1850 American Gold Tycoon

The year 1856 was an important turning point in Lincoln's life.

This year, Lincoln decided to devote himself wholeheartedly to politics and try to save the country that was about to fall apart.

In 1855, Lincoln entered Congress as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives and successfully entered the highest stage of American politics.

And this time, Lincoln entered the American political arena as one of the founders of the Republican Party, and his political status has been qualitatively improved compared to before.

Perhaps he himself did not expect that he, a poor boy from a lower-class background, would become one of the most important figures in the history of the Republican Party.

This new young political party would dominate the development of the United States in the second half of the 19th century and create the rise of this powerful country. A hundred years later, the Republican Party is still one of the two major ruling parties in the United States.

Being a member of the House of Representatives is already a level beyond the reach of ordinary people, but Lincoln achieved this in just a few years.

Completed the gorgeous transformation from a political amateur in the countryside to entering the Congress with the gentlemen in formal wear.

Lincoln did not stop his climb up. He knew very well that if he wanted to influence American politics, being a mere state representative was not enough.

Now, he is working hard to become a senator of Yinzhou and governor of Yinzhou.

"Everyone, may I ask why we are gathered here?"

Lincoln's slender fingers pointed to the theme of today's speech: the United States - a great and free country.

"free!"

The sacred word of freedom resounds in the open squares of Springfield for a long time.

People at this time still remember the lawyer's speech in front of the Crystal Palace in New York when the Kansas crisis broke out last year.

Unlike those politicians who only talk the talk and are only interested in showing off, after the speech, Lincoln actually donated all his assets to support the people of Kansas in defending freedom and preventing Kansas from becoming a bank. Nuzhou.

Kansas did not become a slave state in the end. In the eyes of northerners, it was a great victory.

As for Lincoln, after donating all his property, he almost divorced his wife who weighed more than 200 pounds due to property issues.

The well-dressed gentlemen treated the topic as a joke before and after dinner, deriding Lincoln as a fool and one-minded.

When it comes to donating money, a high-profile donation of hundreds or thousands of dollars is enough, just like buying a headline in a newspaper to advertise yourself.

Donate all? Only a fool would donate it all.

And Lincoln was such a fool.

But the majority of ordinary citizens find it not funny at all. Instead, they felt that Mr. Lincoln was not a fool, but a man worthy of respect.

In his early years in Yinzhou, Lincoln often litigated lawsuits for the poor in Yinzhou for free, and accumulated a good reputation in Yinzhou.

Therefore, Lincoln returned to Yinzhou and announced his entry into politics. When he participated in the election for Yinzhou state representative, Lincoln became the representative of Yinzhou with an absolute advantage.

Lincoln received almost as many votes as the other members of the House of Representatives combined, which is very rare in American history.

Therefore, there was a joke at the time. Lincoln's political opponents did not believe that such a result was true.

Lincoln ran for the Illinois State Legislature twice in 1832 and 1836, when he ran for the Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party has been repeatedly suspected of election fraud recently. Lincoln's political opponents used their own experience to accuse Lincoln of election fraud and demanded a re-election.

However, after investigation later, it was found that there was indeed fraud in this election, but the election fraud was caused by a Democratic candidate who secretly stuffed more than 30 electoral votes for Lincoln into his own ballot box.

This incident also became a joke for a while. After these two incidents, Lincoln's already tall image became even taller in the minds of the people of Yinzhou.

The people of Yinzhou will vote for Lincoln even if they close their eyes and cover their ears.

The gentlemen who came here to listen to Lincoln's speech came with a political speculation mentality. To be precise, they came to evaluate whether Lincoln was worthy of political investment.

And those ordinary people who spent a week or two or even a month's salary at their own expense to come to Springfield really came to hear Lincoln's speech.

After all, the most valuable thing in a poor person is his simple patriotism.

In this era when information is underdeveloped and the cultural quality of the poor is generally low, they are the group of people who are most easily induced.

Rather than saying that they came to listen to Lincoln's speech, it is better to say that they saw hope in Lincoln and placed their hopes on this eloquent lawyer who came from a bitter background.

"Yes, more than 80 years ago, our ancestors united under the banner of freedom, wrested precious freedom from the British, and established the greatest country in human history!"

Lincoln spoke passionately and passionately.

“My dear freedom-loving compatriots, I stand here today just to share an important topic with you: the greatness of a free country.

Why is America great? The ancestors who came to the New World on the Mayflower will tell you that it is freedom.

The soldiers who died in the War of Independence will also tell you that it is freedom, because the word freedom has long been engraved on their tombstones and in the hearts of every American who yearns for freedom.

Because of freedom, our country has become the only paradise God has given to the world.

Because of freedom, our country is able to attract a steady stream of immigrants who yearn for freedom from all over the world every year. They are not afraid of hardships, dangers, life and death, and cross the ocean to come to this great free country. "

Rapid industrialization will strengthen the power of the bourgeoisie, and the bourgeoisie will do its best to instill in the people a view to divert class contradictions, that is, the wealth of the capitalists is the wealth of the entire nation. Therefore, countries that have experienced rapid industrialization in modern times, especially late-developing countries, often develop something called national pride.

The United States is no exception.

After the restoration of the Second French Empire, the United States became the only remaining republic in the world, with an ideology and political system that was very different from that of other European countries.

Under the influence of concepts such as Manifest Destiny, the American people are also willing to believe that their country is God's chosen country, and that their country's ideology and political system have unique advantages.

And freedom is a value that is regarded as the foundation of the United States and written into the Constitution.

Nature is sacred in the eyes of the public, and they do not allow anyone to tarnish the word.

Like the poorest patriot in London's East End, even the poorest patriot in America can't help but puff up his chest when he thinks of his freedom.

No matter how powerful Britain is, all the British people are still the subjects of Queen Victoria. We in the United States are different. No matter how poor we are, we are not anyone's subjects, but free people with free bodies.

Seeing the audience in the audience puffing up their chests involuntarily, Lincoln continued to strike while the iron was hot.

"Now someone is openly trampling on the freedom that our ancestors bought with their blood and lives. Can we accept it?"

"cannot!"

"Yes! No!" Lincoln waved his powerful fist in mid-air.

“Freedom is the value on which our country exists, and we should fight for it.

I believe that every human being deserves freedom as a fundamental right given to us by God.

But now, our freedom is under threat. The evil system of slavery is endangering our freedom and dignity and eroding our country.

What the southern slave owners used their whips to whip was not the black slaves, but the sacred freedoms in our constitution! They are whipping freedom with reckless abandon.

My compatriots who yearn for freedom, what should we do? "

"Destroy that damned slavery! Free the slaves!"

"As a Republican, I firmly believe that slavery is immoral, unjust, and a stain on the image of the American country! It is also a desecration of human dignity!

I would like to call on everyone to join us and support the Republican Party! Destroy the evil system of slavery. We must use our voices and actions to defend freedom so that the light of freedom can shine on every inch of American land! "

As soon as Lincoln said this, the audience burst into warm applause.

At this moment, in their hearts, defending freedom is equivalent to abolition of slavery, and abolition of slavery is equivalent to supporting the Republican Party. Supporting the Republican Party is naturally to defend freedom.

They couldn't help but feel proud in their hearts. It turned out that voting for the Republican Party and supporting Mr. Lincoln meant using actions to defend freedom!

The speech had achieved the desired effect, but Lincoln still did not stop speaking. He criticized the Democratic Party:

"I want to criticize those Democrats who supported slavery and gave up freedom to protect slavery. They betrayed our country's core values ​​and desecrated freedom in pursuit of short-term interests.

This is unforgivable and we must unite to defeat their plot. Gentlemen! We must unite and fight for our freedom."

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Lincoln instilled the chicken soup of freedom into an ignorant audience in Springfield, and Liang Yao also led troops in Portland to defend the freedom of settlement of Chinese immigrants.

Governor Stevens of the Northern Oregon Territory was fighting Indians near Puget Sound, later known as Seattle.

Therefore, it was already May 1856 when Stevens took a break from the war and brought his group of beggar-like soldiers to the North Shore of Portland.

Under the protection of the Oregon militia, Chinese immigrants had already laid the foundations in large areas of the North Shore, and houses were already taking shape so quickly.

Seeing this scene, Stevens' nose twisted in anger.

Stevens has spent a lot of time dealing with Chinese immigrants. He knows that as long as the houses are not built, the Chinese immigrants are relatively easy to drive away.

Once the house is built, these Chinese who regard the house as their life may not be able to drive them away with guns.

Stevens ran to Liang Yao angrily and asked Liang Yao sternly: "Your Excellency? What do you mean?!"

"What do you mean, I was just going to ask you!"

Liang Yao threw a Lee-Enfield P53 rifle in front of Stevens. The inscription of Birmingham Arsenal on the gun body is still clearly visible.

"Do you recognize this gun?"

"What's so strange about a British rifle?" Stevens glanced at the rifle on the ground and said calmly.

"A beauty like you can join the Democratic Party. No wonder the Democratic Party is getting worse day by day." Liang Yao sneered.

"What do you mean, who are you calling a traitor?" Stevens was furious.

"I said you were a traitor, not a traitor. Where did these guns come from?" Liang Yao asked sharply.

"I bought it from the British!" Stevens said confidently.

"Buy?" Liang Yao sneered.

"Leave aside the fact that this is an active weapon of the British. Will the British sell it to you? Even if they sell it, the purchase price of the British Army from Birmingham Arsenal is 3 pounds, 9 shillings and 8 pence. You can afford this kind of weapon. Gun?"

Stevens was speechless for a moment. He naturally couldn't afford such expensive guns. In fact, these guns were given to him by Yilu.

He allowed the British to build a port stronghold at Bellingham, 30 kilometers away, to provide a docking place for British ships.

In return, the British gave him 1,500 so-called state-of-the-art rifles.

The prisoners all confessed to Liang Yao the dirty things Stevens had done.