In the quiet hours of the pre-dawn, Abraham Lincoln reflects on the mathematical foundations of justice while drafting a crucial telegram. He uses Euclid’s axioms to explain the 'self-evident' nature of equality to two young telegraph operators, ultimately deciding to delay a peace commission to ensure the passage of the 13th Amendment.
LINCOLN: You think we choose to be born?
SAMUEL BECKWITH: I don’t suppose so.
LINCOLN: Are we fitted to the times we’re born into?
SAMUEL BECKWITH: I don’t know about myself. You may be, sir. Fitted.
LINCOLN: Euclid’s first common notion is this: “Things which are equal to the same thing are equal t
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