Lincoln's interpretation of American history was whiggish in spades, or whiggism on steroids, in Butterfield's sense.
It wasn't originalism. Originalism is the attempt to see a period of prior history through the eyes of those past people, and not from the point of view of the writer.
What is truly amazing is that the average American back then obviously did not begin to understand this, although Douglas spelled it out quite well. The audiences frankly by then would cheer blindly for either side in turn so long as he kept on landing blows on the opponent, much like an audience at a prize fight....
Read just the first and second unexpurgated debates, especially through Douglas' Opening Second Debate Speech, and this sad fact about Lincoln's whiggism jumps out.
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