks was not only its crass disregard of the natural equality...

...mechanisms for realizing the core principles of our founding in 1776. He consistently maintained that "I have never had a feeling politically that did not...sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence," adopted by Congress four score and seven (87) years before the Gettysburg Address. The Declaration...

...from the sentiments which originated, and were given to the world from the hall in which we stand. I have never had a feeling politically that did not...from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence."15 He regarded the principles of natural rights articulated by the Declaration as the...

...never," he told a crowd at Independence Hall while en route to his first presidential inauguration, "had a feeling politically that did not spring from...sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence." Indeed, he added, "I would rather be assassinated on this spot than to surrender" those principles....