262 ChApTEr 11 | the Union Undone? | period Five 1844 –1877
ideas and preferences on the subject. Every measure of the Democratic party of
late years, bearing directly or indirectly on the slavery question, has corresponded
with this notion of utter indifference whether slavery or freedom shall outrun in
the race of empire across the Pacific—every measure, I say, up to the Dred Scott
decision, where, it seems to me, the idea is boldly suggested that slavery is better
than freedom. The Republican party, on the contrary, hold that this government
was instituted to secure the blessings of freedom, and that slavery is an unquali-
fied evil to the negro, to the white man, to the soil, and to the State. Regarding it
an evil, they will not molest it in the States where it exists; they will not overlook
the constitutional guards which our forefathers have placed around it; they will do
nothing which can give proper offence to those who hold slaves by legal sanction;
but they will use every constitutional method to prevent the evil from becoming
larger and involving more negroes, more white men, more soil, and more States in
its deplorable consequences. They will, if possible, place it where the public mind
shall rest in the belief that it is in course of ultimate peaceable extinction, in God’s
own good time. And to this end they will, if possible, restore the government to
the policy of the fathers—the policy of preserving the new territories from the
baneful influence of human bondage, as the Northwestern territories were sought
to be preserved by the ordinance of 1787 and the compromise act of 1820. They
will oppose, in all its length and breadth, the modern Democratic idea that slav-
ery is as good as freedom, and ought to have room for expansion all over the con-
tinent, if people can be found to carry it. All, or very nearly all, of Judge Douglas’
arguments about “Popular Sovereignty,” as he calls it, are logical if you admit that
slavery is as good and as right as freedom; and not one of them is worth a rush
if you deny it. This is the difference, as I understand it, between the Republican
and the Democratic parties; and I ask the gentleman, and all of you, whether his
question is not satisfactorily answered.—[Cries of “Yes, yes.”]The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, ed. Roy Prentice Basler, vol. 3 (Norwalk, CT: Easton
Press, 1993), 92–94.p rACTICINg historical Thinking
Identify: Summarize Lincoln’s view of the party differences toward slavery.
Analyze: What is Lincoln’s tone (or attitude) toward slavery? What words best
reflect this tone?
Evaluate: Compare Lincoln’s reference to the Framers’ intention with Chief Justice
Roger B. Taney’s reference to their intention (Doc. 11.6). Are these references
accomplishing similar goals? Explain.TopIC I | the Breakdown of Compromise 26312_STA_2012_ch11_251-274.indd 263 23/03/15 5:34 PM