What if the biggest threats to our democracy aren’t coming from outside our borders, but from within? In 1838, a young Abraham Lincoln warned exactly about that in his Lyceum Address. Standing before a group of young men, he didn’t just talk about foreign invaders or military conflict. Instead, he sounded the alarm about the dangers of mob rule, unchecked ambition, and a nation losing respect for the rule of law.

Sounds eerily familiar, right? Lincoln’s words still hold weight today, as we face the same questions about how we protect our democracy in the face of division, violence, and political instability. So, what can we learn from Lincoln’s vision of a government where the law reigns supreme?

In this episode of This Constitution, Savannah Eccles Johnston and Matthew Brogdon delve into Lincoln’s prophetic address, unpacking his fears of demagoguery and mob rule, the moral dilemmas of civil disobedience, and the delicate balance required to protect democratic institutions. Lincoln believed that reverence for the law—even when flawed—was essential for preserving liberty and order. But how do we reconcile this with the pursuit of justice in the face of unjust laws?

Join us for an engaging conversation that bridges Lincoln’s legacy with the complexities of contemporary governance. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore what his words mean for the challenges we face today—tune in now!

In This Episode

• (00:03) Introduction to the Constitution
• (00:15) Purpose of the podcast
• (00:43) Overview of Lincoln's Lyceum Address 
• (00:59) Historical context of the address
• (02:03) Themes of the Lyceum Address
• (02:25) Danger from within
• (03:29) Examples of mob violence
• (05:09) Importance of law
• (06:40) Civil disobedience debate
• (07:14) Comparison to Martin Luther King Jr.
• (10:20) Impact of lawlessness on good citizens
• (12:36) Fear of dictatorship
• (13:27) Ambition and opportunity
• (14:51) The founding generation's ambition
• (15:40) Lincoln's self-reflection
• (17:12) Demagoguery and rhetoric
• (17:24) Political religion of law
• (18:08) Perpetuating constitutional order
• (19:50) Madison vs. Jefferson on law
• (20:20) Reverence for law and change
• (21:30) Lincoln's rhetorical strategy
• (24:25) Demagoguery vs. reverence
• (25:30) Leadership and the Constitution
• (26:38) Lincoln's rhetorical skill

Notable Quotes

• [00:02:25] "If destruction is our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Savannah Eccles Johnston

• [00:03:29] "The country is really in danger of resorting to mob violence to handle an awful lot of its political problems." — Matthew Brogdon

• [00:11:24] "What happens when good men turn against the law?" — Savannah Eccles Johnston

• [00:14:51] "These men of extraordinary ambition aren't going to be content to just keep what some other man has built; they're either going to need to destroy it or build something new and greater, and that's the danger." — Savannah Eccles Johnston

• [00:17:24] "The only answer is the good people of the country united together and united under the law, devoted to the law almost religiously, because it is their political religion that alone can stand against these kinds of men." — Savannah Eccles Johnston

• [00:18:08] "You may individually disagree with some of these laws and you might seek to change them, but that still shouldn't undermine your reverence for the law and the Constitution as a whole because the alternative is mob rule." — Matthew Brogdon