In the Illinois State House on June 17, 1858, former Representative Abraham Lincoln accepted the Republican nomination and opened his senatorial campaign with his now-famous "House Divided" speech in which he said that the United States could not remain half slave and half free. Brian Lamb introduced R. Frederick Klein, an historical interpreter, who re-enacted Lincoln's speech. Mr. Klein then responded to questions from members of the audience. This was part of the announcement by several Illinois cities of historical re-enactments of all of the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.