Lincoln at Cooper Union: A rhetorical analysis of the text

Seeking the presidential nomination, Lincoln attempts to ingratiate himself with a Republican audience, and after an extensive attack upon Douglas, he creates a mock debate with the South and appeals for Republican unity. Each section features controlled argument, builds in intensity, and rests upon an association between Republican and the founding fathers, Lincoln using arrangement, argument, and style to associate self and party with the fathers and to dissociate self and party from his chief rivals.