SOVEREIGN OF A FREE PEOPLE

"Sovereign of a Free People examines Lincoln's defense of majority rule, his understanding of its capabilities and limitations, and his hope that slavery could be peacefully and gradually extinguished through the action of a committed national majority. James Read argues that Lincoln offered an innovative account of the interplay between majorities and minorities in the context of crosscutting issues and shifting public opinion-an account that is particularly timely today, with a new minority threatening violence in response to a valid election with which it was dissatisfied"--