Editing Abraham Lincoln (section)

==Philosophy and views==
{{See also|American nationalism}}
[[File:AbrahamLincolnOilPainting1869Restored.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Lincoln sitting with his hand on his chin and his elbow on his leg.|''[[Abraham Lincoln (Healy)|Abraham Lincoln]]'' (1869)]]
Lincoln redefined the political philosophy of [[republicanism in the United States]].{{sfn|Thomas|2008|p=61}} He called the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], which found "self-evident" that all men are created equal and have an "unalienable" right to liberty, the "[[sheet anchor]]" of republicanism, at a time when the [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]], which "tolerated slavery", was the focus of most political discourse.{{sfnm|Jaffa|2000|1p=399|Thomas|2008|2p=61}} [[John Patrick Diggins]] notes, "Lincoln presented Americans a theory of history that offers a profound contribution to the theory and destiny of republicanism itself" in the 1860 Cooper Union speech.{{sfnm|Diggins|1986|1p=307|Thomas|2008|2p=61}}

As a Whig activist Lincoln was a spokesman for business interests, favoring high tariffs, banks, infrastructure improvements, and railroads, in opposition to [[Jacksonian democrats]].{{sfn|Boritt|Pinsker|2002|pp=196–198, 229–231, 301}} Nevertheless, Lincoln admired [[Andrew Jackson]]'s steeliness and patriotism,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilentz |first=Sean |author-link=Sean Wilentz |date=2012 |title=Abraham Lincoln and Jacksonian democracy |url=https://www.gilderlehrman.org/node/242 |publisher=Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818082649/http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/lincoln/essays/abraham-lincoln-and-jacksonian-democracy |archivedate=August 18, 2016 }}</ref> and adopted the Jacksonian "belief in the common man".{{sfn|Work|2024|p=8}} According to historian [[Sean Wilentz]], "just as the Republican Party of the 1850s absorbed certain elements of Jacksonianism, so Lincoln, whose Whiggery had always been more egalitarian than that of other Whigs, found himself absorbing some of them as well."{{sfn|Wilentz|2012}}

[[William C. Harris (historian)|William C. Harris]] found that Lincoln's "reverence for the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, the laws under it, and the preservation of the Republic and its institutions strengthened his conservatism."{{sfn|Harris|2007|p=2}} In Lincoln's first inaugural address, he denounced secession as anarchy and explained that majority rule had to be balanced by constitutional restraints. He said, "A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks, and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people."{{sfnm|1a1=Belz|1y=1998|1p=86|2a1=Lincoln|2y=1953|2pp=256&ndash;257}}

===Religious skepticism and providence===
{{Further|Religious views of Abraham Lincoln}}
As a young man Lincoln was a [[religious skepticism|religious skeptic]].{{sfnm|Carwardine|2003|1p=4|Wilson|1999|2p=84}} However, he was deeply familiar with the [[Bible]], quoting and praising it.{{sfn|Donald|1996|pp=48–49, 514–515}} Throughout his public career, Lincoln often quoted Scripture.{{sfn|Myers|2018|p=21}} His three most famous speeches—[[Lincoln's House Divided Speech|the House Divided Speech]], [[Gettysburg Address|the Gettysburg Address]], and [[Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address|his second inaugural]]—all contain such quotes. In the 1840s Lincoln subscribed to the [[The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity Illustrated|Doctrine of Necessity]], a belief that the human mind was controlled by a higher power.{{sfn|Donald|1996|pp=48–49}}

After the death of his son Edward in 1850 he more frequently expressed a dependence on God.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Parrillo|first=Nicholas|year=2000|title=Lincoln's Calvinist transformation: emancipation and war|journal=Civil War History|volume=46| issue=3|pages=227–253|doi=10.1353/cwh.2000.0073}}</ref> He never joined a church, although he frequently attended [[First Presbyterian Church (Springfield, Illinois)|First Presbyterian Church]] in Springfield, Illinois, with his wife beginning in 1852.{{sfn|White|2009|p=180}} While president, Lincoln often attended services at the [[New York Avenue Presbyterian Church]] in Washington, D.C.{{sfn|Mansfield|2012|pp=125&ndash;126}} The death of his son Willie in February 1862 may have caused him to look toward religion for solace.{{sfn|Wilson|1999|pp=251–254}} Lincoln's frequent use of religious imagery and language toward the end of his life may have reflected his own personal beliefs or might have been a device to reach his audiences, who were mostly [[evangelicalism|evangelical]] Protestants.{{sfn|Carwardine|2003|pp=27–55}}