“he urged passage of the Corwin amendment in his first inaugural address,”
Here is what Lincoln said about the Corwin amendment in his first inaugural address.
“I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitutionwhich amendment, however, I have not seenhas passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of persons held to service ... holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable”
Doesn’t read to me that he “urged” anything vis-à-vis the Corwin Amendment.
Like so many other posts, this falls into the “he sees only what he wants to see”. No reasonable reading of the address, the surrounding correspondence, or reporting from the time would come to the conclusion that Lincoln “supported”, advocated”, or “pushed” the amendment. His stated position was neutral.
It’s such a silly argument, and really only serves to illustrate a non-serious person.
[rockkr]: No reasonable reading of the address, the surrounding correspondence, or reporting from the time would come to the conclusion that Lincoln supported, advocated, or pushed the amendment. His stated position was neutral.
Here is some history detective work that strongly suggests Lincoln's apparent involvement in the Corwin Amendment: Link to some of Phil Magness's work
Apart from Magness's work related to the Corwin amendment on the link above, there is clear evidence that Lincoln felt the Constitution demanded a fugitive slave law, and while a congressman in the 1840s he himself had written his own fugitive slave law into his proposed bill (which did not pass) to free slaves in Washington DC. His proposed bill would have allowed slave owners to recover their fugitive slaves who escaped into DC.
Feet of clay, that Lincoln guy.
If he wasn't supporting it, he would have said nothing about it.
Also, he signed all those letters notifying the governors that the Corwin amendment had passed both houses of congress.
Again, it's a signal to support the amendment. The president has no official role in the constitutional amendment process. He took on this role to assist in the passage of the amendment.