Read the following excerpt from Second Inaugural Address and answer the question.

Question

If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him?

What is Lincoln saying in this passage?
That God allowed slavery to exist in America as a punishment for the nation's sins.
That the Civil War was a punishment from God for allowing slavery to exist.
That God is a just and righteous God who will ultimately remove slavery from the nation.
That it is impossible to know God's intentions for allowing slavery to exist in America.

Answer 1

In this passage from his Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln is conveying the idea that God allowed slavery to exist as part of a divine plan or providence, and that the Civil War is a consequence or punishment for the sins associated with slavery. He suggests that the war serves as a woe due to the offense of slavery, indicating that it is part of a divine purpose to ultimately remove that institution from the nation. Therefore, the statement that best captures Lincoln's meaning is:

That the Civil War was a punishment from God for allowing slavery to exist.