“Good evening, I’m Dan Rather. Tonight’s top story: a splinter political party convenes to nominate an Illinois lawyer for President. Does he have ties to an extremist terrorist group? Our Bob Schieffer checks in with the story.“
(Long shot of an odd-looking man—very skinny, with a beard, wearing an unusually tall hat that emphasizes his own prodigious height—speaking before an assembled crowd in a convention hall)
“Hoping to challenge the established Democratic Party for political supremacy, a new group calling themselves ‘Republicans’ met to choose the man they would offer the nation as an alternative to Democratic nominee Stephen Douglas. Their pick: a virtual unknown from Douglas’ home state of Illinois, a former member of Congress whom Douglas defeated for the Senate and who now hopes to avenge that defeat this November. Abraham Lincoln, a self-described lawyer though he has no formal training, accepted the party’s nomination with a speech in which he vowed to oppose the expansion of slavery into any new territory.“
(Long, slow panning shot showing a town in an upland valley, next to a river)
“This is Harpers Ferry, Virginia, scene of the most infamous act of slavery opponents, the attack, led by terrorist leader John Brown, on an installation of the United States Army. The attack failed, and Brown was captured. At his trial, he proclaimed opposition to slavery a divine obligation, and asserted his belief that those not willing to risk their lives to end the practice were destined to eternal damnation. Memories of the ordeal during Brown’s siege of the military arsenal remain fresh in this town, and residents are outraged at the Republicans’ choice of an abolitionist to run for the presidency.“
(Man-on-the-street interview: an outraged-looking townswoman)
“I can’t believe any reasonable person would support such a thing. It’s exactly the same as condoning the killing that horrible John Brown person did here. This Lincoln person won’t get any votes from Harpers Ferry, I can tell you!“
(Man-on-the-street interview: an African-American field worker)
“I don’t know much about politics. All I know is John Brown didn’t help me, and I don’t think Abraham Lincoln will either.“
(File footage of the aftermath of John Brown’s siege, showing soldiers covered by sheets, followed by footage of Brown being led away in chains, defiant and a little wild-eyed)
“Although Brown and many of his followers were executed after the Harpers Ferry incident, people here in Harpers Ferry have no illusions that the zealous leader of the abolitionist fringe had many sympathizers, few of whom have ever been brought to justice. As the Republicans take their campaign to the nation, residents of this still-shaken community fear their anti-slavery rhetoric will draw those sympathizers out of hiding, and legitimize their extremist views. For CBS News, I’m Bob Schieffer.“
