Abraham Lincoln Symposium By Seventh Circuit Bar Association

Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Program

Abraham Lincoln  His Legal Career and His Vision for America
Presented by the  Seventh Circuit Bar Association
co-sponsored by The Chicago History Museum
February 6, 2009
Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago Cultural Center
78 East Washington, Chicago, IL

The symposium will consist of five sessions:

I. Keynote Address – Walter Dellinger will remark on Lincoln's path to becoming a lawyer, his practice as a trial and appellate lawyer, his application of the skills of a lawyer to his construction of political positions, public policies and his interpretation of the Constitution.

II. Panelists will discuss the law of slavery, slavery cases in Illinois 1835-1860, Lincoln’s runaway slave cases, Lincoln’s view of the Fugitive Slave Act, Lincoln and abolition.

III. A discussion on Lincoln’s re-entry into politics and the issues he confronted: the Nebraska Act and its repeal of the Missouri Compromise, the Dred Scott decision, the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.

IV. Lincoln’s view of the Constitution and Presidential powers.

V. Concludes with debate on Lincoln’s Legacy.

Registration for symposium