On June 16th in 1858, Abraham Lincoln, a newly nominated Republican Senatorial Candidate, gave a courageous speech at the Republican State Convention in Springfield, the capital of Illinois. His speech came to be known as the “House Divided Speech.” The phrase was taken from a verse in all three Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke that states, “If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand.” Lincoln’s speech was motivated by events, such as the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Fugitive Slave Law, and the Dred Scott Decision. These events divided the North from the South so much that Lincoln was concerned about the increasing Southern Control over the federal government. As a result of this, he made a decision to make a public argument
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Republican Senate seat for Illinois on June 16, 1858. His opponent was the Democratic party nominee, Stephen Douglas. Lincoln delivered his “House Divided Speech” after winning his nomination, which spurred the infamous Lincoln-Douglas debates. Lincoln took delivering his speech as a moment to publicly set himself apart from his opposition. Throughout Douglas’ political career, he passionately stood by popular sovereignty. Through popular sovereignty, each new territory had the freedom to declare themselves as a free or slave state. Douglas believed that if popular sovereignty was correctly instated, the conflict over the existence of slavery would end and both the northern and southern states could coexist …show more content…
The 1857 Dred Scott decision was made by the Supreme Court which determined that African-Americans could not become citizens. This decision also overturned the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which restricted slavery in certain U.S. territories. Lincoln’s speech mentioned that he feared that this decision would interfere with states’ rights. Lincoln warned that the Supreme Court’ should hold that the Constitution, “does not permit a state to exclude slavery from its limits.” Lincoln continued, “We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming that the people of Missouri are on the verge of making their state free and we shall awake to the reality, instead, that the Supreme Court has made Illinois a slave state.” This soon became the Republicans party’s defense of state sovereignty against intrusions by central government and the morality of slavery and whether it should expand into new
Republican Senate seat for Illinois on June 16, 1858. His opponent was the Democratic party nominee, Stephen Douglas. Lincoln delivered his “House Divided Speech” after winning his nomination, which spurred the infamous Lincoln-Douglas debates. Lincoln took delivering his speech as a moment to publicly set himself apart from his opposition. Throughout Douglas’ political career, he passionately stood by popular sovereignty. Through popular sovereignty, each new territory had the freedom to declare themselves as a free or slave state. Douglas believed that if popular sovereignty was correctly instated, the conflict over the existence of slavery would end and both the northern and southern states could coexist …show more content…
The 1857 Dred Scott decision was made by the Supreme Court which determined that African-Americans could not become citizens. This decision also overturned the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which restricted slavery in certain U.S. territories. Lincoln’s speech mentioned that he feared that this decision would interfere with states’ rights. Lincoln warned that the Supreme Court’ should hold that the Constitution, “does not permit a state to exclude slavery from its limits.” Lincoln continued, “We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming that the people of Missouri are on the verge of making their state free and we shall awake to the reality, instead, that the Supreme Court has made Illinois a slave state.” This soon became the Republicans party’s defense of state sovereignty against intrusions by central government and the morality of slavery and whether it should expand into new