“A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new, North as well as South.” -Abraham Lincoln, June 16, 1858, at the Illinois Republican convention

Question

“A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new, North as well as South.” -Abraham Lincoln, June 16, 1858, at the Illinois Republican convention

Use the quote above and your knowledge from the lesson for this short answer question. Answer in at least 2 sentences.

How do you think this relates to the arguments about states' rights and slavery before the Civil War? Can you explain why some states wanted more rights, and how this connected to the issue of slavery?

Answer 1

Abraham Lincoln's quote highlights the intense division between the North and South over the issue of slavery, demonstrating that there could not be a compromise between the two sides. Some states in the South wanted more rights to maintain their institution of slavery, viewing it as essential to their way of life and economy. This connection between states' rights and slavery ultimately fueled the tensions that led to the Civil War.