Abraham Lincoln's quote highlights the deep divisions in the nation regarding slavery, which directly relates to the arguments surrounding states' rights before the Civil War. Many Southern states wanted more rights to maintain their system of slavery, believing that individual states should decide whether or not to allow it. This desire for autonomy was rooted in their economic dependence on slave labor and the fear that federal intervention would threaten their way of life. As tensions escalated, the conflict over states' rights became increasingly intertwined with the moral and legal questions surrounding slavery, ultimately contributing to the outbreak of the Civil War.
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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 3 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 this in 4 simple sentences)
1 answer