Lincoln's Letter to Charles Ray (June 27, 1858)
This page contains Abraham Lincoln's letter to Charles Ray (both the original and a transcription), a wordle recreation of the letter, the original newpaper article which prompted Lincoln's response, and a close reading video exploring the context of the letter. Carefully examine all of the sources and documents to better answer the question: to what end was Lincoln using his anger?
Wordle of Lincoln's Letter to Charles Ray
Charles Ray
The inciting article from Charles Ray's newspaper
My dear Sir,
How in God’s name do you let such paragraphs into the Tribune, as the enclosed cut from that paper of yesterday? Does Sheahan write them? How can you have failed to perceive that in this short paragraph you have completely answered all your own well put complaints of Greely [Greeley] and Sister Burlingame? What right have you to interfere in Indiana, more than they in Illinois? And what possible argument can be made why all Republicans shall stand out of Hon. John G. Davis’s way in his district in Indiana that can not be made why all Republicans in Illinois shall stand out of Hon. S.A. Douglas’s way? The part in larger type is plainly editorial, and your editorial at that, as you do not credit it to any other paper. I confess it astonishes me.
Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
Transcription of Lincoln's Letter to Charles Ray
Lincoln's Letter to Charles Ray
Timeline of Selected Events In 1858
Close Reading Video of Lincoln's Letter to Charles Ray
Sources for Further Context
(Click on underlined titles to link to digital readings)
Primary Sources
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—. 1858a. “Abraham Lincoln to Charles H. Ray, June 27, 1858.” Lincoln’s Writings, The Multi-Media Edition.
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—. 1858b. “Charles H. Ray to Abraham Lincoln, July 1, 1858.” Lincoln’s Writings, The Multi-Media Edition.
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"The Progress of Liberty." Julian M. Sturtevant: An Autobiography. Ed. J. M. Sturtevant. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1896. 277-301.
Secondary Sources
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Burlingame, Michael. "Lincoln vs. Douglas (1857-1858)." Abraham Lincoln: A Life. Vol. 1. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2008. 443-85.
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Chadwick, Bruce. 1858: Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, and the War They Failed to See. Naperville, IL: Source, 2008.
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Holzer, Harold. Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2014.
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Johannsen, Robert Walter. Stephen A. Douglas. Urbana and Chicago: U of Illinois, 1997.
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Kaplan, Lewis E. The Making of the American Dream An Unconventional History of the United States from 1607 to 1900. Volume I, The Making of a Republic. New York: Algora, 2009.
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Pinsker, Matthew. "Boss Lincoln: A Reappraisal of Abraham Lincoln's Party Leadership." The Living Lincoln. Ed. Thomas A. Horrocks, Harold Holzer, and Frank J. Williams. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois UP, 2011. 30-37.
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Pinsker, Matthew. "Lincoln and the Lessons of Party Leadership." Lincoln & Liberty: Wisdom for the Ages. Ed. Lucas E. Morel. Lexington: U of Kentucky, 2014. 191-206.
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Shenk, Joshua Wolf. "Lincoln's Great Depression." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, Oct. 2005.