“A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half sle 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 slary 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.”

Question

“A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half sle 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 slary 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 sla**ry before the Civil War? Can you explain why some states wanted more rights, and how this connected to the issue of sla**ry?

Answer 1

Abraham Lincoln's quote speaks to the deep division within the United States over the issue of slary, and how it was ultimately a key factor leading to the Civil War. States' rights played a significant role in this debate, as some states believed in the right to decide whether or not to allow slary within their borders. This connected to the issue of slary as it was the central point of contention between the North and South, with Southerners advocating for the expansion of slary into new territories while Northerners pushed for its abolition.